|
Welcome to our quarterly
bulletin for partner agencies and organizations of the Community Planning
and Capacity Building (CPCB) Recovery Support Function (RSF). The
Bulletin provides updates on existing activities, as well as introduces
new programs and events. CPCB partners are encouraged to submit articles
that further the mission of helping local efforts to plan and manage
disaster recovery and resilience.
This
year we hope to further engage with you all, the CPCB RSF partners, to
build our collective capabilities.
We are
eager to use this bulletin to highlight the activities of your
organization!
-Matt
Campbell, CPCB RSF National Coordinator
Help Us Build the
Community Recovery Management Toolkit.
Check out CPCB’s Community Recovery Management Toolkit! The toolkit
provides a list of resources to help communities organize, plan, and
manage post-disaster recovery. Let us know if you have a resource
we could feature, or an idea to address a gap. We will be transitioning
to a more searchable, robust website this year.
|
|
Events, Dates &
Deadlines
|
|
Revitalizing
Vulnerable Communities
Matt Campbell, CPCB
National Coordinator
The last
edition of the CPCB RSF Bulletin highlighted the Council on Environmental
Quality (CEQ), Equity in Disaster Planning Roundtable. In this
edition, we will highlight the challenge of planning for and implementing
an inclusive disaster recovery process. The Environmental Protection
Agency’s (EPA) Environmental Justice program, and Senior Environmental
Justice Advisor, Mustafa Ali, hosted the National Funding and Resources
Summit to Revitalize Vulnerable Communities on October 25 and 26 in Arlington,
VA. Both days began with strong inspirational speakers. The
keynote speaker on the first day was former EPA Administrator, Gina
McCarthy, and the keynote speaker on the second day was Hip Hop Caucus
President and CEO Reverend Lennox Yearwood Jr. Participants and speakers
came from around the country to address environmental justice
issues. The Summit included a track to examine ways to improve upon
equity concerns in disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina and the current
water crisis in Flint, Michigan.
  I
helped to facilitate a Disaster Recovery panel. The panel addressed the
equity issues that vulnerable populations’ face. The panel also discussed
how communities can build resilience by addressing the needs of all
members. The first speaker on the panel was Professor of Sociology and
Founding Director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice at
Dillard University, Dr. Beverly Wright. Dr. Wright, a Hurricane Katrina
survivor, spoke about disaster capitalism and the consequences for
vulnerable communities during Hurricane Katrina. She addressed issues of
inclusion, equity, and race during the recovery. The second speaker was
Co-Director, Human Rights Attorney, and advocate for environmental human
rights Monique Harden. Harden also spoke about the impact of Hurricane
Katrina on communities and addressed inequality issues with the politics
that guide federal and other assistance programs. She stressed the
importance of being accountable at all levels so that the transition
into recovery is smoother for vulnerable communities.
The
Disaster Recovery panel motivated audience members and inspired more
collaboration among the disaster professionals and advocates for vulnerable
populations, minority groups and other community organizations.
Participants were enthusiastic about discussing environmental justice and
race issues. As disaster professionals and people passionate about
community recovery and resiliency, it is vital that we are cognizant about
equity issues. In order to build a community’s capacity to respond and
recover from disasters, we need to make sure community recovery plans are
inclusive of the whole community and that partnerships are formed that make
communities less vulnerable. FEMA’s Preparedness Directorate will be
producing one or more case studies to highlight how equity considerations
have been integrated into pre-disaster preparations.
To
view the agenda of the summit or view the list of speakers, please look at
the Downloads section on the Surviving to Thriving Page.
CPCB Finalizes the Pre-Disaster Recovery
Planning Guide for State Governments
 FEMA
released the Pre-Disaster Recovery Planning Guide for State Governments.
This Guide is the first in a series of guides that will be released this
year including a guide for local governments and a guide for tribal
governments. FEMA designed these planning guides
to help states and territories prepare for recovery by developing
pre-disaster recovery plans. This Guide explains how to conduct a
planning process that engages members of the whole community, develops
recovery capabilities across the state government and non-governmental
partners, and ultimately creates an organizational framework for
comprehensive state recovery efforts.
A pre-disaster recovery plan, and the inclusive process used
to develop it, establishes resiliency by building state-level leadership
and structure, forms communication channels, and builds whole-community
partnerships to support recovery efforts. The Guide will also be useful to seeking to prepare for
unfamiliar roles that may include managing post-disaster roles.
