FLOOD10331

• County: Statewide
• Basin: Statewide
• Title: A Primer for Hosting Buyout Workshops
• Date: 1/1/1994
• Prepared For: Association of State Floodplain Managers
• Prepared By: The Mitigation Assistance Corporation, Boulder, CO
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Educational/Technical/Reference Information

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A Primer for Hosting Buyout Workshops

Page 4

STATE COMMITMENT

Objective
There are four reasons that state commitment is critical to sponsoring this type of
workshop.

1. By law, disaster assistance is supplemental. When the capabilities of local
governments to respond to and/or recover from disasters are exceeded, it is the
responsibility of state government to supplement the local government's needs.
Federal assistance is, in turn, supplemental to state efforts.

2. State government is in a unique position to understand the local and regional
political condition and is able to assist in avoiding potential political risks.

3. State government is an important source of technical and financial assistance that
can be applied towards any such endeavor.

4. State government can provide valuable leadership in helping the affected community
and in setting an example for other flood-prone communities.

Iowa's Commitment to the Davenport Workshop
Iowa, represented by the Iowa Emergency Management Division, supported hosting a
buyouts workshop, but expressed concerns that may need to be addressed by planners of
future workshops. Iowa officials wanted to ensure that those involved in the development
and delivery of this workshop understood the post-flood socio-economic and political
environments within Iowa.

First, the staff expressed their realistic doubt of whether or not there would be sufficient
funding available to support a comprehensive, statewide acquisition and relocation program.
This discussion was taking place in early November 1993, when the Federal Emergency
Management Agency's Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, authorized under Section 404 of
the Stafford Act, was estimated to have $3.6 million available on a 50-50 cost-share basis;
not near enough to undertake a program which could conceivably affect thousands of
structure owners. The Volkmer-Harkin Amendment (which would eventually dramatically
increase the funds available under the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Hazard