Ted CostinRegional Support West Division Director

November 1, 2018

Key takeaways

Governor is the director of emergency management by code.

VDEM supports 138 local government emergency management coordinators; most are part-time or one-person offices.

All disasters start and end at the local level

Change of philosophy since Hurricane Katrina: lean forward and don’t wait for failure before acting. We will be seldom-criticized for over-responding, we may be highly criticized for being slow or under-responding.

Response coordination is government-centric, recovery from disasters is community- and business-centric. Recovery from a large disaster may take years.

Emergency management programs (local and state) are heavily reliant on federal grant funds. There is no dedicated emergency management revenue stream in Virginia, unlike other high-risk states.

§44.146 Emergency authoritiesEmergency Services & Disaster Laws

§ 44-146 – The Governor shall be the director of emergency management [and may]…• Declare emergencies.• Order & direct evacuation(s).• Regulate food, fuel, commodities.• Bypass procurement regs. to supply & equip, train, prepare and mobilize in advance of disaster.• Request federal assistance.• Implement the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) for state-to-state aid.• Provide resources and financial assistance to impacted jurisdictions.• Mobilize National Guard for state service (44–75.1).

Declaration process1. Incident anticipated (“notice”) or occurs (“no-

notice”). The State Coordinator determines if a state of emergency may be necessary.

2. If needed immediately, Governor may verbally declare a State of Emergency. If Governor is not available, sequentially the Chief of Staff, the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security, the State Coordinator of Emergency Management, and the Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs may declare a state of emergency and carry out necessary executive functions.

3. If there is no need for a verbal declaration (or after one has been made), VDEM develops a draft Executive Order which will be reviewed internally by VDEM. Concurrently, DPB will develop a “Sum Sufficient” budget (§ 44-146.28) to be used for disaster response and recovery.

4. The draft E.O. is sent for external concurrence to key state agencies and final review by the Governor’s Counsel and Chief of Staff.

5. The EO is signed.

Agency history & reorganizationOrigins• 1942: Office of Civilian Defense established by the General Assembly.• 1950: Reestablished with new name, Office of Civil Defense.• 1973: Virginia Emergency Services and Disaster Act established the Virginia Office of Emergency Services.• 1979: FEMA established by President Carter.• 2000: Renamed the Virginia Department of Emergency Management.2014 agency reviewSituation• 90% employees at headquarters in Richmond.• 12 divisions with independent policies, budget, hiring practices, plans, training.• Audit problems reported over a decade•Start• Internal review: work groups, retreats, all-hands and External review: briefs, stakeholders surveys, state agencies, DHS, FEMA, DoD, considering

changing operating environment

July 2015 – Jan. 2017 phased 18-month reorganization• Phase I: Designated & trained all staff as emergency managers.• Phase II: Realign 12 divisions into 2 bureaus, 9 divisions.• Phase III: Open regional offices and decentralize.

Highlights from reorganization• 25% agency with permanent field assignments.• Consolidated all fund under single CFO.• Implemented transparent SME-led grant programs.• Held first-in-USA Basic & Advanced FEMA Emergency Management Academy; trained 200+ local and state EMs.• Closed 1,500+ open old disaster projects dating to 2007, returning $74M to state and local governments.

Commonwealth threats & hazardsNatural•Hurricanes

•50 between 1900-2017, Camille ’69

•Winter Storms•Jonas ‘16

•Tornadoes•8 ‘16

•Floods•Mudslides•Earthquakes

•Louisa ‘11•Disease

•Ebola•Pandemic

•Space weather

Technological (Manmade) •Nuclear Power Facilities•Hazmat/Toxic Industrial Chemicals

•Facility or in transport (road, rail, air, maritime)

•Terrorism/active shooters•CIA, Pentagon, Alexandria, VT, Roanoke

•Transportation accidents•Infrastructure/supply chain failures

•Power•Communications•Water•Cyber•Fuel

•Civil disturbance•WMD/CBRNE•Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP)•War

