Natural Resources & Resilience Archives - Centralina Regional Council

Helene FEMA Public Assistance Technical Support

MaeLynn — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 18:41:17 +0000

In response to the FEMA-4827-DR (North Carolina Helene Disaster Declaration), Centralina Regional Council has partnered with High Street Consulting to provide expert guidance on the intricate and challenging post-disaster Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Public Assistance (PA) recovery process.

The following links provide information relevant to local government units, such as navigating the FEMA PA program, understanding FEMA hazard mitigation requirements, best practices for debris management and more.

FEMA Public Assistance Guides

These files contain FEMA-produced PA documents that may be beneficial to local government units navigating the FEMA-4827-DR.

Helpful Tech Support Guides

These files contain documents prepared by contracted subject matter experts working with Centralina and other councils of government on Helene FEMA PA damage assessments and recovery planning. These documents have been curated to assist local government units in navigating complex and often confusing FEMA regulations in a more succinct and clear manner.

Helene Regulatory Documents

These files contain regulatory documents related to FEMA-4827-DR, North Carolina Senate Bill 743 – The Disaster Recovery Act of 2024 – Part II and the Hurricane Helene Disaster Recovery Fund established in Section 4.1 of S.L. 2024-51.

The post Helene FEMA Public Assistance Technical Support appeared first on Centralina Regional Council.

Preparing for Disasters in Union County

MaeLynn — Tue, 29 Oct 2024 14:56:10 +0000

Hurricane Helene barreled through western North Carolina in September 2024, proving that unprecedented disasters can destroy communities, take lives and wipe out vital lifelines in a matter of hours while leaving long lasting impacts. Preparing for disasters like Hurricane Helene on “blue-sky” days, or days where no disaster is imminent or on the horizon, plays a critical role in disaster recovery and enhances resiliency in our region. By incorporating recovery in day-to-day tasks, local units ensure they are prepared once inevitable disasters strike. To bolster these efforts, Centralina Regional Council partnered with Union County Emergency Management to host an in-person Blue-Sky Disaster Preparedness training on June 26^th, 2024, at Union County’s Emergency Operations Center. Twenty-six participants from across Union, Anson and Iredell County joined us to determine action-oriented next steps and establish procedures to enact during disasters.

The Blue-Sky Disaster Preparedness training program was built to support local government disaster preparedness activities by providing insight into recouping FEMA grant dollars and enhancing long-term recovery. Funding for this training was provided by the State of North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management in conjunction with the Department of Public Safety and the Office of Emergency Management. Centralina, in partnership with the North Carolina Association of Regional Councils of Government (NCARCOG), worked with consultants and subject matter experts to develop the Blue-Sky Disaster Preparedness training.

Fruitful discussion with the group led to the conclusion that all disasters are local. For effective recovery, many roles outside of emergency management departments play an important part in resiliency work. Through this partnership with Union County, Centralina has been able to gather resources for all communities, large and small, to put into action before a crisis emerges. Please visit our member portal to access the course materials and learn more about your role in disaster recovery. Additionally, we encourage you to have a conversation with your emergency management leads and locate your emergency operations plan, hazard mitigation plan, and other disaster-related guides.

The post Preparing for Disasters in Union County appeared first on Centralina Regional Council.

The Importance of Pre-Disaster Recovery Planning

MaeLynn — Fri, 19 Jul 2024 14:30:46 +0000

In April 2021, the Centralina Economic Development District and Centralina Regional Council, in collaboration with nine county emergency management (EM) directors, launched the Regional Resilience Collaborative (RRC) to enhance the region’s disaster recovery and economic resilience. The RRC aimed for greater efficiency in responding to both natural and man-made disasters and economic challenges. The strategic conversations with EM leaders, coupled with research on the regional landscape, and an extensive review of existing emergency plans identified a significant gap in recovery plans and processes. Centralina assisted all nine counties with overcoming gaps in community recovery planning needs and bolstering the knowledge, administrative protocols and relationships required between EM and local government leaders. Specifically, Centralina Regional Council allocated resources to develop Anson County’s Pre-Disaster Recovery Plan, a resiliency planning document that assigns roles and responsibilities during a disaster.

