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Delaware's next deadline is adoption: 18 towns, including Dover, haven't adopted their new county plans. Every Delaware plan's dates, 2026 to 2031.
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Which Delaware Hazard Mitigation Plans Expire Next? The 2026–2031 Calendar
Delaware's next hazard mitigation deadline isn't an expiration date. It's adoption. FEMA has approved new five-year plans for Kent and New Castle counties, but on November 2, 2026, FEMA's plan records showed 18 towns, home to about 78,000 people, still listed as "approvable, pending adoption." Dover, Smyrna and Milford are among them. Until each town council adopts its county's plan, the town can't receive FEMA mitigation project grants.
The next expiration is Sussex County's. Its plan, which covers the county, its beach towns and 21 municipalities in all, expires January 2, 2028, and FEMA's records show the update in progress. Delaware's state hazard mitigation plan says the local update process starts two years before a plan expires, so Sussex is on schedule if the work keeps moving.
If you run a Delaware town listed below as pending, the most valuable step this year is a council vote. The calendar below covers every Delaware plan through 2031, from FEMA's records on November 2, 2026.
We track these dates because we built the tool that shows them. CF Labs, Council Fire's software studio, turned FEMA's daily plan records into a public hazard mitigation plan tracker that covers every state. Council Fire, a certified B Corp since 2010, was an implementation and stakeholder engagement partner for Phase I of the Annapolis Maritime Resilience Initiative, across the bay, and we published the same calendar for Maryland, where the plan of Worcester County, Sussex's neighbor to the south, lapsed in October 2025.
Why does adoption matter as much as approval?
Because eligibility belongs to each jurisdiction, not the county. Under 44 CFR 201.6, a local government needs a FEMA-approved hazard mitigation plan to receive FEMA mitigation project grants, and in a multi-jurisdictional plan each participating government has to adopt it. The Village of Ardencroft's notice of New Castle County's 2026 update put it plainly: "Jurisdictions that do not adopt the Plan will not be eligible for pre- and post-disaster mitigation funds," it said before its vote.
Delaware's state plan names the cost. Under its local planning barriers, it says "delays in adoption have led to delays in BRIC/FMA and HHPD project awards," and it lists DEMA's response: alerting officials when FEMA issues the "approvable pending adoption" letter, setting a deadline for local adoption, and sending resolution templates, according to the plan. It also notes a federal rule: a jurisdiction that adopts more than a year after that letter must first confirm the plan is still current or update it.
That eligibility is worth real money now:
- Flood Mitigation Assistance. FEMA's fiscal 2026 round offers up to $400 million, with state applications due February 26, 2027. In Delaware, DEMA administers it, along with BRIC, the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program and Pre-Disaster Mitigation, its grants page shows.
- BRIC. FEMA's $1 billion fiscal 2024–25 round closed July 23, 2026 and is still under review, with no new round announced.
- The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. It opens only after a major disaster declaration, and it requires an approved plan too.
The return on that money is well documented: the National Institute of Building Sciences found that federal mitigation grants save $6 in future disaster costs for every $1 spent.
Which Delaware plans expire next?
Delaware has three county plans, each covering its county and the municipalities that join, plus the state's own plan. The number after each plan is how many jurisdictions FEMA lists under it. "Update starts" is two years before expiration, when Delaware's state plan says DEMA begins the local update process.
Plan | Expires | Update starts | Where it stands in FEMA's records |
|---|---|---|---|
Kent County, earlier plan (2) | Apr 19, 2026 (expired) | Apr 2024 | Farmington and Woodside remain on it; they aren't in the new plan |
Sussex County (22) | Jan 2, 2028 | Jan 2026 | Update in progress; Bethel, Dagsboro and Greenwood, with no plan on file, are in it |
State of Delaware | Aug 3, 2028 | Aug 2026 | Update in progress |
New Castle County (14) | Jul 6, 2031 | Jul 2029 | Approved July 7, 2026; Arden and Ardentown pending adoption |
Kent County (17) | Oct 12, 2031 | Oct 2029 | Approved October 13, 2026; 16 towns pending adoption |
The 18 towns pending adoption are Bowers, Camden, Cheswold, Clayton, Dover, Felton, Frederica, Harrington, Houston, Kenton, Leipsic, Little Creek, Magnolia, Milford, Smyrna and Wyoming under the Kent County plan, and Arden and Ardentown under New Castle County's.
