Dive Brief:
- The Federal Emergency Management Agency is offering communities a total of $150 million in low-interest loans for disaster resilience projects this year, the agency announced Dec. 19.
- The Safeguarding Tomorrow Revolving Loan Fund offers competitive grants to states, federally recognized territories and tribes, which then allocate the funds to local governments in the form of low-interest loans. The District of Columbia also is eligible.
- The Biden administration tripled the amount of money it’s providing through the program compared with the first round last year due to high levels of interest, according to FEMA. Eligible applicants can apply for the funding between Feb. 1 and 3 p.m. ET on April 30.
Dive Insight:
The Biden administration has made it a priority to help communities become more resilient to natural disasters in the face of worsening climate change impacts. However, many communities with less staff and resources say they struggle to access the funding available for climate-related projects.
In response to such concerns, FEMA streamlined the application process for the Safeguarding Tomorrow Revolving Loan Fund based on feedback it received during the first funding round, the agency said in a press release. It also simplified its online resources explaining how eligible applicants can submit their application materials.
“We listened to our emergency management partners from across the nation and using their guidance, fine-tuned this new program and increased the funding to allow for more under-resourced communities to benefit from this opportunity,” FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said in a statement.
Notably, the Safeguarding Tomorrow Revolving Loan Fund is the only FEMA grant program that explicitly names extreme heat as a qualifying factor, meaning communities can use the money on projects that reduce the impacts of drought and prolonged intense heat. FEMA highlighted in its announcement that the money can also be used for zoning changes, adoption and enforcement of modern building codes, and to fulfill a local government’s cost-share requirement for other FEMA grant programs. FEMA also doesn’t require applicants to submit benefit-cost analyses for projects this program funds.
The grant program is funded with a total of $500 million over five years through the bipartisan infrastructure law.