A Pre-Disaster Recovery Plan (PDRP) is a functional document that informs how local government units will organize their recovery efforts, who will lead various aspects of recovery and the responsibilities of those involved. A PDRP serves as a framework for recovery operations that acknowledges that recovery strategies are dependent upon the unique needs of each disaster. Each PDRP contains annexes or appendices that address specific focus or functional areas. These areas are critical for holistic community recovery and are based on FEMA’s Community Lifelines. There are six recovery committee annexes:

Community Planning and Development
Economic Recovery
Health and Social Services
Housing
Infrastructure
Natural and Cultural Resources

Over the last fiscal year, Centralina Regional Council supported Anson County in hosting eight total meetings: one to kick off the project, a meeting with each of the six recovery annex committees and a closeout meeting. In May, Anson County representatives officially signed the PDRP into action. In doing so, Anson County established the relationships needed to support recovery efforts, defined roles and responsibilities of recovery partners, supported all levels of government to coordinate recovery operations, facilitated public-private partnerships in support of recovery efforts and will reduce the amount of time needed for the community to recover.

The Centralina region is susceptible to a wide range of natural and man-made hazards with cascading impacts across the globe. The region supports many economic industries across the United States and is growing at a rapid rate. Due to these factors, we must ensure planning efforts support consideration of what happens after a disaster. PDRPs are crucial for enhancing recovery efforts by assessing current and future economic recovery needs in the region. Effective long-term disaster recovery requires local governments to integrate recovery management protocols into their routine operations, especially within finance departments, to ensure that incurred response and recovery costs comply with federal and state reimbursement requirements. Emergency management departments in small towns and rural areas often lack the capacity to fully prepare their communities for resilience against future disasters. The development of disaster plans, such as a PDRP, is a critical first step in building recovery capacity through collaboration and communication throughout local governments.

The RRC exemplifies a scalable and replicable model, demonstrating how councils of governments can serve as vital and trusted partners in economic recovery and resilience efforts. More information about the RRC is available here. Our Regional Resilience & Recovery webpage contains many free helpful resources such as materials from all eight RRC workshops, a Resilience and Equity Hazards Assessment GIS Tool, a Pre-Disaster Recovery Plan Template and Development Guide and a Local Leader Disaster Recovery Coordination Guide. Though the RRC ended in June, Centralina Regional Council looks forward to continuing to support our region’s recovery and resiliency efforts! Stay tuned for our upcoming projects in the new fiscal year.

The post The Importance of Pre-Disaster Recovery Planning appeared first on Centralina Regional Council.

The Annual State of the Regional Resilience Collaborative Luncheon

MaeLynn — Mon, 01 Jul 2024 17:12:28 +0000

Acknowledging the critical role regionalism plays in bolstering local resilience and recovery, Centralina’s Regional Resilience Collaborative (RRC) aims to connect leaders and partners in the region to unite on innovative solutions. In June, Centralina, Innovative Emergency Management, North Carolina Emergency Management and our Emergency Management leaders across the region came together for the Annual State of the Regional Resilience Collaborative Luncheon. The luncheon, hosted by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Emergency Management at their Emergency Operations Center, served as a collaborative opportunity to solve local emergency management issues. The group discussed many topics such as:

Radar gaps and the benefits of public-private partnerships;

The State’s Digital Inclusion initiative, Centralina’s regional approach to connect all residents in the region to the internet to bolster economic vitality and the awareness of public safety alerts and preparedness;

Strategies for bolstering county staff with a local recovery manager for economic resilience;

The Regional Resilience Roadmap score metric and increase as a result of a peer-sharing Emergency Management (EM) project that builds a bridge between EM and local government staff and officials; and

How to utilize the Resilience and Equity Hazards Assessment Tool (REHAT), a GIS mapping tool that is free to the public and can be applied as a resource in both pre- and post-disaster planning strategies. The REHAT maps out all disaster-related resources across our nine-county region to effectively prepare for and respond to a disaster. Click here and enter your email address to access the tool and learn more about the public safety and disaster risks surrounding you and your community.

Centralina would like to extend a huge ‘THANK YOU!’ to Wike Graham and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Emergency Management team for hosting the Annual RRC Luncheon! For more information about the Regional Resilience Collaborative project, please visit the RRC webpage, which includes disaster recovery resources and disaster plan templates.

The post The Annual State of the Regional Resilience Collaborative Luncheon appeared first on Centralina Regional Council.

