US Army Corps of Engineers BUILDING STRONG ® Public Law 84-99, Rehabilitation and Inspection Program Mike deMasi Chief Emergency Management, PL Program Manager Galveston District Scott Leimer Levee Safety Program Manager Galveston District October 2014

BUILDING STRONG ® Agenda  Policy and Process  Inspection Criteria  Inspection Process  Repair Policy and Funding  Interim Guidance Changes

BUILDING STRONG ® USACE Authorities and Activities PL Disaster Preparedness Emergency Operations Rehabilitation & Insp. Water Assistance Advance Measures Flood Hazard Mitigation Flood USACE Provides: Emergency Technical & Direct assistance in response to flood and coastal storm. Provided upon request for assistance by States. Assistance supplements State and local actions & capabilities

BUILDING STRONG ® Authority and USACE Policy Non-Federal Levee Program  Public Law (P.L.) 84-99: Disaster preparedness, advance measures, emergency operations, and rehabilitation (also known as the Rehabilitation and Inspection Program or RIP)  Policy ► ER/EP , Annex B ► Interim Policy memorandum issued 21 March 2014 ► “Levee Owner’s Manual for Non-Federal Flood Control Works”, Mar 2006, Appendix C - Flood Control Works (FCW) Inspection Guide. FCW is now referred to as Flood Damage Reduction Project.

BUILDING STRONG ®  Ensures minimum acceptable performance levels for eligibility  Types of Inspections ► Initial Eligibility ► Continuing Eligibility  Eligible for inclusion in RIP: ► Federally constructed, locally maintained ► Non-federally constructed, locally maintained Rehabilitation & Inspection Program Inspection and Eligibility

BUILDING STRONG ® 6 Purpose of USACE Levee Inspections Identify deficiencies that need monitoring or immediate repair Input to Risk Assessments Determine if the levee is being properly operated and maintained Determine if sponsor is in compliance with the project partnership agreement – Fed Projects only

BUILDING STRONG ® What are we looking for?  Slope stability  Signs of seepage  Sod Cover  Unwanted vegetation  Depressions/Rutting  Erosion/Bank Caving  Cracking 7

BUILDING STRONG ® Other Typical Inspection Features  Animal Control  Encroachments  Riprap Revetment and Banks  Closure Structures  Pump stations  Relief Wells/ Toe Drain Systems  Culverts 8

BUILDING STRONG ® Inspections  Use of checklist  Rate Individual Items/Rate Segment  Give an overall “System” rating ► System rating determined by Interim Guidance dated 21 March 2014  U rating for individual segment of the system may/may not remove system from RIP eligibility  Temp-extension of eligibility with System Wide Improvement Framework (SWIF) 9

BUILDING STRONG ®  IEI Ratings: ► Acceptable Active Status ► Minimally Acceptable Active Status Meet the established requirements of interim inspection guidance and ER / EP ► Unacceptable Inactive Status Inspection Results

BUILDING STRONG ® Inspection Results  Inspections approved by District LSO  Sponsors are part of the inspection team  Out-brief with sponsors  Written notification to ► Sponsor ► State and county NFIP coordinator/emergency management agency ► FEMA ► Congressional offices 11

BUILDING STRONG ®  Active projects damaged by a flood or coastal storm  Deficient / deferred items not included  Pre-disaster condition  Cost share: ► Federal FDRS: 100% Federal ► Non-Federal FDRS: 80% Federal / 20% Sponsor Rehabilitation & Inspection Program Repair Policy

BUILDING STRONG ®  Damages must exceed $15,000 (Local Maint.)  Favorable Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR) is required  Cooperation Agreement required  Land, easements, rights-of-way, relocations and borrow are the public sponsors’ responsibility to provide at no cost to the Federal Government Repair Policy

BUILDING STRONG ®  Life Safety is paramount. Life risk drives prioritization  National emphasis on risk-informed decision making, transparent communication, and long-term sustainability.  Reevaluate the Rehabilitation Program to synchronize the program with USACE’s approach to shared responsibility for flood risk management  Revision of eligibility criteria to promote broader flood risk management activities Interim Policy Why? 14

BUILDING STRONG ® Interim Policy 15  New Policy issued 21 Mar 14 applies only to Levee Systems  Purpose is to allow eligibility determinations to continue while new policy is developed and work to avoid incentivizing public sponsors to take action that may negatively impact natural resources  Vegetation on levees is no longer a criteria for eligibility

BUILDING STRONG ® Interim Policy 16 Eligibility Criteria for Levee Systems:  Interim eligibility criteria for levee systems are a subset (18 items) of existing inspection checklist. Note: the inspection checklist (Enclosure 2 of the policy document) has not been changed. Subset of inspection items are those most directly related to levee performance  Must receive a Minimally Acceptable or Acceptable on all 18 interim eligibility inspection items to remain Active.  Overall inspection rating will still be determined and communicated to sponsor, but not linked to eligibility.  The initial eligibility requirements for nonfederal levees remain unchanged.

BUILDING STRONG ® 18 Eligibility Criteria for Levee Systems:  Levee Embankments 3. Encroachments 4. Closure Structures 5. Slope Stability 6. Erosion/Bank Caving 10. Animal Control 11. Culverts/Discharge Pipes 14. Under seepage  Floodwalls 2. Encroachments 3. Closure Structures 5. Tilting, Sliding, Settlements 6. Foundation of Concrete 8. Under seepage Relief Wells/Toe Draiage system Interim Policy  Interior Drainage Structures 9.Culverts 10.Sluice/Slide Gates 11. Flap gates/flap valves  Pump Stations 17.Intake and Discharge Pipelines 18. Sluice/Slide Gates 19. Flap Gates/Flap Valves

BUILDING STRONG ® Interim Policy Eligibility Criteria for Levee Systems:  An Unacceptable rating on any of the 18 subset of items will result in a levee system being put in Inactive status. As such, it is possible for a system to: Receive an Unacceptable system rating but determined to be Active in the Rehabilitation Program, or Receive a Minimally Acceptable system rating but determined to be Inactive in the Rehabilitation Program  If a levee system comprises more than one levee segment, all segments must meet the interim eligibility criteria for the levee system to be Active.

BUILDING STRONG ® Questions?