Grant writers on hazard mitigation applications

Where is the mitigation project?

Gather the inputs FEMA's BCA Toolkit needs for a hazard mitigation project: cost, damage history, hazard data and benefits. A free checklist.

  • Free to read
  • No sign-up until the draft
  • Hands off to the right door
WETLAND · 0.6 AC (NWI) CROSSING · 24 IN CULVERT HUC-12 180201250701

ePlan fills in

  • Flood zone
  • Past storm events
  • Watershed and peak flows
  • Streams

How it works

BCA inputs checklist, from one answer

  1. Enter the site, the program and the project cost.
  2. ePlan pulls the flood zone, storm history and stream data for the inputs.
  3. Read the free checklist; an engineer runs the BCA. Need a town emergency plan? Start an EOP draft.

What you get

BCA inputs checklist and 1 more document

The check is free. The paperwork after it is drafted at the Emergency operations plan door.

The first draft

BCA inputs checklist (free)

  1. Project description and useful life
  2. Project cost and maintenance
  3. Hazard and damage history, with sources
  4. Benefits to count: avoided damage and loss of service
  5. Data an engineer must supply
  6. Toolkit run notes

Modeled on: FEMA BCA Toolkit

Next · 2

Emergency operations plan

  1. Hazards and risks
  2. Roles and coordination
  3. Annexes

From public data

What ePlan fills in, and from where

1.0

is the benefit-cost ratio a FEMA Hazard Mitigation Assistance project must meet or beat to count as cost-effective
Source: FEMA, Benefit-Cost Analysis

Ready for the paperwork?

Draft an emergency operations plan and continuity plan for a small county, town, district or tribe, in FEMA's CPG 101 structure. Free to read.

Emergency operations plan →

Questions

BCA inputs checklist: what people ask

What ratio does FEMA require?

A benefit-cost ratio of 1.0 or greater. Hazard Mitigation Assistance applicants must use FEMA-approved methodologies and tools to show it.

Source: fema.gov

Has the BCA Toolkit changed?

FEMA lists an October 1, 2026 update to the BCA Toolkit that adds new import and export options. Download the current version before you run the analysis.

Source: fema.gov

What else makes an HMGP project eligible?

It must be cost-effective and substantially reduce the risk of future damage from a major disaster, address a problem that keeps happening or poses a significant risk to public health and safety, and cost no more than the damage it is expected to prevent.

Source: ecfr.gov

The rules this door follows