Flood Mitigation Assistance Program

The Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) Amendment is a mitigation funding opportunity administered in Virginia through the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM), with projects considered for funding by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The intent of the Flood Mitigation Assistance Program is to provide funding for projects that reduce or eliminate the risk of repetitive flood damage to buildings insured by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The program supports mitigation activities ranging from community planning and capacity-building efforts to infrastructure improvements and mitigation of individual flood-prone structures. Applicants and subapplicants work through VDEM, which reviews submissions before transmitting eligible project subapplications to FEMA through the FEMA GO system. Eligible activities fall into three broad project types. Capability and Capacity Building Activities include partnership development supporting mitigation initiatives, improvements to local floodplain management programs, development of Severe Repetitive Loss and Repetitive Loss strategies, substantial damage procedures, hazard mitigation plan development and integration, and project scoping. Localized Flood Risk Reduction projects may include stormwater management improvements such as culvert and storm sewer upsizing, floodwater storage and diversion measures such as detention ponds, bioretention basins, and bioswales, floodplain and wetland restoration, and dam and spillway improvements. Individual Flood Mitigation projects address specific NFIP-insured structures with repetitive or severe repetitive flood damage and may include acquisition and demolition, structure elevation, dry floodproofing for historic structures, mitigation reconstruction, and other structural retrofits intended to reduce flood vulnerability. Eligible subapplicants include local governments such as cities, townships, counties, and special district governments, as well as state agencies and federally recognized tribes. Federally recognized tribes may choose to participate as an applicant or subapplicant. The source states that subapplicants submit through their qualifying agency, VDEM. Individual homeowners do not apply directly. Homeowners seeking assistance for elevation, acquisition and demolition or relocation, or mitigation reconstruction are instructed to contact their local government's grants representative and participate through an eligible subapplicant. Additional program conditions apply to participating communities and properties. All subapplicants must participate in the National Flood Insurance Program and cannot be withdrawn, on probation, or suspended. Structures included in a subapplication must have an NFIP policy in effect as of the application start date and maintain that coverage through completion of the mitigation activity and for the life of the structure. Subapplicants must also have a FEMA-approved Local or Tribal Hazard Mitigation Plan by the application deadline and when grant funds are obligated for mitigation projects, except for the specified capability and capacity building mitigation plan activities. Community flood mitigation projects are eligible for a 75 percent Federal cost share, while FEMA may provide a higher Federal cost share for individual mitigation projects involving Repetitive Loss or Severe Repetitive Loss properties. Project pre-applications, applications, and supporting documentation must be submitted through VDEM's grants management portal at https://vdem.emgrants.com. Applicants without an active account may register through that portal. After VDEM reviews a pre-application for eligibility and processes it, the applicant is prompted to complete the project application. The full project application requires a detailed scope of work, project cost, and other pertinent information necessary for the project to qualify for FEMA consideration. The source does not provide numerical award minimums, maximums, total program funding, number of awards, specific evaluation scoring criteria, or an individual program contact. Applications for this amendment opened April 30, 2026. The full application deadline to VDEM was June 30, 2026 at 5:00 PM Eastern Time. VDEM established this deadline to allow time to review applications, request additional information, and submit project subapplications through FEMA GO before FEMA's August 6, 2026 application deadline. The opportunity was posted June 12, 2026 and is identified as closed. No recurring annual or other repeating application schedule is stated in the supplied source, so no future cycle is inferred. Additional program guidance is available through FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Assistance Guidance at https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fema_hma-guide-v2.1_2025.pdf.

Confirm NFIP participation and required NFIP coverage for identified structures; ensure the applicable FEMA-approved Local or Tribal Hazard Mitigation Plan requirement is satisfied; prepare a detailed scope of work and project cost; submit complete documentation through VDEM so the agency has time to review the application and request additional information before FEMA submission.