Floods are the most common, most expensive, and most deadly natural
disaster that communities across the United States experience. Reports
reveal approximately 90 percent of all U.S. natural disasters also
involve flooding from any number of sources, including inland flooding,
flash floods, and flooding from seasonal storms.
While such events have long been a concern, recent experiences have
shown that flooding has become both more frequent and severe. The
Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) 50+ year old National Flood
Insurance Program (NFIP), which is by far the nation’s leading provider
of flood insurance coverage, has experienced two of its top five, four
of its top ten, and ten of its top 20 costliest flood events all in the
last decade alone.
Previously, the NFIP dealt with only two $1+
billion flood events prior to its most costly flood, which was Hurricane
Katrina in 2005. Since then, the NFIP has
experienced eight $1+ billion flood events.
The NFIP’s last formal 5-year reauthorization
expired at the end of September 2017. Since then, the
NFIP has been subject to three brief lapses
and 25 short-term extensions, nearly all of which have been enacted as a
part of the congressional appropriations process and not through
legislation initiated by the Financial Services Committee.
The Homeland Security Act, as amended by the Post-Katrina Emergency
Management Reform Act, directs FEMA to reduce
the loss of life and property and protect the nation from all hazards,
including natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other disasters
through a risk-based, comprehensive emergency management system of
preparedness, protection, response, recovery, and mitigation. As of
January 2022, FEMA employed more than 22,000
personnel – including term and intermittent employees – to carry out the
Agency’s mission.
The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act
(Stafford Act) authorizes the Federal government to provide assistance
to State, territorial, and local governments, tribal nations, eligible
private nonprofit organizations, and individuals affected by an incident
that receives a Presidential major disaster or emergency declaration.
The Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 (DRRA, Division D of P.L.
115-254) includes reforms to improve FEMA’s
ability to carry out its mission and better prepare the nation for
disasters. FEMA continues to make progress
implementing its provisions.
FEMA also delivers the National Flood
Insurance Program (NFIP), pre-disaster and post-disaster mitigation
grant programs, flood mapping, disaster planning, exercise management
and coordination, urban search and rescue coordination, the Homeland
Security Grant Program, the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program,
and other grants, training, and exercise programs.
The FY 2023 President’s Budget includes
increased funding for programs and activities that support the goals
outlined in the 2022-2026 FEMA Strategic Plan:
Civil Rights and Reasonable Accommodation Services and Support ($3.9M, 3
FTE)
Funds enable the Office of Equal Rights to enforce and ensure compliance
with FEMA’s civil rights responsibilities and
proactively and comprehensively respond to civil rights complaints filed
by disaster survivors and members of the public regarding
FEMA programs.
Privacy Organization Program ($2.0M, 4 FTE)
FEMA will significantly advance its Privacy
Program by expanding participation and customer support for
FEMA operations and State, local, tribal, and
territorial (SLTT) stakeholders to enhance privacy compliance and
bolster privacy safeguards during rapid-paced response and recovery
efforts. FEMA will use an additional $2.2M
from DRF carryover balances to support this
program in FY 2023 for a total increase of
$4.2M.
Funds will assist FEMA in providing more
equitable investment in disadvantaged communities and aid underserved
and marginalized communities to develop the structures, relationships,
and planning processes that promote equitable access to recovery
resources post-disaster. FEMA will also focus
SLTT capacity building to mitigate existing
gaps in steady-State services and resources to communities.
Flood Hazard Mapping and Risk Analysis ($74.5M)
The Budget includes an additional $74.5M to further
FEMA’s inventory of maps showing future
conditions for a program total of $507.7M. These funds may also be used
to support the Federal Flood Risk Mitigation Standard (FFRMS) and its
climate-informed science activities with the purpose of preparing for
future flood conditions.
Equitable Investment in Risk Reduction ($5.0M, 12
FTE)
Funding will support sustained and equitable investment in risk
reduction through catalyzing community partnerships. Funds will also
support creation of efficiencies and increase capabilities within
FEMA’s Regional and program offices that
assist our SLTT partners, while maximizing all
available resources across three key assistance programs – Hazard
Mitigation Grant Program, National Dam Safety Program, and
BRIC grant programs.
Flood Hazard Mapping and Floodplain Management Expansion ($4.3M, 30
FTE)
Funding for the NFIP will allow the program to
be staffed to complete the mapping projects initiated to deliver
credible, up-to-date flood hazard information to communities and to
manage development in a way that reduces flood losses, equitably reduces
disaster suffering, encourages nature-based solutions and builds
community resilience.
FY 2023 Major Disaster Estimate ($19.7B, 9,010
FTE) The Budget reflects a major disaster
allocation totaling $19.7B to address ongoing Stafford Act disasters.
The FY 2023 requirement includes more than
$941.0M over the FY 2022 Budget for the
response to COVID-19 and other recovery
projects. Cost estimates are derived from spend plans prepared by
FEMA Regions working with affected states and
localities for ongoing catastrophic disasters, historical average of
obligations for non-catastrophic disasters, allocation for
BRIC, and a reserve to ensure
FEMA maintains the ability to fund initial
response operations for new significant events.
Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center (MWEOC) ($53.0M)
MWEOC has 565 acres and is a national asset
providing resilient infrastructure, facilities, logistics support,
communications, operations centers, and support personnel for a wide
variety of vital government functions. It supports 30 plus different
departments and agencies’ continuity missions. FY
2023 funds support facilities construction and modernization
projects at the site.
Emergency Food and Shelter Program – Humanitarian Relief ($24.0M)
The Budget includes an increase of $24.0M to provide critical resources
to migrants crossing the southern border and communities providing
humanitarian relief to the thousands of families and individuals that do
so, as well as any other humanitarian crisis that may arise. Funds will
support providing food, shelter, transportation,
COVID-19 testing, and care associated with
recommended quarantining and isolation of this population.
Emergency Management Institute (EMI) Revitalization ($8.0M, 4
FTE) To advance the Administration priorities
of climate resilience and equity, EMI
Revitalization will modernize e-Campus systems, expand satellite
partnerships, streamline course catalog, develop executive crisis
leadership program, and facilitate emergency management thought
leadership. This work will transform EMI to a
National Emergency Management college, continuing
EMI’s 70-year history of educating and
training the national security workforce to meet the current risks of
climate change and other emergent, persistent, and frequent hazards.
Support for Incident Management (IM) Workforce ($6.4M, 37
FTE)
This increase funds information technology and human capital specialists
needed to recruit, hire, equip, and support a significant expansion of
FEMA’s IM Workforce. Funding will also support
non-pay costs associated with hiring, training, and equipping of
incident management workforce enabling FEMA to
successfully execute its disaster response and recovery functions.
FEMA will use an additional $10.0M from
DRF carryover balances to support the IM
Workforce for a total increase of $16.4M.
Non-Stafford Act Incident Management Assistance Team (IMAT) ($4.3M, 21
FTE)
Funds will provide FEMA with a ready-made
capability to support the growing number of contingencies related to
complex incidents that are not related to a specific disaster
declaration under the Stafford Act.