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FEMA released the draft of an updated Continuity Guidance
Circular for national engagement. The document provides
recommendations on developing and maintaining the capability to ensure
continuity of operations, continuity of government, and enduring constitutional
government. National
preparedness and sustainment of essential functions is a shared responsibility
of the whole community – business, nonprofit and governmental entities. FEMA’s National Continuity Programs developed
the Circular in 2009 and issued its first revision in 2013.
The document describes
the fundamental theories and concepts to unify the application of continuity
principles, planning, and capabilities across the nation. It further describes
federal and non-federal continuity efforts; outlines whole community continuity
roles, responsibilities, and coordinating structures; and describes the process
for building and maintaining continuity capabilities. Many
jurisdictions and organizations already have an existing continuity program and
plan, and will use the Circular to refine capabilities and processes.
The 30-day
national engagement period includes several 60-minute engagement webinars to
describe the draft document, provide information on how to submit feedback, and
to answer stakeholders’ questions. Feedback from stakeholders will shape the
development of the final document.
For more
information and to review the draft documents, visit www.fema.gov/continuity-guidance-circular by July 6, 2017. Submit your completed feedback form to FEMA-CGC@fema.dhs.gov.
On
Friday, June 2, 2017, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and FEMA released the
Fiscal Year 2017 (FY17) Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) announcements for preparedness grants. These 10 grants, which include the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI)
Grant Program and the State Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP), will
provide more than $1.6 billion in funding to state, local, tribal, and
territorial governments as well as transportation authorities and nonprofit
organizations to improve the nation’s readiness in preventing, protecting
against, responding to, recovering from and mitigating terrorist attacks, major
disasters and other emergencies.
Receiving an appropriation on
May 5, 2017, this year’s DHS Preparedness Grant Program cycle has the shortest
turn around since the program’s inception in 2003. To properly administer these grants with
critical in-depth application reviews and award processes, the application
period has been reduced to 21 days.
DHS is continuing to develop
the policy and procedural mechanisms for implementing the sanctuary
jurisdiction provisions of Executive Order No. 13768, Enhancing Public Safety
in the Interior of the United States (Jan. 25, 2017). The Department is
currently enjoined by a federal court from applying the operative provision of
the order. Therefore, these 2017 grants will not be subject to the requirements
of Section 9 (Sanctuary Jurisdictions) of the Executive Order.
To review the FY2017
Preparedness Grant NOFOs, go to www.grants.gov. After
the application period closes on June 22, 2017, the applications will undergo
critical, in-depth reviews. All awards
for these grants will be made no later than September 30, 2017.
FEMA initiated a 90-day outreach and consultation period
from June 1 to August 29, 2017, to seek input from federally recognized Indian
tribal governments on the update of the agency’s Tribal Consultation
Policy. The FEMA
Tribal Consultation Policy, first issued in 2014, acknowledges the agency’s
nation-to-nation relationship with tribal governments. The policy also guides how FEMA
engages tribal governments in regular and meaningful consultation and
collaboration on policy and actions that have tribal implications.
This consultation period aims to update the policy to reflect current
authorities and best practices, as well as follow FEMA’s new policy
document format requirements. FEMA seeks input and feedback from tribal leaders, or their designees, during the consultation period to help inform the development of an
updated policy. FEMA headquarters and regional offices will engage tribal
officials through face-to-face meetings, conferences, conference calls, and
webinars to seek input and answer questions on the current FEMA Tribal
Consultation Policy.
Tribal officials can submit
comments on the FEMA Tribal Consultation until August 29, 2017,
through:
- E-mail to tribalconsultation@fema.dhs.gov, or
- Mail to ATTN: Margeau Valteau, Office of External Affairs,
DHS/FEMA, 500 C Street SW, MS 3193, Washington, DC 20472.
Visit FEMA’s Tribal Affairs
web page for more information on the tribal consultation period for this
policy.
FEMA
prepared a draft policy for FEMA staff and communities participating in the
NFIP to update guidance for participating communities on satisfying National
Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) floodplain development permit requirements, and
to address questions about floodplain permitting of development activities
occurring in the FEMA designated Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA).
