In this lesson, you will learn about the primary areas that should be included when public works is planning for recovery.

Upon completion of this lesson, you will be able to:

• Identify critical infrastructure and key resources for which public works may have responsibility during recovery.
• Describe how the public works agency may be involved in protecting public safety and health during the recovery period.
• List environmental concerns for which public works may provide support during the recovery period.
• Describe how inspection services contribute to the recovery process.
• List support services that public works may provide to other agencies during the recovery period.
• Describe components of a debris management plan that should be considered during recovery.

The following resources were referenced in this lesson:

Resources

• FEMA 325 Debris Management Guide
• Debris Management Training available from FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute (EMI)
• Sample FEMA-Approved Debris Management Plan: Snohomish County Public Works
• Sample Damage Assessment Forms: Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management
• Sample Damage Assessment Handbook: State of Idaho Damage Assessment Handbook Close

Priorities within a community should be established prior to an event or disaster as much as is practical.

Consideration should be given to all critical infrastructure and key resources (CIKR) identified in the most recent version of the local Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan (NHMP), which is required to be updated every five years, or the Hazard Inventory and Vulnerability Analysis (HIVA). Public works CIKR may include roads, bridges, utilities, and other assets.

In addition to establishing the public works recovery planning team, many communities will establish a community-wide Recovery Task Force (RTF) or Long Term Recovery Committee (LTRC). These task forces may include several representatives from within the Emergency Operations Center (EOC), as well as community stakeholders and partners similar to those identified in the public works planning team. The RTF or LTRC will participate in the development and implementation of the community-wide redevelopment plan. You will learn more about these task forces later in this course.

Restoration or short-term recovery priorities are based upon:

• Critical needs, such as safety and preservation of life
• Economic needs and support to the local business community
• Community needs or expected basic services for neighborhoods or subdivisions

Remember, efforts should be made to utilize local resources; however, it is likely that mutual aid or contracting will be required to restore critical services in a timely manner. Attempts should be made to pre-establish such agreements prior to an event or disaster.

Immediately following an event or a disaster, one of the most significant challenges for the public works agency is detection and isolation of damages to critical infrastructure and facilities. This activity begins during the response effort and is likely to continue during the recovery period.

When planning for damage assessment, the public works agency should consider:

• Public works critical facilities and key resources, as identified in the NHMP and HIVA/hazard analysis
• Roles and responsibilities of the public works agency
• Priorities established in the planning process
• Definition of the processes and standards that will be used for assessment, documentation, and reporting (must be comprehensive and legally defensible)
• Establishment of first in teams (as an option)
• Detailed information needed and the flow of that information
• Importance of accuracy

Planning for damage assessment will help to ensure that the process goes smoothly when a disaster strikes. It will also assist in “institutionalizing” the process of damage assessment for future public works professionals. Without prior planning, damage detection may be inadequate, resulting in:

• Slow or delayed response and recovery effort
• The possibility of a delayed or denied Presidential Disaster Declaration
• Inaccurate portrayal of new priorities
• Inaccurate or ill-informed decision making by senior elected officials or policy makers
• Potential for cascading impacts from damages or destruction
• Discovery of “hidden damages” after the potential for reimbursement has closed
• Significant environmental impact
• Issues of public safety or health

Isolation of damages allows for the conservation of valuable resources. In addition, it will provide for more timely restoration and reconstruction

Following a disaster or other emergency, the public works agency should continue to provide day-to-day services as much as possible, and this requires prior planning. Diligent efforts should be made to return the community to normal; it will aid the community-wide recovery effort and possibly prevent a disaster within a disaster.

To ignore certain day-to-day operations, such as sanitation or household garbage collection and disposal, may create additional and unnecessary issues that require involvement of other government agencies (e.g., Public Health) and can inadvertently slow the overarching community recovery effort.

The restoration of regular local government services is a key aspect of the public works recovery effort. Damaged lifelines such as utilities, roads and bridges, or public facilities should be identified and prioritized during the damage assessment process.

Critical infrastructure and key resources (CIKR) should be identified in the vulnerability assessment process. Consideration of the impact of community exposures or hazards will help set pre-event priorities for restoration or reconstruction.

After a disaster, with current event damage assessment in hand, “new” priorities for repair and reconstruction of critical infrastructure and key resources are possible during the recovery period.

Critical infrastructure and key resources for which public works may be responsible include:

• Highways, roads, and bridges (transportation systems)
• Surface water systems
• Water and wastewater treatment, distribution, and collection
• Public transit, railroads, and airports
• Communications facilities
• Public buildings and facilities
• Solid waste facilities

Critical infrastructure and key resources usually include:

• Highways, roads, and bridges (transportation systems)
• Surface water systems
• Water and wastewater treatment, distribution, and collection
• Public transit, railroads, and airports
• Communications facilities
• Public buildings and facilities
• Solid waste facilities

Protection of life is the top priority for all local governmental agencies, including the public works agency, as first responders. There are several public safety or public health issues for which the public works agency will provide support, including:

• Emergency power
• Enforcement of curfews
• Re-entry procedures
• Hazardous materials incidents
• Traffic control and management
• Animal and vector control
• Food distribution sites
• Mortuary facilities
• Secondary threats or hazards

There may be environmental concerns that exist which require public works to act as the lead agency or, at a minimum, a responsible entity for providing support. Potential issues in which public works may be involved include:

• Addressing contamination of surface water or drinking water
• Clearing and cleaning canals and other storm drainage systems
• Disposal of household garbage or household hazardous materials
• Debris management
• Addressing air quality issues
• Re-vegetation
• Coastal management, such as beach re-nourishment
• Wetlands revitalization
• Historic preservation

Inspection services involve the determination of whether repair or reconstruction is allowed for damaged building or facilities. They may also support the community-wide effort, providing assistance to other agencies and supporting all emergency management activity. During recovery, inspection services may provide technical support to other agencies.

