This Handbook summarizes key considerations for wetland and conservation agencies or organizations interested in playing a role in the floodplain buyout process. These organizations can be valuable partners for local governments while advancing their interest in ecosystem and habitat conservation or restoration.
The Natural Hazards and Opportunity: Community Resilience and Habitat Connectivity project aims to help communities understand and fully leverage the potential ecological and social value of properties acquired under federal hazard mitigation and other programs that fund voluntary acquisitions of flood prone properties.
Since 1993, FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program has funded the acquisition of over 55,000 flood-damaged properties. Under FEMA’s acquisition programs, once properties are purchased following a disaster, existing structures must be removed and the land must be dedicated to open space, recreational, or wetland management uses. These properties can offer opportunities to restore and permanently protect natural habitats and help conserve biodiversity, while also providing community amenities and improving resilience.
As tens of billions of dollars are spent over the coming decades to restore the Gulf of Mexico after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, a variety of mechanisms have been created to ensure responsible stewardship of public resources, natural and monetary.
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in Sackett v. EPA, citizen-developers are fighting back against doubtful Clean Water Act enforcement actions. Two subsequent lower-court decisions provide backing for the public in developing alleged wetlands.
Recently, increased emphasis has been placed on non-structural and nature-based hazard mitigation solutions, including the restoration of wetlands and floodplains, as cost-effective alternatives for flood hazard mitigation that also help achieve conservation goals like maintaining biodiversity. FEMA hazard mitigation grant programs could provide potential funding that could pay for the restoration and protection of critical natural infrastructure and improve outcomes and reduce costs from the next disaster.
This study seeks to analyze seven core areas of state wetland programs, including regulatory programs, water quality standards, monitoring and assessment programs, restoration projects and initiatives, public/private partnerships, education and outreach, and coordination with state and federal agencies. Twelve states are examined in Phase I of the study, which will eventually expand to cover all 50 states.
