Building Resilient States: A Framework for Agencies

Download the new resource: www.smartgrowthamerica.org/resilience Join the conversation on Twitter: #ResilientStates

Elizabeth Schilling, Deputy Director of Policy Development and Implementation Smart Growth America

#ResilientStates

What is resilience?

The capacity of individuals, communities and

systems to survive, adapt, and grow in the face of stress and shocks, and even

transform when conditions require it.

The Rockefeller Foundation

Don McCullough via Flickr Creative Commons License

DVIDSHUB via Flickr Creative Commons License

Rather than focusing solely on disaster recovery,

states can and should plan for long-term

resilience to natural disasters and adapt to a changing environment.

Seven Initial Steps

1. Put someone in charge

2. Seek the advice and expertise of partners outside state government

3. Focus on developing a robust state Hazard Mitigation Plan

4. Ensure that state investments do not increase vulnerability

Seven Initial Steps

5. Develop strategies to address assets already in high-risk areas

6. Help communities become more resilient

7. Develop a process for monitoring, measuring, and reporting on progress

Dr. Gavin Smith, Research Professor at University of North Carolina and Director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Coastal Resilience Center of Excellence

#ResilientStates

Defining Resilience

•  Resilience is often described as the ability of a community to withstand a severe shock and quickly rebound to some post-disaster condition that represents pre-event conditions or better yet a “new normal” based on lessons and improvements made that make a community less vulnerable and more adaptable to future events (Paton and Johnston 2006).

•  Resilience must include the ability to adapt to changing conditions while

building and sustaining a greater organizational capacity to include the adoption of hazard mitigation techniques as well as the formation of enduring cooperative institutions and networks capable of supporting not only hazard mitigation, but also disaster response and recovery (Beatley 2009, pp. 6-7).

National Conversation About Resilience

•  Deep understanding of resilience is lacking •  Overemphasis on the speed of recovery; resilience is more than hazard mitigation •  Less emphasis on the value of deliberation, planning, capacity building,

adaptation and lesson-drawing •  Dimensions of Resilience (economic, environmental, social, physical); studied/

implemented in isolation rather than in an integrated manner

•  Efforts to develop measures of resilience is still emerging •  Who decides what these metrics are? Technical experts? Disasters as

opportunity-for whom? •  What about institutional resilience / governance?

•  Less understood about the role that states play in resilience, including hazard mitigation and disaster recovery

Advancing Resilience: the Role of States in Disaster Recovery (Smith and Flatt 2010; Sandler and Smith 2013)

•  Very little research and practical guidance exists related to the roles of states in recovery

•  Wide variation in state roles – capacity and commitment of state agencies and governors •  Translation of federal policies and programs, such as disaster relief grant and loan

programs •  Inter-agency state coordination •  Delivery of pre- and post-disaster education and training programs aimed at building local

capacity •  Assessment of local needs; creation and administration of state-level recovery programs •  Development of state recovery plans aimed at providing a roadmap for pre- and post-

disaster recovery activities •  State recovery plans often weak / lack characteristics of a plan

•  State activities are often disproportionately driven by narrowly defined federal programs •  Recovery plans and organizations often created after a disaster occurs •  Planning and resilience – adoption of pre-event measures that prepare a community for a

disruption and pre-position the community – and other members of a larger disaster assistance network – to act in a coordinated manner when a disaster strikes

Advancing Resilience: Role of States in Hazard Mitigation (Smith, Lyles and Berke 2013)

•  Limited research and practical guidance exists related to state roles in hazard mitigation

•  Wide variation/fluctuations in measures of capacity •  Staffing •  State cost-sharing •  Technical assistance •  State funding, policies and programs

•  Emphasis on building local government’s capacity to access project funding rather than a comprehensive, sustained and proactive risk reduction strategy grounded in land use

•  State land use policies are not well integrated into state mitigation plans and capacity building initiatives

•  State mitigation officials believe that most local governments do not possess the capacity or commitment to develop sound hazard mitigation plans or administer hazard mitigation grants

Advancing Resilience through State-Level Engagement •  State as Capacity Builder

•  Pre- and post-disaster actions •  State plans – engaging network of stakeholders (governance) •  State policy spanning all agencies and their investments

•  State as Boundary Spanner •  Conveying federal policy and grants information to local

governments •  Addressing gaps in resources and local needs

•  Developing state policies and programs

•  State as Leader/Advocate •  Social vulnerability; state agency collaboration •  Advancing resilience through engagement in emerging national

policy •  National Disaster Recovery Framework •  National Adaptation Policy

Building Resilient States: A Framework for Agencies •  Recommendations:

