Important Dates & Deadlines Preparing Individuals Disproportionately Impacted by Disasters Webinar Tools for Creating Campus Resilience Webinar Individual Assistance Declaration Criteria for States Open Comment Period

FEMA's Intent to Implement the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard

FEMA’s Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration announced today the release of FEMA’s Leadership Intent to implement the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard (FFRMS). The Intent describes the framework FEMA is proposing to implement for Executive Order (E.O.) 13690 and the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard.

On January 30, 2015, the President issued E.O. 13690, Establishing a Federal Flood Risk Management Standard and a Process for Further Soliciting and Considering Stakeholder Input, which amended E.O. 11988 and established the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard (FFRMS). Copies of E.O. 13690 and the FFRMS can be found at www.fema.gov/federal-flood-risk-management-standard-ffrms.

E.O. 13690 provides federal agencies flexibility to choose from one or more approaches to identify an elevation requirement above the base flood elevation.  Additionally, E.O. 13690 amended E.O. 11988 to set forth a higher level of resilience for activities where even a slight chance of flooding is too great. The Intent outlines FEMA’s approach to standardize its use of the multiple elevation requirements above the base flood elevation.

Continuing our commitment to an open, collaborative, stakeholder-focused process in implementing the FFRMS, FEMA is sharing this framework for public comment on FEMA’s website. Public comments received will continue to inform the regulatory and policy development process.

For more information, visit www.fema.gov/federal-flood-risk-management-standard-ffrms or send comments to FEMA-EO11988-13690@fema.dhs.gov.

FEMA Seeks Input on Individual Assistance Declaration Criteria for States

FEMA is seeking public comment on proposed changes to regulation describing FEMA’s Individual Assistance (IA) declarations criteria. FEMA published the proposed rule in the Federal Register and is seeking comments by January 11, 2016.

On January 29, 2013, President Barack Obama signed into law the Sandy Recovery Improvement Act (SRIA) of 2013 and the accompanying Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2013. The passage of SRIA represented the most significant legislative change to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s substantive authorities since the enactment of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act and the Post Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act. The law authorizes several changes to the way FEMA may deliver federal disaster assistance to survivors.

SRIA requires FEMA to review, update and revise, through rulemaking, the factors it uses to measure the severity, magnitude, and impact of a disaster. The proposed rule, which has a 60 day public comment period, is intended to provide more objective and clear IA declaration factors and speed the declaration process, including FEMA’s recommendation to the President on whether a major disaster declaration authorizing IA is warranted.

The proposed rule largely expands and clarifies current factors and aligns them with the data presently collected to support the evaluation process and adds additional data sets easily accessible by states. FEMA reviewed the current factors and the proposed rule intends to revise the current factors by including:  State Fiscal Capacity and Resource Availability, Uninsured Home and Personal Property Losses, Disaster Impacted Population Profile, Impact to Community Infrastructure, Casualties, and Disaster Related Unemployment.

FEMA collaborated with state, local, and tribal emergency management agencies during the process of developing the proposed rule and conducted outreach with stakeholders, including meetings with the National Emergency Managers Association, the International Association of Emergency Managers, the National Advisory Council, FEMA regional offices, and tribal governments. 

Comments are due on January 11, 2016, and can be submitted online.

Sherman Indian High School Students Present Native Earthquake Drill Posters at National Congress of American Indians 2015 Annual Convention

During the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) 2015 Annual Convention and Marketplace conference in San Diego, California, Ms. Helen Corral-Bonner and five visionary students from Sherman Indian High School, a Bureau of Indian Education school in Riverside, California, presented their Native Earthquake Drill posters at the Emergency Management, Youth Preparedness in Indian Country Session.

The students developed the Native Earthquake Drill posters as an earthquake safety map of the State of California. They translated the phrase “Drop! Cover! Hold On!” into various tribal languages represented at Sherman High. This project was an opportunity for Sherman High students to highlight the work of native youth and also help increase awareness and preparedness within Indian Country.

El Niño Resources Page Now Available on FEMA.gov

El Niño is a weather pattern that is characterized by unusually warm ocean temperatures along the equator in the Pacific Ocean, and has important consequences for weather and climate over the United States, particularly during winter. El Niño in general acts to tilt the odds toward wetter and cooler than average conditions across much of the south, and towards drier and warmer conditions in many of the northern regions.

FEMA created an El Niño resources page that provides the best and most current information and resources needed to be ready for El Niño. Information suggests this year could bring weather heavily affected by El Niño, which could be anything from floods, droughts, land slides, and other severe weather this winter. Visit www.fema.gov/el-nino for more information on how to prepare for severe weather, where to learn more about purchasing flood insurance, state level resources, and current El Niño news.

Tools for Creating Campus Resilience Webinar

FEMA's Emergency Management Institute, in partnership with the DHS Office of Academic Engagement, FEMA Region VII, and U.S. Fire Administration, will present a webinar titled "Tools for Creating Campus Resilience" on December 16 from 1:30-2:30 p.m. ET. The webinar will discuss ReadyCampus, the DHS Campus Resilience Pilot Program for Colleges and Universities. This student-centered program brings together many prominent organizations, private sector, and local volunteer organizations to teach general preparedness to students and staff, and the U.S. Fire Administration's Campus Fire Safety Program. Natural, technological, and health hazards can all affect daily campus operations. Institutions are encouraged to regularly review, update, and exercise their emergency plans.

Participants should register in advance for the online webinar. Closed captioning will be provided.

Voluntary Statewide Test of the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System in Six States

At the request of state broadcast associations, FEMA will conduct a test Tuesday, November 17, at 1:20 p.m. PST of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) in voluntary coordination with state emergency management agencies, EAS radio, television, and cable operators in the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Nevada. The EAS test message will be sent from the exhibit floor of the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) meeting held in Clark County, Nevada.

Radio, television, and cable TV stations choosing to participate in the test must make a minor configuration change to their station EAS equipment to process a National Periodic Test (NPT) code message. Participating stations will receive a NPT message from the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) through various time zones including 4:20 p.m. Eastern, 3:20 p.m. Central, 2:20 p.m. Mountain, and 1:20 Pacific time.

The EAS equipment change will be required by the Federal Communications Commission in 2016. IPAWS is assisting stations in getting prepared for an FCC regulatory change that will be required in 2016. Comprehensive testing and analyzing of alerting technologies ensures that an effective and reliable system is ready to alert residents, for when an emergency occurs. For more information, or if broadcasters in your area are interested in future testing, please contact IPAWS at IPAWS@fema.dhs.gov.

REMINDER: Preparing Individuals Disproportionately Impacted by Disasters Webinar

FEMA’s Individual and Community Preparedness Division will present a webinar titled "Preparing Individuals Disproportionately Impacted by Disasters" on November 23 from 2 - 3 p.m. ET. The webinar will discuss disaster preparedness efforts to serve populations that are disproportionately impacted during an emergency due to risk factors related to limited English proficiency, culture, socio-economics, and national identity.

Participants are asked to register in advance for the online webinar. Closed captioning will be provided.