FEMA’s 金砖四国 Program: A Timely Lifeline

昨天, 因为东海岸受到热带风暴伊萨亚斯带来的强风和无数龙卷风的袭击, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) unveiled the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO)的新缓解方案，建设有弹性的基础设施和社区(金砖四国). Amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Tropical Storm Isaias caused millions to lose power – t在这里 were nearly 1.仅新泽西州就有400万人断电，电力恢复预计需要几天时间. The current outages are about half of the more than 2.700万用户在2012年飓风桑迪肆虐时失去电力 largest outage in the state’s history. Events like this often cause communities nationwide to contemplate the increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters and what solutions are available to help us become a more resilient nation; 金砖四国 is one of them.

金砖四国’s New Focus

灾害造成重大破坏，扰乱社会经济活动，我们无法完全衡量. 另外, 气候变化正在导致更频繁和更强大的风暴，造成前所未有的破坏和代价高昂的灾难恢复行动. 金砖四国的目标是将联邦政府目前的重点从被动的灾难支出转向研究支持的支出, proactive investment in community resilience. 金砖四国, which replaces FEMA’s legacy Pre-Disaster 缓解 (PDM) program, supports states, local communities, 部落, 通过能力建设和能力建设，以及开发旨在打破破坏和损失的重复循环的大规模减灾项目，使各地区更具抵御能力.

The 金砖四国 program will support community resilience in four tangible ways:

1. 在灾前减灾方面提供更大的货币投资，以减少未来的灾害风险. 去年，联邦应急管理局的PDM项目拨款2.5亿美元用于缓解和恢复活动. That level of investment was historic in its own right, as it was the highest level of funding awarded in the history of the legacy PDM program; however, 金砖四国’s first-year funding doubled that investment, making $500 million available to eligible state, 部落, and territorial applicants.
2. 更加强调能力和能力建设，以促进备灾文化. 金砖四国 sets $600,每名合格申请人拨出000英镑，以加强缓解专业知识, 知识, and practice at the state and local level. Eligible expenditures can include building code activities, partnerships, project scoping, 缓解 planning, and planning-related activities. This funding is designed to result in a resource, 策略, 或减缓产品，最终将减少或消除自然灾害的风险和损害.
3. Increase project caps to allow for larger-scale infrastructure projects. 金砖四国 changes the national competition cap for 缓解 projects, which increased from $10 million to $50 million per project. 增加的项目上限允许更大规模的项目投资公共基础设施并加固 community lifelines. These projects will undergo additional programmatic review, 它不仅会评估技术价值，还会评估定性标准，例如受影响的人口, outreach activities, future conditions, and resiliency effectiveness.
4. Expressed commitment to nature-based solutions that promote sustainability. 金砖四国 encourages communities to explore nature-based solutions 这可以作为合格的项目类型，并减轻诸如河流洪水之类的危险, urban drainage flooding, coastal flooding and storm surge, 山体滑坡, 和干旱. 独特的, nature-based solutions can provide short- and long-term environmental, 经济, 以及提高社区生活质量、吸引新居民和新企业的社会优势. Potential project types include land conservation, 绿色廊道, wetland restoration, stormwater parks, floodplain restoration, rain gardens, 和更多的.

FEMA 金砖四国 and Nature-Based Solutions Presentation: Source

下一个步骤

In preparation for the application period opening, 联邦应急管理局将举办一系列网络研讨会，进一步讨论拨款计划的细节, the agency’s funding priorities, common application pitfalls, and the new system for grant submission (FEMA GO). More information on the upcoming webinar dates and times can be found 在这里. Registration information will be available soon.

The 金砖四国 application period opens on September 30, 2020 and closes on January 29, 2021; however, 金砖四国项目的申请将需要大量的时间和资源来完成. 我们鼓励潜在的申请人和分申请人尽快开始规划工作.

Hagerty is 在这里 to help. 而这个项目的成本分摊是75%的联邦和25%的非联邦, 联邦应急管理局将提供100%的联邦资金用于与金砖国家授予的缓解措施或项目管理相关的管理费用. T在这里fore, our professionals can help at little-to-no additional cost.

哈格蒂的减灾小组是在灾前和灾后融资领域导航的专家. We are available to talk about your recovery needs, 包括如何通过联邦资助项目获得所有可用的资金. To learn more, contact us.

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Amelia Muccio 是jdb电子免费(Hagerty Consulting)的减灾主任，还是灾难恢复领域的主题专家. With over 15 years of experience in public health, disaster preparedness, 缓解, and financial recovery, 阿米莉亚帮助客户在重大灾难后获得了50亿美元的联邦基金, including Hurricane Sandy, the California Wild火s, and Hurricane Harvey.

Katie Grasty is the Deputy Director of 缓解 for Hagerty Consulting. Katie在联邦应急管理局和美国交通部有超过10年的联邦基金管理经验. Prior to Hagerty, Katie was the senior program lead for Hazard 缓解 with FEMA Region 9, w在这里 she managed over $2 billion in federal funds for flood, 火, and earthquake risk reduction projects.