The funding notice for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant (RCPGP), representing $12 million in competitive-based federal assistance, was released on May 24, 2023. Now, weeks later, the deadline for eligible states and governments to apply is fast approaching: 5 p.m. ET on July 24, 2023.
The FY 2023 RCPGP, as authorized and appropriated by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (Pub. L. No. 117-328), provides funding to close known capability gaps, encourage innovative regional solutions to issues related to catastrophic incidents, and build on existing regional preparedness efforts.
A catastrophic incident, as defined by the National Response Framework, is any natural or human-caused incident, including an act of terrorism, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the population, infrastructure, environment, economy, national morale, or government functions.
Proper planning and prevention can reduce the catastrophic impact of such incidents on communities, particularly vulnerable populations. The RCPGP aims to build regional capacity to manage catastrophic incidents by improving and expanding collaboration for catastrophic incident preparedness.
For the FY 2023 RCPGP, FEMA is implementing four strategic priorities: housing, equity, climate resilience, and readiness, with an emphasis on the needs of disadvantaged communities. Accordingly, applicants are expected to involve associated representatives in the development and execution of proposed projects to ensure community needs are sufficiently addressed. However, it is important to note that applicants can apply for at most $3 million, as FEMA anticipates providing 5-10 awards.
Applications for the FY 2023 RCPGP must be submitted through Grants.gov. The deadline is 5 p.m. ET on Monday, July 24, 2023.
Want to learn more about the policies and procedures for managing preparedness grants? Refer to FEMA’s Preparedness Grants Manual for program-specific information and overall guidance for rules and regulations. It is available for download at https://www.fema.gov/grants/preparedness/manual.