CPCB RSF Disaster Collaboration Success:
GreenGov Presidential Award
In the month of September 2016, the President
(represented by Director of OMB Shaun Donovan), awarded FEMA and EPA the
GreenGov “Resilience Role Model” Presidential Award for their effective
collaboration and dedication to smart growth during Hurricane Sandy
Disaster Recovery. The Resilience Role Model Award was presented in a
ceremony at the Whitehouse to EPA’s Sustainable Communities Advisor Rabi
Kieber, CPCB’s Regional Coordination team member Jon Halfon, EPA’s Senior
Resilience Advisor Cathy Allen, and CPCB’s National Partnership Coordinator
Leslie Tomic.
Within months of Hurricane Sandy, the second
costliest hurricane in the United States, FEMA, EPA, New York’s Department
of State, Suffolk County, and Nassau County formed the Long Island Smart
Growth Resiliency partnership. The Partnership was created to discuss and
coordinate options to help Long Island rebuild in a smarter, stronger, and
more resilient fashion. As a first step the Partnership developed a
recovery symposium called “Accepting the Tide: A Roundtable Discussion on
Integrating Smart Growth and Resilience on a Post-Sandy Long Island”. More
than 90 local officials, municipal employees, nonprofit workers, and people
affiliated with the designated New York Rising Community Reconstruction
areas attended.
One
of the main goals of the symposium was to identify community needs. EPA and
FEMA used these need statements to compile their resources to effectively
create change. The Partnership provided technical assistance around
resilient buildings and building codes, conducted training (including how
to conduct Health Impact Assessments and community engagement), and
preformed an Ecosystem Services Assessment project to help guide recovery
and redevelopment decisions. Additional partners, including Stony Brook
University and the Nature Conservancy, helped projects such as the
Ecosystem Service Assessment become a reality. FEMA is proud of this
partnership and eager to continue working with EPA in the future. This work
has been bolstered by the renewal of the Memorandum of Agreement between
FEMA and EPA during 2016. More information about the GreenGov Presidential award and
other partnerships honored by the award is found here.
Recovery Examples and Best Practices: We Need You!
Michael Gumpert,
Community Planning Capacity Building, FEMA HQ
Imagine
this scenario: You’ve had a large disaster and your town just completed the
most amazing post-disaster community recovery plan. You have the document
in your hand. It’s robust, is supported by your community, and took a lot
of hard work to complete. Now to begin the hard work of implementation! But
how do you take action on these ideas? How does one implement a Recovery
Plan? Most likely you’d want to learn recovery management ‘best practices’
before getting started. You might even want hear about the mistakes and
victories of other towns who stood where you now stand. Unfortunately, this
is not so easy to find.
While examples and guidance on Recovery Planning
abounds, resources explaining how to implement and manage recovery is not
as robust. But we’re going to change that!
FEMA is working on a new training called Recovery
Management for Local Governments. In an effort to make this training
more relatable to our audiences, we are asking all of our colleagues and
partners to offer real world examples for each topic in the training.
Topics include:
·
New
Administrative Frameworks helpful to local governments engaged in long-term
recovery.
·
Solutions
to staffing and leadership challenges.
·
Resource
development.
·
Transparency
and stakeholder engagement.
·
Project
selection and management.
·
Grants
management – not just FEMA’s PA but all sources.
·
Municipal
Financial Management issues and best practices.
·
Measuring
progress.
Please tell us about examples that have stood out in your
mind, over your career. We’re looking for two to three sentences explaining
the example and a link describing it in more detail if one exists.
Remember, examples of mistakes can be just as instructive as examples of
successes.
Feel free to forward this request to others that may have
examples to share.
Thanks for your help!
FEMA PRODUCTS: Using FEMA’s HMGP to Enhance
Disaster Resilience Related to Building Codes
FEMA’s
Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) provides cost-shared funding to
states with Stafford Act declarations. States can elect to use a portion of
HMGP funds towards the Additional 5 Percent Initiative which helps
communities enhance disaster resilience related to building codes, such as
adopting the current International Building Code® and improving a
community’s Building Code Effectiveness Grading Schedule (BCEGS) score.
Additional
5 percent Initiative Fact Sheet provides
recipients and sub-recipients of HMGP funds with additional information on
how to implement the Additional 5 percent Initiative as changed by the
Fiscal Year 2015 Hazard Mitigation Assistance Guidance. FEMA’s intention in
supporting the adoption and enforcement of building codes is to promote
resiliency by using disaster-resistant practices. A building is considered
disaster resistant when it not only protects its occupants but can also be
quickly repaired and re-occupied because damage from natural disasters is
minimized.
Clarifying
the Additional 5 percent Initiative Resources
is a companion document to the Fact Sheet. It highlights where recipients
and sub-recipients can find more information on resilient building
practices.
