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On
November 3, FEMA published a Federal Register [FEMA-2012-0012-0081] Notice for a final National
Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Nationwide Programmatic Environmental Impact
Statement (NPEIS).
As
required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), FEMA
developed this final NPEIS to
examine the impacts of proposed improvements and modifications to
the NFIP. This final 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. Comments received on the NFIP draft NPEIS and FEMA’s revisions and
responses are included in the Final NPEIS and Appendix M.
The
NFIP proposed modifications are needed to implement the legislative requirements
of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 (BW-12) Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 (BW-12)
and the Homeowner
Flood Insurance Affordability Act
of 2014 (HFIAA), and to demonstrate
compliance with the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
Today,
more than 22,000 communities
participate in the NFIP, with nearly five million NFIP policies
in effect, providing over $1.2 trillion
in insurance coverage. The NFIP serves
as the foundation for national efforts to reduce the loss of property from flood disasters.
The public can download the final NPEIS
via www.regulations.gov [Docket
ID FEMA-2012-0012-0081]. For additional information,
visit www.fema.gov/programmatic-environmental-impact-statement. Comments may be sent via email nfip-programmatic-eis@fema.dhs.gov or by paper per below by December 3,
2017.
U.S. Postal Service
Mail
All comments submitted via
mail should be sent to:
Regulatory Affairs Legal Division Office of Chief Counsel
Federal
Emergency Management Agency
500
C Street SW, Room 8NE
Washington,
DC 20472-3100
FEMA released a series of National Incident Management
System (NIMS) resource management documents to enhance the interoperability and
the effectiveness of sharing resources between jurisdictions, known as mutual
aid. NIMS provides a nationwide approach
to resource management, enabling stakeholders to work together to manage all
threats and hazards, regardless of the incident’s cause or size.
In collaboration with representatives from nongovernmental
organizations, the private sector, and all levels of government (state, local,
tribal, territorial, and federal), FEMA developed the following guidelines and resource typing
supporting documents:
- The NIMS Guideline for
Mutual Aid provides
an overview of common mutual aid practices; defines common terminology and
processes; and,
describes an approach for creating legal agreements and operational plans.
- The NIMS Guideline
for the National Qualification System (NQS) describes the components of a
qualification and certification system, defines a process for certifying the
qualifications of incident personnel, describes how to implement a peer review
process, and provides an introduction to credentialing personnel. The National
Qualification System is
intended
for use by
all levels of government and organizations, including
private sector entities and non-governmental organizations with incident
management and support responsibilities.
- NIMS Job
Titles/Position Qualifications that
define minimum qualifications for personnel serving in specific incident
management and support positions.
- NIMS Position Task
Books (PTBs)
that identify the
competencies, behaviors, and tasks that personnel should demonstrate to become
qualified for a defined incident management or support position.
- NIMS Job
Titles/Position Qualifications and Resource Typing Definitions other than NQS that define minimum
qualifications and capabilities for personnel and their equipment
within their assigned teams to
manage all threats and hazards, regardless of the incident’s cause or size.
FEMA is hosting 60-minute webinars to discuss the National
Qualification System and answer questions related to the new guidelines and
supporting tools. Each webinar is open to all interested parties and will cover
the same information.
To review the National Qualifications System documents and for additional webinar information, visit www.fema.gov/national-qualification-system. To
review the Resource Typing documents other than NQS, visit https://rtlt.preptoolkit.fema.gov/Public.
November
is National Native American Heritage Month, honoring American Indians and
Alaska Natives and their traditions, languages and culture. This year, the Society
of American Indian Government Employees selected the theme “Standing Together."
American Indians and Alaska Natives powerfully
helped form our country’s character and our cultural heritage. Today, Native
Americans are leaders in every aspect of our society. National
Native American Heritage Month celebrates and recognizes the accomplishments of
the peoples who were the original inhabitants, explorers, and settlers of the
United States.
This month, FEMA will host
a webinar on Tribal Individual Community Preparedness and Hazard Mitigation. The
webinar will be on Wednesday, November 29, 2017 from 3-4 p.m. Eastern Time (ET).
Those interested in the webinar can register
to participate online. For more information, please contact the Tribal Partners
Branch at FEMA-IGA@fema.dhs.gov. For more information on how we engage and
work government-to-government with federally recognized tribes and tribal
executives, visit FEMA Tribal
Affairs.
Hazard Mitigation Assistance Grant Applications Open Until November 14
The application
period is open for two competitive Hazard
Mitigation Assistance grant programs. Eligible applicants including
territories, federally recognized tribes, states, and local governments may
apply for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 Flood Mitigation
Assistance (FMA) and Pre-Disaster
Mitigation (PDM) grants at https://portal.fema.gov
through 3
p.m. ET on November 14, 2017.
FMA grants are
available to implement measures to reduce or eliminate risk of flood damage to
structures insured by the National Flood
Insurance Program (NFIP). For FY 2017, $160 million is available,
including $70 million for community flood mitigation activities that address
flooding on a neighborhood level, such as floodwater diversion and localized
flood-control measures as well as advance assistance for mitigation design and
development of community flood mitigation projects.
PDM
grants are awarded for all-hazard mitigation planning and projects, such as the
construction of community and residential safe rooms for tornados, and wind
retrofits, which are enhancements made to strengthen the roof, walls and doors
of structures to minimize damage caused by high winds. This year, $90 million
is available, including $10 million for federally-recognized tribes. States,
tribes, territories, and the District of Columbia may apply for the statutory
allocation of up to $575,000 federal share. Visit www.fema.gov/hazard-mitigation-grant-program for additional details about the grants.
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