Emergency Preparedness Laws and Regulations
This tab includes laws, legislation, regulations, agency guidance, and executive orders relevant to emergency preparedness.
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February 24, 2021
West Virginia Senate Bill 389, enacted in 2021, amended the duties of the State Resiliency Office, which was initially established in 2017 through HB 2935 , and formally established a State Resiliency Officer position to lead the Office.
Resource Category: Law and Governance
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January 1, 2021
The Safeguarding Tomorrow through Ongoing Risk Mitigation Act of 2020 (STORM Act), enacted January 1st, 2021, amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U. S. C. 5131) to authorize grants to establish hazard mitigation revolving loan fund programs. The programs are intended to fund projects that mitigate natural hazards including wildfires, earthquakes, drought, severe storm events, erosion, storm surges, and high water levels. The goal of the federal funding is to support risk reduction for local governments by decreasing loss of life and property, insurance costs, and the necessity for future federal disaster relief.
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December 23, 2020
In December 2020, the Mayor of Honolulu signed Ordinance 20-47 (Ordinance), which formally codifies the responsibilities of the previously-established City of Honolulu Office of Resilience (Resilience Office), which include coordinating a coastal and water program, a climate resilience and equity program, and a food sustainability program. The Ordinance is meant to address climate change concerns by building on previous ordinances, and implements a ‘one water’ policy for the city.
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The Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Act of 1970 (URA) (42 U. S. C. §§ 4621 et seq. (2020); 49 C. F. R. pt. 24 (2020)) is a federal law enacted to provide standard and predictable real property acquisition and relocation expenses for homeowners and tenants of land acquired through eminent domain. URA ensures consistent treatment for people displaced through federal programs or with federal funding. State and local governments can learn and draw from URA when evaluating the amount and types of relocation assistance potentially provided for bought-out homeowners and tenants as a part of comprehensive retreat strategies.
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July 15, 2020
The City of Austin, Texas has adopted a model to provide consistent relocation benefits for voluntary home buyouts in the city’s floodplains as a part of its “flood risk reduction projects .” In addition to the cost of a person’s original home, the city will provide homeowners with moving and closing costs, and a replacement housing payment if the cost of a new comparable home (located outside of the city’s 100-year floodplain) is more than the original home. This policy encourages owner participation in the buyout program and helps to minimize the e conomic and social costs of relocation. The city’s Watershed Protection Department prioritizes buyouts in accordance with a Watershed Protection Master Plan that strategically guides related city actions, including potential buyouts, to reduce the risks associated with erosion, flooding, and poor water quality. A mix of municipal bonds, federal grants, and local funds (primarily through a drainage fee paid by owners of properties based upon impervious surface cover) have been used to fund the buyouts. Austin’s example is noteworthy for its emphasis on implementing buyouts in accordance with a comprehensive flood mitigation program and facilitating transitions for people located in floodplains through relocation assistance. Other jurisdictions considering managed retreat could implement an interdisciplinary buyout approach across different sectors and government agencies (e.g., floodplain and emergency management and housing and community development). .
Resource Category: Solutions
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July 15, 2020
The New Jersey Blue Acres Buyout Program is a nationally recognized example of a longstanding, state-run buyout program. Blue Acres works closely with municipalities throughout the state to identify privately owned properties that are routinely threatened or flooded due to sea-level rise and more frequent weather events. The program works directly with local governments to prioritize comprehensive buyouts of affected neighborhoods, instead of individual properties, and restores and protects the properties to maximize the flood and cost-reduction benefits for communities and the environment. To accomplish effective state-local coordination, the program has a diversified staff that meets local needs including case workers who work directly with participants in each buyout area, and a financial team that negotiates mortgage forgiveness with banks and other financial lenders on behalf of homeowners. As climate change worsens and makes extreme weather events more common, other states and local governments may increasingly evaluate the potential for buyouts, particularly in coastal jurisdictions. Decisionmakers could consider institutionalizing buyouts as a part of comprehensive climate adaptation and coastal and floodplain management strategies to encourage neighborhoods to relocate to safer, higher ground areas and restore ecosystems to attain flood, natural resources, and other community benefits.
Resource Category: Solutions
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July 15, 2020
This report, produced by the Georgetown Climate Center, features 17 case studies about how states, local governments, and communities across the country are approaching questions about managed retreat. Together, the case studies highlight how different types of legal and policy tools are being considered and implemented across a range of jurisdictions — from urban, suburban, and rural to riverine and coastal — to help support new and ongoing discussions on the subject. These case studies are intended to provide transferable lessons and potential management practices for coastal state and local policymakers evaluating managed retreat as one part of a strategy to adapt to climate change on the coast. The case studies in this report were informed by policymakers, practitioners, and community members leading, engaging in, or participating in the work presented in this report. This report was written to support Georgetown Climate Center’s Managed Retreat Toolkit, which also includes additional case study examples and a deeper exploration of specific legal and policy tools for use by state and local decisionmakers, climate adaptation practitioners, and planners.
Authors or Affiliated Users: Katie Spidalieri , Isabelle Smith
Resource Category: Solutions
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October 2, 2019
California Assembly Bill 38, passed in 2019, aims to boost wildfire resilience through real estate disclosures regarding home wildfire risk and mitigation measures, financial assistance mechanisms, and local/regional capacity reviews.
Resource Category: Law and Governance
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August 3, 2019
On August 3, 2019, the State of New Hampshire passed Senate Bill (S. B. ) 285 to establish a coastal resilience and economic development program and provide local governments with innovative new tools to address climate emergencies due to sea-level rise, storm surge, and flooding. One notable provision of the bill allows municipalities to either alter their existing boundaries or create a new municipality by combining existing ones (Section 2, codified in New Hampshire Revised Statutes § 31:9-d).
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June 2019
In June 2019, the New York Department of State completed a set of model local resiliency laws as part of its required actions under the State’s Community Risk and Resiliency Act (CCRA). The model laws are meant to inform municipalities who want to adapt their own resiliency measures. Five categories of model laws are included in the model, which is divided into five corresponding chapters. The categories are 1) basic land use models including zoning practices; 2) model legal protections for watercourses and wetlands; 3) model protection measures for shorelines; 4) model floodplain management practices, and; 5) model stormwater management practices.
Resource Category: Law and Governance
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