DISASTER OPERATIONS UPDATE
Hurricane Matthew,
North Carolina DR- 4285
Field
Activity: Kehla West, Gavin Smith, and Barry Hokanson report on HMDRRI
On October 9, Hurricane Matthew barreled into North Carolina
causing extensive flooding and damage. Community Planning Capacity Building
coordinator Kehla West was deployed to North Carolina to identify needs and
play a coordination role.
As of January, the state of North Carolina is at the beginning
stages of an initiative (funded by the North Carolina Disaster Recovery Act
of 2016) to develop a county-level resilient recovery plan in each of the
state’s 50 impacted counties. This initiative will be led by the state, and
the plans will be developed by contractors. Concurrently, the US Economic
Development Administration (EDA) has given grants to three councils of
government to assist with community economic recovery planning.
Dr.
Gavin Smith from the University of North Carolina is leading an initiative
to assist six or seven communities with developing and implementing
community recovery plans. This collaboration called the Hurricane Matthew
Disaster Recovery and Resilience Initiative (HMDRRI), will serve as a point
of contact for UNC system faculty, students, and staff to help the state
address a range of policy and technical needs. The initiative will also be
forming planning teams to assist communities in developing post-disaster
recovery plans. In addition to university
faculty, a number of students will be participating in the HMDRRI, many of
whom are currently enrolled in the University of North Carolina’s Graduate
Certificate in Natural Hazards Resilience (http://planning.unc.edu/nhrcp).
To learn more in detail about the Hurricane Matthew Disaster Recovery and
Resilience Initiative go to: http://coastalresiliencecenter.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/HMDRRI_Smith.pdf
CPCB Recovery Support Function (RSF) will work to support
these planning teams through technical assistance, helping to coordinate
partners, and working to identify opportunities to provide support or
training in several areas of concern for local planning and recovery
management efforts. These include community engagement and local disaster
recovery planning, as well as any other needs that become apparent. Courses
would be developed in partnership with FEMA and CPCB RSF partners, based on
pre-Matthew efforts among North Carolina Emergency Management and FEMA’s
CPCB Regional Coordinator.
Louisiana Severe
Storms and Flooding August (DR-4277), March (DR-4263):
Field Activity:
Sandra Bowling, CPCB Deputy Field Coordinator, reports on Louisiana
Resilience Symposium
On December 8, 2016 the CPCB
Recovery Support Function team, with help from the National Disaster
Recovery Support cadre, helped produce the State of Louisiana Symposium on
Recovery and Resilience in Lafayette, La. The Louisiana Symposium provided
a time and place to learn about best practices to parishes and
municipalities impacted by the 2016 flooding,
There were a total of 215 individuals in attendance at the
Symposium. Eighteen parishes were represented, including
five mayors. Attendees included over seventy representatives and people
from different state agencies, state university partners, planning
commissions, and various other organizations. There was a heavy presence of
Federal agencies who supported the state-led event, serving in the roles of
staff support, logistics staff, subject matter experts, presenters and
facilitators. There were 49 speakers and facilitators supporting the event,
including keynote speaker, Jane Cage, from Joplin Mo. There were 26
sponsors from both state and federal agencies and organizations who were
involved in the planning, support, and implementation of the symposium.
The goal of the event, from a FEMA perspective, was to support the
state in their disaster recovery efforts by providing practical and
inspirational information to local impacted community leaders, and by
aiding their understanding of the recovery process. The State saw this
event as its formal “kick-off” to their recovery efforts. Our RSF partners
were pleased with the turnout and celebrated the event as a great
networking opportunity. One key co-sponsor and participant
commented, “[the symposium team] put on a very professional,
informative, and truly first class symposium. The sessions were informative
and the networking opportunity was super. The Louisiana Municipal
Association is proud to have been included as a co-sponsor and bask in some
of the reflected glory of your hard work and dedication to the resilient
recovery for our municipalities.”
The superior coordination of effort made this a highly useful and
successful event. We would like to thank everyone involved for their
efforts, including the State of Louisiana, US Economic Development
Administration, FEMA Mitigation, National Institutes of Standards and
Technology, Louisiana Sea Grant and NOAA, Environmental Protection Agency
Sustainability Advisor, Department of Housing and Urban Development,
Louisiana Municipal Association, American Planning Association, American
Institute of Architects Louisiana, Capital Area and Acadiana Regional
Planning Commissions, University of Louisiana Lafayette, Louisiana State
University, and many others that we don’t have space to list.
