[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 124 (Wednesday, June 29, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38771-38773]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-13803]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Federal Emergency Management Agency

[Docket ID: FEMA- FEMA-2021-0029; OMB No. 1660-0072]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request; Mitigation Grant Programs (Including 
Mitigation (MT) Grants Management (Formerly Mitigation (MT) Electronic 
Grants (eGrants) and FEMA GO) for Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA), 
Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) and Pre-
Disaster Mitigation (PDM)

AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland 
Security.

ACTION: 30-Day notice of revision and request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will submit the 
information collection abstracted below to the Office of Management and 
Budget for review and clearance in accordance with the requirements of 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This notice

[[Page 38772]]

seeks comments concerning FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) 
grant programs specifically, the Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program (PDM), 
the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, 
and the Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) program. Under FEMA's HMA 
grant programs, State, local, Tribal, and Territorial governments 
(SLTTs) seek assistance to support disaster mitigation and provide 
opportunities to reduce or eliminate potential losses to SLTTs.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before July 29, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the information collection should be made to Director, 
Information Management Division, 500 C Street SW, Washington, DC 20472, 
at email address [email protected] 
or Jennie Orenstein, Branch Chief, Policy, Tools and Training Branch, 
Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration, FEMA, at 
[email protected], and 202-212-4071.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This collection of information is necessary 
to implement grants for the FMA, PDM, and BRIC programs.
    The FMA program is authorized pursuant to Sec. 1366, 42 U.S.C. 
4104c of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968, as amended. FMA was 
created as part of the National Flood Insurance Reform Act (NFIRA) of 
1994, Public Law 103-325. The Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act 
of 2012 (BW-12), Public Law 112-141, consolidated the Repetitive Flood 
Claims (RFC) and Severe Repetitive Loss grant (SRL) programs into FMA. 
Under FMA, cost-share requirements were changed to allow more Federal 
funds for properties with repetitive flood claims. The FMA program, 
under 44 CFR part 77 (as of October 1, 2021, previously under 44 CFR 
part 79), provides funding for measures taken to reduce or eliminate 
the long-term risk of flood damage to buildings, manufactured homes, 
and other structures insured under the National Flood Insurance Program 
(NFIP).
    PDM is authorized under Sec. 203, 42 U.S.C. 5133, of the Robert T. 
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Stafford Act), 
Public Law 93-288, as amended by Sec. 102 of the Disaster Mitigation 
Act of 2000, Public Law 106-390. This 30-day FRN differs from the 60-
day FRN because FEMA recently decided to resume providing grants under 
the PDM Program to administer congressionally directed spending for 
pre-disaster hazard mitigation. The PDM Program makes federal funds 
available to state, local, tribal, and territorial governments to plan 
for and implement sustainable cost-effective measures designed to 
reduce the risk to individuals and property from future natural 
hazards, while also reducing reliance on federal funding from future 
disasters. The purpose of the PDM Program is to administer 
Congressionally directed spending for pre-disaster hazard mitigation.
    On August 4, 2020, FEMA established the BRIC program, implementing 
Section 1234 of the Disaster Recovery Reform Act (DRRA), Public Law 
115-254. BRIC replaced the PDM grant program that was previously 
authorized under Sec. 203 of the Stafford Act, 42 U.S.C. 5133.
    The BRIC program is designed to promote a national culture of 
preparedness and public safety through encouraging investments to 
protect our communities and infrastructure and through strengthening 
national mitigation capabilities to foster resilience. The BRIC program 
seeks to fund effective and innovative projects that will reduce risk, 
increase resilience, and serve as a catalyst to encourage the whole 
community to invest in and adopt policies related to mitigation.
    The guiding principles of the BRIC program include: (1) support 
State and local governments, Tribes, and territories through 
capability- and capacity-building, to enable them to identify 
mitigation actions and implement projects that reduce risks posed by 
natural hazards; (2) encourage and enable innovation while allowing 
flexibility, consistency, and effectiveness; (3) promote partnerships 
and enable high-impact investments to reduce risk from natural hazards 
with a focus on critical services and facilities, public 
infrastructure, public safety, public health, and communities; (4) 
provide a significant opportunity to reduce future losses and minimize 
impacts on the Disaster Relief Fund; (5) promote equity, including by 
helping members of disadvantaged groups and prioritizing 40 percent of 
the benefits to disadvantaged communities as referenced in Executive 
Order (E.O.) 14008 in line with the Administration's Justice40 
Initiative; and (6) support the adoption and enforcement of building 
codes, standards, and policies that will protect the health, safety, 
and general welfare of the public, taking into account future 
conditions, prominently including the effects of climate change, and 
have long-lasting impacts on community risk reduction, including for 
critical services and facilities and for future disaster costs. The 
BRIC program distributes funds annually and applies a Federal/Non-
Federal cost share.
    In accordance with 2 CFR 200.203, FEMA requires that all parties 
interested in receiving FEMA mitigation grants submit an application 
package for grant assistance. Applications and subapplications for 
BRIC, PDM and FMA are submitted via the appropriate system for the 
respective programs, FEMAGo and eGrants. The FEMA GO and eGrants system 
have been developed to meet the intent of the e-Government initiative, 
authorized by Public Law 106-107. This initiative requires that all 
Government agencies both streamline grant application processes and 
provide for the means to electronically create, review and submit a 
grant application via the internet.
    In order to ensure the timely closeout of grants, 2 CFR 200.329 
requires that Non-Federal Entities ``must monitor its activities under 
Federal awards to assure compliance with applicable Federal 
requirements and performance expectations are being achieved.'' 
Therefore, under 2 CFR part 200 (for BRIC and PDM) and 44 CFR 77.3 
(FMA), recipients must complete and submit progress report(s) to the 
FEMA Regional Administrator on a quarterly basis, certifying how the 
funds are being used and reporting on the progress of activities funded 
under the subrecipient awards made to the Recipient by FEMA. The 
Regional Administrator and Recipient negotiate the date for submission 
of the first report. Quarterly Progress Reports describe the status of 
those projects on which a final payment of the Federal share has not 
been made to the Recipient, and outline any problems or circumstances 
expected to result in noncompliance with the approved award conditions.
    This proposed information collection previously published in the 
Federal Register on December 14, 2021, at 86 FR 71073 with a 60-day 
public comment period. FEMA received two comments during this public 
comment period. The comments include feedback and substantive 
recommendations on program policy and implementation. However, the 
information collection is not designed to directly address changes to 
policy and implementation