The basic issues or functions of inspection services may include:

• Damage assessment
• Inspection priorities
• In-house vs. contracting for services
• Use of outside resources such as Hazards U.S. Multi-Hazard (HAZUS-MH) or similar programs
• Issuance of building permits
• Post disaster permitting procedures
• Determination of habitability
• Policy or procedure development
• Local management of contractors
• Code or ordinance review and update
• Training and exercise participation

Inspection Services Inspection services may examine damages to homes, businesses, industry, or other private structures. These services may include:

• Establishment of inspection request procedures
• Inspections for life safety and structural integrity, code compliance, and reconstruction or rebuilding activity
• Establishment of a building tagging system

Inspection services should ensure that the public is informed of their procedures for inspection, permitting, and technical assistance. They should work within the established Public Information system in place for the local government. Inspection services should also secure documentation of all activity as called for in the community’s established documentation process.

In addition to the recovery efforts previously described, the public works agency will provide support to other local agencies. Possible support services activity may include:

• Technical and engineering services
• Community wide damage assessment
• Temporary repairs
• Provide cost estimates
• Status updates
• Input for ordinance or code review
• Assist with public information
• Support the community wide emergency management of the event or disaster
• Coordination with state or federal agencies
• Evaluation of lessons learned

It is likely that debris as a result of a disaster-related event will have an immediate and universal impact on all citizens in the affected area. Debris management is the responsibility of local government and, in most cases, is assigned to the public works agency, engineering staff, or the solid waste/environmental services function.

Coordination with federal, state, and local officials, including tribal officials or Native Alaskan villages, is a necessity and is always beneficial to development and implementation of debris management plans. This function requires the deployment of a significant volume of resources and is often a very expensive operation.

Different types of debris, as shown below, require different methods of disposal, so it is important to have a plan in place for handling each type.

Public works officials should develop a comprehensive debris management plan prior to an event or disaster. Resources are available to prepare such a plan and often include the assistance of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as well as state emergency management agencies.

Having a FEMA-approved Debris Management Plan has significant benefits for a community. Approved plans are viewed by FEMA as a pre-existing standard operating policy that allows for quicker review and allocation of federal reimbursement costs for debris management. Additionally, recent federal policies (currently under review) have recognized the value of such pre-approved plans by allowing for a greater percentage of federal cost-share and retention of salvage value of recyclable debris during the recovery process.

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Although removal of debris from private property is generally not considered a reimbursable expense under the Public Assistance (PA) program, there are certain situations where removal may be allowed.

Some examples include:

• Debris that is blocking a primary ingress or egress route
• Debris that has become or may become a public health hazard
• Debris that substantially threatens additional damage to improved property, public ingress or egress, or public rights of way
• Household hazardous waste debris

When developing your debris management plan, seek consultation regarding the acceptable financial risk your jurisdiction is willing to accept regarding removal of debris from private property.

Key components of the debris management plan include:

• Right-of-way clearance and removal
• Private property removal
• Establishing priorities
• Public vs. private roads
• Debris reduction facilities or plans
• Recycling efforts
• Hazardous materials
• Household hazardous materials
• Cost of collection and disposal
• Disposal facilities, landfill capacity
• Temporary site management
• Contracting for services
• Contract monitoring
• Appropriate separation of debris from multiple disaster events

When two events occur within a short span and your jurisdiction has two Stafford Act declarations, you need to separate the debris if possible. For example, if your community was affected by a snow event that was followed a few weeks later by a flood event, you will have two types of debris: collapsed roofs from the snow, and flood debris. These need to be separated or FEMA may disqualify some expenses from being reimbursable because they were submitted under the wrong disaster declaration.

Several resources to assist you with debris management have been provided in the Toolkit for this course, accessible by selecting the icon at the top of the screen.

You can learn more about debris management by taking G202, Debris Management or IS-632.a, Introduction to Debris Operations. Your State Training Officer should be able to provide information about upcoming offerings of G202. You can access the IS-632.a course at EMI's training website. In addition, FEMA has developed a guide to help you develop a debris management plan, FEMA 325 Debris Management Guide.

Links to the EMI's website, the FEMA Debris Management Guide, and a sample debris management plan are included in the Resources section of the Toolkit. You can use the sample plan as an example to jumpstart the development of your own unique plan.

In this lesson, you learned that after a disaster, the top priority for any first responder, including public works, is protecting public safety and health.

You learned how public works is involved in protecting and restoring the environment, restoring services, repairing or rebuilding critical infrastructure and key resources, performing inspection services, and providing support services that are important to an effective recovery.

You also learned about the components of a debris management plan that should be considered during the recovery period and were provided with some resources for learning more about debris management and developing a plan.