Community First: The Birth of the Clean Cities and Environmental Justice Initiative

CentralinaRC — Fri, 09 Feb 2024 20:32:26 +0000

The Clean Cities program is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) partnership created to advance clean transportation efforts nationwide. The program helped to establish more than 75 active Clean Cities Coalitions across the country, including the Centralina Clean Fuels Coalition (CCFC) located within Centralina Regional Council. Rooted within their local communities, these coalitions serve as experts and ambassadors in their field, bringing collective knowledge, experience and practical know-how in order to boost their community and the country at large’s economic vitality, energy security and individual quality of life.

An important part of the Clean Cities Coalitions work includes collaboration with the Department of Energy and its national laboratories to work towards the goal established Justice40 Initiative, which aspires to put 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments towards disadvantaged communities. Disadvantaged communities are defined as those communities historically marginalized by pollution and underinvestment in housing, transportation, water and wastewater infrastructure and health care. In response to the new legislation, The Clean Cities Energy and Environmental Justice Initiative (CCEEJI) was created to provide Clean Cities Coalitions with training and resources on how to take a community-first approach to developing transportation projects that align with the goals of this initiative.

Through the CCEEJI program, CCFC has received federal funds to develop a two-year community needs transportation pilot program. Dailyn Sailor, Community Engagement Coordinator, will primarily lead CCEEJI implementation efforts for CCFC. In her role, she will partner with citizens and community-based organizations in the Historic West End neighborhood in Charlotte, a community that has been impacted by a long history of disinvestment, segregation and discriminatory and destructive infrastructure planning and decision-making. Dailyn and the CCFC team are building on existing partnerships with leaders and stakeholders in the Historic West End to provide a foundation for collaborative, community-led transportation planning, with the ultimate goal to develop a Community Transportation Action Plan that identifies pathways to leverage federal funding for local transportation projects.

If you’re interested in learning more about this program and staying up to date on the programs progress, visit the CCFC website or reach out to Dailyn Sailor at dsailor@centralina.org with any questions.

The post Community First: The Birth of the Clean Cities and Environmental Justice Initiative appeared first on Centralina Regional Council.

Building Resiliency in the Centralina Region

CentralinaRC — Mon, 08 Jan 2024 21:08:31 +0000

In January, many people establish goals for the year and according to Forbes, improving health is one of the top resolutions for 2024. This is true for the staff at Centralina who will focus on health by helping to build strong, sustainable communities as part of the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant program. This U.S. Environmental Protection Agency program provides funding for local governments to support plans and programs that reduce the release of greenhouse gasses (GHG) and foster a low carbon economy. These projects will also support infrastructure improvement, energy and waste management systems, transportation systems and the development of energy efficient buildings.

Our first step is to create a Priority Climate Action Plan (PCAP) that will include a baseline of GHG emissions and short-term reduction strategies. Nine project categories have been proposed as part of the PCAP:

Collaboration & Leadership: Leadership development and capacity building across communities, organizations and businesses

Energy Generation: Replacement of fossil fuels with unlimited, renewable and clean alternatives

Finance & Innovation: Increase and encourage participation with access to address climate inequities, programs and initiatives

Healthy & Resilient Homes & Buildings: More efficient design and construction standards to modify buildings for energy savings

Industry & Resource Management: Reusing resources through a circular economy to reduce waste and greenhouse gas emissions

Transportation: Reducing travel amount and emission levels from transportation sector

Urban Greening: Nature-based solutions for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and climate threats

Food Systems: Supports and advocates for food and agriculture advancements and access to affordable, quality food

Community Resilience: Aid in a community’s sustained ability to respond to adverse situations

By organizing projects that need funding under these categories, staff can build out priorities and strategies in the PCAP to ensure that interested organizations can determine whether projects of local interest may be a good fit for implementation grant funding.

Get Involved

If you have questions about this initiative, contact Megan Upchurch at mupchurch@centralina.org.

The post Building Resiliency in the Centralina Region appeared first on Centralina Regional Council.

