FEMA announced the selection of 31 qualified individuals to serve on the FEMA National Advisory Council (NAC) Integrated Public Alert and
Warning System (IPAWS) Subcommittee.
The IPAWS Modernization Act of 2015 (Public Law
114-143) requires the FEMA
Administrator to establish the IPAWS Subcommittee. The Subcommittee will terminate no later than April 2019.
Forty-four members will serve
on the IPAWS Subcommittee:
- Thirty-one qualified individuals from 13
categories, including four additional candidates to serve as FEMA Administrator
Selections, as mandated in Public Law 114-143.
- Eight senior federal leaders (or their
designees)
- Five members from the NAC who volunteered to
serve.
FEMA published a Federal
Register Notice in September 2016 announcing the call for applications. A FEMA selection panel identified qualified
individuals from the categories listed in the IPAWS Modernization Act. The IPAWS Subcommittee will hold their inaugural meeting on
August 8-9, 2017, in Washington, D.C. They will meet up to
four times per year at the discretion of the chairperson – two in person and
two by video conferencing. Public Law 114-143 requires the Deputy Administrator
for Protection and National Preparedness to chair the Subcommittee.
The IPAWS Program is responsible for implementing a national public alert
and warning system, supporting presidential warning requirements, and enable
its use by federal, state, tribal, territorial, and local officials during
local emergencies. Further information on FEMA’s IPAWS program can be found at www.fema.gov/integrated-public-alert-warning-system.
The NAC is a federal
advisory committee established to ensure effective and ongoing coordination of federal
preparedness, protection, response, recovery and mitigation for natural
disasters, acts of terrorism and other man-made disasters. The NAC advises the
FEMA Administrator on all aspects of emergency management frameworks,
strategies and plans, while incorporating the whole community’s input through
appointed council members.
On
July 6, 2017, FEMA published a new policy to provide Hazard Mitigation
Assistance (HMA) program guidance on subsurface hydraulic fracturing and
horizontal directional drilling (hydraulic fracturing/HDD), designating such
activity as a compatible use when it occurs at the subsurface level, or
below-ground, for properties acquired for open space with HMA funds.
In
this policy, FEMA considered the practice of hydraulic fracturing/HDD
activities and determined that based on the available information, the actions
occurring in subsurface layers to extract natural gas or oil are uses that are
generally compatible with open space. These actions
generally do not increase flood risk or present an obstruction in the
floodplain. Additionally, they generally do not obstruct the natural and
beneficial floodplain functions.
With
regard to surface level activities, FEMA determined that related appurtenances,
equipment, and/or wastewater disposal associated with hydraulic fracturing/HDD
are not compatible uses with open space and they are not allowed on acquired
land parcels.
FEMA Policy (FP-302-094-03) can be viewed online.
Information about the Hazard Mitigation program is also available at www.fema.gov/hazard-mitigation-assistance.
FEMA announced that $250
million in funding is available through two Hazard
Mitigation Assistance (HMA) grant programs: Flood Mitigation
Assistance (FMA) and Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM). These grant programs assist state, local, tribal, and
territorial governments in strengthening our nation’s ability to reduce
disaster losses and protect life and property from future disaster damages.
Beginning
July 10, potential applicants can review the specifics of the FY17 programs in
the Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFO) which include details such as
eligibility, funding guidelines and evaluation criteria. The NOFOs are
available at www.grants.gov and
additional information is available at FEMA.gov.
FEMA is also scheduling a series of information webinars for interested
applicants over the next few weeks.
The
National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 establishes the goal of reducing or
eliminating claims under the National Flood
Insurance Program (NFIP) through long-term mitigation actions. For
the FMA program, the agency’s predetermined funding priorities include flood
mitigation planning and efforts for repetitive as well as severe repetitive
loss properties. New in this application cycle, FEMA has set-aside $70 million
of the $160 million in FMA grant funds for community advance assistance and
flood mitigation projects.