PR

OB

AB

ILIT

Y

CONSEQUENCE

LOW

HIGH

LocalResponse

& StateResponse

& FederalResponse

Organization

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State Coordinator

Chief Deputy State CoordinatorExternal Affairs

Virginia Emergency Support Team (VEST)

Training, Education & Exercise

Division

Human Resource Division

Secretary’s Homeland Security &

Resilience Group▻ Cybersecurity Coordinator▻ Interoperability Coordinator

▻ Critical Infrastructure Coordinator

Finance & Grants

Division

Information Technology

Division

Response and Recovery

Programs

Division

Planning

Division

Regional Support West

DivisionRegional Support East

Division

Deputy State Coordinator

Disaster Services BureauDeputy State Coordinator

Mission Support Bureau

Situational Awareness

Unit (SAU)

Virginia Fusion Center

(VFC)

State Coordinator Board Roles▻ Chair, Virginia 911 Board (VITA)

▻ Member, Secure & Resilience Commonwealth Panel▻ Member, NCR Homeland Security Executive Committee▻ Co-chair, Virginia Fusion Center Advisory Board

Secretary of Public Safety & Homeland Security(VDEM under direct operational control of the Governor during emergencies §19VAC10)

Agency snapshot

People

• 159 MEL / 138 filled (only ~33 general fund supported).

• ~ 100 adjunct instructors, wage, contractors

Facilities

• Headquarters (Chesterfield)

• Virginia Emergency Operations Center (VEOC) (basement of state police HQ)

• Situation Awareness Unit (SAU, or “watch”)

• Governor’s Sitroom, 2nd floor PHB

• 7 regional offices

• Hazmat Training Center (York County)

• Cheatham Annex Hazardous Waste Site

Budget & grants (FY2018)• 89% from grants/non-general fund, 11% general fund• $62M total: $55M NGF, $7M GF• ~75% budget is passed through to localities.• Pass through in FY2017: $85M

Lead Commonwealth’s Accreditation through the Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP)•2015-19•2010-14•2005-09

EXPENDITURES FY12-17

Key programs• Virginia Emergency Support Team (VEST)• Virginia Emergency Operations Center (VEOC) • Emergency planning

• Commonwealth of Virginia Emergency Operations Plan (COVEOP)• 138 local emergency operations plans (EOP)• 66 Institutions of Higher Education plans• Continuity of government (COG) and Continuity of operations plans (COOP)

• Response coordination & special operations• Hazardous materials/CBRN/WMD• Incident management teams • Search & Rescue• Technical/ Urban Search & Rescue• Field communications cache• Unmanned aerial systems

• Disaster logistics, response & recovery• Public & private sector preparedness • Recovery, mitigation & resilience programs

•Flood warning system (iFLOWS)

• Radiation Emergency Preparedness Program (REPP)• Radiological materials transport • Training & exercises• Virginia Fusion Center• Homeland security & emergency management grants

•FEMA State Homeland Security Program (SHSP)•FEMA Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI)•FEMA Complex Coordinated Attacks (CCA)•FEMA Port Security Grant Programs (PSGP) •FEMA Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG)•US DOT Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness (HMEP)•US NTIA State Local Implementation Grant Program (SLIGP)

FEDERAL GRANT REVENUES FY03-17

VDEM response resourcesHazardous Materials Response Teams (Hazmat) • 8 VDEM Hazardous Materials Officers (HMO).• 12 regional teams, ~500 local gov’t. personnel.• 2017: 1,605 notifications resulting in 298 assists

and 39 team responses.

Wilderness Search and Rescue (SAR)• 3 VDEM Search and Rescue officers (SAR).• 21 teams, ~500 volunteers.• 2017: 104 request for assistance; 72 missing.

persons, 53 recovered alive.

Incident Management Team (IMT)

• 4 teams: Hampton Roads, Southwest, Central Virginia, National Capital Region, ~150 members.

