[Senate Hearing 117-512]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                        S. Hrg. 117-512

                   ADDRESSING THE THREAT OF WORSENING 
                              NATURAL DISASTERS

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                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                              COMMITTEE ON
               HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                    ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS


                             FIRST SESSION

                               __________

                           SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

                               __________

        Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov

                       Printed for the use of the
        Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
        
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE                    
47-978 PDF                WASHINGTON : 2022                     
          
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        COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                   GARY C. PETERS, Michigan, Chairman
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware           ROB PORTMAN, Ohio
MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire         RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona              RAND PAUL, Kentucky
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada                  JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma
ALEX PADILLA, California             MITT ROMNEY, Utah
JON OSSOFF, Georgia                  RICK SCOTT, Florida
                                     JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri

                   David M. Weinberg, Staff Director
                    Zachary I. Schram, Chief Counsel
         Christopher J. Mulkins, Director of Homeland Security
           Naveed Jazayeri, Senior Professional Staff Member
                Benjamin J. Schubert, Research Assistant
                Pamela Thiessen, Minority Staff Director
    Andrew Dockham, Minority Chief Counsel and Deputy Staff Director
     Clyde E. Hicks Jr., Minority Senior Professional Staff Member
                     Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk
                     Thomas J. Spino, Hearing Clerk

                            C O N T E N T S

                                 ------                                
Opening statements:
                                                                   Page
    Senator Peters...............................................     1
    Senator Portman..............................................     2
    Senator Hassan...............................................    16
    Senator Rosen................................................    18
    Senator Padilla..............................................    21
    Senator Ossoff...............................................    22
Prepared statements:
    Senator Peters...............................................    27
    Senator Portman..............................................    29

                               WITNESSES
                     Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Sima Merick, President, National Emergency Managers Association 
  and Executive Director, Ohio Emergency Management Agency.......     5
Jerry Hancock, Executive Director, Michigan Stormwater Floodplain 
  Association and Stormwater and Floodplain Programs Coordinator, 
  Ann Arbor, Michigan............................................     6
Jennifer Pipa, Vice President of Disaster Programs, American Red 
  Cross..........................................................     8
John S. Butler, Second Vice President International Association 
  of Fire Chiefs and Fire Chief, Fairfax County, Virginia........    10

                     Alphabetical List of Witnesses

Butler, John S.:
    Testimony....................................................    10
    Prepared statement...........................................    55
Hancock, Jerry:
    Testimony....................................................     6
    Prepared statement...........................................    37
Merick, Sima:
    Testimony....................................................     5
    Prepared statement...........................................    31
Pipa, Jennifer:
    Testimony....................................................     8
    Prepared statement...........................................    49

                                APPENDIX

Responses to post-hearing questions for the Record:
    Ms. Merick...................................................    61
    Mr. Butler...................................................    62

 
          ADDRESSING THE THREAT OF WORSENING NATURAL DISASTERS

                              ----------                              


                     WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

                                     U.S. Senate,  
                           Committee on Homeland Security  
                                  and Governmental Affairs,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m., via 
Webex and in room SD-342, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. 
Gary Peters, Chairman of the Committee, presiding.
    Present: Senators Peters, Hassan, Sinema, Rosen, Padilla, 
Ossoff, Portman, Johnson, Lankford, Romney, Scott, and Hawley.

            OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN PETERS\1\

    Chairman Peters. The Committee will come to order.
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    \1\ The prepared statement of Senator Peters appear in the Appendix 
on page 27.
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    Every September, we observe National Preparedness Month, a 
critical reminder that planning ahead for a natural disaster 
can help save lives. Preparedness is becoming more and more 
important as we continue to see increasingly severe storms and 
weather events that create life-threatening situations and 
cause serious damage to our communities. Driven by climate 
change, these extreme storms, hurricanes, wildfires, and 
floods, are becoming more frequent, and more destructive every 
year.
    At the same time, our Federal, State, and local emergency 
responders are also working to address the ongoing public 
health crisis caused by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) 
pandemic. As a result of these compounding circumstances, our 
disaster response resources, personnel, and volunteers are 
stretched thin, making emergency response and recovery more 
challenging and more expensive.
    Severe storms, extreme flooding, and devastating wildfires 
cost our nation billions of dollars every year. But we can 
strengthen our disaster response efforts, and save taxpayer 
dollars, by making smart, forward-looking investments in 
mitigation before a disaster strikes. In fact, studies have 
shown that every $1 invested in hazard mitigation or prevention 
saves an average of $6 in recovery costs for taxpayers.
    As we continue to see worsening natural disasters and the 
dire consequences they have on our communities we must take 
swift action to upgrade our infrastructure and ensure our 
roads, bridges, homes, and businesses, are resilient enough to 
withstand increasingly severe weather events.
    That is why I worked to pass the Safeguarding Tomorrow 
Through Ongoing Risk Mitigation (STORM) Act, which was signed 
into law earlier this year, to help provide States and local 
communities with access to the resources they need to make 
these critical investments. I was pleased to secure $500 
million in initial funding for the program as part of the 
Senate-passed bipartisan infrastructure bill, and look forward 
to the House considering that bill soon.
    The STORM Act, and this initial funding, will help kick-
start loan programs in every State to help communities begin to 
reduce their natural disaster risks.
    In addition to creating these kinds of new opportunities to 
help communities prevent widespread damage, we must also ensure 
our disaster recovery efforts are working effectively. Most 
importantly, we must have enough personnel and volunteers to 
assist in disaster recovery efforts. Ranking Member Portman and 
I introduced bipartisan legislation earlier this year that 
would help the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), 
ensure that we are able to recruit and retain enough Reservists 
to quickly respond to emergencies by providing important 
employment protections. I look forward to continuing to advance 
this bill so that we can help reduce the burden that make it 
difficult for FEMA to recruit and retain emergency response 
personnel.
    We have also seen firsthand how our disaster recovery 
resources do not always reach the communities most in need. 
Whether they are recovering from a hurricane or other severe 
weather events or seeking resources related to the COVID-19 
pandemic response, too many of our most vulnerable communities 
do not have equal access to this vital assistance. Communities 
of color and other underserved communities often 
disproportionately face the consequences of disasters, and our 
disaster response efforts typically provide slow or inadequate 
relief to those communities.
    Last Congress, I worked on legislation that would begin to 
strengthen our disaster response for all Americans by creating 
an office at FEMA that would be focused on ensuring equitable 
access to disaster assistance, and I look forward to continuing 
that effort to ensure that no matter when or where a disaster 
strikes, help will be readily available.
    I appreciate our witnesses for joining us here today and 
look forward to discussing these issues and other efforts that 
will help strengthen our disaster preparedness and response 
efforts across the country.
    Ranking Member, you are recognized for your opening 
comments.

            OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR PORTMAN\1\

    Senator Portman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I thank the 
witnesses for being here today. We are pleased to have a 
witness from Ohio with us, who has done a great job in ensuring 
that we have preparedness in our own State but also has worked 
with the National Emergency Management Association (NEMA). Ms. 
Merick, thank you for being here.
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    \1\ The prepared statement of Senator Portman appears in the 
Appendix on page 29.
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    This is an important hearing. We have the opportunity today 
to talk about preparedness to deal with these natural 
disasters, and let us face it, there are more and more of them. 
We have seen, over the past couple of years, the most damaging 
wildfires, droughts, and hurricanes in our recent history. We 
need to be better prepared, and we need to be sure that FEMA is 
there to respond effectively.
    FEMA is the principle agency that coordinates the Federal 
response to natural disasters, but just to remind people, we 
have a decentralized system in this country. FEMA does not 
provide the boots on the ground, for the most part. It is local 
responders who are first on the scene when disasters strike. 
This is reflected by the way FEMA's emergency management 
strategy, and I will quote from it, it is ``federally 
supported, State managed, and locally executed.''
    I have seen firsthand the importance of this local 
preparedness and response in Ohio on a lot of occasions over 
the past couple decades, representing southern Ohio and now the 
whole State. We have had flooding, we have had tornadoes, and 
we have had other emergencies.
    In May 2019, we had a series of tornados that touched down 
across western Ohio, damaging or destroying hundreds of homes 
and businesses in the Miami Valley and displacing a lot of my 
fellow Ohioans. The most extreme damage occurred in Dayton, 
Ohio, area and the surrounding communities of Trotwood and 
Beavercreek.
    Incredibly, and thanks in large part to the alert systems 
and training of our local first responders, while 166 people 
were injured, we did not have a single loss of life in the 
Dayton area that night, and if you had seen the destruction as 
I did, you would be amazed that people were not killed. It is 
amazing how quickly people got out of their homes and were able 
to avoid even worse situations. We did, sadly, have one 
casualty from a tornado that touched down further north in 
Salina, Ohio.
    In the immediate aftermath, my wife Jane and I drove from 
our home to Dayton, Ohio, early in the morning, right after the 
tornado had hit, and we went to thank people, to show our 
support for the first responders, not to get in the way, but to 
ensure that they knew that we were there to support them and to 
talk to constituents who had been displaced.
    We saw devastation, downed trees, and property damage, but 
we also saw the impressive work being done by our local first 
responders as well as immediate response from our State 
partners and also Federal partners who were already on the 
ground or on their way.
    Montgomery County Sheriff, Rob Streck, took the lead in the 
Dayton area for much of the damage, and he had a command center 
set up immediately. I was able to talk to him and his team and 
the Central Ohio Strike Team, which is an urban search and 
rescue (US&R) unit out of Columbus, Ohio. I am really eager to 
talk more about the US&R teams around the country. We did pass 
legislation a few years ago to help our US&R teams, but they do 
an awesome job, and respond not just in Ohio but from Ohio all 
over the country, most recently with the hurricanes in the 
South, Southeast, but also with regard to 9/11. They were 
there, on the spot, and that was Ohio Task Force 1.
    We also went to see the Red Cross and what they were doing, 
which was shelters that had been set up. Again, we talked to 
constituents about the situations they were facing. But less 
than 12 hours after the tornadoes hit, the Red Cross was 
already providing food, water, and shelter, and a place for 
people to stay who had lost their homes. This security and a 
place to stay was absolutely critical to the people I talked 
to, as they prepared to rebuild their lives, some from scratch.
    Within a few weeks of the event, FEMA had three active 
centers open across the Miami Valley, with case workers, mental 
health workers, people who can help with businesses, people who 
can help with small business loans. They also established an 
area for children to decompress and an area dedicated to 
helping people with disabilities. This was all set up pretty 
quickly, and again, I had a chance to tour these.
    I can assure you, it would have been much worse but for the 
preparedness our region and the preparedness our State had in 
place and the quick response from the first responders. I am 
proud of southwest Ohio for coming together so quickly in this 
case, but it is an example that I have seen around the State of 
preparedness done right.
    Again, to Sima Merick, thank you for being here today and 
for the crucial role that you play for the National Emergency 
Managers Association in addition to your work in Ohio. You were 
leading the Ohio Emergency Management Agency (EMA) in 2019 when 
the tornadoes hit, and so I saw the good work that your folks 
were doing.
    I look forward to all our witnesses today, and I look 
forward to discussing the importance of properly preparing for 
our natural disasters.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Senator Portman.
    It is the practice of this Committee to swear in witnesses, 
so if the witnesses will stand and raise your right hand, 
including those who are joining us by video.
    Do you swear that the testimony you will give before this 
Committee will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but 
the truth, so help you, God?
    Ms. Merick. I do.
    Mr. Hancock. I do.
    Ms. Pipa. I do.
    Mr. Butler. I do.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you. You may be seated.
    Our first witness is Sima Merick. Ms. Merick serves as the 
Executive Director of the Ohio Emergency Management Agency and 
has been an employee of the Ohio Department of Public Safety 
for nearly 35 years. She began her career as a dispatcher for 
the Ohio State Highway Patrol in 1985, and held other positions 
within that division until 1996, where she began her career 
preparing the emergency management and mitigation techniques 
still widely utilized today.
    Ms. Merick was appointed by Governor Kasich in 2011, to be 
Assistant Director of the Ohio Emergency Management Agency, and 
served in that role until being appointed in June 2015 as 
Executive Director.
    Welcome, Ms. Merick. You may proceed with your opening 
remarks.

  TESTIMONY OF SIMA MERICK,\1\ PRESIDENT, NATIONAL EMERGENCY 
MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION, AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OHIO EMERGENCY 
                       MANAGEMENT AGENCY

    Ms. Merick. Thank you, Chairman Peters, Ranking Member 
Portman, and distinguished Members of the Committee for 
inviting me here today. Senator Portman, it is good to see you 
again. It feels like a couple of days or weeks ago that we were 
together at your Nonprofit Security Symposium in Columbus, so 
it is good to see you, sir.
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    \1\ The prepared statement of Ms. Merick appears in the Appendix on 
page 31.
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    As President of the National Emergency Management 
Association, I am proud to be representing the State emergency 
management directors of all 50 States, territories, and the 
District of Columbia.
    To have success in addressing the threats of natural 
hazards, three fundamental pieces must be examined. These 
include how States help themselves, how we help one another, 
and the State-Federal partnership.
    First, States help themselves by understanding FEMA is not 
a first responder and also by maintaining a close working 
relationship with our local emergency managers. According to 
data from a report NEMA does each year with our local 
counterparts, in fiscal year (FY) 2020, State and local 
emergency management organizations managed 19,752 events 
without Federal assistance. Additionally, 27 States maintain 
their own State-funded assistance program to help citizens and 
businesses when a disaster or emergency does not meet the 
criteria for Federal assistance.
    Second, States help one another through efforts such as the 
Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC). Celebrating its 
25th year of service, EMAC has deployed nearly 40,000 personnel 
in State assistance since 2016 alone. Most recently here in 
Ohio, we used EMAC during the 2016 Republican National 
Convention (RNC). This brought trained, experienced, and 
equipped officers from other States to assist Cleveland in 
managing that significant event.
    Finally, the Federal-State partnership is one of the 
bedrocks of emergency management. Whether it is the declaration 
process, shaping national policy, or programs like Emergency 
Management Performance Grants (EMPG), this partnership is seen 
in every corner of our profession. EMPG, in particular, is a 
great example. The only program in the NEMA suite of grants 
that requires a 50-50 match, and many States and local 
governments actually overmatch this program. We are grateful 
for the continued support Congress has shown over the past 18 
months by providing the supplementals.
    In my written statement I provide several examples of how 
Ohio is building capacity through programs like our Safe Room 
Rebate Program, a joint exercise with the Ohio National Guard, 
and providing virtual training opportunities. But for today's 
hearing I want to be sure I provide some recommendations on 
FEMA's future.
    First, we must clarify the role of emergency management, 
particularly as it relates to events not warranting a Stafford 
Act declaration. FEMA should be the consequence manager for the 
Federal Government regardless of that. Let FEMA be the 
coordinator of Federal resources instead of forcing us, at the 
State level, to fumble our way through the Federal Government.
    Second, we must ensure diversity and inclusion in emergency 
management. NEMA wants to work with FEMA in reviewing all 
current emergency management laws and policies through an 
equity lens, including identifying the intended and unintended 
effects of current policies on vulnerable communities.
    Finally, we must work to reduce the complexity of the FEMA 
Public Assistance Program (PAP). For too long, FEMA has talked 
about simplifying the disaster programs, only to continue 
adding to existing procedures. Federal disaster programs and 
processes are too complex, they are slow, sometimes 
bureaucratic, and, in many cases, can impede State and local 
governments' best efforts to improve outcomes for individuals 
and communities.
    In the past year, we have reiterated to FEMA our desire to 
work with them on all of these priorities, and hope we can work 
with you as well to find common ground in making FEMA and the 
emergency management professional more accessible to those it 
is intended to serve.
    Thank you for your time today, and I look forward to any 
questions you might have.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Ms. Merick.
    Our next witness is Jerry Hancock. Mr. Hancock serves as 
the Stormwater and Floodplain Programs Coordinator for the city 
of Ann Arbor, which is located in the great State of Michigan. 
He is appearing before the Committee today on behalf of the 
Association of State Floodplain Managers Association (ASFPM). 
He has an established record of specialized experience over 30 
years in environmental planning. His previous roles have 
included serving as the Oakland County Drain Commissioner, Land 
Development Coordinator, and Natural Resources and 
Environmental Planning Coordinator.
    Mr. Hancock, welcome to the Committee. You may proceed with 
your opening remarks.

