LOCAL GOVERNMENTS NOW ELIGIBLE
FOR HAZARD MITIGATION FUNDING

After many months of local and regional planning efforts, BRADD local governments may apply for Hazard Mitigation Grant funds available October 1.  Project leader Alfonso Casana has been notified of final acceptance of the Hazard Mitigation Plan developed for the Barren River Area. He said, “This plan represents a regional response by all our local govern-ments.” He had noted the contributions of State Climatologist Stuart Foster, and Western Kentucky University research students; Tony Keithley and Diane Jones, Kentucky Division of Emergency Management; and the county emergency management directors.

Approval of the regional plan means that in the event of a disaster, such as a tornado, flooding, or severe ice storm, FEMA help could be available. If the President declares the event is a disaster, local governments are eligible for special funding under Section 404 of the Stafford Act. FEMA can provide grants to implement long-term hazard mitigation measures. The purpose of the program is to reduce the loss of life and property due to natural disasters and to enable mitigation measures to be implemented during the immediate recovery from a disaster.

The funds may be used for projects to reduce or eliminate losses from future disasters. Projects must provide a long-term solution to a problem, for example, elevation of a home to reduce the risk of flood damages as opposed to buying sandbags and pumps to fight the flood. In addition, a project's potential savings must be more than the cost of implementing the pro-ject. Some examples of projects could be acquiring real property for demolition or relocation of buildings to convert the property to open space use; retrofitting structures to minimize damages from tornados, floods, or other natural hazards; elevation of flood prone structures; or even a post-disaster building code related activities that support building code officials during the reconstruction process. Individual homeowners and businesses may not apply directly to the program; however a community may apply on their behalf.

FEMA can fund up to 75% of the eligible costs of each project. The grantee must provide a 25% match, which can be fashioned from a combination of cash and in-kind sources. Funding from other Federal sources cannot be used for the 25% share with one exception. Funding provided to States under the Community Development Block Grant program from the Department of Housing and Urban Development can be used to meet the non-federal share requirement.

A Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) program provides funds to communities for hazard mitigation projects prior to a disaster event. Funding these plans and projects reduces overall risks to the population and structures, while also reducing reliance on funding from actual disaster declarations. PDM grants are awarded on a competitive basis.

You can view the approved Hazard Mitigation Plan at http://www.bradd.org/hazard.

******************
NIMCAST 2006

Based on the Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD)-5 the update for the 2006 National Incident Management Capability Assessment Support Tool (NIMCAST) was completed on August 1 st, with the help of the counties Emergency Management Directors and Area 4 Emergency Management Director Gary Fancher. The NIMCAST is a web-based, self-assessment system that state agencies and local jurisdictions used to evaluate their incident response and management capabilities.  It also identifies how compliant an agency is with federal incident management guidelines.

The NIMS was established by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to provide a consistent nationwide template to enable all government, private-sector, and nongovernmental organizations to work together during domestic incidents. NIMS compliance is a prerequisite to obtaining most federal preparedness funding.  

With the completion of NIMCAST it verifies that your jurisdiction has successfully completed the requirements to remain eligible for future preparedness funding from the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security (KOHS).

All personnel involved in any type of local, State or Federal emergency, are a member of the County EOP , or receive Federal Preparedness funds filled out the NIMCAST in each county. In the BRADD region we had around 200 different agencies participate.