Centralina Learns Recap: Climate & Sustainability Planning

CentralinaRC — Tue, 14 Nov 2023 19:10:14 +0000

On October 24^th, 2023, Centralina held a Centralina Learns session focused on the topic of Climate and Sustainability Planning. Every day, communities are addressing local concerns related to this topic, from localized flooding, to loss of tree canopy, decisions on fleet vehicle efficiencies and more. During this session, local government staff learned about strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, adapting built environments to be more resilient and saw examples of what climate planning looks like in our region. Centralina staff introduced the American Planning Association’s 7 Principles of Climate Planning as a resource in helping communities improve systems for growth and community engagement to better respond to a variety of impacts.

Guest speaker Erin Stanforth, Sustainability and Resiliency Manager of Mecklenburg County, spoke about how Mecklenburg County is working to create ground-breaking change and setting the standard for Climate & Sustainability Planning throughout the region. Stanforth highlighted Mecklenburg County’s Environmental Leadership Policy Action Plan, and how it guided County activities towards climate planning and action. Stanforth showcased the plan’s impacts at every level of governance, including electrification of the Mecklenburg County fleet, reductions in water and energy usage through upgrades in fixtures, replacing aging diesel engine vehicles and the Flood Mitigation and Land Acquisition program. The Flood program purchases flood-prone land and converts it into a nature preserve, greenways or parks, effectively turning what would have been a financial disaster for a home-owner into a public good for everyone to enjoy.

Michelle Nance, Centralina’s Deputy Executive Director, and Jason Wager, Centralina Regional Planning Director, highlighted the Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grant, including the anticipated timelines, deliverables and engagement that will occur as part of plan development and the funding available through implementation grants.

The Climate Pollution Reduction Grant program is aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, growing the economy and creating substantial co-benefits, such as health, air quality, mobility and more in our communities. Concepts for a regional coalition implementation grant will be accepted and discussed over the next months, considering the detailed evaluation criteria in place for the Federal grant program. With transportation being the biggest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, much focus will be given to consensus projects that can make a large impact on the local and regional scales. Topics such as transit, sidewalks, trails, electric vehicle infrastructure and fleet upgrades will be part of the discussion.

The Primary Climate Action Plan will be completed by the established March 24, 2024 deadline, along with the Implementation Grant by the April 1, 2024 deadline. Those interested in learning more and getting involved in this program can view this flyer and fill out this form to submit project ideas and be included in future communications surrounding the program.

If you are interested in participating in future Centralina Learns sessions, check out our website events page.

The post Centralina Learns Recap: Climate & Sustainability Planning appeared first on Centralina Regional Council.

The Climate Pollution Reduction Grant Program: What Does it Mean for the Centralina Region?

CentralinaRC — Wed, 11 Oct 2023 16:29:02 +0000

As part of the Inflation Reduction Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is providing funding through a new initiative called the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG) program. CPRG provides funding to assist state, local and tribal governments in the development of initiatives, plans and programs to reduce the release of greenhouse gases (GHG) and related co-pollutants. EPA’s CPRG program has two phases: planning and implementation.

The Planning Phase

Centralina was awarded a phase 1 planning grant and will serve as the lead entity for a 13-county, bi-state area charged with preparing plans designed to support local needs and priorities toward improving air quality and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The CPRG program requires the development of two plans; a Priority Climate Action Plan (PCAP) by March 1, 2024 and a Comprehensive Climate Action Plan by July 1, 2025. The content of these plans will include an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions, quantified emissions reduction measures, workforce planning analysis and benefit analysis for Low-Income and Disadvantaged Communities. Centralina Regional Council plans to begin outreach activities this month. It is important to note that participation is key in this process for organizations wishing to compete in the implementation of grants.

The Purpose of the Priority Climate Action Plan:

Enhance regional resilience, improve air quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Identify local priorities that can shape a regional approach.
Outline sustainable practices for local governments and communities that contribute to regional goals.
Prioritize short-term strategies and local investments for near-term implementation.

The Implementation Phase

On September 20, 2023, EPA announced the phase 2 implementation grants, which consists of $4.6 billion in funding for eligible organizations. The EPA anticipates individual grant funding opportunities will range between $2 million to $500 million. Applications for these competitive grants are due by April 1, 2024. GHG reduction measures must be included in the PCAP to be eligible for grant funding implementation.

