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Hazard Mitigation Assistance Update

Some more great things are happening in the world of mitigation. In addition to another grant round being announced soon for 4599, OEM has grown in staff to continue helping our tribal, local, and state partners. Please see below for the latest updates for OEM’s mitigation team! We look forward to offering training on Benefit Cost Analysis (BCA) and continue to be available for outreach opportunities. 

OEM mitigation and individual assistance section updates

  • Jason Gately has joined OEM to assist the mitigation as a program analyst. He will be assisting Joseph Murray with planning-related activities as well as hazard mitigation assistance (HMA) related items.
  • Amanda Mathis is now the mitigation regional coordinator. She is in the process of working with HR to prepare job postings for the 5 regional positions that are vacant.  Postings should be announced after the new biennium (July 1, 2021)  Look forward to providing more information about these mitigation positions as those processes move forward!
  • Jessi Weaver is continuing to work on closeouts for subgrants that have backlogged in the process. 
  • Nic Roberts is working on assisting with the request for information (RFI) process with outstanding RFIs for subgrants in the pre-award phase and other mitigation related activities. Nic will also be assisting, and eventually taking over, quarterly reporting.  This is a very important piece to mitigation grants! 
  • OEM’s mitigation team has grown with the addition of a Deputy State Hazard Mitigation Officer (SHMO) and three additional Program Analysist positions to assist with HMA.  We look forward to recruiting for additional staff as we enter the new biennium (July 1, 2021).  As OEM continues to grow its mitigation team, we want to hear from our partners.  You can contact the SHMO or Deputy SHMO for one on one question/answer sessions. 

HMA grant program updates

  1. HMGP-DR-4562-OR (tied to the September 15, 2020 Presidential Disaster Declaration for the wildfires). We received approval on our subapplication extension request from FEMA for HMGP-DR-4562-OR. What does that mean? More time to submit both the pre-application and subapplication! The new pre-application deadline is no later than August 1, 2021. The new subapplication deadline is no later than January 29, 2022.
      - Attached is the pre-application if your entity is interested in pursuing funding. Reminder that the same pre-application is used for all hazard mitigation assistance grant programs.
      - As of today, we still have over $6 million remaining in Federal funds. Attached is the current breakdown for HMGP-DR-4562-OR. We will closely monitor pre-applications and remaining funds available moving towards August 1st and will activate the interagency hazard mitigation team (IHMT) review panel if deemed necessary.
      - There is still free technical assistance available for subapplication development to include new support for benefit-cost analysis (BCA) that is arriving [virtually] on June 15th for a month from FEMA Region 10. If you are interested in either or both types of assistance, please ensure you include a request for it in your email when you submit your pre-application. If you’ve already submitted your pre-application and would like BCA support, please send an email to shmo@mil.state.or.us requesting BCA support and reference the pre-application submitted.
     
  2. HMGP-DR-4599-OR (tied to the May 4, 2021 Presidential Disaster Declaration for the February 2021 winter storm). We are still pending the 30-day estimate from FEMA at this time identifying how much will be available for HMGP. Once it’s received, we will send out statewide guidance, information on subapplicant briefings, etc.
     
  3. Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC). We are still pending the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to drop for BRIC FY21 in August/September timeframe. One update since the May 18th statewide HMA email is that the President has noted that we should anticipate $1 billion for BRIC for the FY21 iteration. What that looks like for the state set-aside vs national competitive category breakdown is still to be determined at this time. Once the NOFO is published by FEMA, the OEM Mitigation Team will provide state-level guidance, subapplicant briefing dates/times, etc. for that iteration. For BRIC FY20, we have not been notified of which projects submitted are moving forward in the National Competitive category and have not received any requests for information (RFIs) back from Region 10 as of today. For the latest BRIC information, please go to: https://www.fema.gov/grants/mitigation/building-resilient-infrastructure-communities.
     
  4. Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA). We are still pending the Notice of Funding Opportunity to drop for FMA FY21 in August/September timeframe. Once that is published by FEMA, the OEM Mitigation will provide state-level guidance, subapplicant briefing dates/times, etc. for that iteration. For the latest FMA information, please go to: https://www.fema.gov/grants/mitigation/floods.  

Upcoming trainings and webinars

  1. Benefit-cost analysis (BCA) 2-hour webinar to introduce FEMA’s representative that will be assisting with BCA technical support, provide an overview on BCA, and answer questions will be held on Tuesday, June 15th from 9:00-11:00am.
    Topic: BCA Webinar
    Time: Jun 15, 2021 09:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
    Join Zoom Meeting
    https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85235341198?pwd=ZCs5czVGSWhlQkhNYnhvZlhaUy9aZz09
    Meeting ID: 852 3534 1198
    Passcode: 481731
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    +16699009128,,85235341198#,,,,*481731# US (San Jose)
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    Dial by your location 
    +1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose)
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    Meeting ID: 852 3534 1198
    Passcode: 481731
    Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kflyLwB3J
     
  2. FEMA Hosts Webinar on Climate Change and Equity for Underserved Populations on Tuesday, June 15th at 11am PST. To register, please see the attached pdf or go to https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/8344630664422138128.

New FEMA guidance and notes

  1. FEMA has released Wildfire Mitigation Funding Opportunity guides! Please see the attached pdf or visit https://www.fema.gov/about/organization/region-10/mitigation-funding-opportunity-guides.
     
  2. FEMA is requesting public comments on how the agency’s programs deal with climate change and underserved communities and populations. Comments are due by June 21st. We wanted to share this opportunity with you to provide feedback to help shape FEMA’s future. If your entity would like to submit comments, please go to https://www.fema.gov/event/public-comment-period-climate-change-and-underserved-populations directly to do so.  
     
  3. FEMA Region 10 Mitigation June is a campaign to encourage everyone to understand their risk to natural hazards and take actions to mitigate those risks. Attached is a flyer containing more information for your situational awareness.
     
  4. FEMA Region 10 has released a Guide to Expanding Mitigation: Connecting with Agriculture and Food Systems Guide. To view the guide please see the attached pdf or go to https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fema_region-10-agriculture-food-systems-mitigation-guide.pdf.
     
  5. FEMA Region 10 has released Seismic Mitigation Showcase Guides. To view the guides please see the attached pdf or go to https://www.fema.gov/about/organization/region-10/seismic-mitigation-showcase-guides.