GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES AND NOT FOR PROFIT CORPORATIONS LOCATED WITHIN THE GEOGRAPHIC BOUNDARIES OF THE HUDSON RIVER ESTUARY AND DIVISION OF MARINE RESOURCES PRIORITY AREAS

Applications will be accepted through 3:00 p.m. May 4, 2022 for grant funding under the 2022 Hudson River Estuary Grants Program for Tributary Restoration and Resiliency and Marine Habitat Tributary Restoration and Resiliency Grants. Anticipated grant funds from the New York State Environmental Protection Fund (NYS EPF) is approximately $1,000,000. This is a competitive grant program and projects must achieve the objectives of the Hudson River Estuary Action Agenda (https://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/5104.html), or the New York State Ocean Action Plan (https://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/84428.html) identified in the Request for Application. Projects eligible for state assistance must be located within the geographic boundaries of the Hudson River Estuary or Marine Resources Priority Areas. The recipient must provide a match of at least 15% of the grant funding amount.

Applications must be completed online and are available on the New York State Grants Gateway at https://grantsgateway.ny.gov. The application ID Numbers are DEC01-HRE35-2022 (Hudson River Estuary Program) and DEC01-DMRTRB-2022 (Division of Marine Resources). All applicants must register in the Gateway to be eligible to apply for any NYS grant opportunity. Not-for-profit applicants must also be “prequalified” in the Grants Gateway system prior to the application deadline to be considered eligible for a grant. Information regarding registration and prequalification can be found at https://grantsmanagement.ny.gov/. Information regarding the Hudson River Estuary grant applications can be found at https://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/5091.html. Information regarding Division of Marine Resources grant applications can be found at https://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/84428.html. For additional information, you may contact: Department of Environmental Conservation, Hudson River Estuary Program at the above address or e-mail: [email protected]

INDIAN TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS, LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AND CERTAIN PRIVATE NON-PROFITS (PNPs)

The New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES) is pleased to announce the availability of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) funds for Presidential Declaration: DR-4625 (Tropical Storm Fred).

(To disseminate program information to the widest possible audience, DHSES places program information on its website and asks that County Emergency Managers, Mitigation Coordinators, and other recipients of this notice to forward the information to interested eligible subapplicants in your County.)

* Please note: Advance Assistance (project scoping) and 5 Percent Initiative subapplications are also eligible for submission through this funding opportunity. All program requirements are available in FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) Unified Guidance and Addendum.

What is the HMGP?

After a Presidential disaster declaration, New York State receives HMGP funds to administer grant programs that support hazard mitigation planning and long-term mitigation measures that avoid loss of life, reduce damages to property and enhance the State’s resiliency.

• The State of New York, acting through DHSES, is the applicant for FEMA’s HMGP.

• Eligible subapplicants: Federally recognized Indian Tribal Governments, local governments (to include State-recognized Indian Tribes and authorized Indian Tribal organizations), and certain Private Non-Profits (PNPs) that perform a government-like function. Eligible applicants under FEMA’s Public Assistance (PA) program are also eligible subapplicants under the HMGP.

• Ineligible subapplicants for HMGP assistance include individuals and businesses; however, eligible subapplicants may apply on their behalf.

• HMGP provides up to 75% reimbursement of eligible costs, not to exceed the award. There is a remaining 25% non-federal match. The non-federal cost share may consist of cash, donated or in-kind services, materials, or any combination thereof. While most Federal funds cannot be used for the non-federal match, there are some exceptions.¹

• Information about the HMGP and all program requirements are available in FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) Unified Guidance and Addendum (see link to guidance under “How to Apply” at the end of this announcement).

• HMGP funded projects must be cost-effective through verification that future benefits (losses avoided) are equal to or greater than the project’s cost.

To receive HMGP funding, FEMA requires that a project be proven cost-effective using FEMA’s Benefit-Cost Analysis (BCA) Toolkit.² If a formal BCA achieving a Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR) of 1.0 or greater (with supporting documentation) is not provided, substantive information to demonstrate that a BCR of 1.0 or greater is achievable must be included. Either instance requires supporting documentation, including but not limited to: a completed NYS DHSES BCA Worksheet, documentation of historical damages (which may include a detailed attestation by a community official), copies of invoices, Project Worksheets (PWs) from FEMA’s Public Assistance (PA) program, likelihood of future damages (including the population impacted).

State Priorities for Project Grants

The HMGP allows NYS to establish priorities that target damaged areas and enhance its resiliency posture by promoting strategies and activities identified in the NYS Standard Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan (https://mitigateny.availabs.org/strategies). For this grant opportunity, HMGP funding will only be available in declared disaster counties for new subapplications and for resubmittals of projects previously deemed eligible by FEMA but unable to be funded through prior grant opportunities. All projects submitted will be ranked against each other based on priorities outlined below. The declared counties include: Allegany, Cayuga, Cortland, Lewis, Oneida, Onondaga, Steuben, Tioga, Yates.

PRIORITIZATION CRITERIA

Justice40 Initiative:

In accordance with the guiding principle of promoting equity and in implementing the Justice40 Initiative, the HMGP program is prioritizing assistance that benefits disadvantaged communities as referenced in Presidential Executive Order 14008. A disadvantaged community may be characterized by variables including, but not limited to: Low income; high and/or persistent poverty; high unemployment and underemployment; racial and ethnic segregation, particularly where the segregation stems from discrimination by government entities; linguistic isolation; high housing cost burden and substandard housing; distressed neighborhoods; high transportation cost burden and/or low transportation access; disproportionate environmental stressor burden and high cumulative impacts; limited water and sanitation access and affordability; disproportionate impacts from climate; high energy cost burden and low energy access; jobs lost through the energy transition; access to health care; and all geographic areas within Tribal jurisdictions.

As a result of New York State support of the federal Justice40 Initiative, DHSES is prioritizing projects that benefit the highest-risk communities and underserved populations within the State. Subapplicants are encouraged to make their case that a proposed project benefits disadvantaged communities (as outlined in the paragraph above). All cases submitted with disadvantaged community identification will be considered when supported utilizing predefined datasets (ex: SVI, ACS, NRI, etc.), supporting documents (ex: income surveys, local employment statistics, etc.), or any reasonable, and/or verifiable measure are used to support the high-risk criteria status determination. The final acceptance/approval of any disadvantaged community case will be determined by FEMA.

How to Apply

Complete subapplications must be submitted to DHSES no later than 5:00pm on June 1, 2022. For resubmittals of projects previously deemed eligible by FEMA, please be sure to submit using the subapplication package for DR-4625 (see link below).

Subapplications, all required forms, and guidance materials can be found on the DHSES website at: www.dhses.ny.gov/hazard-mitigation

Please submit requests for technical assistance and/or questions to: [email protected]

___________

¹ Please consult FEMA's cost share guide (https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/2020-08/fema_hma_cost-share-guide.pdf) for more information.

² Visit FEMA's Benefit Cost Analysis website for more information: https://www.fema.gov/grants/guidance-tools/benefit-cost-analysis