Tuesday, May 11, 2021

Application Period for Preparedness Grants Closes May 14

 

Seal of the Department of Homeland Security

FEMA BULLETIN

Week of May 10, 2021

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In this Edition:

Important Dates & Reminders

May 12

Exercise Starter Kit Webinar

FEMA Seeks Public Feedback for Programs

 

FEMA is seeking public comments for programs that deal with climate change and underserved populations.

 

FEMA posted in the Federal Register a Request for Information on programs, regulations and policies. The feedback will assist FEMA in identifying specific action that will better address climate change and underserved communities and populations. The comment period will be open through June 21.

 

President Joseph R. Biden issued three executive orders, 13985, 13990 and 14008, requiring agencies to assess programs to determine the following:

 

  • If agency programs and policies perpetuate systemic barriers to opportunities and benefits for people of color and other underserved groups.
  • If additional agency actions are required to bolster resilience to climate change.
  • If agency programs, policies and activities address the disproportionately high and adverse climate-related impacts on disadvantaged communities.

 

Comments can be submitted through June 21 via the Federal eRulemaking Portal, Docket ID: FEMA-2021-0011. Please follow the instructions on the page and contact the Regulations.gov Help Desk if you have technical issues.

 

FEMA encourages public comment and responses to these questions. For additional information on the request for information, visit FEMA.gov. 

RFI Image

FEMA Updates COVID-19 Food and Nutrition Roadmap

 

FEMA updated the COVID-19 Food and Nutrition Resource Roadmap to assist state, local, tribal and territorial partners with the unprecedented challenges associated with food and nutrition support during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the CARES Act, version 2.0 of the roadmap includes resources that were identified in the Consolidated Appropriations Act and American Rescue Plan Act.

 

These roadmaps are part of a series that FEMA developed last year to assist state, local, tribal and territorial partners in identifying potential sources of funding and other resources to assist with the pandemic recovery.

 

The five roadmaps, food and nutrition, housing, healthcare, education and economic recovery were developed in partnership with nearly 30 federal interagency partners, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Department of Commerce. Each roadmap identifies potential solutions to address specific challenge areas and describes how supplemental and certain annual appropriated funds can be used to implement recovery solutions.

 

All of the COVID-19 Resource Roadmaps can be found on FEMA.gov.

FEMA Seeks Feedback for Resource Typing

 

The FEMA National Integration Center is seeking public feedback on six resource typing documents. The 30-day national engagement period will conclude at 5 p.m. ET on June 10.

 

The national engagement period provides an opportunity for interested parties to comment on the draft document to ensure that it is relevant for all implementing partners.

 

The resource typing documents include:

  • Structural collapse search team.
  • Structural collapse search team leader.
  • Structural collapse search technician.
  • Structural collapse rescue team.
  • Structural collapse rescue team leader.
  • Structural collapse rescue technician.

 

These resource typing documents will facilitate the sharing of deployable resource types at all jurisdictional levels. To provide comments on the drafts, complete the feedback form on FEMA.gov and submit the form to fema-nims@fema.dhs.gov no later than 5 p.m. ET on June 10.

Application Period for Preparedness Grants Closes May 14

 

The application period for six competitive preparedness grant programs, with $500 million available in funding, will close at 5 p.m. ET on May 14.

 

Part of the DHS Preparedness Grants portfolio, the grant programs provide funding to state, local, tribal and territorial governments, as well as transportation authorities, nonprofit organizations and the private sector.

 

Preparedness grants improve the nation’s readiness in preventing, protecting against, responding to, recovering from and mitigating terrorist attacks, major disasters and other emergencies. The grants reflect the Department’s focus on funding for programs that address our nation’s immediate security needs and ensure public safety in our communities.

 

The application period closes at 5 p.m. on May 14 for the following six competitive programs, which will be awarded this summer:

 

  • Operation Stonegarden
  • Tribal Homeland Security Grant Program
  • Nonprofit Security Grant Program
  • Port Security Grant Program
  • Transit Security Grant Program
  • Intercity Bus Security Grant Program

 

The funding notices for all preparedness grant programs can be found at grants.gov and FEMA.gov. Final submissions must be made through the non-disaster grants system.

 

Further information on DHS’s preparedness grant programs is available at DHS.gov.

Upcoming Deadlines and Reminders

webinarFEMA Hosts Exercise Starter Kit Webinars

 

FEMA’s National Exercise Division has developed exercise starter kits with sample documents to assist organizations in planning and conducting tabletop exercises aligning with the updated National Exercise Program 2021-2022 Principal's Strategic Priorities.