Through
this policy, a community can ensure compliance with NFIP and local floodplain
management regulations, while potentially reducing the administrative burden
associated with permitting certain types of low-to-no impact development in the
floodplain.
This
guidance does not intend to address other permits associated with building
codes, or other federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial permits, and only
applies to floodplain development permitting requirements to enroll in, and
maintain eligibility for, the NFIP.
The draft policy is available for review on FEMA’s
website at: https://www.fema.gov/media-library/assets/documents/131010,
and the public is invited to provide comment and input via FEMA-Floodplain-Management-Division@fema.dhs.gov
until August 23, 2017.
The Hazard Mitigation
Grant Program (HMGP) introduced its newly revised and reformatted
online content on the FEMA.gov
website. The
user-friendly content is designed to help visitors easily locate general
information about the program. Online tools and resource materials are
now aligned and consolidated more intuitively into the following categories: individual, state or local government or federally recognized tribes.
Also, best practice stories are now available in both story and video formats.
The
overarching redesign work is being done in two phases. The first phase,
the HMPG webpage, is completed and was recently unveiled at the Annual
Mitigation Stakeholders Workshop in Emmitsburg, Maryland. A visitor to
the agency’s website is encouraged to select a category of interest – individual, state or local government or federally recognized tribe. In each section there
is an easy-to-use navigation tool to access specific information about fact
sheets, job aids, loss avoidance studies, program and project information, etc.
The
next phase of the redesign will be to revise the grants specific
information for Pre-Disaster
Mitigation (PDM) and Flood
Mitigation Assistance (FMA) and consolidate the tools and resources in more
defined ways. To browse through the new HMGP content, visit www.fema.gov/hazard-mitigation-grant-program.
FEMA’s
Office of Chief Counsel (OCC) recently published an eight-part webinar series
on the FEMA website offering detailed information for recipients and sub-recipients
of FEMA disaster grants as they navigate the federal procurement process. The
video modules were produced by OCC’s Procurement Disaster Assistance Team
(PDAT), and are not intended to be a substitute for legal advice or live
procurement under grants training. The webinars describe procurement standards
under the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit
Requirements for Federal Awards (also known as the “Uniform Rules”), (2 C.F.R.
§§ 200.317-.326).
FEMA
recommends watching the webinars in sequential order. Topics discussed include,
in part; the roles of federal and non-federal entities in the procurement under
grants process; rules applicable to states, including state agencies; rules
applicable to local governments, tribes, and nonprofits, sometimes collectively
referred to as non-Federal Entities (NFEs); competition and procurement methods
that apply to NFEs; socioeconomic contracting; pre-procurement document review
and bonding requirements for NFEs; procurement of recovered materials or
required contract provisions; and the differences between the current
procurement standards and previous procurement standards.
The
webinars may be useful for FEMA stakeholders in the public, private, tribal, or
non-profit sectors or any other emergency management personnel working on
procurements under grants. Please visit www.fema.gov/procurement-disaster-assistance-team to watch the webinar series and learn more about important
procurement legal standards under FEMA disaster grants.
FEMA congratulates the 13 students who graduated from the
National Emergency Management Basic Academy on May 25, 2017. These students
completed the full Basic Academy curriculum which provides the basic knowledge
and skills to help meet the unpredictable challenges in the field of emergency
management. Graduates represented emergency management professionals from federal, county and local governments, and education establishments.
FEMA’s National Emergency Management Basic Academy is the
entry-point for individuals pursuing a career in emergency management. The
Basic Academy offers the tools to develop comprehensive foundational skills
needed in emergency management. For those who are new to emergency
management, the Basic Academy also provides a unique opportunity to build
camaraderie, to establish professional contacts, and to understand the roles,
responsibilities, and legal boundaries associated with emergency
management.