Who this is for: town managers, clerks and councils in those 18 towns, and the county emergency managers coordinating adoption. To look up a single jurisdiction, open our tracker and choose Delaware.
What should a town pending adoption do now?
Put the plan on a council agenda. The county has already done the planning, DEMA and FEMA have reviewed it, and FEMA's approvable letter starts a clock: a town that waits more than a year has to confirm the plan is still current, or update it, before its adoption counts.
- Ask the county for the resolution. DEMA's strategy, in the state plan, includes sending adoption resolution templates, so the paperwork should be ready.
- Schedule the vote. A single council meeting usually does it; the resolution then goes to DEMA and FEMA, which records the town as approved.
- Line up the projects behind it. Adoption only matters if the town has projects to fund. Our guide to hazard mitigation plan implementation covers turning a plan's actions into funded projects.
Farmington and Woodside face a longer path: they aren't in the new Kent County plan, so they would need to join it, or the next update, to regain eligibility.
Who this is for: the 18 towns above, and the two Kent County towns outside the new plan.
What does Kent County's gap show about timing?
That a plan can lapse even while its update is under way. Kent County's earlier plan, approved April 20, 2021, expired April 19, 2026, and FEMA didn't approve the new one until October 13, 2026, so the county went about six months without a current plan.
Delaware's state plan describes how long the reviews take: DEMA spends about a month on a draft, and FEMA about 45 calendar days, before the approvable letter and local adoption. FEMA's 2025 Local Mitigation Planning Handbook tells communities to allow at least 18 months from kickoff to approval. Starting at the two-year mark, as the state plan describes, leaves about six months of margin, and Kent's gap shows how easily that margin goes.
Who this is for: Sussex County's planning team, whose plan expires January 2, 2028, and the state's own planners, whose plan expires August 3, 2028.
What does Delaware's update process look like?
Delaware's state plan lists the steps for a local plan update, which DEMA supports from start to finish:
Step | What happens |
|---|---|
Two years out | DEMA reminds the jurisdictions of the expiration date and that funding for updates is available |
1 to 3 | Identify funding, develop the application, contract planning support if needed |
4 | Kickoff meeting for the planning partners; DEMA staff attend and give technical help |
5 to 6 | County first draft; DEMA review, about one month |
7 to 8 | FEMA review, about 45 days; the county incorporates DEMA and FEMA feedback |
9 to 11 | FEMA's approvable pending adoption letter, county and local adoption, final FEMA approval |
Who this is for: county emergency managers planning the next cycle, which for New Castle and Kent counties starts in 2029.
How do you pay for the update and the projects in it?
FEMA's mitigation programs pay for planning as well as projects, and DEMA administers them in Delaware. The state plan says DEMA provides technical assistance to every subapplicant, and that once the State Hazard Mitigation Council selects a project, the applicant has 90 days to send DEMA everything FEMA needs, according to the plan.
Delaware adds coastal planning help of its own. DNREC's Resilient Community Partnership provides technical assistance and potential funding for local planning on flooding, sea level rise and coastal storms, using NOAA money, with recent projects in Milton, Little Creek and Fenwick Island.
Before applying for anything, our free funding readiness scorecard flags the hard stops, including an unadopted plan, and our guides cover writing an RFP for a hazard mitigation plan update and applying for a FEMA mitigation grant.
How we built this calendar
The dates come from FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Plan Statuses dataset (OpenFEMA, version 1), retrieved November 2, 2026. We group jurisdictions by the plan they share and read each jurisdiction's status from FEMA's records: current, approvable pending adoption, update in progress, expired, or no plan on file. "Update starts" counts back two years from expiration, following Delaware's state hazard mitigation plan.