 

FEMA will host webinars for whole community exercise practitioners. The webinars will introduce the new exercise starter kits, providing stakeholders with an overview of the kits along with how to use them. The webinars are scheduled for:

 

  • Noon ET, May 12.
  • 5 p.m. ET, May 20.
  • 1 p.m. ET, May 28.
  • 9 a.m. ET, June 7.

 

Each webinar will present the same content and a recording will be made available later on FEMA.gov. Visit the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program Webinar webpage to register.

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Week 2May is Building Safety Month

 

The International Code Council launched the Building Safety Month initiative each May more than 40 years ago.  The annual educational campaign raises awareness about the importance of building codes to ensure safety in the spaces in which we live, work and learn. 

 

This year’s weekly themes emphasize “Prevent, prepare, protect. Building Codes Save.” With ongoing social distancing and safety measures in mind, all planned events during the month will be held virtually. The weekly themes for the 2021 Building Safety Month are:

 

 

More information about Building Safety Month, including details regarding virtual events, can be found at: www.buildingsafetymonth.org.  In addition, initiatives throughout the month will be highlighted on using the hashtag #BuildingSafety365.

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Everything you need to know about the ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline May 2021

 

Fast Thinking from the Atlantic Council

 

Everything you need to know about  the ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline 


 

GET UP TO SPEED: Ransomware is rampant. The biggest fuel pipeline in the United States was shut down in recent days after hackers stole some one hundred gigabytes of data from Colonial Pipeline and threatened to release it unless the company paid up. The hack has been tied to an Eastern European (and possibly Russia-based) collective known as DarkSide, and US President Joe Biden has said that Russia bears some responsibility for the hack, even though the attack does not appear to have been state-sponsored. How can companies fight back against this rising trend of ransomware attacks? What can the Biden administration do? And what will this mean for the prices you pay at the pump? Our experts are here to fill you in, free of charge.
A RISING THREAT
 
·        Colonial Pipeline is aiming to restore most of its operations by the end of this week, as lines of panic buyers form at gas stations across the Southeastern United States. Cynthia says any increase in gas prices “is likely to be mildly escalatory and short-lived.” But she adds that the hack “exposes the soft underbelly of the nation’s critical energy infrastructure.” 

 
·        If a company like Colonial, which should have the resources for robust cyber defenses, could be “paralyzed,” Cynthia adds, that means smaller companies are even more vulnerable to attack. “In that circumstance, an environmental, explosive, or economic catastrophe might not be averted.” 

 
·        The threat goes well beyond energy. The Colonial Pipeline hack is one of the most high-profile ransomware incidents in recent years, but it’s part of a surging trend, David points out. According to data compiled by the GeoTech Center, the global cost of ransomware attacks soared from $11.5 billion in 2019 to $20 billion in 2020, with the average downtime for an organization rising from 6.2 days to 16.2 days.

 
·        “The good news is technology is getting democratized, and the bad news is technology is getting democratized,” David says. Ordinary “people can do things that only sophisticated nation-states could do 40 years ago.”

 
HOW TO FIGHT BACK
 
·        If everyone is at risk, how can companies prepare? Andy suggests developing a “Plan B” in case your operations are shut down and making sure all your IT “crown jewels” are “fully backed up off-line and restorable.” He adds that “conducting recurring and very realistic exercises will let you know whether your plans work or need revision. Do all of that, then rinse and repeat, and don't stop.”

 
·        David floats another idea: space. Commercial satellites can be used to store company data as a backup. “If you have something that compromises ground-based assets, then you move to the space cloud,” he says.

 
·        But couldn’t someone just hack your satellite? David says communication to space assets would be limited, via only laser modems that would catch the satellite as it passes overhead. “You have a little more control than over the regular internet,” he says.

 
THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT
 
·        Biden on Monday promised a “global effort” led by the US Department of Justice against “transnational criminals,” along with new public-private collaboration to improve cybersecurity. But Cynthia notes that the government’s role of coordinating cybersecurity and advising private companies “is daunting and grossly underfunded.” When there’s a massive breach, the typical solution would be for the government to take over, but “there is no clear solution, no clearly articulated vision of what the government would do if it took over.”

 
·        David urges more transparency from governments and particularly private companies when they do get hacked. Right now, many of them withhold information because they fear reactions from customers or shareholders. But if we could map ransomware attacks with the same precision that we have for COVID-19 cases, for instance, it could be a real wake-up call.