  TESTIMONY OF JERRY HANCOCK,\1\ EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MICHIGAN 
STORMWATER FLOODPLAIN ASSOCIATION AND STORMWATER AND FLOODPLAIN 
           PROGRAMS COORDINATOR, ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN

    Mr. Hancock. Good morning. Thank you, Chairman Peters and 
Ranking Member Portman and Members of the Committee. I am Jerry 
Hancock, Stormwater and Floodplain Programs Coordinator for the 
city of Ann Arbor, Michigan. I am also the Executive Director 
of the Michigan Stormwater Floodplain Association (MSFA). I am 
honored to be testifying today on behalf of MSFA and also the 
Association of State Floodplain Managers.
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    \1\ The prepared statement of Mr. Hancock appears in the Appendix 
on page 37.
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    My written statement identifies over a dozen specific items 
for your consideration.
    Today the threat of flooding is worsening nationwide and in 
my State of Michigan. Nationally, annual flood losses are 
doubling roughly every decade, and in the past decade here in 
Michigan we have experienced numerous major flood events, most 
notable, our 500-year floods in Detroit in 2014 and again this 
year in June. There was also a 500-year flood in the Midland 
area that caused two dam failures last year. Then in 2018, 
there was an intense 1,000-year flood in Houghton. That is up 
in the UP, where I went to college.
    For the balance of my time I am going to be highlighting 
five areas where preparedness and mitigation can be improved. 
First, hazard mitigation and risk assessment. Simply put, we 
cannot prepare or mitigate if we do not know where current and 
future hazard areas are located. For floodplain managers, this 
means we must have a nationwide program of updating rainfall 
frequency and have a robust set of flood maps that identifies 
all flood hazards, as was envisioned by Congress when it passed 
the National Flood Mapping Program (NFMP).
    However, today only one-third of the nation's floodplains 
are mapped, and those maps do not include things like dam 
failure inundation and future conditions of flood areas that 
were required by the National Flood Mapping Program. Our flood 
maps in Washtenaw County were out of date shortly after they 
were adopted, due to our obtaining better topographic and 
precipitation data within just a year or two of the maps coming 
out.
    Second, preparedness and mitigation are informed through 
good planning and State and local priorities. Here in Ann 
Arbor, we have developed and maintained a local hazard 
mitigation plan for the last 15 years, and we recently received 
Building Resilient Infrastructure Communities (BRIC) funding 
for our next update. Hazard mitigation plans identify 
priorities for mitigation strategies, such as the major 
structural flood reduction project we just completed for which 
we obtained a $4 million FEMA hazard mitigation grant.
    However, other communities were not so lucky to receive 
hazard mitigation plan funding, as the State set aside in BRIC 
or State priorities was too small. FEMA should ensure that pre-
disaster mitigation programs like BRIC provide a more balanced 
funding approach to support State and local mitigation 
priorities.
    Third, preparedness is enhanced through data sharing and 
better informing the public. For example, the Federal 
Government has been slow to publicly provide dam failure 
inundation maps, which again were required by the National 
Flood Mapping Program. Here in Michigan, where cascading dam 
failures north of Midland last spring resulted in flooding that 
went beyond the 500-year floodplain, having those dam failure 
inundation maps publicly available might have resulted in less 
damage and injury.
    Another recently evolving issue is the hindrance of flood 
insurance claims data from FEMA. FEMA requires communities to 
analyze flood insurance claims information to complete hazard 
mitigation plans and to participate in the community rating 
system. I know, as Ann Arbor is a Class 6 community rating 
system community. However, FEMA is not providing the flood 
insurance data necessary to successfully complete this 
analysis, or it is not providing it in a timely manner.
    Fourth, to be a prepared nation we must have adequate 
State, local, territorial, and tribal (SLLT) capacity. Ann 
Arbor is unique to have a full-time floodplain manager position 
like mine, whereas most communities do not. States could help 
fill this capacity gap by providing technical assistance to 
communities. FEMA does have a successful program called the 
Community Assistance Program (CAP), which supports the National 
Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). This program could be 
replicated, funded through BRIC, and be made available to build 
and maintain capacity of State hazard mitigation programs.
    Finally, preparedness and mitigation must be equitable. 
Reducing the complexity of applying for and administering FEMA 
flood mitigation grants, as was mentioned in the previous 
discussion, could assist in equitability.
    Again, my written statement goes into much more detail on 
these and other floodplain management issues and 
recommendations. Thank you.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Mr. Hancock.
    Our next witness is Jennifer Pipa. Ms. Pipa serves as the 
Vice President of Disaster Programs at the American Red Cross. 
She initially began her career with the Red Cross in 2004, 
after volunteering for the Disaster Action Team in Raleigh, 
North Carolina. Within one year she became the team's captain 
and swiftly moved to a role as caseworker for local families. 
Her tenure also includes working as the Operations Program 
Lead, Director of Volunteer Mobilization and Support at 
National Headquarters in Washington, D.C., and chief executive 
officer (CEO) of the American Red Cross of Central Florida.
    Ms. Pipa, you may proceed with your opening remarks, and 
welcome to the Committee.

   TESTIMONY OF JENNIFER PIPA,\1\ VICE PRESIDENT OF DISASTER 
                  PROGRAMS, AMERICAN RED CROSS

    Ms. Pipa. Good morning, Chairman Peters, Ranking Member 
Portman, and distinguished Members of this Committee. Thank you 
again for the privilege to be able to testify today and share 
some of the impacts we are seeing across the Nation as we begin 
to respond to disasters.
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    \1\ The prepared statement of Ms. Pipa appears in the Appendix on 
page 49.
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    Disaster preparedness, response, and recovery are the heart 
of our mission, and these needs are continuing to grow, 
especially in vulnerable communities. These communities are 
disproportionately impacted by climate-related disasters. 
Through this lens, we see climate change as a worldwide 
humanitarian emergency, a defining threat in the 21st century.
    My full testimony is submitted for the record. Today I am 
going to talk about how the Red Cross responds to these 
disasters alongside partners at all levels, including the 
Federal Government, and to talk about our mission to alleviate 
human suffering.
    The increasing rate of climate-driven disasters has become 
an unsustainable burden on the most vulnerable, notably low-
income, low-income communities of color, elderly, and people 
with disabilities. With climate change that was nearly very 
recently episodic and just a few series of acute events, it has 
now become a chronic issue with devastating impacts.
    This situation is only exacerbated by other struggles 
disproportionately impacted families face daily, a growing 
level of income disparity, the challenges with affordable 
housing, lack of access to health care, and food insecurity. 
These disparities left many families struggling well before a 
disaster ever happened. Indeed, most often the folks that the 
American Red Cross helps or serving after large disasters are 
those who have little or no resources prior to the disaster. In 
fact, in fiscal year 2020, 63 percent of the clients that we 
helped were either at or below the Federal poverty level.
    I want to share a couple of statistics that help inform our 
planning as the American Red Cross as we start to forge forward 
with this climate change initiative. The number of major 
climate-related disasters has increased sixfold in the past 40 
years. By 2030, we anticipate responding to a significant 
climate emergency every 10 to 12 days, a near-constant state of 
response, leaving our communities in a chronic state of 
recovery.
    I want to share one anecdote that was not in my written 
testimony. I had the opportunity to visit Louisiana this past 
weekend, and I spent some time at a Red Cross outreach where we 
talked with clients who had been impacted and connecting them 
with resources. It was a mom and her 12-year-old daughter, and 
as they talked to our caseworker they talked about how the roof 
of their home was totally torn off and that their home was no 
longer livable.
    The natural question to them was, ``So where are you 
staying now?'' This mom and dad, and 12-year-old daughter, who 
said sometimes she is a good big sister and sometimes she is 
not, to her two younger brothers, simply said, ``We are staying 
in our car.''
    They had to protect what little things they could salvage 
from the disaster, from a hurricane, and so they had to stay 
there to make sure that they were protected. That is just one 
story of thousands that we see every year when we respond to 
disasters.
    And so what the Red Cross is starting to do now, what we 
have begun, is using data to inform how we manage our response 
activities. We look at social vulnerability index. This allows 
us to see communities that were already struggling prior to a 
disaster. We then take the forecasted track and then we can 
apply that, so we know where we need to be first, where we are 
most likely going to be longest, and where the people need the 
most help to begin their recovery journey.
    This is not an only Red Cross organization. We cannot do 
this without partners, both at the Federal level and other 
nonprofits. In Louisiana alone, we got to work with the 
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People 
(NAACP) and Islamic Relief. These partnerships are critical. 
These help extend our reach into communities and make sure that 
every community that is impacted by disaster has the 
opportunity to connect with us and other agencies to make sure 
that their recovery begins.
    Climate change is not about the number of inches that fell 
in rain in an hour. It is not about the category of the storm. 
It is not about the acres that burned in a wildfire. It is 
about a family of five living in their car. It is about people 
who were struggling before this disaster ever happened and need 
more help now.
    We are really privileged to be able to share what the Red 
Cross is doing. I want to take the opportunity to thank our 
donors who, through their generosity, we deliver the Red Cross 
mission. Most importantly, I want to thank our volunteers, who 
give the one thing that is most precious, of their time, to the 
American Red Cross. We look forward to working with U.S. 
Congress, other branches of the government, faith-based 
community, other nonprofits and for-profits, because together 
we need to help these communities recovery.
    I look forward to your questions. Thank you.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Ms. Pipa.
    Our final witness is John Butler. Chief Butler serves as 
the Chief of the Fire and Rescue Department in Fairfax, 
Virginia. Prior to his time as chief, he served 26 years with 
the Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services and 21 
years as a United States Marine, including two combat tours. He 
brings a wealth of experience, having held roles as a 
firefighter, paramedic, Italian chief, Emergency Medical 
Services (EMS) chief, and Administrative chief before being 
named Howard County's first African American Fire Chief in 
2014.
    Chief Butler, welcome to the Committee. You may proceed 
with your questions.

