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On May 20, FEMA published the New Recipients of Disaster Grants Guide, a centralized resource document for state, local, tribal and territorial governments. This guide provides streamlined guidance on the essential elements of Public Assistance (PA), Individual Assistance (IA), and Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) and required actions to request, initiate and receive FEMA disaster assistance grants.
The document combines pre-disaster preparation recommendations, program requirements and associated deadlines, and other information from all three grant programs.
The guide also outlines the critical statutory, policy and procedural requirements for recipients of FEMA disaster assistance grants. The scope of the guide includes pre-disaster preparations and post-disaster actions and is tailored to an audience of current (or prospective) recipients of federal disaster grant funding. The information is meant to supplement available programmatic guidance and assist new recipients with limited experience in navigating the FEMA disaster grant process. The disaster guide can be found here.
Join one of FEMA’s two upcoming webinar opportunities to learn more about the New Recipients of Disaster Grants Guide:
Webinar 1: 2 p.m. EDT Monday, June 17
How to participate:
Webinar 2: 2 p.m. EDT Wednesday, June 19
How to Participate:
If you need a copy of the webinar PowerPoint, please provide details on the registration page or contact jacob.rodrigueznoble@fema.dhs.gov.
FEMA is seeking comments on the development and implementation of Disaster Recovery Reform Act (DRRA) Section 1234: National Public Infrastructure Pre-Disaster Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.
The new program: Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC), is part of the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act which became law in October 2018. Communities from all levels of government and key stakeholders, including private businesses, citizens, vulnerable and at-risk populations, critical infrastructure sectors, and non-profit, academic, and philanthropic organizations are encouraged to provide comment. Comments will be accepted from May 20 through July 15, on FEMA IdealScale or by email at BUILDBRIC@fema.dhs.gov.
In June, FEMA will host a webinar series to provide an overview of the different topic areas that are important for the development of the BRIC program. This will be followed by an open conversation with stakeholders through the chat platform.
For detailed information and a description of each session, visit the website.
Webinar 1: Infrastructure Mitigation Projects and Community Lifelines
2 to 4 p.m. EDT, Thursday June 6.
Webinar 2: Hazard Mitigation Planning, Grant Application and Evaluation, and Risk Based Funding
2 to 4 p.m. EDT, Thursday June 13
Webinar 3: Funding & Resource Management and Benefit-Cost Analysis
2 to 4 p.m. EDT, Thursday June 20.
Webinar 4: Building Codes and Enforcement and Capacity and Capability
2 to 4 p.m. EDT, Tuesday June 25.
How to Participate:
• FEMA Teleconference: 1-800-320-4330 PIN: 338559#
• FEMA Adobe Connect
For more information on DRRA, visit the website.
FEMA has released the final PrepTalk video from the Sept. 6, 2018 symposium: ”Using Complex Adaptive Systems Thinking to Understand Community Interdependencies.”
In his PrepTalk, Dr. Charles "Chick" Macal urges emergency managers to apply the principles of systems thinking to their work in preparedness and response. Dr. Macal discusses how he believes systems thinking helps to unravel the hidden interdependencies of human behavior, critical infrastructure, and decision-making in today’s complex world.
Dr. Macal is the Chief Scientist of Argonne National Laboratory’s Resilient Infrastructure Initiative, where he leads a team of interdisciplinary researchers developing computational models and simulations for infrastructure interdependency analysis, planning, and resilience.
The PrepTalk video and additional resources are available on the website. PrepTalks from the April 2019 symposium in Santa Rosa, Calif. will be released in the coming months.
PrepTalks are a partnership between FEMA, the International Association of Emergency Managers, the National Emergency Management Association, the National Homeland Security Consortium, and the Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security.
FEMA released the refreshed National Incident Management System (NIMS) Training Program for a 30-day National Engagement Period. This time provides an opportunity for interested parties to comment on the draft of the updated NIMS Training Program, so that it reflects the collective expertise and experience of the whole community. The National Engagement Period will conclude at 5 p.m. EDT June 21.
The NIMS Training Program sets forth a structure for national training and establishes the roles and responsibilities of FEMA and the broader incident management community. The NIMS training program, identifies specific activities for developing, maintaining, and sustaining a training program that prepares all incident personnel to understand their respective responsibilities and work together during incidents.
Revision of the program include training focus areas based on incident personnel’s position and responsibility. The Focus Areas include the Incident Command System, Joint Information System, Emergency Operation Center, and the Multiagency Coordination Group.
FEMA will host a series of 60-minute engagement webinars to highlight key proposed changes to NIMS and answer participant questions about submitting feedback. All webinars are open to the whole community.
To review the draft of the updated NIMS Training Program and for additional webinar information, visit the website. To provide comments on the draft, complete the feedback form and submit to FEMA-NIMS@fema.dhs.gov by June 21.
FEMA released four updated courses as part of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) 2017 update:
- E/L/G 0191, Emergency Operations Center/Incident Command System Interface
- G 0402, NIMS Overview for Senior Officials (Executives, Elected, & Appointed)
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IS-2200 Basic Emergency Operations Center Functions
- E/L/G 2300 Intermediate Emergency Operations Center Functions
If you successfully completed a previous version of the courses, there is no FEMA requirement to take the revised version. However, because the revised courses contain new information based on the 2017 revised NIMS you may find it informative to review the new version.
FEMA's Emergency Management Institute (EMI) will host a series of webinars to highlight the changes in the new courses, instructor requirements, and future course releases. Each webinar has the same content. All times are Eastern:
• 11 a.m. Tuesday, May 28
• 3 p.m. Tuesday, May 28
• 11 a.m. Thursday, May 30
• 3 p.m. Thursday, May 30
How to Participate:
• Register on the Adobe Connect platform at NIMS ICS Training Forum
• FEMA Teleconference call-in: 800-320-4330, PIN 884976
FEMA's Center for Domestic Preparedness is in it's second week of training public health and healthcare workers in Puerto Rico how to respond to a variety of incidents both safely and effectively.
Last week, the CDP conducted its Health Care Leadership for Mass Casualty Incidents (HCL) and Hospital Emergency Response Training for Mass Casualty Incidents (HERT) courses at the Ramón Ruiz Arnau Hospital in Bayamon, Puerto Rico.
This week, the center is conducting its Highly-Infectious Diseases course, along with three one-day Heath Sector Emergency Preparedness classes, at the same location.
Puerto Rico continues to recover from hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017. As part of that effort, FEMA has been helping strengthen the island’s emergency response capability and capacity by holding a series of training opportunities. Last year, the CDP taught its HCL and HERT courses on the island to about 100 nurses, doctors and healthcare administrators. This year, the CDP anticipates training more than 500 medical professionals.
For more information, visit the CDP website.
On this episode of the FEMA podcast, Roberto Hylton, FEMA's Director of the Office of Law Enforcement Engagement and Integration, spoke about his team's mission to integrate emergency management and the law enforcement community. Hylton believes these efforts will help strengthen our nation, reduce risks, and improve our country's capabilities to prepare for, respond to, recover from, and mitigate potential disasters.
The FEMA Podcast is an audio program series available to anyone interested in learning more about the Agency, hearing about innovation in the field of emergency management, and listening to stories about communities and individuals recovering after disasters.
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