An Alternative Approach to Determining Environmental Consequences of Disaster Response and Recovery

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An Alternative Approach to Determining
Environmental Consequences of Disaster Response
and Recovery
Kenneth Sessa, PE FEMA Region VII Environmental
Officer, DR-1603-LA Environmental Liaison
Officer David Van Horn, AICP URS Federal
Planning Manager, National Infrastructure Support
Technical Assistance Contractor 21 April 2006
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Hi, Im Ken Sessa. I was looking forward to
speaking today about FEMAs approach to
addressing the potential environmental effects of
rebuilding critical infrastructure in the New
Orleans area following the worst natural
catastrophe in U.S. history. However, several
active emergencies and disasters have occurred in
my region, and I regret that I am unable to
attend the workshop. David is more than involved
enough to fill you in on most of the pertinent
details.
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FEMA Jobs Available
FEMA has approximately 550 vacant positions among
its full time staff of about 2,500 employees. (3
Apr 06) One goal is filling 95 of the jobs by
the start of hurricane season on June 1. Of the
30 most senior jobs at FEMA, 11 are filled by
officials appointed on an acting basis, including
the administrators in charge of such critical
functions as operations, disaster recovery and
disaster response.
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Camp Allen, Baton Rouge

• URS mobilized hundreds of personnel in the days
  following Katrina

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Le Pavillon (aka Le Pou-Pou)
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Scope of the Emergency
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused sufficient
damage in parts of the state of Louisiana to
trigger Presidential disaster declarations for
these areas. Damage was so severe and wide
spread that the impact of Hurricane Katrina was
also designated as the first catastrophic
incident of national significance under the
National Response Plan. Disaster-related
damages to the critical physical infrastructure
in the New Orleans Metropolitan Area rendered
parts of the city uninhabitable and public
services inoperable. Without this critical
infrastructure the city cannot adequately support
safe and healthful reconstruction and
repopulation.
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Emergency Actions Needed to Control Immediate
Impacts

• FEMA currently administers grant programs to fund
  the repair, restoration and replacement of
  eligible infrastructure that has been damaged or
  destroyed in areas that have been included in a
  Presidential disaster declaration.
• Restoration of eligible infrastructure
  substantially to its pre-disaster conditions is
  excluded from NEPA by Stafford Disaster Relief
  Emergency Assistance Act.
• FEMA anticipated that the applications for Public
  Assistance grants in NOMA will more strongly
  reflect future demands than returning to
  pre-disaster conditions. Proposed projects will
  not necessarily be the same size, nature or
  location will use current building codes and
  construction methods and take advantage of
  current urban planning principles and hazard
  mitigation opportunities.
• In such situations NEPA does apply.

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The Typical NEPA Approach

• In every disaster situation FEMA has responded
  to, we generally leave the community largely as
  it existed prior to the event. There are new
  buildings, new roads, and new infrastructure, but
  by and large the community functions as it did
  before the disaster.
• From a NEPA perspective, it becomes relatively
  easy to determine the impact of the FEMA
  involvement to the human environment, as the
  community is being restored to predisaster
  condition and all we have to do to consider the
  impacts to the human environment is to look at
  the community prior to the event.

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Not a Typical Disaster

• In the New Orleans area, the communities will be
  forever changed and FEMA could not defend our
  typical assumptions, largely as a result of the
  FEMA and other Federal involvement.
• The end result is not known by anyone. We do
  know that NEPA requires a planning process and
  consideration of the impacts of the natural and
  human environment from FEMA involvement, and we
  take this requirement very seriously.
• After Katrina we could not look to history for
  guidance, nor for application of NEPA. NEPA does
  have an emergency provision, but this is an
  exception that has little detail in the
  legislation or implementing regulation.

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Alternative Arrangements Focus

• FEMA used the emergency provision in NEPA to
  craft the Alternative Arrangements for compliance
  for the New Orleans Metropolitan Area, in
  coordination with our parent agency the
  Department of Homeland Security and the White
  House Council on Environmental Quality.
• This provision allows FEMA to focus on the issues
  most likely to be uncertain, significant, and
  controversial, while recognizing the need for
  timely response does not allow a full NEPA EIS
  process.
• The Alternative Arrangements focus on critical
  infrastructure that are crucial to allow
  residents to return -- schools, medical and
  health care facilities, government buildings, and
  critical utilities such as water and wastewater
  services.

