Hazard Mitigation Funding Under Public Assistance, Section 406

Section 406 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C. 5172, and Title 44 Code of Federal Regulations §206.226 provides FEMA with the authority to fund cost-effective mitigation measures under the Public Assistance (PA) program for repairs, restoration, and replacement of eligible damaged facilities. This grant funding is commonly referred as "406 Mitigation" or PA Mitigation.

406 Mitigation work must be cost effective, applied on the parts of the facility that were actually damaged by the disaster, and reduce future damages to the facility. Only FEMA has the discretion to determine eligibility and approve proposed 406 hazard mitigation projects prior to funding.

The following is a guide to determine cost effectiveness:

• Mitigation measures may amount to up to 15% of the total eligible cost of the eligible repair work on a particular project.
• The mitigation measure does not exceed 100% of the eligible cost of the eligible repair work on the project.
• For measures that exceed the above costs, must demonstrate through an acceptable benefit/cost analysis methodology that the measure is cost effective.
• Duplication of hazard mitigation funding is not allowed. 406 funding cannot be used to meet the non-federal cost share of the other grant.
• 406 Mitigation measures approved for the repair of a facility may not be applied towards an Alternate Project.

406 Mitigation is disaster specific and only applies to disaster applicants for PA. However, there is a separate state administered program, Hazard Mitigation Grant Program - Section 404, that applies to structural and non-structural measures and is not disaster specific.

406 Vs. 404 Hazard Mitigation Funding

In some instances, a combination of 406 and 404 funding may be appropriate. 406 Mitigation funding is used to provide protection to the parts of the facility that were damaged and 404 Hazard Mitigation funding is used to provide protection to the undamaged parts of the facility. The table below outlines the difference between the 406 and 404.

Examples of 406 Mitigation:

• Relocation
• Slope stabilization
• Protection from high winds
• Flood proofing of buildings
• Flood protection of bridges and culverts
• Protection of utilities