FEMA Announces Amendment for Swift Current Funding to Mitigate Repetitive Flood Loss

On March 8, FEMA published an amendment to the fiscal year 2023 funding opportunity, Flood Mitigation Assistance Swift Current, which received $300 million in funding to support projects to help make homes and buildings more resilient to flooding.

Flood Mitigation Assistance Swift Current funds can make homes safer and more resilient for National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) policyholders with repetitively and substantially flood-damaged buildings aiming to deliver mitigation outcomes as quickly as possible.

The application period for this opportunity opened on Nov. 15, 2023. Full details of the amendment are available on Grants.gov.

A summary of the changes are as follows:

• Structures considered substantially flood-damaged during and after a flood event are eligible for the Swift Current grant opportunity. Once a disaster is declared, local communities can submit projects for consideration.
• U.S territories and federally recognized tribal governments are eligible to apply for FEMA assistance within 150 calendar days, providing an extra 30 days than before.
• The pre-calculated benefits section directs users to FEMA’s benefit-cost analysis webpage for the most up-to-date pre-calculated benefit amounts.

All eligible applicants must submit their FY 2023 Swift Current grant applications to FEMA via Mitigation eGrants. Upon Swift Current activation, FEMA will provide the application deadline to the applicant.

Before Flood Mitigation Assistance Swift Current activation, FEMA will announce the application deadlines to the applicant. FEMA will distribute funding on a rolling basis for eligible applicants to apply until the total available funding amount of $300 million has been used to aid projects in mitigating repetitive flooding.

Examples of eligible projects for this funding opportunity are property acquisition, demolition, elevation and relocation. With the requirement that buildings must be insured through the NFIP to be eligible for this opportunity.

To confirm deadlines and ensure subapplications are submitted on time, local governments should consult with their state, tribal or territorial agency. FEMA will distribute funding on a rolling basis as eligible applicants submit applications until the total available funding amount of $300 million is exhausted.

FEMA will work with states, Tribal Nations and territories to explore their participation during the application cycle.

The applicant meets the Swift Current activation criteria when:

• They receive a major disaster declaration for a flood-related event between June 1, 2023, and the disaster declaration deadline of May 31, 2024. Refer to Table 1 for additional information.
• A flood-related disaster includes coastal storms, hurricanes, remnants of hurricanes and floods.

Table 1: The figure below provides an illustrative overview of the key steps in the Swift Current process.

The applicant must also meet at least one of the three conditions for special consideration:

• Of at least $1 million in prior NFIP flood insurance claims from June 1, 2022, until the disaster declaration date of May 31.
• The applicant has 500 or more NFIP flood insurance claims in the declared flood-related disaster.
• The applicant is a Tribal Nation or territory applying directly to FEMA.

Potential applicants with questions about the application process can contact their FEMA regional office, while interested subapplicants should contact their state or territory hazard mitigation officer.