West Virginia
Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, DR-4273:
Field
Activity: Michelle Diamond reports on WVU “Planning for the Next Flood”
Workshop
Flash flooding from the intense June storms of 2016 created havoc
among a host of West Virginia communities. Michelle Diamond, CPCB Recovery Support
Function Field Coordinator for Disaster 4273 West Virginia,
coordinated with CPCB RSF partners to support the West Virginia University Land Use and Sustainable Development Law Clinic which
hosted the “Planning for
the Next Flood” workshop on
November 3rd in Lewisburg, Greenbrier
County. The West Virginia
University Law Clinic, in collaboration with the American
Planning Association, West Virginia Chapter, sought support from the CPCB RSF
field coordinator, the Economic RSF and
US Economic Development Administration. The
Economic RSF Field
Coordinator, Tracey Rowan
from Economic Development Agency (EDA), and CPCB RSF Field
Coordinator, Michelle Diamond, alongside Jeff Wood,
from the
West Virginia National Guard, participated on an afternoon panel, entitled “Players in Community and Economic Development, Post-Flood”. The panel discussed the
process by which federal partners worked together in West
Virginia to address
recovery needs in
flood impacted communities, and shared
their best practices and
lessons learned from
the field.
Other sessions included, “Common Issues with Development and Building in the
Floodplain”, “Comprehensive Planning for
the Next Flood”, and “Non-Regulatory Approaches for Effective Floodplain Management”. All sessions provided the audience with a thorough understanding of actions that they,
as decision-makers, can take to reduce future flood risk.
The event, which targeted local planning officials, floodplain administrators, elected officials, and citizens from the
communities most impacted by
the June flood, was extremely well attended. Specific representatives included the Regional Planning and Development Councils, the Governor's Office,
Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the State Office of Homeland Security. Nearly 70 people attended to
participate in discussions on a variety of
issues arising from the
flood, with
a focus on regulatory and non-regulatory strategies to minimize human
casualties and
property damage.
The themes that emerged included regional cooperation and
collaboration, coordination between local, state and federal agencies,
nongovernment agencies and other stakeholders, and a need for continued education and
training. The federal and
state agencies involved all emphasized their desires to
continue to work with
the Law School and the
West Virginia American Planning Association.
Missouri December
Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding DR-4250:
Field Activity: De’an Bass reports about Train-the-Trainer
Planning Workshops
CPCB Recovery Support Function continues to work with the
State of Missouri and a multitude of federal, state, and non-governmental
partners to develop a local resilience planning process for Missouri, along
with training materials and tools for train-the-trainer workshops. The
planning process builds on previous pre- and post-disaster models and is
intended to facilitate counties and municipalities as they prepare
resilient recovery plans. Such plans will address the after-effects of the
Missouri event but also, just as importantly, recovery and resilience
building for future events. The initial group of workshop participants –
regional planning commission staff, county and local community leaders, and
key state and whole community partners – will become the trainers for
subsequent workshops. Workshop participants will learn about the
planning process as well as how to deliver the tools in the communities
with the ultimate aim to develop local resiliency plans.
Partners that have been engaged in this effort include the
federal departments of Housing and Urban Development, USDA Rural
Development, Environmental Protection Agency, and FEMA Mitigation and
Preparedness; the Missouri departments of Economic Development,
Emergency Management, Public Safety, and Natural Resources; and the
Missouri Municipal League and Missouri Association of Council of Local
governments and Regional Planning Commissions.
The State of Missouri also continues to implement its recovery
strategies from the Winter 2015-16 flooding. The State Disaster
Recovery Coordinator’s Leadership Group continues to work with partners to
build the state resilience/recovery framework. The state’s
coordination structure will also get practice during the New Madrid Seismic
Zone recovery exercise that is planned for next year.
South Dakota
Severe Storm, Straight-line Winds and Flooding, DR-4237:
Field Activity: Thom Rounds reports about Oglala Sioux
Tribe Capacity Building
The CPCB Recovery Support Function did not formally activate
for DR-4237-OST. However, the FEMA CPCB Regional Coordinator and FEMA CPCB
staff supported local capacity building and planning technical assistance
needs during the course of the FDRC’s overall support activities for the
Oglala Sioux Tribe. USDA designated the Pine Ridge Reservation as a Promise
Zone Community in 2015. The FDRC, CPCB FEMA staff, and other RSFs
activated, including Infrastructure and Housing worked with the US
Department of Agriculture Rural Development office in Rapid City, the US
Department of Housing and Urban Development South Dakota Field Office, the
Economic Development Administration, and the US Army Corps of Engineers on
numerous projects. The FEMA CPCB staff worked with these agencies and
tribe on several capacity building efforts to address significant
shortfalls, including:
·
Assist
the tribe in forming and identification of staff for a new planning office
for the Tribe,
·
Support
the public engagement process for completion of the Tribe’s Comprehensive
Economic Development Strategy,
·
Collecting,
assembling, and managing condition and location information on the Tribal
road system, and
·
Formulating
a data collection strategy to support the Tribe’s One Nation, One Number
housing condition and census assessment.
