How to Write an RFP for a Hazard Mitigation Plan Update

TL;DR: Define Done as Approvable Pending Adoption

A hazard mitigation plan update RFP succeeds when it defines done as a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)-approvable plan with an action list ready to fund, according to the guide How to Write an RFP for a Hazard Mitigation Plan Update.

That guide reports FEMA approves a local mitigation plan for five years from the date on its approval letter, with every jurisdiction in a multi-jurisdictional plan sharing that expiration date. The guide also reports FEMA's June 2025 Handbook advises at least 18 months from kickoff to approval, with six months held for state and FEMA review, and scope and funding lined up by year three. Tie final payment to FEMA 'Approvable Pending Adoption' status, the finish line recommended in FEMA's own consultant checklist.

Why an Update Is Not a New Plan

A hazard mitigation plan update is the five-year revision of a local plan that profiles natural hazards, assesses who and what is vulnerable, and sets prioritized actions with owners and funding sources, according to How to Write an RFP for a Hazard Mitigation Plan Update.

The outcome described in that guide is a plan FEMA approves on first review, adopted by every participating jurisdiction, with actions specific enough to become grant applications. The guide states the RFP is for counties, cities, towns and special districts updating under Title 44 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 201.6, regional planning agencies running a multi-jurisdictional plan, and tribal governments updating under 44 CFR 201.7.

The same guide states the vehicle is the wrong purchase for an emergency operations plan or a stand-alone climate adaptation plan, although a good update feeds both. FEMA requirements cover natural hazards, and the plan must justify leaving out any commonly recognized one, according to that guide. Human-caused hazards are optional and add cost.

Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania added annexes for human-caused hazards in its 2024 RFP, according to that guide. Include them only if someone will use them.

Element E of the Policy Guide asks how development in hazard-prone areas changed vulnerability, the status of every action in the previous plan, and how the old plan reached other plans and programs, according to that guide. That guide warns action status is where updates stall. If nobody tracked the prior plan's actions, budget staff time to reconstruct them first.

Rules and Editions to Name in the RFP

Name the regulation and the current policy by date, and tell bidders which edition governs, according to How to Write an RFP for a Hazard Mitigation Plan Update.

That guide lists 44 CFR 201.6 as setting required contents for planning process, risk assessment, mitigation strategy, maintenance and adoption, plus a public comment opportunity during drafting. Tribes follow 44 CFR 201.7 and the Tribal Mitigation Plan Review Guide dated December 2017, listed on FEMA's regulations and guidance page, according to that guide.

The Policy Guide FP-206-21-0002 is FEMA's official interpretation, and its Appendix A Plan Review Tool is the checklist reviewers apply, according to that guide. It superseded the edition released in April 2022, which took effect April 19, 2023.

That guide notes the Policy Guide effective April 11, 2025 dropped the rule, in force since April 2023, that hazard probability include climate change. If the community wants future conditions analyzed, the RFP has to request it.

State additions fall under Element H, according to that guide. Pennsylvania's planning Standard Operating Guide governed the Huntingdon procurement, and New York's 2022 planning standards govern Erie County's. Maryland plans pass through the Maryland Department of Emergency Management before FEMA, as Worcester County's 2025 RFP spells out.

Element G on high hazard potential dams matters only for FEMA dam rehabilitation grants, according to that guide. In the Community Rating System, the 2025 Coordinator's Manual credits a plan built on its 10-step process with up to 382 points under Activity 510.

Baseline data cited in that guide includes FEMA's National Risk Index, covering 18 natural hazards by county and census tract, version 1.20 dated December 2025.

Timeline: Start by Year Three

FEMA gives a local hazard mitigation plan five years from the approval date in its letter, according to How to Write an RFP for a Hazard Mitigation Plan Update. Let it lapse, and the jurisdiction cannot get FEMA mitigation project grants until a new plan is approved under 44 CFR 201.6.

The June 2025 Handbook timeline calls for at least 18 months from kickoff to approval, including six months for state and FEMA review, according to that guide. The guide advises lining up scope and funding by year three of the current plan cycle.

Multi-jurisdictional timing carries a penalty for delay, according to that guide. FEMA dates approval from the first adoption it receives, every participant inherits that expiration date, and a town adopting more than a year after Approvable Pending Adoption status must first confirm its information is current under Policy Guide section 6.4.2. Late adopters lose part of their five years.