The Basic Academy is
the first of a three-level Academy series in the Emergency Management
Professional Program (EMPP). The EMPP curriculum is designed to provide a
lifetime of learning for emergency management professionals and includes three
separate, but closely threaded, training programs building from the Basic
Academy to the National Emergency Management Advanced Academy, a program to
develop the next generation of emergency management leaders who are trained in
advanced concepts and issues, advanced leadership and management, and critical
thinking and problem solving; and culminating in the National Emergency
Management Executive Academy, a program designed to challenge and enhance the
talents of the nation’s emergency management senior executives through critical
thinking, visionary strategic planning, challenging conventional concepts, and
negotiation and conflict resolution applied to complex real-world
problems.
Emergency management professionals should visit www.training.fema.gov/empp for more information
about which academy best suits their needs.
During
the month of June, FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute (EMI) will host weekly “One
Link, One Bridge, Many Voices” e-Forums that will provide an opportunity for
the emergency management community to discuss matters of interest related to
national preparedness training. The
pilot forums
will showcase community partners and peers, sharing their experiences in panel
format, which offers opportunities to provide technical assistance in training
management by facilitating peer-to-peer sharing of best practices.
June 14: Instructor Selection
Learn about best practices for instructor selection from Virginia, Kansas, and Team Rubicon.
June 21: Adopting the Academies
Hear
how Florida and Virginia have developed progressive training and education
systems based on the emergency management competencies inherent in the National
Emergency Management Basic
and Advanced
Academies.
June 28: THIRA/SPR Development
Each year, states produce two
self-assessments, the Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment
(THIRA) and the State Preparedness Report (SPR). Join us to hear North
Dakota and FEMA’s National Preparedness Assessment Division discuss the
importance of the role of the State Training Officer in the THIRA and SPR
process.
Registration link: https://fema.connectsolutions.com/emieforums
Conference call-in:
800-320-4330, PIN 107622#
For
questions, contact: https://training.fema.gov/contactus/sendcomment.aspx
Please sign in and call in early as there
are only 100 available spots. Participation does not require pre-registration.
Individual and Community Preparedness Awards Application Period
The application deadline for
the 2017 FEMA Individual and Community Preparedness Awards is June 6, 2017, at 11:59 p.m. EDT. The
awards highlight innovative local practices and achievements by honoring
individuals, organizations, and jurisdictions that have made outstanding
contributions toward strengthening their community to prepare for, respond to,
recover from, and mitigate a disaster.
To be considered for this
year’s awards, all submissions must be received by June 6, 2017, at 11:59
p.m. EDT, and must feature program activities taking place between January
1, 2016, and May 30, 2017. Applications are accessed online and should be
submitted to fema-icp-awards@fema.dhs.gov. More information
about the awards is available at www.ready.gov/preparedness-awards.
FEMA Seeks Comments on Nationwide Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement on the National Flood Insurance Program
On April 7, FEMA published a Federal
Register notice to seek public comment on a draft Nationwide
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (NPEIS) about the
National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). As required by the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), FEMA developed this draft NPEIS to
examine the impacts of proposed improvements and modifications to the NFIP.
This draft NPEIS includes an evaluation of the potential impacts to the natural
and human environment associated with the NFIP at a programmatic level, as well
as an evaluation of impacts of alternative proposals to modify the NFIP.
The public comment
period is open for 60 days until June 6, 2017. Download a
copy of the draft NPEIS and provide
comments directly to FEMA via www.regulations.gov. Search for Docket ID FEMA-2012-0012.
In addition, public meetings
and webinars are scheduled by FEMA to allow the public an opportunity to
learn
more about the project and to provide comments on the NFIP draft NPEIS.
For a list of locations and webinar dates and times, visit www.fema.gov/programmatic-environmental-impact-statement.
FEMA Seeks Comments on Draft National Incident Management System Resource Management Guidance Documents
FEMA is committed to improving the nation’s ability to manage all
threats and hazards. As such, FEMA’s National Integration Center released a
suite
of draft National Incident Management System (NIMS) Resource Management
guidance documents that enhance the interoperability and effectiveness of mutual aid between jurisdictions and agencies. FEMA is holding a
National Engagement period to solicit feedback.