Ellicott
City, Maryland, Flooding, DR-4279:
Field Activity: Emily Meyers reports about Ellicott City
Recovery Coordination
A flash flood ripped through Ellicott
City’s historic main street in Howard County, Maryland, July 30, 2016. Six
inches of rain fell in less than two hours, roughly the equivalent of a
month’s worth of rain. The State of Maryland received a Major Disaster
Declaration for Public Assistance and Hazard Mitigation and activated its
Recovery Support Functions. FEMA deployed a small two-person Federal
Disaster Recovery Coordination team to support initial and intermediate
engagement of federal and national partners, in collaboration with the
state. While CPCB RSF was not formally activated, the FEMA Region 2
Coordinator and the FEMA Federal Disaster Recovery Officer integrated
community based planning into the discussion and connected the state,
Howard County, and Ellicott City with relevant resources and ideas to
address post event planning and resilience, as well as look ahead to
preparedness for the next recovery event. Both Howard County and the State
plan to use this event to revise and build out their recovery frameworks.
In describing some of their lessons
learned, Phil Nichols of Howard County Executive’s Office, identified
factors that helped their community move forward with recovery. He
highlighted pursuing a planning process that focused on citizen engagement
and managing expectations. “We made it abundantly clear that not every
project would be feasible, not every project would be funded, and projects
would be prioritized on making Ellicott City a model resilient community.”
As Nichols added, “It takes on average 7-8 years for a community to fully
recover from a disaster. Educating people on the timeline helps folks to
keep things in perspective during recovery.
Nichols also emphasized the benefits of
hiring a recovery manager who understood government processes; having
elected leadership directly out in public early on and every day to clarify
the governments’ role and help ensure programs were meeting needs; and the
benefits of coordinating with the Long Term Recovery Committee established
by local non-profits and churches. One example of the coordination
facilitated by the state and federal team was the coordination of
environmental review requirements so sidewalks on Main Street could be
expanded in line with the County’s Complete Streets vision.
The
County and State, through coordination led by the Maryland Emergency
Management Agency, remain committed to risk reduction over the long haul as
they complete their community engagement and work with an engineering firm
on a hydrology and hydraulic study to quantify projects’ flood mitigation benefit.
CPCB Activity
around the Regions
Resilience
Land Use Implementation Assessment Tool in Development for New York: Region
II
CPCB RSF,
including FEMA staff and partners in FEMA Region II, have been working
together to develop a Resilient Land Use Implementation Assessment Tool in
response to needs from Hurricane Sandy on Long Island. The tool is designed
to help communities recognize coastal hazards and risks and help them
assess and refine local laws and policies in a way that will improve
resilience across urban sectors.
In order to support
Sandy impacted communities on Long Island, CPCB RSF facilitated
collaboration among New York State, the Environmental Protection Agency,
and the Touro College Land Use and Sustainable Development Law
Institute. The tool works by walking a community through the critical
elements to building coastal resilience. From understanding the known
hazards and vulnerabilities to identifying appropriate strategies and
interventions that can reduce risk of building community support to improve
resilience and remove barriers to implementation. The tool allows them to
see their strengths, gaps, and challenges in building local resilience and
interconnections between them. The tool then offers applicable priority
strategies to build on successes and address the challenges at the local
level. The strategies put a heavy emphasis on refining local laws, building
codes, and zoning regulations.
In February,
the CPCB RSF, in coordination with and support from the State and our
partners will pilot a draft version of the tool in a number of Long Island
communities. This pilot will allow us to further refine the tool and
enhance the resilience strategies offered. Once completed, the tool will
also be connected to a set of model local laws that consider future risk
due to sea-level rise, storm surge and/or flooding. These lows are being
developed by the New York State as part of the implementation of the
state’s Community Risk and Resilience Act.
The final tool
is set to be released in Spring 2017.
Commitment
to Partnership and information Sharing:
Region
9
Gina
Dandi, CPCB Regional Coordinator, Region 9
When Community Planning Capacity Building is not working on
disasters we focus on information sharing, creating/ maintaining
relationships with new CPCB partners, and making sure the states within
their region are adequately equipped with a recovery plan.
