July 18, 2024

Ms. Angela Davis

Division Director, Floodplain Management

Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation

600 East Main Street, 24th Floor

Richmond, Virginia 23219

Dear Ms. Davis,

The staff of the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission (HRPDC) appreciates the opportunity to provide comments on the Draft 2024 Funding Manual for the Community Flood Preparedness Fund (CFPF), which was posted for public comment on June 18, 2024. Our comments reflect the views of the HRPDC staff and incorporate feedback from our member jurisdictions and other regional stakeholders. We request DCR’s consideration of the following comments.

Definitions:

The HRPDC appreciates the broad definition of “recurrent and repetitive flooding” and that it goes beyond the definition of repetitive flooding as defined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). However, the statement that “All flooding involving these properties should be tracked and addressed by the community. Communities shall maintain all records of flooding in perpetuity” should be removed, since it is not relevant to the definition.

The draft funding manual defines a “Community Scale Project” to include projects that provide “flood prevention or protection benefits to no less than 25% of the designated census block of the project.” The HRPDC recommends that DCR clarify whether the 25% refers to area or population and further recommends that applicants be allowed to refer to 25% of either the area or population of the designated census block. The HRPDC also recommends that the definition should be expanded to apply to community facilities or infrastructure in lieu of the 25% requirement, since they have a community-wide impact by definition.

The HRPDC recommends that the definition of “flood prevention and protection study” be expanded to include pluvial flooding.

Project Time Limits:

The draft manual requires that projects be completed within three years beginning with the date of an executed funding agreement. Based on our localities’ experiences, three years is not enough time to complete many projects given delays with permitting, contracting, procuring materials, labor challenges, and high demand for services. Although extensions are allowed, the HRPDC recommends that DCR increase the default time allowed for project completion to five years and allow requests for longer time periods to be made as part of the application process.

In addition, the HRPDC appreciates that the draft manual allows requests for extensions. However, the restrictions and limitations on applying for extensions and their lengths are overly restrictive. The HRPDC recommends that the requirement that activity is “commenced within the first nine months of the original agreement period” be removed and that longer extensions of two years or more be allowed.

Maintenance and Funding:

The draft manual includes a requirement for a “maintenance, management, and monitoring plan” that will demonstrate “how the project will be maintained with funds secured by the grant recipient independent of the Fund over the lifespan of the project.” This plan “must also outline procedures for monitoring the project, replacement at project owner expense should the project fail under normal operating conditions during the course of its expected operational lifespan, and reporting over the life of the project.” Although the HRPDC recognizes the importance of incorporating future maintenance requirements into funding decisions, the HRPDC questions the utility of requiring ongoing reports over the life of a project. The HRPDC recommends removing the requirement to provide ongoing reports once the period of the performance for the grant or loan has been completed.

Benefit-Cost Analysis:

Performing a quantitative benefit-cost analysis for projects can be time-consuming, expensive, and burdensome. The HRPDC recommends that the threshold for requiring a benefit-cost analysis be raised from $2,000,000 to $5,000,000.

Resilience Plans:

The draft manual requires the submission and approval of a resilience plan before applicants are eligible to apply for project funds. The draft manual also states that resilience plans must receive approval every three years. The HRPDC recommends that this approval be increased to five years to better align with other local and regional planning efforts, such as comprehensive plans, hazard mitigation plans, and long-range transportation plans. The HRPDC also recommends that previously approved resilience plans have their approvals extended another two years for a total of five years.

Review Committee:

The draft manual states that “an advisory Review Committee will be established to provide input on application scoring” and, furthermore, that “the Review Committee will include individuals from outside of the Department.” The HRPDC appreciates the inclusion of other entities in the review process. However, the HRPDC recommends that the specific individuals or organizations that will be included on the Review Committee be listed in the funding manual.

We appreciate DCR’s efforts in developing and implementing the Community Flood Preparedness Fund and appreciate your consideration of these comments and suggestions. We would be happy to discuss these comments with you further. Please contact either Whitney Katchmark (wkatchmark@hrpdcva.gov) or Benjamin McFarlane (bmcfarlane@hrpdcva.gov) if we can be of any assistance.

Sincerely,

Benjamin J. McFarlane

Chief Resilience Officer

Hampton Roads Planning District Commission