The drafts include the NIMS Guideline for the National Qualification
System (NQS), NIMS Job Titles/Position Qualifications and accompanying Position
Task Books (PTB), Resource Types, the NIMS Guideline for Mutual Aid, and an
updated NIMS Guideline for the Credentialing of Personnel. Documents are
available for review and comment through Friday, June 9, 2017.
In addition, FEMA
is hosting a series of 60-minute webinars to describe the draft documents and
answer participants’ questions about providing feedback. To review the drafts
of the NIMS Resource Management supplemental guidance and tools, and to obtain
additional webinar information, visit www.fema.gov/national-incident-management-system/national-engagement. To provide
comments on the draft, complete the feedback form found on the webpage above
and submit it to FEMA-NIMS@fema.dhs.gov.
Emergency Management Institute Offers Advanced Public Information Officer Training
EMI is offering the Advanced Public Information Officer
(PIO) course, July 24-28, at the National Emergency Training Center in
Emmitsburg, Maryland. The course provides public information officers the
opportunity to increase their knowledge and skills for establishing, managing
and working in a joint information center (JIC). The training fosters an
environment where participants can apply advanced skills during a multi-day
functional exercise designed to test and enhance their ability
to analyze, coordinate, process, and create information in a fast-paced,
realistic environment. Using interactive lectures
from subject matter experts and an intense functional exercise, the Advanced
PIO course teaches participants skills for use during escalating incidents,
including strategic communications and incident action planning, as it relates
to JIC operations.
Interested individuals should contact Phil Politano at Philip.Politano@fema.dhs.gov by June
9, 2017, to register for the course. For information on prerequisites and
course schedules go to http://training.femac.gov/programs/pio/.
Apply to Become a Trainer for the National Emergency Management Basic Academy
FEMA’s
Emergency Management Institute (EMI) is offering a Train-the-Trainer
course for the National Emergency Management Basic Academy. To qualify to
enroll in the Train-the-Trainer course, individuals must have at least five
years of experience working in the field of emergency management and at least
three years of experience delivering emergency management instruction to
adults.
Train-the-Trainer
is devoted to course delivery strategy, logistics, demonstrations, and adult
learning methods. In addition, there are student teach-backs that summarize a
portion of the Basic Academy course subject matter, and describe activities and
exercises. Upon completion of the course, students will possess the skills
necessary to set up and facilitate an offering of the Basic Academy courses.
The
entry-point for individuals pursuing a career in emergency management, the Basic
Academy offers the tools to develop
comprehensive foundational skills. For those who are new to emergency
management, the Basic Academy also provides a unique opportunity to build
camaraderie, to establish professional contacts, and to understand the roles,
responsibilities, and legal boundaries associated with emergency
management.
Course Dates: August
7-11, 2017
Location:
Emergency Management Institute, National Emergency Training Center in
Emmitsburg, MD
Application Deadline: June 26, 2017
For additional information, contact Jeff Januchowski at
301-447-1356 or jeffrey.januchowski@fema.dhs.gov.
Apply for the 2018 National Emergency Management Executive Academy
FEMA’s
EMI is now accepting application packages for the 2018 National
Emergency Management Executive Academy.
Ideally,
candidates will have experience as senior executives of major emergency
management organizations, served on major commissions and task
forces, or be
responsible for decisions that have a significant effect on homeland
security
and emergency management policies.
The four required resident
sessions, to be conducted by EMI at the National Emergency Training Center in
Emmitsburg, Maryland, will include:
- Systems Thinking and Research Methods for Executives: February 26 – March 1, 2018
- Executive Emergency
Management Leader Core Competencies I: April 23 – 26, 2018
- Executive Emergency Management Leader Core Competencies II: June 18– 21, 2018
- Executive Emergency
Management Leaders Core Competencies III: August 27 – 30, 2018
Applications will be
accepted through August 15, 2017. There are a limited number of seats and
enrollment is competitive. For more information on the Executive Academy and
the application and selection process, visit www.training.fema.gov/EMPP/executive.asp.
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