Pillar I:

Increase State & Local Capacity to Respond and Recovery

Pass the CLEAR Act

The Championing Local Efforts to Advance Resilience (CLEAR) Act would provide federal grant funding for states to establish or maintain a state resilience office (SRO) and begin resilience and recovery planning efforts. Currently, the only Appalachian states within our coalition that have an SRO include North Carolina and West Virginia.

Establish a FEMA disaster management pilot program

FEMA can provide funding directly to local governments to help them increase or maintain the number of trained emergency managers, with a focus on developing and implementing local mitigation plans, and increasing knowledge and uptake of nature-based hazard mitigation. This would be similar to FEMA’s Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program, which provided 177 awards totaling more than $360 million in FY2022.

Create an interagency training program

In collaboration with the Appalachian Regional Commission, FEMA and USACE should design a training program for local elected officials and other community members involved in disaster response and recovery that provides education about FEMA aid processes, debris removal, local capacity building for disaster response and mitigation, nature-based hazard mitigation, and floodplain and watershed management.

Increase Planning Assistance to States (PAS) funding and prioritize nature-based solutions

Appropriating additional funding for PAS while also prioritizing USACE projects that work to ensure this funding support helps to advance nature-based hazard mitigation projects.

Reinstate the Building Resilient Infrastructure & Communities (BRIC) program and increase funding

It is imperative that Congress reinstate BRIC while also appropriating additional funding for the Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) program and BRIC itself. Both FMA and BRIC have been historically oversubscribed and underfunded, leaving fewer federal dollars to rural communities without specific directives.

Reform FEMA’s Public Assistance (PA) program

FEMA PA funds should be structured differently for disadvantaged communities to account for the financial challenges low-resource communities face post-disaster. The 25 percent local match requirement should also be eliminated or reduced for economically-disadvantaged communities. Additionally, PA should not be managed as a reimbursing fund, but granted once need is established and a quote for a project is obtained.

Pass the MATCH Act

In order to enable more expedient disaster responses, Congress should pass the Making Access to Cleanup Happen (MATCH) Act, which would allow communities to begin pre-approved watershed rehabilitation activities immediately following disasters without eliminating eligibility for federal aid.

Permanently authorize the Community Development Block Grant - Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program

In order to expedite available funds more rapidly following a disaster, we urge Congress to pass the Reforming Disaster Recovery Act which, among other items, would permanently authorize CDBG-DR funds instead of waiting for Congress to appropriate these dollars.

Pillar II:

Relieve the Recovery and Mitigation Burden for Low-Income Households

Reform the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)

Within NFIP, create a means-tested affordability framework to improve flood insurance access for low- and fixed-income residents.

Bolster the Community Rating System (CRS)

FEMA should increase awareness of, and participation in, its CRS program, particularly for under-resourced and rural communities. FEMA should streamline the process to join CRS and consider providing additional incentives to local governments to join.

Disaster Case Management (DCM) funding

DCM funding needs to be available sooner after a disaster and the period of performance for the program should be extended to 36 months following a disaster declaration, or the 24 month time period should commence on the date that the funding is awarded rather than the date of the disaster.

Individuals & Households Program (IHP)

FEMA IHP assistance should not be strictly tied to an 18 month time limit but rather should be available at least until CDBG-DR funding is dispersed.

CDBG-DR funds & Individual Assistance (IA) reforms

In order to increase the availability of housing for renters following a disaster, it would be helpful to permanently authorize the CDBG-DR program, as this program can support the construction of new multi-family housing units. In addition, FEMA should make available an IA program that provides funding to landlords to repair rental properties. Granting of funds could be made contingent upon the landlord providing subsidized rent for a number of months or years following a disaster.

Property disclosure laws

Improve property disclosures so that when selling a home, the homeowner is required to disclose whether a property has ever had a flooding problem, whether the property is located in a special flood hazard area (SFHA), and whether or not the property is mandated to be covered by flood insurance due to the receipt of previous federal aid. Requiring this information will help assure that low-income homeowners do not purchase a property that is then ineligible for federal aid in future disasters.

Expand recovery programs to include private bridges

Federal disaster recovery programs should explicitly include funding for private bridge repair and rebuilding these bridges to higher flood resilience standards. This should also include expanding funding for an reinstating USDA’s Rural Disaster Home Repair Program.

Pillar III:

Improve Flood Mapping and Data Inputs

Bolster streamgage deployment across Appalachia

In order to improve the data on precipitation, stream flow patterns, and flooding events in Appalachia, more streamgages are necessary. To foster this deployment, Congress should appropriate additional funding for the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Federal Priority Streamgages network and the agency’s Cooperative Matching Funds program, which supports the National Streamflow Network. These networks track, in real-time, streamflows across the U.S. Increasing funding would enable USGS to continue operating about 3,800 streamgages, support improvements to the overall resiliency of streamgages in the network, and deploy additional flood-hardened streamgages.

