Iowa Homeland Security And Emergency Management Department

Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Department (Iowa HSEMD), a division of the Iowa Department of Agriculture, operates as a federal grant recipient that receives direct awards from FEMA and the Department of Transportation and distributes sub-awards to local governments, counties, municipalities, nonprofit organizations, and state entities throughout Iowa. Iowa HSEMD does not hold federal prime contracts and operates exclusively in the federal grant space as a state pass-through administering agency.

Iowa HSEMD's grant portfolio centers on disaster mitigation, emergency management, hazard preparedness, and security enhancements for nonprofit and public infrastructure. Recent prime grants include a $17.391 million Safeguarding Tomorrow Revolving Loan Fund Program award (CFDA 97.139) from FEMA on August 4, 2026, which establishes and capitalizes a revolving loan fund providing hazard mitigation assistance to local governments across Iowa; a $15.947 million Flood Mitigation Assistance award (CFDA 97.029) from FEMA on April 24, 2026, funding property acquisitions, elevations, and drainage improvements; an $8.408 million Emergency Management Performance Grants award (CFDA 97.042) from FEMA on October 1, 2025, supporting all-hazards preparedness and emergency planning; a $6.719 million State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program award (CFDA 97.137) from FEMA on December 13, 2024, funding cybersecurity enhancements for state and local governments; and a $4.489 million Nonprofit Security Grant Program award (CFDA 97.008) from FEMA on September 1, 2024, supporting physical security enhancements for at-risk nonprofit organizations. Iowa HSEMD also receives formula grants from FEMA's Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP, CFDA 97.067) and project grants under FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Grants Program (HMGP, CFDA 97.005), Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC, CFDA 97.047), and Public Assistance (PA) programs, as well as a $591,850 Interagency Hazardous Materials Public Sector Training and Planning Grants award (CFDA 20.703) from the Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration on October 1, 2025, distributing to five regional Local Emergency Planning Committees.

FEMA dominates Iowa HSEMD's customer base, accounting for 96% of recent awards across FEMA HQ Financial Assistance Awards (130 awards), FEMA (40 awards), and FEMA Incident Support Section (3 awards, $473 thousand combined potential value). The Department of Transportation accounts for the remaining activity through PHMSA hazmat training grants and a single NHTSA award. Iowa HSEMD's award footprint shows significant recent activity with 34 awards in 2024 and 27 in 2022, though 2025 and 2026 show lighter volumes at 9 and 5 awards respectively. Five awards reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, representing near-term recompete exposure. The combined obligated dollars across the portfolio ($7.37 billion) substantially exceed combined potential value ($473 thousand), reflecting the agency's role as a high-volume pass-through distributor of federal mitigation and preparedness funding to sub-recipients rather than a direct service performer. Iowa HSEMD distributes sub-awards across management, planning, capability-and-capacity-building, and program-implementation categories to local emergency planning committees, cities including Dubuque, Cedar Falls, and Vinton, Iowa State University, and specialized entities such as the Safeguard Iowa Partnership. Place of performance for Iowa HSEMD operations centers on Clive and Windsor Heights, Iowa, with sub-recipient performance distributed statewide.