Final Notice: Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities and Flood Mitigation Assistance for FY 2024

January 17, 2025

Overview

Colorado communities once again have the opportunity to reduce their long-term risks from natural
hazards with assistance from FEMA’s two annual competitive Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA)
programs:

• Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) 
• Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA)

These programs help elected officials, public works agencies, capital improvement staff and
other local officials implement mitigation projects.  These projects can dramatically reduce the impacts of a future natural disaster. This opportunity provides funding for communities to implement
mitigation activities that reduce risk to life, property, and infrastructure from natural hazards. In
Colorado natural hazards include:

• Wildfire, 
• Flooding,
• Drought, 
• Winter Storms, 
• Extreme Heat, and 
• other hazards identified in the Colorado Enhanced State Hazard Mitigation Plan.

The priorities of the two programs include, but are not limited to:

• Enhancing Climate
• Resilience and Adaption
• Incorporating Nature-based Solutions
• Promoting Equity
• Incentivizing Natural Hazard Risk Reduction Activities

Available Funding

The State of Colorado is allocated $4 million under BRIC. Colorado has the opportunity to submit
nationally competitive projects within the BRIC and FMA programs. BRIC will fund up to $50 million
federal share for a single project and FMA will fund up to $50 million federal share for a single
localized flood risk reduction project.

State Allocation Breakdown

• $1,500,000.00 Capability and Capacity Building Activities. These activities include
  building codes, project scoping, hazard mitigation planning and related activities and
  partnerships.
• $500,000.00 for construction projects or other eligible activities.
• $400,000.00 will be prioritized for activities & projects benefiting Community
  Disaster Resilience Zones.

State Building Code Plus-Up

$2,000,000.00 Building code adoption and enforcement activities. Building code plus-up funds are an additional fund category that may be applied to building code activities only. Activities under this category should enable the adoption and enforcement of codes that reduce risk, enhance current codes or provide training relating to building codes.

Cost Share

A cost share is required for all sub-applications funded under these programs. Projects require a
25 percent non-federal cost share. Some communities may qualify for a lower percentage. The
non-federal cost share may consist of cash, in-kind, donated services, materials or any combination. FEMA provides up to 5 percent of the total project costs at 100 percent federal funding for grant management costs (SRMC) in addition to the federal obligation of the project.

Application Process and Deadlines

1. Sub-applicant submits a Notice of Interest (NOI) by completing the DHSEM Notice of Interest
   Form
2. DHSEM reviews the NOI and conducts a scoping call with the sub-applicant. Eligible sub-applicants must then submit a project application through FEMA Grants Outcome (FEMA
   GO)
   1. Registering and applying for an award under the FEMA GO portal is a multi-step process and requires time to complete. 
   2. Sub-applicants should read the registration instructions carefully and prepare the information requested before beginning the registration process provided in the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) FY 2024 Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities. 
   3. The registration process can take up to four weeks to complete. 
   4. To ensure a project application meets the deadline, sub-applicants are advised to start the required steps well in advance of their submission.
3. Draft sub-applications are completed in FEMA GO. The deadline to submit draft sub-applications is February 28, 2025.
   1. DHSEM reviews draft sub-applications for project eligibility, application completeness, Benefit-Cost Analysis (BCA), engineering feasibility, mitigation plan status and Environmental and Historic Preservation (EHP) review eligibility. 
   2. DHSEM convenes an interagency panel to score BRIC and FMA projects the week of March 3, 2025. 
      1. This panel provides feedback on the draft sub-application as compared to the BRIC/FMA scoring criteria, as applicable. 
      2. This feedback helps inform the sub-applicant to complete their final application and not impact the submission of the application.
   3. DHSEM will not accept sub-applications for BRIC and FMA after that date and applications will be considered late and will not be submitted for funding consideration after this date.
4. Final sub-applications are due to FEMA GO by April 4, 2025.
5. DHSEM submits the BRIC and FMA applications to FEMA by April 18, 2025.

Application Support

DHSEM will host virtual office hours that are open to anyone interested in applying to the BRIC and FMA programs. Office hours will be held from 1 to 1:30 p.m. every Wednesday starting on January 22 until April 16.

Office Hours Joining Information

• Google Meet Video call link: https://meet.google.com/xfu-fqyx-bmy
• Or dial: (US) +1 361-248-9735 PIN: 386 026 261# 
• More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/xfu-fqyx-bmy?pin=7427281682638

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for HMA funding, FEMA requires all sub-applicants to have a current FEMA-approved
Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP) by the application deadline and at the time of obligated funding. Communities that are not in an HMP may find a project sponsor who is. Or they may ask to be added
to the appropriate HMP by following DHSEM’s methodology. This is available on request.

Eligible sub-applicants include:

• State Agencies
• Local Governments
• Tribal Governments and Communities
• Special Districts

Evaluation Criteria

Applications submitted will undergo a state and federal review. Communities are strongly
encouraged to review the qualitative and technical criteria for both programs. DHSEM and other
state agencies on the State Hazard Mitigation Team score and prioritize all applications using either the BRIC or FMA program criteria as appropriate.

Contact Information

Please contact Matt West by email at matthew.west@state.co.us with any questions related to hazard
mitigation plans. This includes adding jurisdictions. Contact Emily Drosselmeyer is available by email at emily.drosselmeyer@state.co.us for any questions about projects.

Resources

• Find more information on the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Webpage. 
• FEMA GO