HGA has an in-depth knowledge of current legislation and federal regulations as applied to FEMA Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA), Pre-disaster Mitigation (PDM), or Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC), Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP), and NFIP programs. HGA has over a decade of experience managing FEMA Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) projects including wind retrofits, critical facility hardening, hurricane and tornado safe rooms, road elevations, bridge replacements, levee projects, drainage improvements, pump stations, stormwater canal stabilizations, retention ponds, and the reconstruction, elevation, and acquisition of homes. Our grant managers have experience using the new FEMA Grants Outcome (FEMA GO).
We customize our mitigation services to each client to accommodate the environment, extent, and type of damage, demographics, existing plans, local and state regulations, and changes to federal laws. While our services and approach can be customized, HGA promotes standardization within programs to facilitate efficiency. We offer vetted processes, forms, and templates for our HMA programs to more effectively train new staff, replicate past successes, and eliminate file errors. In fact, HGA’s standardized budget templates, milestone inspection checklists, and request for reimbursement packets have been recognized as best practices. We pride ourselves on the consistent quality of our reimbursement requests; not one reimbursement request submitted by HGA has been found ineligible.
HGA has the FEMA Public Assistance (PA) technical knowledge and experience, proven business processes, and policy strategies to help clients recover all losses and build back stronger than ever. Having worked with FEMA for many years, HGA knows how to move projects through the process from post-storm initial damage assessment through approval, obligation, execution, and closeout. Our experts have led innovation and succeeded in eligibility advocacy on force account labor issues, complex emergency protective measure interpretations, applicability of costs related to program management, expansion of cost eligibility in complex programs, unique applications of FEMA’s Section 428 grants (also known as Public Assistance Alternative Procedures [PAAP]), complex benefit-cost analysis (BCA) modeling, waterway debris, and many other eligibility issues. HGA offers the following:
- Real-time access to our FEMA policy experts, to help target funding and expedite obligations
- Comprehensive damage assessments and detailed, expert estimates, to maximize all available funding
- Aerial mapping supported by geographic information system (GIS) applications to document damage
- Experienced-based project formulation, to speed recovery and minimize cash flow requirements
- Fully funded management costs, repair, rehabilitation, reconstruction, and mitigation
- Innovative use of funding options to mitigate future storm impacts, maximize restoration, and harden facilities for future storms
- Collaborative recovery planning as projects are identified
- Best-in-class project controls cost and schedule tracking, with available-on-demand dashboards that provide real-time status tracking of grants and progress, forecast cash flow, and maintain robust documentation
- Workflows with integrated checkpoints that mitigate audit risks and allow rapid, compliant decision-making
- Proactive communication and partnerships with all stakeholders and agencies
- An understanding of the online FEMA Grants Manager, Grants Portal, and EMGrants tools