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Population EstimatesPost-Hurricanes
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Orleans Parish Districts
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(No Transcript)
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(No Transcript)
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Housing Damage Estimates

• When FEMA was determining eligibility for
  assistance after Katrina, Rita and Wilma, they
  directly inspected households in the affected
  areas.
• The numbers for NOMA are staggering.
• Orleans Parish had 105,155 housing units with
  major or severe damage.
• The Gentilly district alone in Orleans had more
  damage than the entire state of Texas.

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One less reason to return?

• Instead of trying to reopen two hospitals closed
  by hurricane damage, LSU sought nearly 375
  million from FEMA to replace the two neglected
  facilities, which also served as teaching
  hospitals for LSU medical students. FEMA has been
  criticized for squandering some
  hurricane-recovery money, but the agency this
  time said no.
• Charity and University hospitals remain closed,
  as LSU decides whether to replace them or to
  restore them to pre-Katrina condition, which was
  bad enough to put them in danger of losing
  accreditation before the storm.
• Federal guidelines justify FEMA funds only to
  repair hurricane damage, estimated By FEMA at 36
  million, but LSU asked for 10 times as much --
  more than half of the cost of building two new
  hospitals.

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One less reason to return?

• It's a common dilemma for Hurricane Katrina
  victims -- repair or replace? There is no
  stand-alone problem here. Everything is tied
  together decisions to return-levees-schools-housi
  ng-hospitals-jobs.
• The task of re-establishing basic health care in
  New Orleans is complicated by the fact that some
  hospitals were substandard and underfunded before
  Katrina. LSU hospitals cited a GAO conclusion
  that basic repairs "might be wasting tens of
  millions of dollars."
• Now the university is trying to get funding from
  the Veterans Affairs Department to rebuild the
  hospitals, and poor people without access to
  health care have one less reason to return to the
  Crescent City.

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NOMA
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Wet Wild
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Dried Out but Devastated
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More Destruction, But
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NEPA Alternative Arrangements
The National Environmental Policy Act establishes
the Nations policy for the environment. The
President's Council on Environmental Quality
(CEQ) regulations implementing NEPA requires
agencies to follow the Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) process for Federal actions
significantly affecting the human environment.
In the event of an emergency where it is
necessary to take an action with significant
environmental impacts without following the EIS
process, the federal agency may consult with CEQ
to develop alternative arrangements that comply
with NEPA.
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NEPA Alternative Arrangements
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita resulted in a
Presidential disaster declaration for the state
of Louisiana. Disaster-related damage in the New
Orleans Metropolitan Area rendered parts of New
Orleans and surrounding communities
uninhabitable. The FEMA Public Assistance
Program is providing significant funding for
restoring critical physical infrastructure in the
New Orleans area to support rebuilding and
recovery. The Department of Homeland Security
(DHS), FEMA and CEQ established alternative
arrangements for NEPA compliance to enable timely
action on Public Assistance Program grant
applications to restore critical physical
infrastructure that support safe and healthful
living conditions in and around New Orleans.
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Information on the AA Website

• Part of the FEMA website documents the potential
  for significant impacts on the human environment
  in the New Orleans area from FEMA-funded critical
  physical infrastructure projects. Information is
  continually updated, including FEMA actions on
  infrastructure project grant applications and
  public notices.
• The website content is organized into
  subsections
• Environmental Compliance
• Projects
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Stakeholders and Partners
• Public Information and Outreach
• Useful Links
• Resources and Tools for Analysis
• The website is dynamic, and content changes
  frequently.

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What Data Standards?
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FGDC, SDSFIE, HLSDM
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Disaster Summary for FEMA Public Assistance
Program, New Orleans MSA
Source FEMA 1603-DR-LA Public Assistance
Program, as of 24 March 2006
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PA Projects - Data
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PA Projects - Area
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PA Projects - Local
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PA Projects - Schools
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You know you are from the Gulf Coast when

• You have FEMA on speed dial
• You consider repainting your house to match the
  plywood window coverings
• Someone has come to your door to tell you they
  found your roof
• Having a tree in your living room does not mean
  it is Christmas
• A drive-thru meal once consisted of MREs and
  bottled water
• Your childs first words are hunker down and
  you did not go to Ole Miss.