FEMA's records depend on what the state reports, so a town may have adopted, or a county started, before the record shows it. Sussex County's own plan page still describes its 2022 update. Population figures are FEMA's.
This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Frequently asked questions
01Which Delaware hazard mitigation plan expires next?
Sussex County's, on January 2, 2028, and FEMA's records show its update in progress. The state's own plan expires August 3, 2028, with its update in progress too. New Castle and Kent counties' plans were renewed in 2026 and run to July and October 2031.
02What does "approvable, pending adoption" mean?
FEMA has reviewed the plan and found it meets the requirements, but the jurisdiction hasn't formally adopted it yet. Until its governing body passes an adoption resolution, the jurisdiction isn't covered and can't receive FEMA mitigation project grants. Eighteen Delaware towns were in that status on November 2, 2026.
03Which Delaware towns haven't adopted their county plan?
As of FEMA's records on November 2, 2026: Bowers, Camden, Cheswold, Clayton, Dover, Felton, Frederica, Harrington, Houston, Kenton, Leipsic, Little Creek, Magnolia, Milford, Smyrna and Wyoming under Kent County's plan, and Arden and Ardentown under New Castle County's. Check with the county, since the record can lag a vote.
04How long does a Delaware town have to adopt the plan?
Delaware's state plan says a jurisdiction that adopts more than a year after FEMA's approvable pending adoption letter must first confirm the plan's risk assessment and strategy are still current, or update them. DEMA's strategy is to set a deadline for local adoption, so ask the county for it.
05Who updates hazard mitigation plans in Delaware?
Each county leads a multi-jurisdictional plan that its municipalities join and adopt, and DEMA, the Delaware Emergency Management Agency, assists all three counties. DEMA reviews drafts in about a month before FEMA's review of about 45 days, according to Delaware's state hazard mitigation plan.
06What happens if a Delaware plan expires?
The jurisdictions it covers lose eligibility for FEMA mitigation project grants until FEMA approves an update and they adopt it, under 44 CFR 201.6. Kent County's plan expired April 19, 2026, and its replacement wasn't approved until October 13, 2026, a gap of about six months.
07How can I check a Delaware town's plan status?
Our free hazard mitigation plan tracker shows any U.S. jurisdiction's plan status, expiration date and update dates from FEMA's data, refreshed daily. Choose Delaware in the lookup to see each county and town, and email yourself the timeline for any of them.
Related Resources
Plan status and the update
- Hazard mitigation plan tracker: every U.S. jurisdiction's plan status from FEMA's data.
- The Maryland calendar: Maryland's plans through 2028, including Worcester County next door.
- The Pennsylvania calendar: Pennsylvania's county plans through 2028.
- The Virginia calendar: Virginia's regional plans through 2028, including the Eastern Shore's.
- How to write an RFP for a hazard mitigation plan update: scope, budget and evaluation.
- Hazard mitigation plan implementation: from action table to funded projects.
Funding
- How to apply for a FEMA mitigation grant: outside help with the application.
- Resilience funding readiness scorecard: 18 questions, with the hard stops flagged.
- Navigating federal climate funding in 2026: a playbook for municipalities.
- Funding resilience without federal grants: sources for the years between grants.
Delivering the plan
- How to prioritize climate resilience projects: which actions to fund first.
- How to build resilience into your capital improvement plan: getting projects into the budget.
- Annapolis Maritime Resilience Initiative: from 38 sites of concern to ten concept designs.
- Aptation: the resilience planning and delivery platform CF Labs built.
Bring us your plan's status
Tell us where your town or county stands: adopted, pending adoption, or mid-update. We'll map the steps to the next FEMA deadline, show which programs your projects could compete for, and say what belongs in the scope. Talk to us on our contact page and choose Climate resilience.
About the Author
George Chmael II is Council Fire's Founder & CEO. He has led the firm since its founding and through its B Corp certification in 2010. Council Fire's climate resilience practice works with cities, counties, ports and authorities on planning, funding and delivery, and CF Labs builds the software that holds that work together.
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