Currently region 9 FDRC, Robert (Bob) Troy, is preparing for a
delivery of the NDRF Leadership Academy. CPCB RSF is assisting him in
preparing and delivery of this course. The FDRC is working with FEMA HQ and
multiple divisions within the region to identify State, Local and Federal
partners to participate in one workshop in the Region 9 office in Oakland,
CA. The workshop will be an opportunity to educate not only CPCB RSF
regional partners, but all RSFs and states on NDRF principles, and convene
them in a setting to network and develop preparedness for recovery.
American
Planning Association’s Hazard Planning Center
Joseph
DeAngelis, Hazard Planning Center Research Associate
James
Schwab, Hazard Planning Center Manager
Beginning
in mid-October 2016, American Planning Association’s (APA) Hazards Planning
Center led efforts to conduct outreach to states
affected by Hurricane Matthew, coordinating with other APA staff,
leaders of APA’s Hazard Mitigation and Disaster Recovery Planning Division,
chapter leaders, and partnering organizations. After convening an initial
internal meeting to coordinate chapter outreach and gather relevant
resources, APA scheduled a call with chapters and partner organizations in
Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Louisiana (which was
not impacted by Hurricane Matthew, but suffered significant flooding due to
torrential rainstorms earlier in 2016).
In
advance of this call, APA gathered a wide array of relevant research,
education, communications, and other resources on a Hurricane Matthew-specific webpage.
This greatly simplified outreach to chapters, putting all relevant
materials and resources in one easily accessible place. A November 18th
APA-led call with affected chapters and partner organizations followed. APA
walked participants through available resources and listened to status
updates on recovery efforts from affected chapters. APA also requested
stories/images from planners in affected communities for the purposes of
peer-to-peer learning and news and to illustrate the value of planning
professionals in preparing communities for 21st century hazard
mitigation and response. APA sent out a follow-up message to chapters
in December, reiterating available resources and support for recovery
efforts and communications needs. The Hazards Planning Center is currently
developing a post-disaster protocol for APA partly inspired by its Matthew
response to formalize and standardize its organizational response to future
natural disasters, and plans to continue active outreach and assistance to
chapters and practitioners in the affected areas.
Also see the APA Hazards Page and the Hazard Mitigation and
Disaster Recovery Division page.
Best
Practice: Delaware Database for Funding Resilient Communities
Region
III Resilience Report
There are a
seemingly countless number of federal, state, local, and other funding
sources available for projects related to hazard mitigation and resiliency.
Aside from traditional FEMA funding programs, many other state and federal
agencies have programs that fund environmental, transportation,
infrastructure, and community development projects that support or
incorporate mitigation and resiliency principles. Navigating the abundance
of grant programs can be challenging, and many communities may be unaware
of every program available to them.
To address
these issues and ensure that municipalities throughout the state do not
miss potential funding opportunities, the Institute of Public
Administration at the University of Delaware collaborated with the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Delaware Department
of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) to develop the Delaware Database for Funding Resilient Communities.
This user-friendly web tool inventories resources that support resilient
community development, including funding programs for disaster
preparedness, disaster recovery, education, planning, property acquisition,
storm water management, and storm-proofing projects. Users can select from
these or other project categories and specify a desired funding amount.
Additionally,
users of the database can indicate their preference for program type
(grant, insurance, loan, mutual aid, or technical assistance) and filter by
programs based on whether they require a match. Programs in the database
come from a wide variety of sources, including:
- Delaware Coastal Programs
(DCP)
- Delaware Sustainable Energy
Utility (SEU)
- Delaware Department of
Health and Human Services (DHHS)
- Delaware Department of
Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC)
- Delaware Water/Wastewater
Agency Response Network (DEWARN)
- Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA)
- National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
- National Fish and Wildlife
Foundation (NFWF)
- U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA)
- U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development (HUD)
- U.S. Department of the
Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)
- U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA)
- Southeast Rural Community
Assistance Project (SERCAP), Delaware Branch
- The Rockefeller Foundation
- The Trust for Public Land
(TPL)
States
throughout Region III should view this effort in Delaware as a best
practice and look for opportunities to form partnerships and compile
resources for resiliency projects that are specific for their states. For
more information about the Delaware Database for Funding Resilient
Communities, access the database,
download the database fact sheet, or watch the video tutorial.
Collaboration
on Drought Resilience is Delivering Results for America’s Communities and
Economy
Ann Mills, Deputy
under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment, USDA
Over the past
year, we have seen alarming mass tree mortality in California, the
development of severe drought conditions in New England and the Southeast,
and dropping water tables in regions throughout the United States. The
five-year Western drought and recent droughts in other states threaten our
communities, our farms, our freshwater fisheries, our forests, and our
grasslands that depend on and provide clean, accessible water supplies.
For
many years, Federal departments and agencies have been working to produce
long term solutions to conserve and protect a safe, reliable water supply.
