Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program (RCPGP) - Region 2 | DHS 23 GPD 111 02 01

Opportunity Information: Apply for DHS 23 GPD 111 02 01

The Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program (RCPGP) for Region 2 is a FEMA grant opportunity under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security designed to strengthen how governments in a region plan and work together for truly large-scale disasters. The program is meant to close known preparedness and response capability gaps, encourage fresh and workable regional solutions, and build on whatever planning and partnerships already exist. At its core, the grant is about increasing regional capacity to manage catastrophic incidents by improving and expanding collaboration across jurisdictions, since events of that scale rarely stay within one city or county and typically overwhelm normal systems.

FEMA ties this funding to the National Response Framework (4th edition or any newer version), which describes a catastrophic incident as a natural or human-caused event, including terrorism, that produces extraordinary mass casualties, severe damage, or major disruption. These impacts can ripple across population health and safety, critical infrastructure, the environment, the economy, national morale, and the ability of government to function. The grant opportunity emphasizes that preventing, protecting against, mitigating, responding to, and recovering from these kinds of incidents requires a coordinated regional approach. In practice, that means planning and readiness activities that connect agencies and levels of government so they can operate as a unified system when the consequences are beyond what any single jurisdiction can handle.

The FY 2023 RCPGP also explicitly aligns with FEMA's 2022-2026 Strategic Plan, using the grant as a way to push forward three broad agency goals: promoting and instilling equity as a foundation of emergency management, leading a whole-of-community approach to climate resilience, and sustaining a ready FEMA and a prepared nation. Consistent with that plan, the program's strategic priorities for FY 2023 are equity, climate resilience, and readiness. This matters because FEMA is signaling that regional catastrophic preparedness is not only about traditional response planning; it is also about who is most at risk, how climate-driven hazards are changing what regions need to plan for, and how preparedness efforts can be structured so they are operationally usable when it counts.

A major theme of the opportunity is equity. The program describes equity-focused preparedness as paying particular attention to disadvantaged groups that may face higher risk due to current hazards, including those worsened by climate change. The intent is to make sure underserved and at-risk communities are not treated as an afterthought in catastrophic planning, but are incorporated in a consistent, systematic way before, during, and after disasters. In other words, applicants are expected to consider how regional plans and collaboration will better protect communities that historically have had fewer resources, less access to services, or greater exposure and vulnerability during emergencies.

From an administrative standpoint, this is a discretionary grant (not a formula program) funded under the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2023 (Public Law 117-328). It falls under the disaster prevention and relief activity category and is associated with CFDA number 97.111. Eligible applicants include state governments, county governments, and city or township governments, which reflects the program's focus on building cross-jurisdictional regional capability. The funding opportunity number is DHS 23 GPD 111 02 01, and the award ceiling is listed as $3,000,000, meaning individual awards can be up to that amount. FEMA expected to make around 10 awards under this opportunity. The opportunity was created on May 23, 2023, and the original application closing date was July 24, 2023.

Overall, the grant can be understood as a targeted investment in regional catastrophic incident preparedness for Region 2, aiming to move communities from fragmented planning toward shared, collaborative readiness. It prioritizes efforts that address known gaps, improve how partners coordinate across boundaries, incorporate climate resilience into regional thinking, and ensure preparedness investments are fair and effective for communities that are most at risk.

• The Department of Homeland Security, Department of Homeland Security - FEMA in the disaster prevention and relief sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program (RCPGP) - Region 2" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 97.111.
• This funding opportunity was created on May 23, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 24, 2023. (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 $3,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 10 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments.

Apply for DHS 23 GPD 111 02 01

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