    TESTIMONY OF JOHN S. BUTLER,\1\ SECOND VICE PRESIDENT, 
   INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIRE CHIEFS AND FIRE CHIEF, 
                    FAIRFAX COUNTY, VIRGINIA

    Mr. Butler. Thank you and good morning, Chairman Peters and 
Ranking Member Portman. I am John Butler, Chief of the Fire and 
Rescue Department, Fairfax, Virginia, and the Second Vice 
President of the International Association of Fire Chiefs 
(IAFC). I appreciate the opportunity today to discuss how the 
Nation can address the threat of worsening natural disasters.
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    \1\ The prepared statement of Mr. Butler appears in the Appendix on 
page 55.
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    America's fire and emergency services is an all-hazards 
response force. There are approximately 1.1 million 
firefighters in the United States, serving with more than 
30,000 career, volunteer, and combination fire departments. We 
are usually first on the scene and last to leave.
    The nation is facing a wider variety of threats today than 
we have in the past. These threats include COVID-19 pandemic, a 
longer, more severe wildland fire season, and an increasing 
frequency of hurricanes and other major storms. Even a national 
pandemic affects citizens in their homes, which puts the fire 
and EMS services on the front lines against all these threats.
    The past 18 months have provided a real-life stress test 
for the nation's preparedness system. Our public safety and 
medical staff have performed heroically in face of these 
threats. However, we also have found areas of improvement and 
new challenges. These include FEMA should review the National 
Incident Management System (NIMS) for long-term incidents. NIMS 
is designed for incidents that lasted a few days or weeks. 
Major incidents can take weeks or months, especially when 
recovery operations are included. The National Incident 
Management System, must account for command resources, 
supplies, and personnel for long-term events.
    Second, new partners must be included in planning and 
training. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the need to 
include public health officials. Utilities, public works, 
communications, transportation, and other critical 
infrastructure disciplines must be included to prepare for 
hurricanes, tornadoes, and wildland fires. They should be 
trained in NIMS and incident command systems.
    There is a need to review mutual aid agreements and the 
expectations of the parties in these agreements, because like 
COVID-19, fire departments found that our neighbors were 
suffering from similar staffing shortages. There were concerns 
about sending resources across State or the Nation for fear of 
exposure to COVID-19. A mutual aid system needs to be 
strengthened. Complementary tools to EMAC, like IAFC's National 
Mutual Aid System can be used to move fire and EMS resources.
    Also, the reimbursement system needs to be streamlined. 
Fire and EMS departments can wait years before they are 
reimbursed for interstate mutual aid deployments.
    Fire and EMS departments are suffering from shortages in 
personnel. COVID-19 has created EMS shortages due to burnout 
and better job opportunities. Volunteer fire departments also 
face workforce challenges. Volunteers are concerned about 
taking COVID home to their families or being forced to take 
time off from their real jobs, their full-time salaried jobs, 
when they are exposed or infected.
    There also have been some equipment shortages for basic 
personal protective equipment (PPE), including gloves. The 
semiconductor shortages has created delays in the delivery of 
fire apparatus and ambulances. The Assistance to Firefighters 
Grant (AFG) and Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency 
Response (SAFER) programs provide important funding to address 
these equipment and personnel issues, to provide matching 
grants to local fire departments using a peer review process.
    To address the threat of growing disasters, the IAFC urges 
Congress to support programs like FEMA's BRIC and hazard 
mitigation grants. In addition, we urge FEMA to support State 
adoption of up-to-date codes and standards. We know that model 
building codes save lives and prevent property loss.
    Also, communities should engage in planning, preparedness, 
and training for potential disasters. The IAFC's Ready, Set, 
Go! program helps communities.
    I would also like to highlight the need to fund FEMA's US&R 
system. The US&R teams are supported through Federal, State, 
and local partnerships. All three entities are facing funding 
challenges.
    Finally, we ask that Congress and the President appoint 
experienced leaders for FEMA. For example, we ask President 
Biden to appoint an experienced fire service leader as the U.S. 
Fire Administrator.
    Over the past 18 months, the Nation has faced a wide 
variety of threats. The IAFC looks forward to working with you 
to address these challenges. Thank you for having me.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Chief Butler.
    As I mentioned in my opening statement, earlier this year 
the STORM Act was passed and signed into law. The bill grants 
FEMA the authority to work with States and tribal governments 
to establish a revolving fund that can be used by local 
governments to carry out mitigation projects and reduce the 
natural disaster risk that they face. That includes flooding, 
it includes shoreline erosion, high water levels.
    Mr. Hancock, as you mentioned in your opening comments, our 
home State of Michigan has faced record levels of flooding this 
year, as well as we have seen some extreme shoreline erosion 
along the Great Lakes. I would like you to comment as to how 
important accessing funds like will be contained in the STORM 
Act is to local governments, and also how important it is for 
local governments to have discretion as to which mitigation 
projects they would like to conduct.
    Mr. Hancock. Thank you. That is a good question. The idea 
of providing funds through the State revolving loan fund has 
been around for a while but initially it was limited to the 
sanitary sewer system, but about 15 years ago opened up for 
stormwater. In Ann Arbor we use that extensively. We, in the 
past 10 years or so, we have done probably $30 million worth of 
stormwater, mainly stormwater quality projects. So that type of 
funding is definitely a tool that is needed for communities. 
Like I said, we have used it extensively, and maybe so much so 
that we have kind of tapped out our resources in that area.
    But that is a great tool to expand for flood mitigation and 
some of the other disasters and things that you mentioned, like 
rising high waters, shoreline erosion. So there are plenty of 
mitigation activities that would benefit from this type of 
funding, and, it is always good to have another tool in the 
toolbox, so this is another tool for communities.
    I would say it is not going to replace the idea of grants, 
since there is a payback associated with the loans. Some 
communities may be limited. Here in Ann Arbor, we have a 
stormwater utility so we actually have a budget to do stuff 
like this. Some communities do not necessarily have that. But 
still, if they have like one particular project that they could 
not otherwise do, that is a great tool.
    It is definitely something that I am sure communities are 
grateful that Congress is doing, and I applaud the effort.
    Chairman Peters. Right. Thank you, Mr. Hancock.
    Ms. Pipa, in your opening statement you offered a very 
compelling story of the impact on families that these natural 
disasters can have. Unfortunately, a wide range of research has 
shown that FEMA assistance, despite the best of intentions from 
our folks at FEMA, often a FEMA assistant can actually 
exacerbate racial and economic inequalities after a disasters. 
Marginalized communities, as you mentioned, are often exposed 
to damage and have less access to resources in order to 
recover, and a trend that is only going to continue as climate 
change continues to create more frequent and more destructive 
disasters.
    My question to you is straightforward. What more can FEMA 
do to promote equity within its programs, and ensure that those 
who are hit hardest by these disasters and are generally folks 
who are economically disadvantaged and in communities of color, 
they need to have the opportunity to recover, what more should 
FEMA do?
    Ms. Pipa. As I said in our opening statement, is it not one 
agency. It is a collaboration of agencies altogether. When you 
look at a footprint like Louisiana and you look at the multiple 
parishes that were impacted and you look at the neighborhoods 
that are geographically isolated, in some cases, look at like a 
Port Sulphur all the way in Plaquemines Parish, you will see 
homes, maybe 15 homes and then another 15 miles of industrial, 
and then another 10 homes.
    So finding all of those locations and making sure we are 
connected is a job of all of the recovery agencies that show up 
there, and one of the ways we can do that is through sharing 
information and collaboration, so that when we talk to clients 
one of the things we make sure we do is make sure that they are 
connected with FEMA and that they are registered. It is one of 
the first conversations we have with our Red Cross clients as 
well.
    So making sure that we are showing each one of our 
