Hazard Mitigation
Assistance (HMA) is pleased to introduce its newly revised and reformatted Hazard Mitigation Grant
Program (HMGP)
online content. 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.
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The overarching redesign
work is being done in two phases. The first phase, the HMGP webpage, is completed and was recently unveiled at the
Annual Mitigation Stakeholders Workshop in Emmitsburg, Maryland. A visitor to
the webpage 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 second 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.
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More than 300 participants attended the Annual Hazard
Mitigation Workshop from May 31 - June 2, 2017 at the Emergency Management
Institute (EMI) in Emmitsburg, Maryland. The workshop included three days of
plenary sessions, breakout sessions, and the sharing of program best practices
and project case studies, providing an opportunity for information exchange and
discussion of success stories and challenges associated with the delivery of
the HMA programs. “The workshop was a huge
success with collaboration and engaging conversations happening across the EMI
campus. It’s important to have the
opportunity for face-to-face conversations and to build relationships,” said
Karen Helbrecht, Acting Hazard Mitigation Assistance Division Director, FEMA.
The workshop is devoted to the partnerships between HMA and
Floodplain Management stakeholders, such as State and Tribal Hazard Mitigation
Officers, and is by invitation only.
(Photo Above:
Participants sign in at the beginning of the HMA workshop.)
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(Photo: David
Goldbloom-Helzner with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of
Water, Water Security Division and and Cow Creek Band of Umpqua
Tribe of Indians Director of Emergency Management Tracy De Pew, attend the poster
session mixer where a variety of best practices and success stories were
presented in addition to exhibit booths and demonstrations.)
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Notice of
Funding Opportunity Announcements
This summer, FEMA will post
the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFOs) for Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) and
Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) grant announcements for Fiscal Year 2017
(FY17). The NOFOs will be posted on www.Grants.gov at least one month in advance
of opening the application period to allow time to for FEMA to share with our stakeholders
what the program priorities are for this year. This year, FEMA has $90
million available for PDM, which includes a $10 million set-aside for
applications from Tribes. In FMA, $160 million is available and FEMA is setting
aside $70 million of the overall FMA commitment for community flood mitigation
grants. This is a new initiative for this year.
HMA
Customer Satisfaction Survey
FEMA HMA will be conducting a survey of customer satisfaction with HMGP, PDM, and
FMA. Applicants who applied for grants under any of these programs from
2010 to 2016 may be contacted by phone or email. The survey is expected to
begin later this summer.
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(Left to Right: George De La O, Tom Hughes, Karen Helbrecht, Mark Schneider, Dorothy
Cook, Sarah White, Paula Gutierrez, Donna Boreck, Tracy De Pew, Kaylynn Gresham, Chris Blinzinger, and Miles
Anderson.)
At their second meeting at the
Annual Hazard Mitigation Workshop in Emmitsburg, Maryland, the FEMA HMA
External Stakeholders Working Group (ESWG) began developing their
2017 work plans and identified leads for corresponding work teams. This group acts as a bridge between federal staff and state, local, tribal, and territorial
stakeholders that provides insight and external perspective on HMA priorities,
issues, and program resources.
The 2017 ESWG Work Plans include efforts in the following
areas:
- Mitigation Core Competency and Skills
Analysis
- Online HMA Knowledge and Support
- Advance Assistance Outreach and Education
- Building Better Habits for Knowledge and
Experience Exchange with the current HMA network
ESWG members will execute the work plans throughout 2017.
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FEMA is among 11 Federal agencies that have agreed to coordinate
their independent environmental planning and historic preservation (EHP)
reviews associated with disaster recovery projects, known as the Unified
Federal Review (UFR). Included among its goals are to unify and
standardize EHP requirements, improve the efficiency of the EHP process,
support informed and transparent decision-making and expedite delivery of
Federal assistance to applicants. Get
the latest news about the UFR.
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In May, FEMA’s HMA Division held a webinar to share cost estimating
principles for HMA applications. Presenters provided general
principles for reviewing cost estimates for HMA projects, a process for
determining “reasonable costs” as part of the grant application review, and
resources where you can get more detailed information and examples. View the webinar and download the presentation.
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August 3-4: Course
E0276: Benefit-Cost Analysis: Entry-Level
This course is designed as an introduction to the fundamental concepts
of benefit-cost (BC) analysis. Participants will learn how to obtain BC data
and conduct analyses using the latest version of the Benefit Cost Toolkit.
Rules for Procurement Under Grants: Webinars
This is a series of webinar modules on grant
rules for procurement. There are eight modules in this series.
This series covers the procurement standards under the Uniform
Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for
Federal Awards which are found in Title 2 of the Code of Federal Regulations,
sections 200.317 through 200.326. These webinars will help familiarize you with
the procurement standards imposed by Federal regulations on recipients and sub-recipients when procuring services and property with funding from Hazard
Mitigation Assistance.
Flood
Provisions of the International Residential Code
FEMA
Building Science, in partnership with the International Code Council, is proud to
launch the new online course “Flood Provisions of the International Residential
Code.” For a limited time, this course
will be available free of charge.
Flood Provisions of
the International Residential Code (IRC) is a two-part course presenting basic
information needed to understand the flood provisions of the IRC.
Its goal is
to educate floodplain management and building officials, design professionals,
and builders about: how the building code provisions satisfy the National Flood
Insurance Program (NFIP) requirements for buildings, coordinating building
codes and local floodplain management ordinances, and the distinctions between
the International Codes and the NFIP floodplain management requirements. Access FEMA’s free building code resources for all
hazards.
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