•  Put someone in charge (boundary spanner, coalition builder, guidance) •  Seek advice and expertise of partners outside state government (lesson-drawing,

governance) •  Integrate future risks into Hazard Mitigation Plan and land use policy (risk reduction

and resilience) •  Ensure state investments don’t increase vulnerability (forward looking perspective) •  Develop strategies to address assets in high-risk areas (retrospective actions) •  Help communities become more resilient (capacity building) •  Develop a process of monitoring, measuring and reporting on progress (metrics,

measuring success)

•  Recommendations followed by actionable steps

•  Maturation and Emergence of National Policy: Strategic Opportunity for Engagement

•  Post-Katrina Emergency Reform Act •  Climate Change Adaptation Policy

Noelle MacKay, Commissioner of Housing and Community Development at the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development

#ResilientStates

Building Resilient Vermont

Noelle MacKay, Commissioner Department of Housing and Community Development Building for Resilience

October 22, 2015

Vermont Economic Resiliency Initiative

•  Investigates where risk, economic activity and associated infrastructure intersect

•  Identifies ways to avoid, mitigate and reduce the risk

•  Provides a ‘how to’ guide to help other states

http://accd.vermont.gov/strong_communities/opportunities/planning/resiliency/VERI/Report

VERI Project Design

1.  Identify risk statewide 2.  Locate areas of economic activity and associated infrastructure statewide 3.  Research and assess risks in 5 communities

 

Commercial Site Density Annual Average Wages Tropical Storm Irene Damages

Working at the Community Level

Step 1: Field Investigation Step 2: Plan & Policy Review Step 3: Community Engagement Step 4: Map Economic Activity Step 5: Overlay Hazard Areas Step 6: Develop Recommendations

Project Specific Recommendations

1. Building and Site Improvements 2. Floodplain Management 3.  Infrastructure Improvements 4. Public Safety Improvements

Emergency Assistance Relief Fund [ERAF]

7.5% – Baseline State Match

12.5% – Municipality Must: •  Participate in NFIP •  Adopt 2013 State Road & Bridge Standards •  Adopt LEOP •  Adopt Local HMP

17.5% – Municipality Must: •  Adopt No New Development in River Corridor

– OR – •  Adopt River Corridor or Flood Hazard Protection Areas •  Participate in Federal CRS program

ERAF Results

2014 2015 ERAF Mitigation Actions 87% 89% Participate in the National Flood Insurance Program

70% 87% Adopt 2013 State Road & Bridge Standards

36% 82% Adopt Local Emergency Operations Plan

35% 57% Adopt Local Hazard Mitigation Plan

0% 24% Adopt Interim River Corridor Protection: no new encroachment in a Special Flood Hazard Area or FEH, or no new encroachment in a River Corridor

0% 3% Adopt River Corridor Protection (explicit based on river corridor maps posted 1/2/2015 on the Natural Resources Atlas tinyurl.com/floodreadyatlas )

0% 0% Adopt no new development in Flood Hazard areas and participate in the Federal Community Rating System

2014 compared with 2015

“In my experience there is no such thing as luck.”

– Obi-Wan Kenobi

Agency of Commerce + Community Development Department of Housing + Community Development

Thank You!

Noelle.MacKay@Vermont.gov 802-828-5216

Kate Dineen, Deputy Executive Director of the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery for the State of New York

#ResilientStates

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Storm Recovery in the State of New York Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery October 22, 2015

Community Risk and Resiliency Act (CRRA)

•  Governor Cuomo signed CRRA into law on September 22, 2014

•  Ensures funding and permitting decisions consider climate risk and extreme weather

•  Amends various sections of the Environmental Conservation Law, Agricultural and Markets Law, and Public Health Law accordingly o  Establish science-based State sea level rise projections

by January 2016 o  Develop additional guidance on the use of resiliency

measures that utilize natural resources and natural processes to reduce risk

o  Prepare model local laws concerning climate risk

Superstorm Sandy was the 3rd and largest storm to impact the State in two years

•  Made landfall on October 29,

2012 •  60 New Yorkers were killed •  Approximately 300,000 housing

units were damaged or destroyed

•  2 million utility customers lost power

•  Major and long-lasting disruption to business and transit systems

Sandy came on the heels of two other major storms in 2011

The Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery (GOSR) oversees NY State’s HUD funds and helps coordinate State’s recovery

Housing

Economic Development

$1,959 (44%)

$217 (5%)

$728 (17%)

$1,322 (30%)

$191 (4%)

