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Identify FEMA Environmental and Historic Preservation requirements, including permits, floodplain issues, wetlands, historic resources, special conditions, and compliance documentation before work proceeds.
FEMA Public Assistance projects must comply with applicable Environmental and Historic Preservation requirements before FEMA can fund the work. EHP review connects the scope of work, project location, ground disturbance, age and historic status of facilities, floodplain and wetland impacts, waterway permits, debris handling, regulatory agency consultation, and project-specific grant conditions. Applicants can reduce delays by identifying EHP triggers early and building the documentation file before project obligation, construction, closeout, or audit review.
Covers the basic FEMA EHP review requirement for Public Assistance projects. FEMA reviews federally funded work for compliance with environmental laws, historic preservation laws, implementing regulations, executive orders, and project-specific conditions before funding or closing out the project.
Covers the scope details EHP specialists need to evaluate a project, including the proposed or completed work, work locations, repair methods, quantities, materials, equipment, staging areas, source of fill, debris disposal sites, ground disturbance, maps, photos, drawings, permits, studies, surveys, and agency correspondence.
Covers FEMA’s Record of Environmental Consideration, or REC, which documents EHP compliance determinations for the project. The REC may record a statutory exclusion, categorical exclusion, applicable consultation, required permits, and any project-specific conditions the applicant must follow to remain eligible for FEMA funding.
Covers project types that may qualify for faster review, such as in-kind restoration to pre-disaster condition, replacement of contents or equipment, minor repairs to buildings or structures less than 45 years old, and certain projects addressed through programmatic agreements or other streamlined consultation tools.
Covers project conditions that commonly require more detailed EHP review, including new construction, changes in facility location, footprint, alignment, or size, work affecting buildings or structures 45 years or older, ground disturbance, work in floodplains or wetlands, work near sensitive habitats, waterway work, debris staging, hazardous materials, and projects involving mitigation, codes, standards, improved projects, or alternate projects.
Covers EHP considerations for Category A debris removal and Category B emergency protective measures. Although many emergency actions may be excluded from NEPA review, applicants must still comply with other applicable EHP requirements, including endangered species, historic preservation, waste management, air quality, water quality, floodplain, wetlands, and invasive species requirements.
Covers EHP issues related to debris collection, staging, reduction, recycling, burning, disposal, hazardous materials, waterway debris, shoreline debris, stump removal, fill material, debris management sites, landfill documentation, site remediation, and compliance with federal, State, Tribal, territorial, and local debris management requirements.
Covers EHP issues for Categories C through G permanent work, including bridges, culverts, roads, utilities, buildings, historic structures, parks, waterfront assets, piers, boardwalks, buried utilities, beach nourishment, facility relocation, new construction, and repairs to substantially damaged structures in floodplains.
Covers projects that may affect historic properties, including buildings, structures, districts, sites, objects, archaeological resources, and traditional cultural resources. FEMA may consult with the State Historic Preservation Office, Tribal Historic Preservation Office, Tribal Nations, applicants, recipients, and other consulting parties to avoid, minimize, or resolve adverse effects.
Covers Executive Order 11988, Executive Order 11990, and FEMA’s 44 CFR Part 9 review process for work in or affecting floodplains and wetlands. Applicants should identify whether the project is located in a special flood hazard area, regulatory floodway, 100-year floodplain, 500-year floodplain for critical actions, wetland, or area that may affect floodplain or wetland functions.
Covers Clean Water Act and Rivers and Harbors Act issues, including work in waters of the United States, wetlands, streams, rivers, lakes, ponds, shorelines, docks, piers, marinas, culverts, bridges, dredging, fill, shoreline stabilization, embankment armoring, water quality certification, NPDES permits, Section 404 permits, nationwide permits, and USACE coordination.
Covers projects that may affect federally listed threatened or endangered species, critical habitat, essential fish habitat, migratory birds, bald or golden eagles, marine mammals, coastal barriers, coastal zones, wild and scenic rivers, farmland, sole source aquifers, and other sensitive environmental resources that may require consultation or project-specific conditions.
Covers EHP issues involving hazardous materials, contaminated sites, solid waste, asbestos, mold remediation, dust control, debris burning, fuel storage, vehicle emissions, nonattainment areas, landfill permits, Superfund sites, RCRA requirements, CERCLA concerns, and proof of compliant debris or waste disposition.
Covers applicant responsibility for obtaining required permits, authorizations, letters of exemption, regulatory approvals, and correspondence from agencies such as USACE, USFWS, EPA, NMFS, SHPO, THPO, State environmental agencies, local floodplain administrators, coastal zone agencies, and other permitting authorities.
Covers the documentation needed to show that EHP conditions were satisfied, including permits, certifications, compliance statements, photos, post-construction surveys, agency correspondence, monitoring records, disposal records, best management practices, proof of remediation, and records showing that completed or partially completed work complied with project-specific EHP conditions.
Covers coordination when multiple federal agencies fund, permit, or regulate work in the same project area. Early coordination helps avoid conflicting EHP standards, supports consistent review, and may allow FEMA to coordinate through the Unified Federal Review process or other interagency review tools.
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