Now, under the framework of the National Drought Resilience Partnership
(NDRP), a greater emphasis has been placed on improving federal agency
collaboration to ensure more efficient use of program dollars and agency
expertise. The NDRP worked with a broad cross-section of stakeholder
groups to shape six federal policy goals and an associated Federal Drought Resilience Action Plan.
As a result, more than 13 federal agencies and offices are cooperating in
new ways under a shared strategy to deliver concrete results […].
Executive
Order 13717: Establishing a Federal Earthquake Risk Management Standard
On January On
January 14, 2017, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, on
behalf of the Interagency Committee on Seismic Safety in Construction,
released the Implementing Guidelines for Executive Order 13717:
Establishing a Federal Earthquake Risk Management Standard which can be
found here: https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.TN.1922.
President
Obama signed the E.O. on February 2, 2016. The E.O. requires Federal
agencies responsible for the design and construction of new buildings or
alterations to existing buildings to ensure that these buildings are
constructed or altered using the earthquake-resistant design provisions in
the most current building codes.
USDA’s Farm Service Agency Expands Bridges to Opportunity Nationwide
On January 11, 2017 the U.S. Department
of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) announced the expansion
of a unique service for farmers and ranchers. FSA’s Bridges to Opportunity
program provides a one-stop-shop that connects producers with resources,
programs and educational services offered across the department, as well as
from other USDA partner organizations. Bridges to Opportunity, which
currently provides enhanced customer support to more than 150,000 customers
in 20 states, will expand to serve customers across the country before the
end of the month using fiscal year 2016 funds.
“By partnering with numerous local,
state, regional and national agricultural organizations, FSA employees now
can provide farmers and ranchers with comprehensive information about
resources, grants, courses, events and activities provided throughout USDA
and from external partner organizations,” said FSA Administrator Val
Dolcini. “Bridges to Opportunity is another example of how USDA is working
to reconnect people to their government and provide enhanced services to
farmers and ranchers, who, in turn, provide our nation and the world with
safe, affordable and reliable food, fuel and fiber.”
For more information about Bridges to
Opportunity, please contact your local FSA county office. To locate your
FSA county office, please see https://offices.usda.gov/.
Councils Unveils Updated Plan to Invest in Gulf
Coast Restoration
Office of
Communications (Excerpt from News Release No.0266.16)
On
December 16th, 2016 Agriculture Secretary and chair of the Gulf
Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council, announced the finalization of the
Comprehensive Plan Update to guide over $3billion in investments to enhance
the resources and economies of the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of the
Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The plan was unanimously adopted by the five
Gulf States (Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas), the
Departments of Agriculture, the Army, Commerce, and Interior, the Coast Guard,
and the Environmental Protection Agency.
"Today's
announcement builds the foundation for State and Federal partners to
fulfill their commitments to the 22 million Americans who live in Gulf
coastal counties and parishes to revitalize their economies and the Gulf
ecosystem they depend upon," Vilsack said. "The Comprehensive
Plan Update reflects unprecedented collaboration between federal, state,
tribal and local partners and creates the framework for ongoing
coordination, engagement and transparency as we continue to invest in
strategies to restore this vital region."
HUD Announces the Rural Capacity Building FY16
Awards
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) is pleased to announce the Rural Capacity Building
grantee awards for Fiscal Year 2016. By statute, this funding is made
available for capacity building activities performed by national rural
housing organizations. There were 13 organizations that responded to the
Notice Of Funding Availability of $5,000,000 for the Rural Capacity
Building program and six organizations were selected for an award.
Listed below are the six applicants that
will be awarded.
|
|
Name
|
Final
Award Amount
|
|
1.
|
Rural
Community Assistance Corp.
|
$1,360,760
|
|
2.
|
National
Association for Latino Community Asset Builders
|
$1,000,000
|
|
3.
|
Minnesota
Housing Partnership
|
$816,455
|
|
4.
|
Housing
Assistance Council
|
$784,810
|
|
5.
|
Collaborative
Solutions, Inc.
|
$537,975
|
|
6.
|
Economic
Consultants for Housing Opportunities, Inc.
|
$500,000
|
HUD Launches new Community Investment Tool
On December 6, 2016, the
U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) revealed their Community
Assessment Reporting Tool (CART) This tool was created to help answer
the question “How is HUD investing in my community?” CART uses geospatial
technology to show the wide variety of HUD investments by city, state,
county, metropolitan area, or congressional district.