 
·        “We’ve got cyber fatigue,” David says. “No one event is going to motivate people to do anything. It’s when you quantify" security breaches that more people will get involved in fixing it. “The solutions will come not from policymakers, but from entrepreneurs.”

 
Dive deep on cybersecurity → 
 

 


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CERTCON 2021 Virtual Conference. May 18-23, 2021 Be proactive.

 CERTCON 2021

 

Is anything similar taking place in your community?  Why not start one!
 
CERT Teams are not just a resource for special event traffic control.
CERT Teams must be controlled by the community leaders.
The ‘C’ on CERT is community.  Interfacing and coordinating with Fire\EMS, Law Enforcement builds back trust lost.
 
A separate funding entity for your community before, during, and after a disaster strikes.
 
BEMA International


CERTCON 2021 - The Virtual Conference
CERTCON 2021 is Here, May 18th - May 23rd
DON'T MISS OUT!!
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER OR TO GET MORE INFORMATION
The Fairfax County Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) is sponsoring the 2021 CERT conference in the National Capital Region. The conference will provide education and training to CERTs in the Mid-Atlantic region.

The CERTCON 2021 theme is “Celebrating You, the Everyday CERT” and is the foundational concept for this year’s classes, lectures, workshops and training exercises.

CERTCON is open to CERT-trained individuals, Campus CERT, Teen CERT, Emergency Management Professionals and Citizens interested in CERT and emergency preparedness.
 
Don't delay, register today.
Summary of what is scheduled for the event. More information coming soon.
 
  • Launching and Maintaining a CERT Program
  • Tabletop Exercises
  • Introduction to the Emergency Response Guidebook 2020
  • Virtual Classroom Success
  • Social Media in Disasters
  • Confident Responders, a Panel Discussion
  • Teen Talk: A Discussion about Youth Preparedness Programs
  • Emergency Meal Prep
  • Until Help Arrives
  • Miscommunication or Missed Communication? The Challenges of Hearing Loss for Emergency Responders
  • Advanced Disaster Prep
  • Psychological First Aid/COVID Edition
  • Managing SUVs
  • SWARM Leadership
  • Growing your Bilingual CERT Program, a Panel Discussion
  • CERT Teams and the Communications Chain
  • So, You Completed Basic CERT.  What Happens Next?
  • Disaster Prepping on a Dime: Cost Effective Ways to Prepare for Disasters
  • Talk Saves Lives
  • Teen CERT Panel Discussion
  • Scene Safety and the Killers
Don't delay, register today at http://certcon.org/

Jeffrey Katz
Volunteer Liaison
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Hurricane Preparedness Week. Infrastructure Security. Webinar: Thursday, May 20, 2021. 10:30am - 12pm ET.

 

cisaWEBINAR: Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security 2021 Hurricane Season Preparedness 

Thursday, May 20, 2021 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. ET 

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) invites you to participate in a webinar discussion on its role and resources in annual hurricane preparedness. CISA staff and partners will discuss plans on how we plan to execute improved preparedness and response activities during the approaching hurricane season. This webinar will address how the COVID-19 pandemic can affect disaster preparedness and recovery, and what you can do to keep yourself, others and our critical infrastructure safe and secure.

Representatives from CISA’s National Risk Management Center, National Coordinating Center for Communications (ESF#2), Cross Sector Business and Infrastructure (ESF#14), and together with FEMA's National Business Emergency Operations Center (NBEOC), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will highlight capabilities and plans for this coming Hurricane Season.

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Hurricane Preparedness Week. Health and Human Services. Public Health during Federally Declared Emergency. Webinars: 5/12, 5/14, 2021

 

hhsWEBINAR: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: “Public Health and Primary Care During a Federally Declared Emergency"

Wednesday, May 12, 2021 10 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. ET English

Friday, May 14, 2021 11 a.m.- 12:00 p.m. ET Spanish

The Puerto Rico Caribbean Area Office for FEMA Region 2 is partnering with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to host a webinar on public health and primary care during a federally declared emergency. Speakers will be featured from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, the Health Resources and Services Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They will discuss the role of their agencies during disasters, and the unique context of response during COVID-19 in preparing for 2021’s Hurricane Season. They will also share lessons learned from the Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

Who should attend? The whole community, individuals and families, local, state, federal government officials, volunteer and community-based organizations, and private sector.

Register English: https://fema.connectsolutions.com/week4femahhs/event/registration.html 

Register Spanish: https://fema.connectsolutions.com/week4hhsspa/event/registration.html



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