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FY 2011 Budget Bill Slashes Funding for Local Programs
NLC Releases Priorities for New Transportation Program
Bill Ensures Rural Communities Voice in Transportation Funding Decisions
DOE Announces Electric Vehicle Funding Opportunity
FEMA Releases Information on New Treatment of Levees for Flood Maps
Directive on National Preparedness Stresses Intergovernmental Approach
FY 2011 Budget Bill Slashes Funding for Local Programs
Last week, the President signed into law a spending package to fund government programs for the remainder of FY 2011. The bill (H.R. 1473) slashed nearly $40 billion from federal programs, including the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, which cities and towns have fought hard to preserve. Under H.R. 1473, CDBG will be funded at $3.3 billion (or $600 million less than in FY 2010), but still $1.8 billion more than the program would have received in an earlier House-passed measure, H.R. 1.
To view a chart that shows the new funding levels for selected programs important to cities and towns, click here.
Now in recess, Congress will return to work on May 2 to do battle over FY 2012 spending, the federal government's debt level, which is approaching its limit, and strategies to the government's $14 trillion deficit. (Carolyn Coleman, coleman@nlc.org, 202.626.3023)
NLC Releases Priorities for New Transportation Program
Last week, NLC joined with state and local partner organizations to release a set of shared priorities for a new surface transportation bill as House and Senate committees prepare to renew federal transportation legislation. NLC, together with the National Association of Counties, the National Conference of State Legislatures, and the National Governors Association, mapped out "guiding principles" for a new program, stressing the need for a strong national vision and a partnership among all levels of government.
Noting that state and local governments own and operate 97 percent of the nation's interconnected surface transportation systems and contribute nearly 75 percent of the annual cost to operate and maintain these facilities, the principles call for reliability, system preservation, innovative solutions and partnerships. (Leslie Wollack, wollack@nlc.org, 202.626.3029)
Bill Ensures Rural Communities Voice in Transportation Funding Decisions
Last week, Reps. Tim Walz (D-MN) and Richard Hanna (R-NY) introduced H.R. 1565, a bill requiring state transportation departments to offer regional transportation planning organizations a seat at the table to help integrate federal transportation investments with regional and local economic development, housing, transportation, water and wastewater infrastructure planning decisions made by local officials. Under this legislation, state transportation departments would be required to disburse a portion of their federal funding to rural transportation planning organizations as well.
According to the bill sponsors, goal of H.R. 1565 is not to add another level of bureaucracy in states where local elected and appointed officials have a clearly defined and formal role in identifying, recommending and developing long-range transportation plans and short-term programmatic decisions. Instead, the bill aims to strengthen that role, outlining specific shared responsibilities and ensuring a cooperative and integrated investment planning process between state and local officials-a process critical to economic growth and community strength.
NLC, along with the National Association of Development Organizations, the National Association of Counties and the American Planning Organization, endorses the legislation, which Reps. Walz and Hanna hope to incorporate this legislation into a new transportation authorization bill expected to be introduced later this year. In your conversations with your House members, please encourage them to lend their names to this legislation. (Leslie Wollack, wollack@nlc.org, 202.626.3029)
DOE Announces Electric Vehicle Funding Opportunity
This week, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued a Funding Opportunity Announcement making available $5 million in new funding for community-based efforts to speed up the deployment of electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure and charging stations. The announcement supports the President's goal of putting 1 million advanced technology vehicles on the road in the United States by 2015.
Applicants are asked to submit projects that develop plans and strategies for EV deployment, update community EV permitting processes, develop incentive programs, or launch other initiatives. And, according to the announcement, whenever possible, policy implementation and execution of planning elements should be included. DOE anticipates making approximately 10 to 15 awards in the range of $250,000 to $500,000 under this announcement. Applications are due June 13. (Carolyn Berndt, berndt@nlc.org, 202.626.3101)
FEMA Releases Information on New Treatment of Levees for Flood Maps
Amid efforts to reform the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) released several useful documents this week regarding how changes to their treatment of levees in flood risk studies will impact the communities in the short and long term:
Treatment of Levees in Flood Risk Studies
FEMA's Approach to Levees-FAQs
Upcoming Changes to FEMA's Regulatory Flood Products
In the short term, FEMA will temporarily withhold issuing risk study final determinations that might otherwise make a community subject to certain NFIP requirements. In the long term, FEMA has indicated that it plans to use more precise indicators and modeling of levees and flood barriers to provide more accurate indicators of individual flood risk. (Mitchel Herckis, herckis@nlc.org, 202.626.3173)
Directive on National Preparedness Stresses Intergovernmental Approach
Earlier this month, President Obama signed a new Presidential Policy Directive (PPD-8) that emphasizes an all-hazards approach to homeland security based on federal, state and local government coordination, as well as private sector and citizen participation in preparedness. This endorses and solidifies the recent direction taken by the Department of Homeland Security that focuses on the capabilities of the nation in addition to the response to particular scenarios. While the impact of this change in direction is not yet clear, it may result in changes in funding criteria and reporting requirements for Homeland Security grantees. (Mitchel Herckis, herckis@nlc.org, 202.626.3173)
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