Live procurements in September 2026 show the cycle in motion. A Construction Bid Source listing titled Hazard Mitigation Plan Consulting Services, Compton, CA, published September 29, 2026, states the City of Compton is accepting proposals from qualified, experienced hazard mitigation consultants to update the city's plan as a single-jurisdiction FEMA-approved Local Hazard Mitigation Plan. That listing sets a bid date of October 29, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. and a questions deadline of October 8, 2026.

A separate solicitation titled RFQ - 2027 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Update, published September 24, 2026 and updated September 30, 2026, states the Town of Warren, Rhode Island is requesting qualifications from experienced planning and environmental consulting firms or qualified individuals to prepare the town's 2027 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Update.

What Funding Covers in 2026

Across 1,162 local plan updates FEMA approved or funded for fiscal years 2020 to 2025, the median total cost was $53,300 and the middle half ran from $32,268 to $120,000, according to How to Write an RFP for a Hazard Mitigation Plan Update.

The federal share reaches up to 75% under FEMA mitigation grants, and in-kind staff time can count toward the match, according to that guide.

FEMA's $1 billion Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) round for fiscal years 2024 and 2025 removed funding for hazard mitigation planning, according to that guide. That round closed July 23, 2026. Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) authority still lets a state spend up to 7% of its ceiling on planning.

The companion guide How to Write an RFP for FEMA Mitigation Grant Support states a local government needs a FEMA-approved hazard mitigation plan, revised within five years, to stay eligible for project grants under 44 CFR 201.6. That eligibility link is why the update schedule drives project funding.

Tribal funding context underscores the plan requirement. Analysis published by the Urban Institute in the article FEMA's Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Program Is the Largest Source of Federal Hazard Mitigation Funding for Tribes states that from 2020 through 2025, BRIC made $220 million in awards to Indigenous communities. That article states tribal set-asides grew from $20 million in fiscal year 2020 to $75 million in the fiscal year 2024-25 funding cycle. FEMA planned to distribute $1 billion in available funds for that cycle, according to that Urban Institute analysis of FEMA's awards data.

That Urban Institute article states all applicants must have a FEMA-approved hazard mitigation plan and be able to meet cost-sharing. Standard terms require recipients to provide 25% of project costs with nonfederal funds, and some tribes may qualify for a lower 10% share for small, impoverished communities, according to that article.

Scope Language That Prevents Rework

Tell bidders the plan must justify exclusions, document Element E updates, coordinate adoptions, and deliver grant-ready actions, according to How to Write an RFP for a Hazard Mitigation Plan Update.

Require a risk assessment that names the method for probability, including whether future conditions will be analyzed after the April 11, 2025 policy change. Require a vulnerability review that addresses development in hazard-prone areas. Require a mitigation strategy with owners, potential funding sources and prioritization criteria tied to later applications.

For multi-jurisdictional efforts, set a coordinated adoption schedule that avoids the one-year confirmation trigger in section 6.4.2. Name the state reviewer and sequence. For Maryland procurements, that means review by the Maryland Department of Emergency Management before FEMA, as described in Worcester County's 2025 RFP.

State which state standard applies. Cite Pennsylvania's planning Standard Operating Guide, New York's 2022 planning standards, or the applicable state addition under Element H, as illustrated by the Huntingdon, Erie County and Worcester County examples in that guide.

Specify deliverables in editable files plus mapping data, not only a PDF, and define acceptance as Approvable Pending Adoption status before final payment, consistent with FEMA's consultant checklist cited in that guide.

Scoring, Selection and Contract Terms

Score capability to secure first-round approval, not document length, according to the structure recommended in How to Write an RFP for a Hazard Mitigation Plan Update, which offers sample RFP language, scoring weights and real budgets and timelines.

Ask for prior FEMA approvals under the April 11, 2025 Policy Guide, references from multi-jurisdictional updates, and a work plan showing the 18-month path with six months reserved for state and FEMA review. Ask for a staffing plan that covers meeting facilitation, public comment during drafting required by 44 CFR 201.6, and reconstruction of prior action status if tracking is incomplete.

The companion guide How to Write an RFP for FEMA Mitigation Grant Support flags a procurement safeguard relevant to combined scopes: Title 2 CFR 200.319 bars firms that draft a procurement's requirements from competing on it. Decide in the RFP whether the plan-update firm may later design projects or prepare applications.

Use phased options where uncertainty remains. The grant-support guide describes Stowe, Vermont buying a $20,064 benefit-cost analysis as the base phase of a 2025 contract and making the $16,059 application an option. A plan update can use the same approach: base services through Approvable Pending Adoption, with optional adoption support, Community Rating System documentation for Activity 510 credit, or project scoping.