community resilience planning in coastal north carolina sixth annual unifour air quality conference...
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Community Resilience Planning inCoastal North Carolina
Sixth Annual Unifour Air Quality ConferenceJune 15, 2012
Linda B. Rimer Ph.D.
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Background: IowaAssistance
• 2008 floods & tornadoes
• 2009 EPA & FEMA partner & provide smart growth assistance to 5 community
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FEMA-EPAMemorandum of Agreement
• Incorporate sustainability and smart growth practices into hazard mitigation planning, and long term disaster recovery and hazards resilience into smart growth assistance
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http://www.epa.gov/dced/pdf/2011_0114_fema-epa-moa.pdf
FEMA-EPAMemorandum of Agreement
Four goals:
1. Enhanced agency coordination
₋ EPA Smart Growth Program
₋ FEMA Long-term Disaster Recovery Program
₋ FEMA Mitigation Planning Program
2. Smart growth assistance
3. Community resilience & climate change adaptation
4. Cross training & joint training
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Background: Coastal Community Resilience Pilot Projects
• Purpose: – Help communities use the best
available data to determine how climate change might impact local land use and infrastructure investments
– Develop strategies that reduce vulnerability to known hazards, build long-term community resilience, & provide economic, environmental, & social benefits.
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Background: Coastal Community Resilience Pilot Projects
• Identified North Carolina: abundant data, tools (iRISK), research
• Held 2011 June scoping workshop
• Advisory committee formed to support community selection
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Pilot Project Locations
• Solicited proposals & selected 2 communities– New Bern– Wilmington
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Wilmington and New Bern, NC
• Both communities and surrounding regions are facing impacts from:
– Sea level rise– More intense coastal
storms– Changes in
precipitation
• Opportunity to integrate sustainable community and brownfield grants.
–
Wilmington population 202,667
New Bern population29,524
Wilmington Pilot
• Conduct a vulnerability assessment of select water and sewer infrastructure in the city’s service areas to potential flood risks posed by sea-level rise and more intense coastal storms associated with climate change.
• Identify land use and infrastructure strategies for reducing exposure of future infrastructure to impacts of sea level rise based on assessed vulnerabilities; and
• Identify approaches to integrate land use and infrastructure strategies into existing plans and policies and anticipated plan updates.
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New Bern Pilot
• Explore opportunities for utilizing sustainable community and green infrastructure approaches to mitigate and reduce vulnerability to flooding including those associated with sea level rise,
• Identify barriers and opportunities within existing land use regulations to support sustainable community and green infrastructure solutions;
• Increase consistency between the Craven County Hazard Mitigation Plan; local comprehensive plans and land development regulations; and
• Improve public awareness and understanding of the vulnerability of the City to flooding including risks from sea level rise, and the role of land use and community design solutions in helping to mitigate that risk.
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Project PartnersWilmington/New Hanover/Cape Fear Public Utility Authority
New Bern
FEMA
EPA HQ, Region 4 & EPA Climate Ready Water Utilities
NOAA
NC Department of Public Safety
Emergency Management
Geospatial and Technology Management
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Current Status
• Wilmington– Scope of work
completed– Contractors on board– Kick off conference
call– Workshop date in the
fall
• New Bern– Scope of work
completed– Contractors on board– Kick off conference
call– Workshop date
August-September
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Agency Commitments
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Adaptation will require that the EPA anticipate and plan for future changes in climate and incorporate considerations of climate change into many of its programs, policies, rules and operations to ensure they are effective under future climatic conditions: Lisa Jackson, EPA Administrator
When I talk about climate resilience, I’m talking abouthow we need to forcefully communicate the risk weface in not building resilience to climate change at thelocal level: W. Craig Fugate, FEMA Administrator
Contacts
Linda Rimer, US EPA:
Adhir Kackar, US EPA:
Sarah van der Schalie, NOAA:
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