• 2017: 6 state missions, 3 major planned events and 2 EMAC deployments (Texas, Florida).

Technical/ Urban Search and Rescue (USAR)• 7 state US&R teams, ~400 personnel, including:

• FEMA VA Task Force 1/USAID USA-1 (Fairfax County).

• FEMA VA Task Force 2 (Va. Beach).

Communications Caches• 5 radio & data communications caches, ~50

personnel.• 2017: responded to 6 state events and multiple

regional events.

Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS)• UAS in each VDEM region (7), ~ 2 pilots in each region.• Established in 2017 in coordination with Virginia Dept.

of Aviation as first public safety drone programs for a state emergency management agency.

Disaster Logistics • Human & pet sheltering supply trailers.• Food & water pallets.• Blue tarp trailers.• Multi-use mobile disaster services support bus.• Mobile communications technical support unit.

Situational Awareness Unit (SAU)• 24x7x365 State Warning Point.• Contact & notifications for local, state, and federal.• Situational awareness of emerging incidents.• Dispatches mutual aid & state resources.

Mutual aid & disaster help

All responses begin and end at the local level. Aid requests start with closest local resources first, before mobilizing other state, private, or federal resources.

Local mutual aid• Local and regional resources are exchanged.• Occurs everyday in Virginia and between Virginia

jurisdictions and MD, DC, WV, and NC.• Does not require VDEM role, although we will assist

during emergency declarations.

Intrastate mutual aid• Movement of local government aid across the state,

facilitated by VDEM with legal indemnification.

EMAC (Emergency Management Assistance Compact)

• Interstate aid program to send or receive aid during a declaration of emergency

• All 50 states and territories are signatories.

• § 44-146.28:1

.

Private sector aid• Local and state government may bypass

procurement processes to enter into contracts for private assistance, supplies, equipment, personnel, and other resources with an emergency declaration in place.

Volunteer aid

• Volunteer organizations such as the Red Cross are engaged to provide aid to localities and individual citizens.

State aid

• State agency support to localities, commonly from VDEM, VSP, VANG, VDOT, DEQ, VDH.

Federal aid

• Aid from the federal government is coordinated through FEMA, including Dept. of Defense resources.

Military aid from Virginia bases

• Local military base commanders are authorized to provide lifesaving aid in the event of an emergency.

Presidential aid process

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Disaster aidState (Gubernatorial Disaster Declaration) • State Public Assistance § 44-146.28 • Governor’s Disaster Relief Fund (EO): donations for nonprofits•Coordination of nonprofit aid

• Volunteer Agency Liaison (VAL)• Volunteer Organizations Assisting Disasters (VOAD)

• * No direct state assistance to individuals. *

Federal (Presidential Disaster Declaration)• FEMA (75% federal/25% state cost share)

• FEMA Assistance for Individuals and Businesses (IA): housing assistance (HA) & other needs assistance (ONA) for unemployment, grants, legal services, counseling, tax relief, and agricultural assistance.

• FEMA Public Assistance (PA): aid state and local governments and certain nonprofit organizations for repairing or replacing essential systems and facilities.

• FEMA Hazard Mitigation: eliminate or reduce long-term vulnerability to loss of life and property (10%-15% cost of disaster).

• Other federal aid• Small Business Administration Disaster Loans• USDA agricultural aid (through VDACS)• USHUD Community Development Block Grants

(through DCHD) • USACE (e.g. beach replenishment)• IRS• Social Security Administration

Today

• Governor will visit Danville.

• FEMA/Commonwealth/Locality validation of expenses/damages incurred as a result of Florence.

• AAR visit by Louisiana Governor’s staff reviewing Virginia officials decisions to evacuate/shelter as Florence approached.

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Questions

How many localities in Virginia have emergency management programs?

VDEM dates back to what year?

What percentage of VDEM staff is field deployed?

VDH is accredited by the Emergency Management Accreditation Program. True or False?

FEMA is the only federal agency that provides disaster relief funds. True or False?

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