Mitigation Management

Related Information

SEMA’s Mitigation Management Section works with local communities to reduce or avoid the adverse impacts that disasters have on Missourians. Hazard mitigation is any sustained action taken to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to people and property from natural hazards and their effects. This definition distinguishes actions that have a long-term impact from those that are more closely associated with immediate preparedness, response, and recovery activities.

Hazard mitigation is the only phase of emergency management specifically dedicated to breaking the cycle of damage, reconstruction, and repeated damage. Community mitigation projects range from voluntary flood buyouts to building community tornado safe rooms; replacing county- and community-owned culverts and low water crossings; stabilizing stream banks; and burying public electric utilities.

Mitigation Management administrates grants which assist local government agencies and training their employees, much of the information following is about specialized training, worksheets, and guidance documents; therefore is not aimed at the general public.

The general public will need to go through their local government to inquire regarding grants such as a buyout, tornado safe rooms, generators for critical facilities, etc.  Missouri does not offer any type of financial assistance or rebates for residential tornado safe rooms. The tornado safe rooms constructed within Missouri are geared towards community and school district safe rooms.

Successful Mitigation Project Types:

Flood Buyouts

Before Mitigation

Visual description of flood buyouts before mitigation

Visual description of flood buyouts before mitigation

After Mitigation

Visual description of flood buyouts after mitigation

Visual description of flood buyouts after mitigation

Tornado Safe Rooms

Tornado Safe Rooms

Tornado Safe Rooms

Tornado Safe Rooms

Low Water Crossing Replacement

Before Mitigation

Visual description of a low water crossing before mitigation

After Mitigation

Visual description of a low water crossing after mitigation

Mitigation Information for Eligible Subapplicants

Unified Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) Grants

Mitigation grants (see detailed information further down the page):

  • Non-disaster (annually funded) grant programs:
    • Building Resilient Infrastructure & Communities (BRIC)
    • Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA)
  • Post-disaster grant program:
    • Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP)

Note: Please contact SEMA’s Mitigation Section to determine if funds are available under the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program or non-disaster grant programs.

HMGP Applications

HMGP Safe Room Application

HMGP Buyout Application

HMGP General Construction-Siren-Generator Application

Other Helpful Information

Eligible Subapplicants

For the most part, applications must be submitted by an "eligible" city, county, special district, public school, university, or community college to be considered for funding. In some cases, counties or communities may apply for a mitigation grant on behalf of a private school, university, or two-year college. Due to various requirements, applications from individuals cannot be accepted; however, an eligible subapplicant may apply for funding to mitigate private structures in cases of flood buyouts.

All interested subapplicants must apply to the Applicant (Missouri State Emergency Management Agency). The table below identifies, in general, eligible subapplicants. For specific details regarding eligible subapplicants, refer to 44 CFR Part 206.434(a) for HMGP and 44 CFR Part 79.6(a) for FMA. See 44 CFR Part 206.2(16) for a definition of local governments.

Eligible Activities

Eligibility Planning Requirements

Two FEMA approved hazard mitigation plans (State Plan and Local Plan) are required to establish mitigation grant eligibility. Planning information is offered below.

Hazard Mitigation Plans: Approved and Expiration Dates

Hazard Mitigation Plan Format Guidance (Chapters 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, & other documents)

Meeting Kits can be located in the Missouri Hazard Mitigation Viewer (See Below) or contact the staff at Mitigation Management/SEMA.

To subscribe to FEMA’s notification system for grant funding opportunities, including Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) and Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) programs:

Interested jurisdictions should submit a Notice of Interest (NOI) to SEMA to be considered for any of these grant programs. NOIs can be submitted at any time and are kept on file for two years. Depending on the specific program funding opportunity and when FEMA releases the Notification of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), NOIs are due to SEMA 30 business days after the NOFO announcement. This allows enough time for staff to conduct a thorough review, including an analysis of the cost benefit, Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs), budget, type of eligible project, and other necessary requirements. This must occur before the jurisdiction is selected for application development, which is also dependent on budget and/or declared areas. The jurisdiction will be notified if their NOI has been selected, and must then submit their application utilizing FEMA’s new grants management system (FEMA GO) before the SEMA due date provided at that time. SEMA and the jurisdiction will continue to coordinate during the application development process in order to submit all necessary documentation before FEMA’s final deadline.

Hazard Mitigation Grant Process

Notice of Interest (NOI) Forms

Please note that an NOI form is not a project or plan application. Also note that completing an NOI does not guarantee funding. The sole purpose of the NOI is to inform SEMA Mitigation that an eligible subapplicant is interested in pursuing a mitigation project or planning grant to gage interest in specific grants that may receive funding.

Benefit Cost Analysis (BCA) Requirements (Revised September 2020, Version 6.0)

FEMA requires that mitigation project applications be accompanied by a Benefit Cost Analysis (developed on FEMA software) that demonstrates a future savings of at least one dollar for every dollar expended on any mitigation project. A project is considered cost-effective when the BCR is 1.0 or greater.

Note: Use of FEMA’s Benefit Cost Analysis Revised (BCAR) software is mandatory for all non-disaster mitigation project grant applications and any HMGP projects funded from disasters declared after June 1, 2009. The software can be downloaded on FEMA's site.

FEMA GO (FEMA Grants Outcomes) Electronic Grant Application for BRIC and FMA

FEMA’s FEMA Go is an online portal for accessing the mitigation applications used to seek funding for PDM and FMA mitigation grants. The FEMA GO applications are available at: https://go.fema.gov/login?redirect=%2F

To access this portal, the subapplicant’s CEO/Official must sign and send, by email, to SEMA a completed Authorization Matrix (see below) that identifies the staff members, by name, who will access FEMA GO on behalf of the subapplicant. The Authorization Matrix must identify the authority given to each staff member listed. The bottom of the form will be for those who will be creating the application.

The subapplicant’s staff identified to receive Sign/Submit authority on the Authorization Matrix must also have the authority to financially bind (top of form) the subapplicant’s jurisdiction to providing the required non-federal mitigation grant match and comply with all the requirements included in the grant guidance and grant agreement. Please note that SEMA recommends that sub-applicants identify at least two people to hold Sign/Submit authority in case the primary individual is not available when the application must be submitted in FEMA GO.

SEMA cannot grant Sign/Submit authority until the Authorization Matrix, with a signature is received by email. Sign/Submit authority cannot be given to contractors, grant writers, or others who do not meet the requirements included in the proceeding statements.

Each eligible staff member who needs to access FEMA GO, to work on and submit an application, must create a user profile with username and password before SEMA will have the ability to grant the authorities within FEMA GO (See Creating a FEMA GO User Profile in Missouri).

Most Recent Mitigation Grant Guidance

General Information for All Mitigation Projects