[[Page 38773]]

effectiveness. The comments will be reviewed and, as appropriate, 
considered for general program development. Thank you for the 
substantive comments. The purpose of this notice is to notify the 
public that FEMA will submit the information collection abstracted 
below to the Office of Management and Budget for review and clearance.

Collection of Information

    Title: Mitigation Grant Programs (including Mitigation (MT) Grants 
Management (formerly Mitigation (MT) Electronic Grants (eGrants) and 
FEMA GO) for Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA), Building Resilient 
Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) and Pre-Disaster Mitigation 
(PDM)).
    Type of Information Collection: Revision of a currently approved 
collection.
    OMB Number: 1660-0072.
    FEMA Forms: FEMA Form FF-206-FY-22-151, Quarterly Progress Report 
(QFR).
    Abstract: FEMA's FMA and BRIC programs use an automated grant 
application and management system called FEMA GO. The PDM program uses 
an automated grant application and management system called MT e-
Grants. These grant programs provide funding for the purpose of 
reducing or eliminating the risks to life and property from hazards. 
The FEMA GO and eGrants systems include all the application information 
needed to apply for funding under these grant programs. FEMA and SLTTs 
use the BRIC Panel Review Form to solicit volunteers from SLTTs and 
Other Federal Agencies (OFA) to review sub-applicant project 
applications. The volunteers will review, and score applications based 
on a pre-determined scoring criteria. The PDM, FMA, and BRIC programs 
will use the same QPR Form.
    Affected Public: State, Local, Tribal, or Territorial Governments.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 660.
    Estimated Number of Responses: 6,596.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 104,168.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost: $6,228,883.
    Estimated Respondents' Operation and Maintenance Costs: $0.
    Estimated Respondents' Capital and Start-Up Costs: $0.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost to the Federal Government: $7,739,695.

Comments

    Comments may be submitted as indicated in the ADDRESSES caption 
above. Comments are solicited to (a) evaluate whether the proposed data 
collection is necessary for the proper performance of the agency, 
including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) 
evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used; (c) enhance the quality, utility, and 
clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) minimize the burden 
of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including 
through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or 
other technological collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses.

Millicent Brown Wilson,
Records Management Branch Chief, Office of the Chief Administrative 
Officer, Mission Support, Federal Emergency Management Agency, 
Department of Homeland Security.
[FR Doc. 2022-13803 Filed 6-28-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9111-BW-P