community members what they need to do and how they can connect 
with all of the resources, including FEMA, is a critical part 
of this.
    These disasters are large in scope and scale and very 
complex, and different communities will choose to present or 
not present, for a wide variety of reasons. That is why it is 
important to have a variety of partners there on the ground, so 
that those communities feel trusted and welcome to come forward 
and apply for assistance.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you.
    FEMA is the lead agency for Federal emergency response, but 
as you mentioned we need other agencies and nonprofits to come 
together. My question, though, is to Chief Butler. Specifically 
when it comes to first responders, what more would you like to 
see Congress do to support first responders who need to be 
there first on the scene to helps communities when confronted 
with a disaster?
    Mr. Butler. Thank you, sir, and that is a really good 
question. I would start by saying we appreciate what we already 
are afforded in the form of grants, and continuing those grant 
opportunities--AFG, SAFER, and the other grants--particularly 
funding and continuing to fund the US&R system is very 
important to us, because those are the frontliners who are 
responding to these disasters at times.
    To some extent I will say the continuation of the support 
and the funding and an increase in those dollar amounts will go 
a long way.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Chief Butler.
    Ranking Member Portman, you are recognized for your 
questions.
    Senator Portman. Great. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and again, 
I thank the witnesses for your testimony today, and more 
importantly for what you do every day.
    Chief Butler, we just talked a little about urban search 
and rescue. Back in 2016, you may recall we passed legislation 
that was worked on in this Committee, called the National Urban 
Search and Rescue Response Systems Act, and it enhanced 
compensation and protections for urban search and rescue teams 
and required FEMA to finance and replace certain equipment used 
by those teams.
    How has that worked? Can you give us a sense of whether 
that legislation was helpful or not, and what more could be 
done to improve that legislation? You just mentioned the 
Federal grants funding the US&R system continuing. But can you 
give us a sense of where we are with regard to implementation 
of that legislation and what else could be done?
    Mr. Butler. Yes. Thank you. We asked that Congress 
appropriate, $50 million for the US&R system in fiscal year 
2022. This funding would allow the US&R teams to replace 
current transportation assets like you have mentioned, sir, 
which are nearing the end of their lives, and the increased 
funding also would allow FEMA to conduct three or four full-
scale exercises each year, to provide training along with 
operational readiness.
    I will stop there and answer the genesis of your question, 
how has it worked so far. It worked well. It has worked well to 
this point. But as we have talked about this morning, the 
increasing demands and the increase in weather extremes and 
other needs to deploy US&R teams requires that we keep up with 
the pace and the funding and the infrastructure.
    The US&R teams would be able to improve their capabilities 
for responding to subterranean incidents like trench or tunnel 
collapses as somewhat of an emerging threat, and also the US&R 
teams would be able to validate the use of new technology, like 
unmanned aerial systems (UAS) or robots.
    The IAFC recommends increasing the funds for the US&R 
system, to adequately catalog and validate Federal, State, 
tribal, and territorial, local search teams.
    Senator Portman. Great. Thanks, Chief Butler. I appreciate 
it. We just celebrated our US&R team locally for the good work 
that they did down at the most recent hurricanes, but we also 
had kind of a sober commemoration of the 20-year anniversary of 
9/11, where Ohio Task Force One, Dayton-Cincinnati area took 
off immediately. My wife actually saw them on the highway 
heading toward New York. She was coming from D.C. and she saw 
them in Pennsylvania, lights flashing that morning.
    It is a great system. I am a huge supporter. It is a 
classic example of State-local. There is so much training and 
so much expertise that FEMA gets essentially for free, because 
you have these firefighters and others--doctors, people with 
trained dogs and so on--and they do a lot of this just as 
volunteers, and provide so much help and resources on a 
national level. So the search and rescue teams in every one of 
our States responds with mutual aid.
    I am a huge supporter, and I think, frankly it is an 
investment that really pays off. I thank you for your service 
and thanks for what you said today, and we will follow up with 
you on your comments.
    Ms. Merick, thanks for what you do in Ohio, again. One 
thing you talked about in your testimony that I thought was 
interesting was this Safe Room Rebate Program to help prevent 
Ohioans from needing assistance from an urban search and rescue 
team, as an example. Can you talk about that and what other 
ways that individuals and families can better prepare in order 
to avoid situations that would require rescue?
    Ms. Merick. Yes. Thank you, Senator. Our Safe Room Rebate 
Program in Ohio has just been phenomenal. We have over 450 safe 
rooms that have been put into residential plots of land, and 
one of the things that we do with that is to ensure that when 
people build a safe room or they have an in-ground safe room 
that they are coordinating with their first responders to let 
them know, like the codes, the geocoding of where it is at, in 
the event debris would fall on top of that storm shelter, so 
they would know to go and clear that place first. But 
otherwise, that is pretty much the response they would have to 
do.
    Some of the other ways I think that families could better 
prepare to avoid these situations would be to make a plan for 
all hazards to include severe weather. Ensure you have included 
a communication plan. How will you let people know that you are 
OK?
    I know recently, during Hurricane Ida, I had gotten a phone 
call from a friend of mine who has family down in Louisiana, 
and said, ``You know, I can't get ahold of them. I don't know 
if they are OK. I don't know if they have power. I don't know 
if they got out.''
    So it is very important, that you have a communications 
plan and how you will reconnect, or where you will meet after 
an event. Know how you will receive information about those 
events. Have alerts active on your phone, enable them for the 
wireless emergency alert. Obtain a weather radio to keep in 
your house, work, places of worship, and other locations that 
may have your phones off or silent.
    Probably the last thing I want to make sure is if you have 
a safe room, communicate that to your first responders, and 
this is so important in the community. While first responders, 
to include our urban search and rescue and Ohio Task Force One, 
are trained to look for survivors, if you can facilitate their 
efforts by letting them know that you have one, they have a 
chance to save more people, because they will just do a drive 
by your place to make sure that that is not covered by debris, 
and then they will be able to move on.
    Senator Portman. All good advice. Thank you, and I hope 
people are listening and will listen to you. Research has shown 
that $1 of mitigation saves, on average, $6 on future disaster 
costs. We mentioned earlier that the STORM Act is in the 
bipartisan infrastructure bill that is now before the House of 
Representatives. But we also have something in there called the 
Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program. 
There is $1 billion for that. How important is mitigation for 
preparedness, Ms. Merick, and how has BRIC impacted Ohio?
    Ms. Merick. Senator, the first year of BRIC program, Ohio 
only received the set-aside amount. We, like most of the 
country, did not receive competitive funding due to some of the 
technical aspects of the program. Assuming passage of a 
bipartisan infrastructure bill, we will have projects ready to 
go for the competitive package that we put together for the 
first year of funding. We will need to see how those projects 
fit within the future notice of funding opportunities that come 
out from FEMA. But, of course, we do appreciate having this 
additional pot of money to be able to tap into. We just have to 
figure out, over the years, the best way to be able to do that 
with some of those technical benchmarks that we need to make.
    Senator Portman. Great. My time has expired but we will 
follow up with you on some specifics on how to improve BRIC 
going forward. Hopefully this will pass the House of 
Representatives, even this week, and we will have that ability 
for Ohio and other States to apply for those competitive 
grants. Also we will follow up with you on the bureaucracy of 
FEMA and how to reduce some of the costs and inefficiencies and 
some of the delays that you have experienced.
    Thank you, Ms. Merick. Thanks to all the witnesses. Thank 
you, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Ranking Member Portman. We now 
recognize Senator Hassan for your questions. I also have to run 
over and vote, so I will also pass the gavel to you.

              OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR HASSAN

    Senator Hassan [Presiding.] Thank you very much, Mr. Chair 
and Ranking Member Portman for this hearing, and a special 
thank you to all of our witnesses for the important work that 
you do to prepare our communities for natural disasters and for 
coming before this Committee today. I will add my own 
appreciation to that you heard from the Ranking Member and the 
Chair for all of the volunteers and first responders and 
disaster preparedness folks in our States and our communities. 
You do lifesaving, life-stabilizing work and you help our 
communities be resilient in the face of just incredible 
difficulty. I just want to thank you all for what you do.
    I want to start with a question to Mr. Hancock. I am Chair 
of the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Spending Oversight 
(ETSO), so I am particularly focused on ensuring that the 
Federal Government spends taxpayer dollars efficiently and that 
we reduce waste, fraud, and abuse.
    In 2018, as Senator Peters mentioned in his opening, a 
FEMA-sponsored report indicated that every dollar spent on 
Federal mitigation grants $6 in savings. Mr. Hancock, how can 
we improve the ability of States and localities to invest in 
mitigation before a disaster strikes?
    Mr. Hancock. I think the best way to do that is with the 
Federal Government partnering with the States to increase the 
capacity of States to respond. It is more easy for States to 
assist communities. With FEMA providing assistance to the 
States to increase their particular floodplain management 
capacity--in other words, staffing--so that they can, in turn, 
then work with the local communities, we think that is an 
efficient way to go about that.
    An example, Sima Merick from Ohio mentioned that Ohio did 
not get any of the competitive BRIC funding. Neither did 
Michigan--only the set-aside--and that is an area where within 
BRIC there could be a program within BRIC that just simply 
funds State assistance to increase the capacity of State 
governments to assist the local communities.
    Senator Hassan. Thank you. To Ms. Merick, for a long time I 
have heard from emergency management professionals in my State 
about the need to reduce the complexity of many FEMA programs 
and processes. In 2017, FEMA announced an initiative to co-
locate teams of FEMA field staffers with State and local 
partners to improve communication and coordination between 
Federal, State, and local partners. These teams, known as FEMA 
integration teams (FITs), were created to help State and local 
partners more easily navigate some of FEMA's bureaucracy.
    Emergency management officials in New Hampshire have 
responded positively to the creation of a FIT in my State, in 
New Hampshire. So based on your perspective as President of the 
National Emergency Management Association, have you found that 
FITs have been helpful in bridging the gap between State, 
local, and Federal partners?
    Ms. Merick. Today we do not have a FIT team. Let me make 
sure, am I unmuted.
    Senator Hassan. There you are, yes.
    Ms. Merick. OK. In Ohio we do not have a FIT team member or 
an integrated team, but reviews from other State directors that 
do have been very positive.
    Recently I was at FEMA Region 5 in Chicago, and my partner 
States, the majority of them do have one or two in their State 
that have been helpful, in the area in which they are hired, in 
the preparedness and planning sections, to help navigate 
mitigation and working in some of the other programs.
    I do not have a tremendous amount on this, but I do know 
that as my colleagues and I have talked about it they have been 
pleased with the FIT members that they have on their teams from 
FEMA.
    Senator Hassan. Thank you for that, and I would look 
forward to learning more about reactions from other States, 
because it seems to me that this might be an area that we want 
to expand on.
    Ms. Merick, I have another question for you. Federal 
disaster recovery funds administered by FEMA allow a small 
percentage of each grant to be used to cover management costs 
like grant processing or oversight. Currently, management costs 
awarded for one disaster can only be used for that particular 
disaster.
    Ms. Merick, what are the benefits of changing FEMA's policy 
so that it permits States and localities to utilize dollars 
provided for management costs across all open declared 
disasters?
    Ms. Merick. Sure. Thank you, and thank you very much for 
asking that question. States can utilize a certain portion of 
disaster costs to cover some of the administrative costs of the 
event. Currently, those funds are limited to a specific 
disaster, as you indicated. This creates a disincentive to 
close out disasters quickly as States naturally want to utilize 
as much of that funding as possible, and by keeping it open 
they can do so.
    If management costs were disaster agnostic, States would be 
able to focus more on the recovery process than the 
administrative minutiae of tracking hours per disaster. If we 
were allowed to roll over those management costs we could not 
only close out disasters much faster but also utilize those 
funds to build capacity in the long term for anything that we 
may face.
    I should note here that NEMA was grateful to your staff for 
working with us last year in getting legislation drafted, and 
hope we can get something introduced again soon.
    Senator Hassan. I thank you for that and I would look 
forward to continuing to work with you on that.
    I do have one more question but I think it would take us 
over time, so I will submit it for the record.
    I am now going to recognize Senator Rosen, who should be 
with us virtually.

               OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR ROSEN

    Senator Rosen. Thank you, Chair Hassan. I appreciate that. 
I want to thank Chair Peters for holding this hearing. It is 
really important as natural disasters have been occurring more 
frequently all around the country and all around the world.
    I want to talk a little bit about wildfires, because across 
the country, but particularly in the West, devastating 
wildfires continue to worsen every year. They pose a serious 
threat to human life, to our health, to our personal property, 
to wildlife, and, of course, to our public lands.
    In 2020, wildfires burned more than 10.3 million acres and 
destroyed more than 17,000 structures. Already this year we 
have seen over 45,000 wildfires burn nearly 6 million acres of 
land, including several recently affecting Nevada, like the 
Tamarack and Caldor fires. It is why I have been fighting for 
increased funding to mitigate our current wildfires and prevent 
further catastrophes, and recently led a group of western 
Senators in urging committee chairs to include these resources 
in our reconciliation package.
    Climate change has increased the severity and frequency of 
wildfires and other natural disasters. Many say we no longer 
have a fire season. Unfortunately, fires happen year-round now, 
and we have to address that.
    Ms. Merick, can you talk about the challenges that 
emergency managers face when dealing with continuous and 
worsening natural disasters year after year, without any 
intervening period of relief?
    Ms. Merick. Sure. Thank you very much. As we move forward, 
and we have learned a lot with this large-scale and ongoing 
response with COVID, that, our other tasks, our preparedness, 
our response or mitigation to natural disasters does not stop. 
We continue to have to be prepared to work on multiple events, 
activate or have separate activations simultaneously, at the 
same time, to make sure that we are preparing and coordinating 
and communicating not only with our locals, who were locally 
disasters start, work, and end at the local level, right? Then 
we are there when they exceed that capacity, and we also have 
that ability, the Federal Government.
    But we have to also work with our Federal programs and our 
Federal partners to ensure that we know exactly how we execute 
those programs and what is on the table those days as we 
respond and we move forward and we know what programs we have 
to make sure we are executing properly. It is always a 
challenge.
    Senator Rosen. Sorry. Thank you. By the way, I think my 
Internet skipped a beat there, so I did not mean to interrupt 
you. Thank you. I thought you were done.
    I am going to move on with the same topic but to Chief 
Butler, because the current disparity in pay between Federal 
and non-Federal wildland firefighters, those hotshots, they 
call them, has led to a shortage of our Federal firefighting 
personnel. It limits our nation's ability to respond 
increasingly, again, to these natural disasters.
    Chief Butler, how can Congress help with the recruitment 
and retention of wildland firefighters?
    Mr. Butler. Thank you, ma'am. That is a really good 
question, and being a structural firefighting fire chief my 
entire experience has been with structural fires and 
communities as such. But my brothers and sisters in the 
wildland community are somewhat losing out in the competition 
when it comes to pay and salaries. There are a lot of choices 
out there, and a lot of opportunities for responders.
    Senator Rosen. I am sorry. Go ahead.
    Mr. Butler. Yes. So keeping up with the salary of first 
responders and firefighters is very important. We know it, on 
the structural side, that the wildland community is kind of 
behind in paying salary.
    Senator Rosen. We are hoping that we are going to be able 
to pass some legislation that will create permanent, year-round 
positions for wildland firefighters, hopefully adding at least 
1,000 more to help the cause--help the fight, not the cause--
help the fight in this and pay them what they deserve to be 
paid. We really appreciate everything that they do out there to 
protect us.
    Of course, you cannot fight a wildfire if you do not have 
water, so I want to move on and talk about drought, because 90 
percent of the West is currently experiencing drought. The 
majority of areas are subject to significantly below average 
precipitation, extended dry periods. Again, this is one of the 
reasons we are having these wildfires.
    Just last month, the Bureau of Reclamation issued a water 
shortage for Lake Mead, which provides water and generates 
electricity for more than 20 million people. The declaration 
means that Nevada is going to lose 7 percent of its allocation 
of water. In August, Nevada Governor Sisolak and nine other 
western Governors sent a letter to President Biden requesting 
that he declare a FEMA drought disaster in the West, allowing 
States to access Federal resources.
    Like I said, wildfire and drought unfortunately go hand in 
hand. Ms. Merick, again, can you discuss the benefits of FEMA 
assistance in responding to the drought, and what actions 
should our communities be taking to prepare for some of the 
extreme drought as climate change begins to exacerbate 
conditions and, like I said, increase wildfires, just being one 
of them?
    Ms. Merick. Sure. Thank you. As we respond to any event, 
Senator, I think it is important that we focus on our basics of 
response. If we go back and look at our preparedness actions we 
continue to communicate with our locals. We refer to our action 
plans, in which we need to ensure the response is being 
coordinated with the appropriate levels of the agencies, 
whether that is Federal, State, or locally, and then talk about 
the mitigation measures that have already been designed to move 
forward, or the pre-disaster mitigation measures that folks are 
starting to undertake, and ensure that those are being put out 
there and that people understand that they are happening and 
they can tap into those, and how do they tap into those 
events--I am sorry, those programs in which they can receive 
some guidance or preparatory actions.
    Senator Rosen. Thank you. I appreciate all of you for being 
here. Of course, in the West extreme heat, drought, wildfires, 
they are going to continue to plague us, as well as other 
disasters around our Nation. I appreciate the work and effort 
that you all put into helping us solve these problems. Thank 
you.
    Ms. Harris. Thank you, Senator Rosen. Senator Johnson, are 
you--you are not available. OK.
    I do have another question for Mr. Hancock. Climate change 
is increasing the cost of disaster response and recovery. The 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), tells 
us that 2020 set numerous records--22 extreme weather and 
climate events, which each caused $1 billion or more in losses.
    Recent disasters, like the flooding that impacted New 
Hampshire communities this summer, underscore the need for 
action to safeguard the nation's infrastructure, protect 
businesses and communities, and safe taxpayer dollars.
    The bipartisan infrastructure package includes funding that 
I pushed for to help communities invest in coastal resiliency 
measures. Mr. Hancock, could you discuss the importance of 
investments to help prepare for and mitigate damage from more 
frequent flooding events and other disasters spurred by the 
changing climate?
    Mr. Hancock. Yes. The amount of disasters, like you said, 
are increasing so much so that communities are, as a few other 
people have said, it is one disaster after another after 
another. The capacity issue, I think, kind of comes back in 
this question, that States or communities do not have the 
capacity to respond to one after another after another. This is 
where we could use assistance from the Federal Government to 
help us increase our capacity during times when we are not 
having disasters.
    This was talked about a little bit earlier, but a lot of 
the funding for just disaster response and recovery comes from 
disasters. It would be more helpful if it were more consistent 
and were not tied to individual disasters, and increase 
capacity unrelated to events.
    Senator Hassan. Got it. I also just wanted to follow up on 
that, because generally we have considered historic flood 
patterns when we look at planning and investment and 
mitigation. How important is it for State and local 
governments, as well as the Federal Government, to consider 
future flood risk in their infrastructure plans?
    Mr. Hancock. That is a great question. So just like you 
said, most flood maps and most of the planning we do is based 
on what happened in the past. And to use one example, me, I 
work at a local community and respond to building proposals. 
When buildings are built they are not built just for today. 
They are built for decades. So to plan for a safe building 
based on what happened in the past may not necessarily make 
that building safe in the future. You can apply that logic to 
any infrastructure, whether it be a dam or stormwater pipes.
    But when we are building infrastructure we are really 
building those for the future, and so having future conditions 
shown on flood maps would give communities the ability to plan 
appropriately for their infrastructure and buildings of the 
future.
    Senator Hassan. Thank you for that answer.
    I am just going to check with our crew here. Is Senator 
Padilla available? OK. So next up is Senator Padilla.

              OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR PADILLA

    Senator Padilla. I wanted to follow up on some of Senator 
Rosen's questions, but specific to California, where our most 
recent wildfire season was the worst on record. In 2020, the 
State experienced more than 10,000 fire incidents, more than 
4.2 million acres burned, and more than 10,000 structures were 
damaged or destroyed.
    California residents, both north and south, relied on local 
and regional fire departments throughout the State to provide 
expedient mobilization and response to ever-worsening fire 
seasons. However, as Chief Butler mentioned in his testimony, 
the National Fire Protection Association found that a third of 
the surveyed department stations did not have access to backup 
power, they are also suffering from either mold or asbestos, 
old ventilation system, and other environmental problems, and 
many do not have proper quarters for female fire and EMS 
personnel that serve as well.
    So a question for Chief Butler. It is unconscionable to ask 
firefighters to fight ever-worsening fires when they do not 
have safe and adequate facilities to work in. Can you just 
share with the Committee what infrastructure shortcomings mean 
for the morale of personnel and the capabilities of the unit?
    Mr. Butler. Oh, you hit it right on the head, sir, with the 
word ``morale,''--morale equals mission success, and mission 
success equals morale. Taking care of the health, safety, and 
wellness of the responders is, and should be, paramount. There 
are many fire stations that would be condemned in many other 
communities. Our mental health is increasingly becoming--always 
should be and has been, but there is a lot of spotlight on 
reduction, carcinogen exposure reduction of firefighters, and 
there is a whole body of knowledge that shows that we need to 
pay attention to our personal protective equipment, keeping up 
to date, and being funded, funded appropriately for the proper 
PPE and fire stations and apparatus that we are on.
    Senator Padilla. I particularly appreciate you mentioning 
the impact on mental health of firefighters. I know the 
International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) has 
prioritized behavioral health for its members in the 
communities that everybody serves. I appreciate that, and I 
welcome ongoing conversation about what else this Committee and 
the Senate overall can do to support infrastructure needs of 
fire and emergency service.
    But while I still have a few minutes I also wanted to raise 
the issue of the Stafford Act, which governs FEMA's disaster 
efforts. It has given short shrift to communities facing 
wildfires specifically. Due to the unique nature of wildfires, 
many California communities have experienced difficulty after 
difficulty in the wake of recent catastrophic wildfires 
regarding reimbursement, regarding debris removal, disaster 
assistance eligibility, specifically individual assistance, not 
the public assistance, home insurance, and relocation 
assistance.
    So first to you, Chief Butler. Do you have any specific 
thoughts on how FEMA could be more inclusive of the needs of 
the fire and wildfire response needs?
    Mr. Butler. Yes, Senator. It starts with the leadership and 
the selection of the positions to be filled by credible and 
competent Administrator.
    OK. I was kind of frozen there for a second. So, yes. I 
will stop there.
    Senator Padilla. Yes, OK. No, I appreciate that. We will 
follow up. And just on the same topic, in my time remaining on 
the same topic let me ask a question to Ms. Pipa. As a leading 
partner of FEMA in disaster response, do you have any ideas or 
suggestions on how FEMA regulations could be updated to better 
respond to the new reality of extreme weather and better 
support to better response to wildfires?
    Ms. Pipa. Thank you for the question, Senator. There are a 
couple of ways that we can work together, and I think making 
sure that folks are connected into the system and that not just 
our agency but other nonprofits and for-profits and religious-
based entities are there, helping to extend the reach into each 
one of those communities.
    As we have seen, especially with the wildfire season over 
the last couple of years, it has begun much earlier, it has 
gone longer, and we have seen more ongoing destruction.
    One of the things we look at is refreshing our workforce 
and making sure that we have additional volunteers to come out 
and support. At the same time, making sure that we are 
connecting with FEMA, both at the State level and at the 
national level, to make sure that we are aligned and that we 
know that we are both covering the communities that need those 
impacted and need the assistance in order to begin their 
recovery process.
    Senator Padilla. Thank you very much. I look forward to 
following up with everybody. Thank you, Madam Chair.
    Chairman Peters [Presiding.] Thank you, Senator Padilla. 
Senator Ossoff, you are recognized for your questions.

              OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR OSSOFF

    Senator Ossoff. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to 
our panelists in person and joining us remotely.
    Ms. Pipa, I would like to discuss with you issues of 
particular concern to my constituents in coastal Georgia. Just 
a few weeks ago, I visited St. Marys in Camden County, Georgia, 
and convened local leaders to discuss the community's readiness 
for more intense tropical storms, storm surge events, coastal 
inundation.
    The good news is that the bipartisan infrastructure bill, 
which the Senate passed last month, includes more than $12 
billion for coastal resilience programs, improving drainage 
infrastructure, marshland remediation, the weatherization of 
public and private buildings, improvements to evacuation routes 
to assist coastal communities like those in Georgia's Golden 
Isles.
    While these investments will help to mitigate the effects 
of disasters, we also need a prepared public, prepared local 
officials, and a robust and adaptable disaster response system.
    I have two questions for you on this subject. The first is, 
can you describe what the American Red Cross is doing with a 
focus on the coastal Southeast and coastal Georgia to adapt 
your organization and resource allocation for events like 
those? The second question is, would you or a senior American 
Red Cross executive commit to joining me for a roundtable with 
local officials and community leaders in coastal Georgia to 
help inform the public about steps they can take to prepare 
themselves and to coordinate a better cross-jurisdictional 
preparedness program for those kinds of events?
    Ms. Pipa. Thank you for both questions. I think to the 
first one, historically what we have seen is that there were 
certain geographic areas of the country that took preparedness 
seriously. We talk about the Gulf Coast. We talk about the West 
Coast. As we have seen over the past five to six years, that 
climate change is now exposing area that would not typically 
take preparedness actions, to take them.
    Part of what the Red Cross is doing is trying to reach all 
of those communities with not only education that is in person, 
in schools, to kindergartners, to second-grade with Pillowcase, 
and then we have third through fifth with Prepared with Pedro. 
But we also do it through an app now, that is just a free app 
that folks can download.
    One of the things we hear a lot in feedback is becoming 
prepared is expensive. It is a cost allocation, and for a 
family that is operating at or below the poverty level they do 
not have the luxury of being able to build a kit and be 
prepared. A lot of what we focus on are non-financial 
components that they can take into account--communications 
plans, as Sima talked about, making sure that you are calling 
someone; copies of your documents; knowing a hurricane escape 
route. There are absolutely no-cost preparedness actions that 
each family along the coast can talk.
    You talk about investing in a better infrastructure to 
facilitate evacuations, right. As a family, we own part of that 
responsibility to know how we need to get out of that area and 
to listen to those officials.
    So it is ongoing. We find that we educate parents but then 
we also educate the kids at school, which takes it home to them 
and helps. But what we see is messaging, time and time again, 
especially from leadership and elected officials. As you start 
into hurricane season it is a prime time. After a disaster you 
have seen, from a national perspective, people are more 
receptive to preparedness messaging and taking additional 
preparedness actions. Those are all pieces that the American 
Red Cross supports.
    For your second question, for someone to commit to come 
down, absolutely. We have a fantastic regional executive there 
in Georgia or someone from National Headquarters would be happy 
to join you and facilitate a roundtable.
    Senator Ossoff. Thank you so much, ma'am. I appreciate that 
commitment. I am looking forward to continuing to work with 
you.
    My next question is for Mr. Hancock, please. Mr. Hancock, 
are you still with us?
    Mr. Hancock. Yes.
    Senator Ossoff. Excellent. Mr. Hancock, Georgia hosts about 
24 million acres of forests and woodlands. Approximately 91 
percent of this forest is privately owned. Georgia, therefore, 
has more privately owned acres of timberland than any other 
State in the Nation. I have heard consistently from private 
forest landowners in Georgia who are struggling to adapt and 
respond to natural disasters, that the resources are not in 
place at the Federal level to ensure that they are made whole 
and can continue with their work and the cultivation of what is 
a crop after, for example, a major tropical storm that fells 
forests or a major fire.
    As we anticipate increasingly severe natural disasters, 
like hurricanes and wildfires due to climate change, we will 
have to commit greater resources to protecting and cleaning up 
forestlands and remediating damage to forests, conducting site 
preparation and replanting.
    I discussed with Ms. Pipa the $12 billion in coastal 
resilience investments in the bipartisan infrastructure bill. 
Fortunately, we were also able to help secure--and I want to 
give a shout-out to Senator Reverend Warnock, my colleague, for 
his efforts on this front as well--more than $5 billion in the 
bipartisan bill for forest management.
    But can you please share, Mr. Hancock, your perspective as 
a local environmental land and resources management 
professional what Georgia managers and owners of forestry can 
do to better prepare for natural disasters and what the Federal 
Government can do to better support private landowners of 
forests? Thank you.
    Mr. Hancock. Yes. I think the answer to that is in 
preparedness, and preparedness starts with identifying hazards 
and potential hazards. Like I talked about with flood mapping, 
there are large parts, two-thirds of the floodplains in the 
country that are not mapped.
    But the idea of the National Flood Hazard Mapping Program 
is that these maps should be showing all hazards. That would 
fit in with the forestry in Georgia, that maybe if they had 
these flood maps that showed all hazards it would help people 
be more prepared to respond to disasters, just so they know 
that these disasters are a potential there.
    Having data that makes for good maps is critical. One 
example is precipitation frequency estimates, and that is 
something that is typically done by NOAA, in something called 
Atlas 14. In Atlas 14, the program for updating that is very 
disjointed, and each part of the country has a different method 
of getting money from States to help them or from the Federal 
Government. Shoring up that program and making it whole across 
the nation--I mean, there are parts of the country where the 
rainfall data is 30 to 50 years old. If we could have a 
consistent program and update that, say, like every five years, 
people might be able to prepare better for disasters. It would 
make mapping of these disasters much more efficient and 
accurate.
    I think that is the answer, is having better data to 
prepare for these type of disasters.
    Senator Ossoff. Thank you, Mr. Hancock, for your response. 
Mr. Chairman, I yield.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Senator Ossoff.
    I would like to take this opportunity to thank our 
witnesses for joining us today for this discussion. As we 
commemorate National Preparedness Month, it is important that 
we all take the time to hear from experts on how we can improve 
our nation's preparedness at all levels of government. This is 
increasingly important as climate change increases both the 
frequency and the severity of extreme weather events in our 
country.
    I want to thank our witnesses for their testimony as well 
as thank them and all emergency responders all across our 
country as they have been working to address a very challenging 
COVID-19 pandemic as well as all of the other disasters that we 
face.
    I also want to thank Ranking Member Portman for holding 
this hearing with me, as well as all the great work that we 
have been doing together on this topic.
    The record for this hearing will remain open for 15 days, 
until 5 p.m. on October 14, 2021, for the submission of 
statements and questions for the record.
    This hearing is now adjourned.
    [Whereupon, at 11:24 a.m., the hearing was adjourned.]

                            A P P E N D I X

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