Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG)

The Emergency Management Performance Grant Program (EMPG) is a federal grant program from DHS/FEMA administered through the North Carolina Dept. of Public Safety (NCDPS) / North Carolina Emergency Management (NCEM) in the state of NC.

EMPG provides states with funding to implement the National Preparedness System and work towards the National Preparedness Goal of a secure and resilient nation. EMPG’s allowable costs support efforts to build and sustain core capabilities across the prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery mission areas to address certain specified national and regional priority areas.

At its root, EMPG provides funds to sustain and enhance all-hazards emergency management capabilities.  North Carolina recognizes that a statewide comprehensive emergency management program begins at the local level; that is why NCEM coordinates EMPG activities through all 100 counties and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) across the state.
 

FY25 Emergency Management Preparedness Grant (EMPG)

FY25 EMPG 2.0 Program Guidance Document

All counties and federally recognized tribes in North Carolina are eligible to apply for FY25 EMPG funding. Refer to the FY25 EMPG 2.0 Program Guidance Document for details.
 

FY25 EMPG Priorities and Core Capabilities

FEMA has identified seven national priority areas for the FY25 EMPG Program. These priorities strengthen nationwide preparedness and emphasize equitable, resilient, and coordinated emergency management.

  • National Priority Areas: 
  • Extreme Weather Resilience
  • Catastrophic Disaster Housing
  • Disaster Financial Management
  • Evacuation Plan/Annex
  • Logistics - Distribution Management Planning 
  • Continuity of Government
  • Resilient Communications
     

From these seven national priority areas, a total of six regional priority areas have been identified for FY25 EMPG in North Carolina: 

  1. Mass Care Services, 
  2. Mass Search and Rescue, 
  3. Community Protection and Resilience, 
  4. Information Delivery, 
  5. Life-Sustaining Goods Delivery/Logistics and Distribution Management, 
  6. Alignment of Regional Initiatives to Ensure at least 87.5% of all projects that include Planning,Training, and/or Exercise deliverables align with closing capability gaps identified and documented in the state/territory’s most recent THIRA/SPR submission (and other relevant information sources).

From these six regional priority areas, a total of five core capabilities have been identified for FY25 EMPG in North Carolina: 

  1. Planning, 
  2. Operational Coordination, 
  3. Logistics & Supply Chain Management, 
  4. Intelligence and Information Sharing, 
  5. Community Resilience.

All projects submitted in the NCEM FY25 EMPG Work Plan for funding approval by DHS/FEMA must support these specified priorities and core capabilities within the prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery mission areas.
 

FY25 EMPG total federal funding target allocation for NC: $8,558,068

Pass-Through: States are not required to pass-through any amount of EMPG funding to subrecipients; however, North Carolina has committed to passing through a percentage of its EMPG funding to eligible counties and federally recognized tribes. 

Eligibility: Each of the 100 counties and federally recognized tribes are eligible to apply for EMPG funding through NCEM.  No private, non-profit or other governmental organizations are eligible to apply for EMPG funding. 

Cost Share or Match: EMPG has a 50% non-federal cost-share/match requirement, which can be cash (hard match) or in-kind (soft match). Eligible EMPG subrecipients are required to provide this 50% non-federal cost-share/match as a condition of their award.  For example, if a county is sub-awarded $100,000 of federal EMPG funding by NCEM, they must expend at least that same amount in county funds, either cash or in-kind, for their approved EMPG projects/activities. 

FY25 EMPG Federal Period of Performance (POP): 10/01/24 – 9/30/27. EMPG is unique in that the POP begins the year before the award is actually received from DHS/FEMA.  This is the federal POP, not the County POP. The County POP is different and shorter than the federal POP.
 

Application Procedures

North Carolina's EMPG program provides the opportunity for eligible counties (and EBCI) to apply for baseline EMPG funding. To align efforts between State and county emergency management, specific programmatic deliverables are identified and agreed to by both parties.

To receive funding, counties must complete 7 baseline program deliverables during the specified period of performance.  These baseline program deliverables for FY25 EMPG are documented in the North Carolina Emergency Management Preparedness Grants Portal (NCPGP) in Salesforce.  If counties do not properly complete the required baseline program deliverables, they will not receive funding.
 

DateMilestoneNotes
October 1, 2024County Application Period OpenedFY25 EMPG applications opened in Salesforce on 10/01/2024.
December 31, 2024County Application Period ClosedFY25 EMPG applications closed in Salesforce on 12/31/2024.
July 28, 2025Federal Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) AnnouncedNCEM assesses changes to EMPG program and works with programs to modify applications if necessary.
Early July 2026MOAs sent to Counties for Signatures 
July 1, 2025County Period of Performance BeginsCounty POP start date retroactive to 7/1/25.
December 31, 2026County Period of Performance EndsCounty POP end date. All expenditures must be invoiced and paid, and all goods & services must be received, by POP end date. All required actions must be completed.
February 28, 2027Reimbursement Requests / Closeout DeadlineAll documentation is required to be submitted no later than 2/28/2027 to close out the grant. No extensions available.

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