Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Emergency Management Baseline Assessment Grant (EMBAG) | DHS 22 NPD 131 00 01

Opportunity Information: Apply for DHS 22 NPD 131 00 01

The Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Emergency Management Baseline Assessment Grant (EMBAG) is a discretionary FEMA cooperative agreement offered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Its central goal is to strengthen day-to-day emergency management capability nationwide before disasters happen by supporting credible, voluntary national standards for emergency management programs and for the professionals who lead them. In practical terms, the grant is meant to help states, tribes, territories, and local jurisdictions measure where they stand, identify gaps, and work toward having accredited emergency management programs and certified emergency managers in place ahead of an incident rather than trying to build capacity in the middle of a crisis.

The opportunity focuses on national-level standards and peer review assessment processes that jurisdictions can use as a consistent benchmark. Those standards are intended to be consensus-driven, meaning they are established, validated, and revised through a collaborative process rather than being set by a single entity. EMBAG supports the work needed to keep these standards current over time, including maintaining, updating, revising, enhancing, and testing the standards and the peer assessment methods that go with them. The emphasis on testing is important because it helps ensure the standards and assessments are usable in real-world settings, not just on paper.

A second major thrust of EMBAG is accreditation: the grant supports related efforts to develop or update national-level accreditation connected to these standards. Accreditation here functions as a formal way for emergency management programs to demonstrate they meet established benchmarks, helping jurisdictions show preparedness maturity and helping partners and the public have more confidence in program quality. A third supported activity is the actual assessment of selected state, local, tribal, and territorial emergency management programs and emergency managers against the national standards, using the peer review approach to evaluate capabilities, document shortfalls, and outline a path toward compliance.

Legally, FEMA frames this work as "other assistance" authorized under Section 503(b)(2)(G) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 313(b)(2)(G)), which covers building tribal, local, state, regional, and national capabilities needed to respond to natural disasters, terrorism, and other man-made disasters. That framing signals that this program is aimed at core capability-building and the infrastructure of emergency management practice, rather than direct disaster response operations.

From an administrative standpoint, this was released as Funding Opportunity Number DHS 22 NPD 131 00 01, categorized under Disaster Prevention and Relief and Information and Statistics, with CFDA number 97.131. The eligible applicant pool is fairly broad within the research and nonprofit ecosystem, including public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, and nonprofit organizations both with and without 501(c)(3) status (as long as they are not institutions of higher education in the nonprofit category). The funding instrument is a cooperative agreement, which generally indicates FEMA expects a more active partnership and ongoing involvement than a standard grant, such as substantial agency engagement in project direction, coordination, or oversight.

For FY 2022, the listed award ceiling was $695,000, with an expectation of four awards. The opportunity was created on May 23, 2022, and the original closing date was July 7, 2022. Overall, EMBAG is best understood as an investment in the national emergency management "system of standards" - the frameworks, accreditation pathways, and peer assessment processes that help jurisdictions consistently evaluate and improve preparedness and professionalize emergency management leadership across the country.

• The Department of Homeland Security, Department of Homeland Security - FEMA in the disaster prevention and relief, information and statistics sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Emergency Management Baseline Assessment Grant (EMBAG)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 97.131.
• This funding opportunity was created on May 23, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 07, 2022. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $695,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 4 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education.

Apply for DHS 22 NPD 131 00 01

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