CART includes information on many of HUDs programs
invested in communities including:
·
Community
Planning and Development Competitive and Formula Grants
·
Rental
Assistance through HUD's Multifamily programs, Housing Choice Vouchers and
Public Housing properties
·
Housing
Counseling
·
Signature
programs – Promise Zones, Strong Cities Strong Communities and Rental
Assistance Demonstration.
·
Census
demographic information
Download the FEMA APP!
 Be prepared and download the FEMA app
for free on the App Store and Google Play. Learn what to do
before, during, and after emergencies with safety tips & receive
weather alerts from the National Weather Service for up to five different
locations anywhere in the United States.
Features in the
app include:
Ø Maps of disaster resources
Ø Apply for assistance
Ø Custom emergency safety information
CPCB
RSF Partner Training
FEMA
will hold an in-person training event this spring for CPCB federal and
non-federal partners to learn about the purpose and intent of CPCB.
Attendees will also learn, how to participate and work among one another
pre and post disaster in supporting better planning, management and
resilience integration at the local level. The specific date has not
been set yet. An invite will be sent to the CPCB partners as a date
is identified. An additional webinar will also be held to enable
a larger set of federal and non-federal partners to learn about how to
participate.
Coastal
GeoTools Conference
On February 6-9, 2017 the
Association of State Floodplain Managers are hosting a conference in North
Charleston, South Carolina. The conference will focus on geospatial data,
tools, technology, and information for coastal resource management
professionals.
Whole
Community Disaster Planning: Inclusive Approaches to Recovery and
Preparedness
The Environmental
Justice Interagency Working Group is hosting an Access and Awareness
Webinar Series. The first in the series is called Whole Community Disaster
Planning Inclusive Approaches to Recovery and Preparedness. This webinar
will be hosted on February
9, 2017 from 1-2:30pm. The purpose of this webinar is to highlight
the unique role that women have played in environmental justice movement
and the specific challenges they face.
To learn more and
register please click here.
Esri
FedGIS Conference
On February 13-14, 2017
more than 4,000 federal professionals are meeting at the Walter E.
Washington Convention Center in Washington DC. The conference will discuss
Esri’s geospatial technology and the benefits it provides for government
employees.
DevSummitDC
On February 15, 2017 more
than 600 developers are meeting at the Walter E. Washington Convention
Center in Washington, DC where they will get comprehensive, in-depth
training on Esri’s mapping and analysis tools.
ASPRS
Annual Conference Imaging & Geospatial Technology Forum (IGTF)
On March 12-16, 2017
ASPRS is hosting their annual convention about the latest geospatial,
photogrammetry, & UAS mapping technology. The conference will involve
hand’s on workshops, interactive discussions, and plenty of networking
opportunities.
Rural
Development Conference
On March 22-23 2017 the
Tennessee Valley Authority, USDA Rural Development, and Tennessee
Department of Economic and Community Development will be hosting the 22nd
Annual Rural Development Conference in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The
conference strives to bring local leaders across Tennessee together to
learn from each other and expert Speakers around the nation.
Preparedness
Summit
On April 25-28, 2017 the
National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) will be
hosting the Preparedness Summit at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis in Atlanta,
Georgia. This summit will explore the factors driving change in our world,
and analyze how they will impact the future of public health preparedness.
National Flood
Conference
On April 30-May 3, 2017 the
Property Casualty Insurers (PCI) will be hosting the National Flood
Conference in Washington, DC. This conference is an opportunity for agents,
insurers, underwriters, legal and claims professionals, floodplain
managers, lenders, flood services, and government stakeholders to hear
what’s new and coming, hear from experts, network, and attending breakout
sessions on trending topics.
New Jersey Emergency
Preparedness Association Conference
On May 2-6, 2017 New
Jersey Emergency Preparedness Association (NJEPA) is hosting a conference
at Tropicana Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The conference
is designed to meet the needs of New Jersey’s Emergency Managers and our
private partners in the emergency management community. The conference will
consist of training opportunities, breakout sessions on trending topics,
networking opportunities, and exhibits and displays.
American Planning
Association’s 2017 National Planning Conference
APA
will be hosting their National Planning Conference on May 6-9, 2017 in New
York City. The conference offers opportunities to tour, train, participate
in workshops, attend special events, and network.
Emergency Management
Institute (EMI) Training
On
May 15-18,, 2017
EMI is offering a 4 day course targeted at local jurisdictions, tribal
governments, non-profit organizations, state, FEMA employees, and public or
private sector organizations that offer consulting services to Unified HMA
grant applications. This course will provide grant applicants and
sub-applicants the knowledge to develop and submit Hazard Mitigation
Assistance (HMA) applicants. More information is found at E0212 UHMA Developing Quality Applications May 15-18, 2017.
|
|
Posts