$4.4b in CDBG-DR*

* Note: $191m is for planning and Administration. Additional detail can be found in the State’s CDBG-DR Action Plan 8 http://stormrecovery.ny.gov/action-plans-and-amendments

Infrastructure

Community Reconstruction In millions

Achieving a successful recovery requires balancing a series of priorities

–  Voluntary buyouts to homeowners in

designated areas – “strategic retreat”

–  1,900 applications, 838 closings

–  $330m+ expended

–  Targeted areas: •  Buyouts: Homes in the

highest risk are purchased for coastal buffer zones

•  Acquisitions: substantially damaged properties within the 100-year and 500-year floodplain are purchased for future resilient development

NY Rising Buyout/Acquisition Program Overview

•  $700m planning and implementation process established to promote rebuilding and resiliency

•  Managed participatory approach

•  Nationally and internationally recognized for innovation and scale

NY Rising Community Reconstruction Program Overview

66 Plans proposed $1 billion in project

concepts

NY Rising Community Reconstruction Program Planning + Implementation

•  8 month community-driven planning

process

•  120+ communities represented on 66 Planning Committees –  650 Planning Committee members –  650+ Planning Committee Meetings –  250 Public Engagement Events

•  $3m to $25m project

implementation allotments

10% Natural and Cultural Resources

10% Economic Development

5% Housing

10% Health and Human Services

15% Community Planning and Capacity Building

50% Infrastructure

Lessons learned from New York State

•  Successful recovery requires a combination of bottom up and top down planning

•  Strong stakeholder engagement is critical for short term response and long term recovery

•  Alignment of multiple sources of federal funding, while administratively challenging, often results in powerful synergies

Molly Urbina, Commissioner of Housing and Community Development at the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development

#ResilientStates

Colorado Resiliency & Recovery Office

Who Are We?

Key Federal Agency Partners •  FEMA •  Small Business

Administration •  Housing and Urban

Development •  Federal Highways

Administration •  Environmental Protection

Agency •  U.S. Army Corps of

Engineers

•  Economic Development Administration

•  National Renewable Energy Laboratory

•  USDA (Farm Services, Rural Development, Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Forest Service)

•  Department of Labor •  Department of Interior

Timing of Recovery

State of Colorado Recovery Support Long-term Recovery require a unified and coordinated effort from the State in support of local communities: •  Partnership

•  Technical Assistance

•  Financial Assistance

•  Staff support

•  Navigation of resources

•  Advocacy

Colorado Flood Working Group

Colorado Long-term Stream Recovery Team

Colorado Resiliency Working Group

Post Flood Working Groups

Resiliency

Resiliency - What is it?

The ability of communities to rebound and positively adapt to or thrive amidst changing conditions or challenges — including disasters and changes in climate – and maintain quality of life, healthy growth, economic vitality, durable systems and conservation of resources for present and future generations. - Colorado Resiliency Working Group

Resiliency – What is It?

•  Opportunity following the disaster to lessen impact to the community the next time around

•  Opportunity before a disaster ever occurs to reduce vulnerability and empower the community to thrive in the face of future threats

•  Cross-sector and interdisciplinary: Community, Economic, Health and Social, Housing, Infrastructure, Watershed and Natural Resources.

•  Multi-hazard shocks: Colorado can be impacted by many disasters – floods, fires, drought, geologic hazards, tornadoes, etc.

•  Stresses contribute to vulnerability: social, built environment, economic, environmental, trends in climate

•  Resilience occurs when holistically addressing both the shocks and stresses

Colorado Resiliency Framework •  Framework a resource for local

governments, businesses, non-profits and individuals

•  Supports, cultivate and empower a culture of resilience at the state and local level

•  Provides guiding principles and a call to action to build resilience throughout Colorado

•  Identifies specific actions that the State commits to implement

•  Adopted by Gov. Hickenlooper in May of 2015

• Resiliency  Sectors  

Colorado Resiliency •  Manage and Reduce Risk to Colorado Communities •  Enhance resiliency planning capacity in Colorado Communities •  Develop, align, and streamline policies to empower resiliency •  Create a culture that fosters resiliency instilling an inherent

sense of responsibility among all Coloradans •  Ingrain resiliency into investments in Colorado

COResiliency Program

Molly Urbina Executive Director

Colorado Resiliency and Recovery Office molly.urbina@state.co.us

ColoradoUnited.com @counited

Thank You!

Questions and answers Type in the chat box on your webinar screen, or on Twitter at the hashtag #ResilientStates

#ResilientStates

Thank you!

www.smartgrowthamerica.org/resilience

#ResilientStates