As
authorized under the Stafford
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Stafford Act), the PDM
Program is designed to implement a sustained pre-disaster natural hazard
mitigation program with the goal of reducing overall risk to the population and
structures from future hazard events. FEMA selects eligible planning and
project sub-applications for the PDM program which fulfill statutory
requirements and competitive mitigation activities that limit duplication of
other HMA grant programs as provided in the agency’s predetermined priorities
for funding. For FY17, FEMA has set-aside $10 million of the $90 million in PDM
funding for federally recognized tribes.
FEMA
will open the FY17 HMA application period August 14, 2017. Eligible applicants
must apply for funding through the Mitigation eGrants system on the FEMA Grants
Portal accessible at https://portal.fema.gov.
All applications must be submitted no later than 3:00 p.m. EST on November 14,
2017.
Further information on these
grant programs is available at www.fema.gov/hazard-mitigation-assistance.
FEMA congratulates 44 students who
graduated from the first California Cohort of the National Emergency Management
Advanced Academy on June 30. Hosted by the California Specialized
Training Institute (CSTI), the event took place aboard the USS Midway in San
Diego, California. CSTI’s Superintendent, Alex Cabassa, and the Emergency
Management Institute’s Superintendent, Tony Russell, presided over the event.
FEMA’s National Emergency Management Advanced Academy is designed for mid-level
managers seeking to advance their skills, and provides the strategic level
training and education essential for emergency management professionals to
effectively design, influence and lead cutting-edge programs. California is the third state, or commonwealth, to host the Advanced Academy
program at their “home” location. This allows the host to select the
attendees consisting of students with at least three years of experience in an
emergency management position from across various jurisdictions, agencies and
offices.
Until
2016, the Advanced Academy program was delivered by the Emergency Management Institute solely in
Emmitsburg, Maryland. This California-based delivery demonstrates the
opportunity available to all states, commonwealths, tribes, and territories to deliver
the Advanced Academy program at their site. For more information about
offering the Advanced Academy at your location, contact Mr. Kelly Garrett at Kelly.Garrett@fema.dhs.gov or Douglas Kuhn
at douglas.kuhn@fema.dhs.gov.
Visit www.training.fema.gov/empp for more
information about the Emergency Management Professional Programs, which
includes the National Emergency Management Executive, Advanced, and Basic
Academies.
FEMA congratulates 44 students who graduated from the National Emergency Management Advanced Academy on June 30, 2017, aboard the USS Midway. California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) with partnership through the Emergency Management Institute hosted the Advanced Academy in San Diego, CA. The graduates represented emergency management professionals from across the state. Photographer: Felix Zamora.
$8 Million Available for Homeland Security National Training Program Continuing Grants
FEMA announced that $8
million in Fiscal Year 2017 Continuing Training Grants (CTG) funding is available to develop and deliver
FEMA training to address specific focus areas: Cybersecurity, Economic Recovery,
Housing, and Rural and Tribal Preparedness.
Administered
annually by
FEMA, this competitive program attracts applicants nationwide, including
state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, non-profit local and
national organizations, colleges
and universities, and faith-based organizations. Complete instructions
to
apply are found in the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), posted on Grants.gov, listed under Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance number
97.005, Continuing Training Grants. FEMA will review, evaluate
and score proposals by applying a methodology that is detailed in the NOFO. The
CTG application period opened on June 26, 2017 and will close at 11:59 p.m. EDT
on July 26, 2017. Awards will be made by September 30, 2017.
For questions regarding
the CTG program, contact FEMA’s National Training and Education Division via
email at FEMA-NTES@fema.dhs.gov or contact Mr. Patrick Cowhey, patrick.cowhey@fema.dhs.gov and (202) 786-0905.
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.
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.
Comments Needed for Draft Policy on Floodplain Development
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.
FEMA Tribal Outreach and Consultation Period on FEMA Tribal Consultation Policy
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.
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, Washington, DC 20472-3191.
Visit FEMA’s Tribal Affairs
web page for more information on the tribal consultation period for this
policy.
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