Title: An Alternative Approach to Determining Environmental Consequences of Disaster Response and Recovery
1An 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
2Hi, 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.
3FEMA 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.
4Camp Allen, Baton Rouge
- URS mobilized hundreds of personnel in the days
following Katrina
5Le Pavillon (aka Le Pou-Pou)
6Scope 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.
7Emergency 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.
8The 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.
9Not 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.
10Alternative 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.
11Population EstimatesPost-Hurricanes
12Orleans Parish Districts
13(No Transcript)
14(No Transcript)
15Housing 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.
16One 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.
17One 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.
18NOMA
19Wet Wild
20Dried Out but Devastated
21More Destruction, But
22NEPA 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.
23NEPA 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.
24Information 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.
25What Data Standards?
26FGDC, SDSFIE, HLSDM
27Disaster Summary for FEMA Public Assistance
Program, New Orleans MSA
Source FEMA 1603-DR-LA Public Assistance
Program, as of 24 March 2006
28PA Projects - Data
29PA Projects - Area
30PA Projects - Local
31PA Projects - Schools
32You 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.