About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

1 [1] (January 22, 2024)

handle is hein.crs/goveodb0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional Research Service informing the legislative debate since 1914 0 January 22, 2024 EDA's Disaster Economic Recovery and Resiliency Roles Since 2011 Congress has provided $1.9 billion in supplemental funding for long-term disaster recovery for selected incidents under the Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration's (EDA's) economic adjustment assistance (EAA) program (42 U.S.C. §§3149(c)(2), 3233). Congress may seek to review EDA's implementation efforts in facilitating economic resilience in advance of disasters, as well as its role in supporting communities during the long-term recovery and redevelopment phases, which can take years or decades. Interagency Coordinating Role Immediately after certain disasters, the federal government approaches emergency management and disaster recovery using a coordinated approach mobilizing more than 30 different agencies. Agency roles are delineated through interagency guidance, including the National Disaster Recovery Framework. Under this framework, the EDA serves as the lead agency for economic recovery support. EDA's role is to facilitate federal economic development assistance to support long-term economic recovery planning and project implementation. This role generally involves EDA convening state and federal agencies, tribes, territories, nongovernmental partners and stakeholders and coordinating certain recovery efforts. For instance, EDA may convene federal agencies (e.g., Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Small Business Administration (SBA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Federal Reserve Banks, the Department of Transportation), EDA-designated economic development districts (EDDs), and state and local stakeholders for post- disaster regional resource exchange events or help stakeholders assess regional assets and challenges related to long-term recovery. In 2022 and 2023, EDA served as an interagency coordinator in Arkansas, California, Florida, Guam, Hawaii, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and Vermont. Example: Interagency Coordinating Role Hurricanes Laura and Delta impacted southwest Louisiana in the winter of 2021. EDA worked with federal partners, including SBA, USDA, and Department of Commerce agencies, to provide assistance to small and tourism-based businesses, and to support broadband and disaster resilience activities. EDA also coordinated recovery efforts with USDA to assist fisheries and agricultural businesses. EDA and other agencies led workshops, helped stakeholders with applications for recovery funding, and linked individuals and businesses to federal agency representatives. Disaster Econormic Recovery Grants Generally, supplemental appropriations laws relevant to the EDA specify an amount of funding available for disaster economic recovery assistance. These appropriations laws typically state that the relevant funding is to support areas with Stafford Act declarations during a specific period of time. For instance, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (P.L. 117-328) provided EDA with $500 million in additional EAA funds for areas that received a major disaster declaration under the Stafford Act (42 U.S.C. §5121 et seq.) as a result of Hurricanes Ian and Fiona, as well as wildfires, flooding, and other natural disasters occurring in calendar years 2021 and 2022. EDA's Notices of Funding Opportunity (NOFOs) outline the review and selection processes for recovery funding requests, which are competitively assessed. EDA's distribution and allocation strategy for supplemental appropriations may vary by each event or situation. In recent years, EDA has evaluated several factors-including measures of impact and economic distress-to determine supplemental funding allocations for its six regional offices. EDA provides financial assistance for disaster economic recovery efforts directly to public sector stakeholders, including units of local government, institutions of higher education, Indian tribes, and nonprofit organizations. EDA also provides assistance indirectly to businesses through grantees that administer revolving loan funds (RLFs). EDA assistance is generally designed to support infrastructure, long-term community economic recovery planning, and other related projects. For instance, EDA disaster economic recovery funding may be used for resiliency planning, workforce development, entrepreneurship, RLFs, and infrastructure projects. Funding may also be used for strategy grants to develop or update a regional Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS). The CEDS is a locally developed, long-term regional economic development plan. CRS Infographic IG10045 provides a summary of frequently asked questions regarding EDA's supplemental disaster recovery grants. Example: Disaster Recovery Grants in Paradise, CA Following the 2018 wildfires in Paradise, CA, EDA provided grants for planning and project implementation, including to support the development of a new transportation master plan. EDA funding also supported a disaster recovery management position. RLFs for Businesses Businesses and individuals do not qualify for EDA grants. However, in many regions, EDA grantees may receive EAA grants to administer RLF programs. RLFs provide alternative financing options to businesses following disasters and for non-disaster purposes.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most