Geoscience Policy Monthly Review
april 2018
The Monthly Review is part of a continuing effort to improve communications about the role of geoscience in policy.
Current and archived monthly reviews are available online.Subscribe to receive the Monthly Review directly.
natural hazards
House passes PREPARE Act and Disaster Recovery Reform Act to improve disaster resilience
April 27, 2018
The House passed a five-year reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on April 27, which included a section requiring changes to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to increase the agency’s emphasis on pre-disaster planning and mitigation.
The Disaster Recovery Reform Act (DRRA), originally introduced by Representative Lou Barletta (R-PA-11) (H.R.4660) and now included as Title VI of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 (H.R.4), shifts more investment into pre-disaster mitigation and ensures that post-disaster assistance enables communities to build back to the latest model building codes. The DRRA also amends provisions of the Stafford Act (42 U.S.C. 68), which constitutes the federal statutory authority for most disaster response activities, particularly pertaining to FEMA programs.
The same day, the House also passed the Preparedness and Risk Management for Extreme Weather Patterns Assuring Resilience and Effectiveness Act of 2018, or the PREPARE Act (H.R.4177), as one of several amendments made to H.R.4. In response to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report stating concern over the federal government’s financial exposure to climate change, the PREPARE Act was introduced by Representative Matt Cartwright (D-PA-17) along with 24 bipartisan cosponsors to enhance the nation’s resilience to extreme weather through better planning and preparation, and dissemination of best practices. The PREPARE Act coordinates government-wide goals and priorities for extreme weather preparedness and improves regional, state, and local coordination to assess vulnerabilities and cost-effective resilience strategies – a move that is consistent with FEMA's new strategic plan and its draft National Mitigation Investment Strategy.
The Senate bill for reauthorization of the FAA (S.1405) does not include disaster relief provisions, and the chamber has not introduced companion bills to the House DRRA and PREPARE Act. The DRRA was almost included in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 that passed into law earlier this year with a supplemental disaster aid package, but the majority of those DRRA provisions were scrapped by Senate lawmakers before its final passage, though a few elements remained incorporated.
Sources: Federal Emergency Management Association, U.S. Government Accountability Office, U.S. Government Publishing Office
Congress introduces legislation to enhance flood mapping
April 18, 2018
Following the historic 2017 hurricane season, members of Congress seem to be focusing more of their attention on updating and improving flood mapping efforts nationwide. Currently, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) produces flood hazard maps for the nation, which can be used to determine the vulnerability of a specific community or area to flooding and flood-related impacts.
On April 18, congressional members from Illinois, Florida, Maryland, and Texas introduced a bipartisan, bicameral initiative to enhance the mapping of urban flood hazard zones. Urban flooding frequently occurs outside the regulatory floodplain defined by FEMA flood maps, as demonstrated in Texas, Florida, and other cities during the 2017 hurricane season. The Flood Mapping Modernization and Homeowner Empowerment Pilot Program Act of 2018 (S.2701/H.R.5569), introduced by Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) in the Senate and Representative Mike Quigley (D-IL-5) in the House, would direct FEMA to offer grants for a series of pilot projects to enhance the mapping of urban flooding and associated property damage through new technologies, and make flood map information more widely available to stakeholders. The bill would authorize a total of $5.5 million for the pilot program for fiscal years (FY) 2019 and 2020. Any lessons learned from these pilot projects would then be used by FEMA to develop best practices nationwide for flood mapping.
Presenting a much more sweeping legislative move, Representative Rick Crawford (R-AR-1) introduced the Scientific Flood Mapping Act (H.R.5559) on April 18, which would transfer functions related to the preparation of flood maps from FEMA to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) due to concerns regarding FEMA’s flood map oversight and management. The USGS Flood Inundation Mapping Program currently provides tools and information to help communities understand their local flood risk and make mitigation decisions, and the USGS 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) gathers geospatial data that can be used to strengthen flood maps. However, transferring the authority and functions from the Department of Homeland Security over to the Department of the Interior, particularly from a regulatory agency such as FEMA to the USGS, a non-regulatory agency, may prove controversial.
Sources: E&E News, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S House of Representatives, U.S. Senate
Senate Commerce Committee discusses hurricane preparation and response capabilities
April 12, 2018
On April 12, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Transportation, and Science held a hearing to examine the status of local and federal agencies’ recovery from the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season, and ongoing preparation for the 2018 season starting in June. Chairing the hearing, Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) emphasized the importance of the topic at hand, recalling recovery of his home state after Katrina and subsequent improvements that were made to the region’s coastal resilience. Ranking Member Bill Nelson (D-FL) acknowledged that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) did a commendable job in Texas and Florida, but stressed the continuing need for basic electricity and potable water access to be restored in Puerto Rico.
The beginning of the hearing focused on the importance of disaster relief funds for local communities that have been appropriated in the many disaster relief packages passed this Congress. Senator Nelson expressed frustration that funds appropriated in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 have not been released for distribution by the federal agencies and are still awaiting approval from the White House Office of Management and Budget; those funds include over $2 billion from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for crop losses, as well as $200 million for fisheries disasters and $18 million for addressing marine debris from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Charles Lindsey, the city manager for Marathon, Florida, testified that his city and other Florida Keys communities have not received federal reimbursement for Hurricane Irma damages, suggesting that the funds are frozen somewhere between Congress and the communities. Missouri City Mayor Allen Owen also reiterated that his city in Texas has not received funds for damages from Hurricane Harvey and explained that he could have prevented some of the flooding impacts with prior funding to implement mitigation strategies.
Rear Admiral Timothy Gallaudet, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, testified about improvements NOAA is making to its hurricane watches and warning systems. For instance, the National Hurricane Center’s (NHC) Atlantic track predictions for 2017 set an all-time record for accurately predicting hurricane tracks, improving on the 5-year mean error by about 25 percent. He also shared that, in 2017, NOAA began issuing storm surge watch and warning alerts with easily understandable graphics, and the National Water Model (NWM) also provided vital information used by NOAA River Forecast Centers to issue flood forecasts that were used by emergency managers during Hurricane Harvey. He emphasized that funding provided for the Hurricane Forecast Improvement Program (HFIP) and supplemental and annual appropriations has provided NOAA with much-needed resources for ocean observing, hurricane research, coastal monitoring, upgrading the two NOAA Hurricane Hunter aircrafts, accelerating hurricane-related storm surge prediction capabilities, and providing a critical, historic enhancement in operational high-performance computing. Senator Wicker also emphasized the importance of this funding, saying that sequestration was not only devastating to the Department of Defense, but also to programs like NOAA, funded by non-defense discretionary spending, which benefits the security and safety of Americans. Responding to Senator Nelson’s inquiry about plans for procurement of a new gulf stream hurricane hunter through funding appropriated in the fiscal year 2018 omnibus spending bill, Assistant Secretary Gallaudet was hopeful that NOAA would acquire the jet mid-way through the 2018 hurricane season.
The rest of the hearing focused on the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) investigation of the 2015 sinking of the US-flagged El Faro cargo ship after sailing straight into the path of Hurricane Joaquin, a Category 4 hurricane. Conclusions from the investigation included that the captain was not properly weather trained and used old weather information to chart the ship’s course. Dr. Dinh-Zarr, representing NTSB, recommended that the US Coast Guard require that all deck officers, at both operational and management levels, take a Coast Guard-approved advanced meteorology course to close the gap for mariners initially credentialed before 1998.
Source: U.S. Senate Commerce Committee