FEMA, short for the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, has typically been responsible for providing aid and money to areas affected by natural disasters. However, the federal government shifted the responsibility to provide aid and money to areas affected by natural disasters to states, cities, and individuals, with the statement that preparedness is most efficiently owned and managed at state, local, and individual levels. This put a hold on FEMA grants.
However, now, FEMA grants are back. The following includes a brief overview of what this means. For further details and information about how this may apply to you and your project, contact VIE directly.
FEMA’s Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program for FY 2027
The Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) Grant Program is an EARMARK grant program. Individuals are responsible for ensuring that they find a Member of Congress who can submit their CPF request to the U.S. House Appropriation Committee’s database and that they can get a member of Congress to sign the Federal nexus and financial disclosure certification. They must also get an eligibility letter from the Utah Division of Emergency Management.
Utah Congressional Members must be reached out to to find out their own earmark deadline. Their deadline may be sometime between February and April. Contacting them early is ideal, as submissions are usually on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Legislative Pre-Disaster Mitigation (LPDM) requires a cost share from the local community, typically about 25% of the activity cost. Funds can be obtained through non-federal funding streams, using donated services or products, or through cash donations. In VIE’s previous blog done when the FEMA grants were placed on hold, How To Fund Seismic Retrofit Now That FEMA Grants Are Currently On Hold, we discussed a variety of different funding options for seismic retrofits that are available. VIE can advise clients on ways to find funding for their seismic retrofit projects as needed.
Types of PDM Projects
There are three types of PDM projects: 1) Capability and Capacity-Building activities, 2) Hazard Mitigation Projects, and 3) Management costs.
VIE works with clients in public and private sectors on hazard mitigation planning. PDM projects include retrofits for buildings and infrastructure to withstand hazards, such as seismic retrofits. Eligible subapplicants include: state agencies, local governments, and federally recognized tribal governments within Utah. Each applying entity must have an approved local mitigation plan for project activities. VIE can work with eligible entities on their hazard mitigation plan.
Grant Management Services
VIE often writes the entire grants using the required grant submission process and software, serving as the primary entity for writing grant requests. Throughout the grant development process, VIE carefully coordinates client grant writing goals, client-preferred project execution goals, and schedule and budget limitations of its clients.
VIE can and has provided complete grant management services from negotiation of the final contract with the funding entity to grant performance, financial management with engineers and contractors, payment requests and receipt by funding entities, and final grant closeout.
Grant Writing Services in the United States
VIE provides grant writing services in the United States. Our win rate for grant applications exceeds 90%. We have a representative list of recent successful grants on our Grant Writing service page. This is only a partial summary of more recent grants, as VIE has assisted agencies prior to 2011 in winning FEMA, DHS, and USBOR grants totaling over $5,000,000. If needed, VIE can provide more project information for this work.
To learn more about our engineering services and whether we can work with you on your project, contact us today.