Local match challenges

Eliminating the local match requirement for streamgages in the National Streamflow Network and for flood inundation mapping based on these gages would significantly benefit low-resource communities, particularly in Appalachia. Currently, these streamgages are funded via a 50/50 cost-share between USGS and tribal, regional, state, or local partners. Increasing funding for this program would allow USGS to eliminate the local match requirement for the installment and maintenance of USGS streamgages in disadvantaged communities.

Update and modernized floodplain maps

Increase funding for FEMA to expeditiously generate updated and modern floodplain maps through the use of best-available technology to provide communities with an accurate understanding of present and future flood risk. Updated maps should account for anticipated climate impacts and incorporate mapping of existing natural floodplain areas to better understand where protective natural features exist and where they have been lost.

Pillar IV:

Invest in Nature-Based Hazard Mitigation

SMCRA Title V mines

It is imperative to ensure the adequate and expedient reclamation on SMCRA Title V modern mine lands by:

  • Improving reclamation bond requirements

  • Establishing a federal fund to provide additional money for reclamation projects

  • Improving the enforceability of SMCRA’s requirements for timely reclamation

Fund the Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative (ARRI)

Congress should provide dedicated funding for ARRI. In FY25, our coalition advocated for $5,000,000 to fund ARRI projects across the region.

USFS Best Management Practices

IThe Forest Service - by virtue of its national expertise and perspective - should be a land stewardship leader by adopting landslide-reduction Best Management Practices (BMPs) that at least meet and, in many cases, exceed state BMPs related to landslides, sedimentation, and watershed protection.

National forests should incorporate the below, or regionally-adapted, slope stability-landslide related BMPs into Forest Plans:

  • BMP 1: Forest landslide susceptibility and other slope stability investigations should be performed by qualified and experienced geologists and/or geotechnical engineers.

  • BMP 2: Timber harvest planning should begin with production of a slope steepness map using the best and most current topographic data available for the watershed in which logging is anticipated.

  • BMP 3: For individual harvest units or road corridors in which more than 10% of the area has a ground surface slope greater than 20% (11”), a qualified professional with experience in steep forested watershed geomorphology and landslide mapping should perform an office review and site visit with a written summary report to identify areas that show evidence of past, current, or potential future landslide activity..

  • BMP 4: Within harvest units or road corridors in which more than 10% of the area has a ground surface slope greater than 20% (11”), areas susceptible or highly susceptible to landsliding should be delineated.

  • BMP 5: Take steps to minimize the likelihood of sediment delivery to streams - or other undesirable consequences such as road or structural damage, oil or gas pipeline rupture, or habitat loss - from landslides triggered by logging activities in susceptible or highly susceptible areas.

    • Within susceptible aras, regeneration harvests shold be avoided and at least 50% of the basal area should be left uncut. In highly susceptible areas, 100% of the basal area should be left uncut.

    • Cutting, filling, and other earth moving for roads, landings, or other aspects of logging operations should be avoided entirely in highly susceptible areas.

  • BMP 6: Implement a plan for long-term monitoring of susceptible and highly susceptible areas that intersect harvest units through the period of post-logging root strength loss and recovery, which may be on the order of a decade or more.

The US Forest Service should also prioritize allocation of funds, material resources, and people to revitalize its landslide-related expertise ranging rom peer-reviewed applied research at its regional forest experiment stations to regional engineering geologic expertise that is easily accessible for on-the-ground application of robust best management practices to reduce logging-related landslide risks at the forest watershed, and individual timber harvest unit scale.

WRDA

USACE should prioritize swift and effective implementation of Sec. 118 of the 2020 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), which includes pilot programs on the formulation of Corps of Engineers projects in rural and economically-disadvantaged communities.

Increase Funding for CSP & EQIP

Increased funding for popular, oversubscribed USDA conservation programs, such as CSP and the EQIP, as well as sustainable agriculture programs such as SARE, would allow them to be expanded to meet increased demand, and to ensure all farmers have the opportunity to adopt conservation practices that increase soil health and farm productivity while reducing flood impacts.

Hazard Mitigation Plans

Better integration of nature-based solutions into state hazard mitigation plans would support state resilience planning efforts. These plans are required for projects to qualify for FEMA HMA funding. Many states include some nature-based goals in their plans, but there are numerous opportunities to expand on these, including via inclusion of detailed, specific nature-based hazard mitigation actions. Congress could require future state hazard mitigation plans to consider nature-based solutions as a potential mitigation technique.