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Based on an increase of 0.8 percent in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers for the 12-month period that ended December 2015, FEMA adjusted the calendar year 2016 statewide per capita indicator for recommending a cost share adjustment for the public assistance program to $137.
FEMA will recommend an increase in the standard 75 percent federal cost share to not more than 90 percent of eligible costs when a disaster is so extraordinary that actual federal obligations under the Stafford Act, excluding administrative costs, meet or exceed $137 per capita of state population. This adjustment applies to all disasters declared on or after January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016.
FEMA is hosting a webinar on February 19 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) outlining newly-published guidance on Climate Resilient Mitigation Activities (CRMA). These include green infrastructure methods, expanded ecosystem service benefits, and three flood reduction and drought mitigation activities: Aquifer Storage and Recovery; Floodplain and Stream Restoration; and, Flood Diversion and Storage. These activities are priorities in the FY 2016 competitive grant program.
The purpose of the webinar is to:
- Explain the context and purpose of the CRMA initiative;
- Provide an overview of the CRMA project types;
- Present case studies; and,
- Outline further implementation tools and technical guidance to be published this spring.
Friday, February 19, 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. (EST)
FEMA ADOBE Connect: https://fema.connectsolutions.com/crma
Call-in Number: 1-800-320-4330 PIN 205435
Participants may need to download software for this webinar. It is recommended that you log in five to ten minutes early to ensure you don’t miss any of the presentation.
Additional webinars are planned in the upcoming weeks. For more information, send an email to FEMA-HMA-Grants-Policy@fema.dhs.gov.
FEMA in coordination with state, local, tribal and territorial emergency managers and state broadcasters’ associations, will conduct a test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) in twenty-two states, two territories, and the District of Columbia on Wednesday, February 24, at 2:20 p.m. Eastern Standard Time and at 1:20 p.m. Central Time.
Broadcasters are voluntarily participating in the test from Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Texas, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Virginia. The EAS test is scheduled to last approximately one minute and will verify the delivery and broadcast of a national test message and assess the readiness for distribution of a national-level test message.
The message will be nearly identical to the regular monthly test message of EAS, normally heard and seen by the public: “This is a national test of the Emergency Alert System. This is only a test.”
The EAS test might also be seen and heard in states and tribes bordering the states participating in the test.
For more information, visit the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System and Wireless Emergency Alerts.
FEMA's Emergency Management Institute (EMI) is preparing for the annual National Training, Education, and Exercise (NTE&E) Symposium. The symposium, which takes place May 24 – 26, provides federal, state, tribal, and territorial training and exercise officials the opportunity to discuss current and future training and exercise programs and to share case studies, lessons-learned, and smart practices.
The symposium also provides a venue to communicate program changes and to introduce new FEMA policy and doctrine. Each year, the symposium presenters discuss current and future training and exercise programs and initiatives that impact the federal, state, local, tribal, territorial, and non-government sectors. The symposium offers an instructional, participatory environment for emergency management training and exercise officials to engage their peers from across the country, as well as interact with FEMA leadership.
This year, the symposium theme is "Requirements-Based Investments to Build National Capabilities." The focus is to help ensure attendees use their resources efficiently and effectively.
Participants will learn to identify:
- At least one element to implement, modify, or validate in their training and exercise program;
- Resources, processes, and methods for determining capability gaps in a participant’s jurisdiction that can be filled through training or education and validated by exercises;
- Methods to determine if training is appropriate to close a capability gap; and,
- Tools for planning, executing, and evaluating their training and exercise programs to impact and close identified gaps.
On May 23, EMI also will offer six courses during the Pre-Symposium Workshop facilitated by the members of the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium.
The symposium and pre-symposium courses are occurring at the National Emergency Training Center, 16825 South Seton Avenue Emmitsburg, Maryland 21727-8998. Applications must be received by April 12, 2016. For more information, contact the EMI National Training Liaison, Dan Lubman, at daniel.lubman@fema.dhs.gov.
FEMA’s EMI Virtual Tabletop Exercise (VTTX) program will offer a one-day, flood scenario on March 22, 23, and 24. The VTTX was designed to help communities specifically looking at flood response and recovery efforts. The VTTX involves key personnel discussing simulated scenarios in an informal setting, and can be used to assess plans, policies, training, and procedures.
EMI conducts a monthly series of VTTXs using a teleconference platform to reach community-based training audiences around the country providing a virtual forum for disaster training. The design of the VTTX is for a group of 10 or more representatives from state and local emergency management community of practice. Participants must have an appropriate site equipped with video teleconference capability.