Get Involved

Centralina Regional Council and our partners (Anson, Cabarrus, Cleveland, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Rowan, Stanly and Union counties in North Carolina and Chester, Lancaster and York counties in South Carolina) will begin stakeholder engagement this fall around the region. A Centralina Learns session on CPRG was conducted on October 24th, 2023. Those interested can watch the full session on our Y ouTube and or read a full recap on the session on our Insights page.

For questions or interest in discussion on how we can help, please reach out to Deputy Executive Director, Michelle Nance, at mnance@centralina.org or Regional Planning Director, Jason Wager, at jwager@centralina.org:

The post The Climate Pollution Reduction Grant Program: What Does it Mean for the Centralina Region? appeared first on Centralina Regional Council.

Pre-Disaster Recovery Planning in Anson County

CentralinaRC — Wed, 11 Oct 2023 16:00:46 +0000

September was National Preparedness Month, the perfect time for Centralina Community Economic Development (CED) staff to travel to Anson County to collaborate on pre-disaster recovery planning. Centralina CED, Anson County Emergency Management, staff from various departments within Anson County and subject matter experts from Innovative Emergency Management (IEM) partnered with critical private-public entities to learn about how they may collaboratively inform economic resilience for their communities.

More than 30 individuals met together at the Anson County Emergency Operations Center on September 19, 2023, to discuss their roles and responsibilities in the development of Anson County’s Pre-Disaster Recovery Plan. While the Pre-Disaster Recovery Plan is not an incident specific recovery plan, it includes various recovery topics that require collaboration through local government led recovery plan annex committees. The six Recovery Annex Committees for Anson County include Community Planning and Development, Economic Resiliency, Health and Social Services, Housing, Infrastructure and Natural and Cultural Resources. This event served as an opportunity to gather necessary information, elevate critical voices, introduce recovery annex committee members to each other and begin determining next steps in the plan’s development. This work is part of the Centralina Regional Resilience Collaborative (RRC) roadmap and workplan activities being conducted in the nine-county Centralina region.

As a bonus to this visit, Centralina staff met Anson County’s Emergency Management K9 and emotional support animal, Ace! We would like to give special thanks to Chief Rodney Diggs for his dedicated support of the Centralina RRC initiative and his commitment to economic resilience and safety in Anson County.

Centralina and our partners will continue to support the region in enhancing disaster recovery and resilience through the ongoing work of Centralina RRC. Follow along as we continue moving the economic resilience needle towards success for all on the Regional Resilience & Recovery website page.

The post Pre-Disaster Recovery Planning in Anson County appeared first on Centralina Regional Council.

Centralina Receives Climate Pollution Reduction Grant

CentralinaRC — Fri, 18 Aug 2023 16:08:17 +0000

Centralina Regional Council received a $1 million planning grant through the U.S EPA’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grant Program, a two-stage grant program that includes funding for noncompetitive planning grants and competitive implementation grants. Our staff will serve as the lead entity for the 13-county, bi-state area and will prepare a series of plans designed to support local needs and priorities toward improving air quality and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The plans created by Centralina and its partners will ensure that regional goals are met while increasing local revenue streams and providing a framework for coordinated investments.

Centralina will lead coordination with regional partners, stakeholders and advisors across North and South Carolina to create a regional plan that will produce a playbook of investment options to help communities retain clean air for generations to come by supporting local mobility options, securing newer technologies for fleets, buildings and waste management, enhancing local logistics and distribution systems and the local food economy and/or planning for electric vehicle infrastructure. This framework will provide each unique community the tools to implement solutions that address the local needs they find most urgent and beneficial.

Completion of a regional Climate Action Plan enables local governments to apply for $4.6 billion in funding, authorized under the Inflation Reduction Act, to implement local projects for efficient infrastructure, energy and waste management systems, transportation systems and energy efficient buildings. Additionally, the plan will be developed in coordination with other climate pollution plans in North Carolina.

Core Regional Partners

Catawba Regional Council of Governments
Mecklenburg County Air Quality
UNC Charlotte’s Energy Production & Infrastructure Center

How to Get Involved

Centralina and our partners will hold stakeholder engagement sessions throughout the process to incorporate public feedback. For additional information, contact Deputy Director Michelle Nance at (704) 348-2709 / mnance@centralina.org or Regional Planning Director Jason Wager at (704) 348-2707 / jwager@centralina.org.

The post Centralina Receives Climate Pollution Reduction Grant appeared first on Centralina Regional Council.