The information below was sent out through the FDOT Contact Mailer on October 12th:
Rural Partners,
See the important information attached and zoom invite below for the webinar this Friday concerning Hurricane Ian: Federal Economic Recovery. While this event is not solely for rural communities, it is extremely important to represent your communities at this meeting! Please attend! See the message from the Emergency Coordination Office below:
ESF 18 Team,
It has been two weeks since Hurricane Ian made landfall just south of Punta Gorda. As we transition from response to recovery, our team is committed to providing the information and resources you need to rebuild your communities. The first step in this process is to identify the economic recovery programs available at the federal level, including the timelines and requirements.
The Florida Economic Development Council will host a webinar on October 14, 2022, from 10:00-11:00 a.m., Eastern Time. The Zoom instructions are below:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84562839187?pwd=VnFQOTlYQUZnT1FQQUdNR1Z2a1FDZz09
Meeting ID: 845 6283 9187
Passcode: 333402
Please forward this information to all of your stakeholders, members, and partners who will take part in the economic recovery process of the affected area. Hopefully, this webinar will serve as a gathering place for all members of the business community to begin the discussion of how to rebuild.
Sasha Jones
Emergency Coordination Officer
ESF 18: Business, Industry & Economic Stabilization
Florida Department of Economic Opportunity
Office: 850-245-7112
www.FloridaJobs.org
The update below was sent out through the FDOT Contact Mailer on September 27th:
The FDOT is very closely monitoring the path of Hurricane Ian and has begun Emergency Operation preparations. As you, our Local Agency partners, begin your own storm preparations, we want to take the opportunity to remind you of important information related to the FHWA Emergency Relief (ER) Program, through the attached documentation. Florida LTAP also hosted the FHWA ER Program Training 6/2/2022. You can view that recording and obtain the most up-to-date training material information here: https://floridaltap.org/recorded-webinar-fhwa-emergency-relief-program-training/. Keeping this information in mind prior to and immediately following landfall will help maximize your Agency’s opportunity to receive reimbursement for event related repairs on Federal Aid Highways.
As a reminder, there are two distinctly different federal disaster programs:
- FEMA assistance falls under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act. The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) does not receive, review, or process FEMA disaster reimbursement requests for local roads. An example of items that would route through FEMA are:
- Debris removal for Presidentially declared disasters.
- Repair or reconstruction of highways, roads, and trails that are not on the Federal Aid Highway system (i.e. local roads, rural minor collectors.)
- FHWA Emergency Relief (ER) Program, established by 23 USC 125. FDOT helps administer the FHWA ER Program, which funds eligible emergency and permanent repairs to damaged Federal Aid Highways. You may access resources at this link to identify Federal Aid Highways in your communities: https://www.fdot.gov/statistics/fedaid/default.shtm.
For more detailed information regarding the FHWA ER Program, please view the official FHWA Emergency Relief (ER) Manual at https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/reports/erm/er.pdf or the LAP Manual, Chapter 13 at https://www.fdot.gov/programmanagement/LAP/LAP-TOC.shtm.
As soon as possible following the storm, Local Programs staff statewide will begin assisting your agency with any questions you may have related to specific damage and/or eligibility for Federal Aid roadways in your area. Please send inquiries to your District Local Programs staff via the contact information found here: https://www.fdot.gov/programmanagement/lp/lpcontacts.shtm.
You are also welcome to contact the Local Programs office at CO-LocalPrograms@dot.state.fl.us.
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