The goals of the VTTX are to test the participants’ knowledge, skills, and abilities to conduct all-hazards emergency response and recovery effectively. The VTTXs also enable coordination response operations with counterparts from federal agencies, state and local governments, private sector organizations, non-governmental agencies, and other whole community partners. The VTTX occurs 12:00 p.m. – 4 p.m. EST. The deadline for registration is Friday, February 21. Participants need only to attend one session.
To participate in a VTTX, submit an email request to Doug Kahn at douglas.kahn@fema.dhs.gov. Send a copy of your email request to the Integrated Emergency Management Branch at FEMA-EMI-IEMB@fema.dhs.gov or call 301-447-1381.
FEMA's EMI will conduct a course to assist Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) with either establishing or enhancing their emergency management curricula. This course addresses issues unique to HBCUs and begins the process of identifying and overcoming institutional roadblocks of emergency management-related offerings.
The target audience includes department chairs in disciplines such as sociology, geography, public administration, and psychology from minority and minority-serving institutions of higher education. A goal of the training is to achieve a more diverse population of emergency management professionals who reflect the communities in which they live and work. Enrollment is limited to the first 20 applicants. For more information, contact Lillian Virgil at Lillian.Virgil@fema.dhs.gov.
Dates: April 11-12, 2016
Location: EMI, National Emergency Training Center (NETC), Emmitsburg, Maryland
Registration deadline: Submit an application no later than Friday, February 19, 2016
To apply: Complete a FEMA Form 119-25-1, General Admissions Application, with student signature and signature of supervisor or sponsoring agency official. Mail, scan, or fax the application to:
NETC, Admissions Office Room I-216
16825 South Seton Avenue, Emmitsburg, MD 21727-8998
Phone: (301) 447-1035 Fax: (301) 447-1658
Email: netcadmissions@fema.dhs.gov
Link to the course description: “Integrating Emergency Management into Your Institutions”
FEMA's EMI will present a webinar titled "Understanding the Basic Relationship between Public Information Officers and Journalists" on February 24 from 1:30-2:30 p.m. EST.
This webinar provides college-level emergency management and homeland security educators with a basic understanding of the relationship between public information officers and journalists.
This webinar discusses how to find public information professionals in government, non-governmental agencies, and hospitals.
Participants will gain an appreciation for the importance of colleges and universities offering emergency management, homeland security, and related programs that integrate risk communication and highlight the dynamics of the public information officers' roles.
To participate, register in advance. Closed captioning is available.
FEMA is seeking
applicants for its Youth Preparedness Council formed in 2012 to bring together
leaders from across the country engaged in advocating youth preparedness.
Council members are
selected based on their dedication to public service, efforts in making a
difference in their communities, and potential to expand their impact as
national advocates for youth preparedness.
All applications and
supporting materials must be received no later than March 1, 2016, 11:59
p.m. PST in order to be eligible. New Youth Preparedness Council members
will be announced in May 2016. For more information and to access the
application materials, visit Youth Preparedness Council.
Over the past several years Members of Congress, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) have asked FEMA to look at how the federal government supports states following disasters and the associated costs. In response, FEMA is exploring the concept of a disaster deductible.
The Agency believes that such an approach has the potential to incentivize mitigation strategies and promote risk-informed decision-making to build resilience, including to catastrophic events; reduce the costs of future events for both states and the federal government; and facilitate state and local government planning and budgeting for enhanced disaster response and recovery capability through greater transparency.
This concept would include the establishment of a predetermined level of state disaster funding or investment in resilience before FEMA would begin to provide additional assistance through the Public Assistance program following a disaster declaration. The deductible concept would include how to calculate the deductible, the scope of the deductible, how to satisfy the deductible, how this concept could influence change, implementation considerations and an estimated impact.
FEMA is seeking public comments on all aspects of this concept until March 21, 2016 which may be submitted through Regulations.gov under docket ID FEMA-2016-003. This would be a significant change, so FEMA is seeking early public feedback through an advance notice of proposed rulemaking.
In early January, FEMA entered the next phase of tribal consultation for
the Stafford Act disaster declaration process for tribal governments. The draft
guidance is posted to the Federal Register
and will be available for comment until April 7, 2016. Additional
information regarding the consultation process may be found at Second Draft
Tribal Declaration Pilot Guidance.
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