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Guidance for Stakeholder Engagement Project Planning and Discovery Process

November 2021

Guidance for Stakeholder Engagement, Project Planning and Discovery Process

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Guidance for Stakeholder Engagement, Project Planning and Discovery Process

Guidance Document 102 November 2021 i

Requirements for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Risk Mapping, Assessment, and Planning (Risk MAP) Program are specified separately by statute, regulation, or FEMA policy (primarily the Standards for Flood Risk Analysis and Mapping). This document provides guidance to support the requirements and recommends approaches for effective and efficient implementation. Alternate approaches that comply with all requirements are acceptable.

For more information, please visit the “FEMA Guidelines and Standards for Flood Risk Analysis and Mapping” webpage (https://www.fema.gov/flood-maps/guidance-reports/guidelines-standards). Copies of the Standards for Flood Risk Analysis and Mapping Policy, related guidance, technical references, and other information about the guidelines and standards development process are all available here. You can also search directly by document title at www.fema.gov/multimedia-library..

Guidance for Stakeholder Engagement, Project Planning and Discovery Process

Guidance Document 102 November 2021 ii

Table of Revisions

Affected Section or Subsection Date Description

Subsections 5.2.3, 5.3, 5.4, 7.1 and 7.4

November 2021

Minor updates to incorporate references to virtual meetings and correct broken links.

Guidance for Stakeholder Engagement, Project Planning and Discovery Process

Guidance Document 102 November 2021 iii

Table of Contents

1. Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 5

2. Audiences …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 6

3. Additional Resources and Tools ………………………………………………………………………………….. 6

4. Project Planning and Discovery—Overview of Objectives ………………………………………………… 6

4.1. Project Planning Phase ……………………………………………………………………………………. 6

4.2. Discovery Phase ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 7

5. The Importance of Stakeholder Engagement ……………………………………………………………….. 7

5.1. Stakeholder Engagement Goals ………………………………………………………………………. 8

5.1.1. Discovery Planning ………………………………………………………………………………. 8

5.1.2. Discovery Phase ………………………………………………………………………………….. 9

5.2. Types of Stakeholders ………………………………………………………………………………….. 10

5.2.1. Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………… 10

5.2.2. Internal Stakeholders ……………………………………………………………………….. 10

5.2.3. External Stakeholders – Public Sector ……………………………………………….. 13

5.3. Pre-Discovery Meeting Engagement Activities ………………………………………………… 18

5.4. Stakeholder Engagement Techniques and Tools ……………………………………………. 20

6. Discovery Activities ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 23

6.1. Initial and Sustained Contacts with Project Stakeholders ……………………………….. 23

6.2. Mitigation Planning Activities and Local Hazard Mitigation Plans …………………….. 24

6.2.1. Data and Information Collection ………………………………………………………… 24

6.2.2. Discovery Meeting …………………………………………………………………………….. 25

6.2.3. Coordination with Mitigation Planning Activities and Hazard Mitigation Plans ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 25

6.3. Data and Information Collection and Evaluation …………………………………………….. 26

6.4. Data and Information Collection Activities ……………………………………………………… 26

6.5. Data and Information Analysis Activities ………………………………………………………… 28

6.6. Discovery Map ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 29

6.7. Discovery Report ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 29

7. Discovery Meeting …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 30

Guidance for Stakeholder Engagement, Project Planning and Discovery Process

Guidance Document 102 November 2021 iv

7.1. Meeting Timing …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 31

7.2. Meeting Attendees ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 31

7.3. Inviting Stakeholders ……………………………………………………………………………………. 32

7.4. Meeting Objectives ………………………………………………………………………………………. 32

7.5. Meeting Messages ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 34

7.6. Pre-Meeting Activities …………………………………………………………………………………… 34

7.7. Meeting Activities …………………………………………………………………………………………. 35

7.8. Post-Meeting Activities ………………………………………………………………………………….. 36

8. Automated Engineering ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 37

9. Scope Refinement …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 37

9.1. Project Charter …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 41

10. Finalizing Discovery …………………………………………………………………………………………………. 41

11. File Maintenance …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 41

List of Figures

Figure 1. Risk MAP Project Lifecycle …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 5

List of Tables

Table 1: FIMA Directorates – Programs, Initiatives, Activities ……………………………………………………… 12

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1. Introduction This document is meant for flood risk project teams involved in the Project Planning and Discovery phases of the Risk Mapping, Assessment and Planning (Risk MAP) program. It describes the kinds of community and stakeholder engagement activities to consider during these phases. This document is designed to complement Discovery guidance provided in “Guidance for Flood Risk Analysis and Mapping: Discovery.”

Figure 1. Risk MAP Project Lifecycle

The goal of stakeholder engagement during Project Planning and Discovery is to help community members understand their risk and become more resilient. While the flood map is a critical product delivered through Risk MAP, it is meant to be a tool for communities to use when evaluating their flood risk. All short-term goals for the Project Team and partners should support the overarching goal of resilience for each community in the watershed or project area. As such, the Project Team and partners should support communities as they develop mitigation actions personalized to their unique needs. Stakeholder engagement and the inclusion of mitigation planning technical assistance into flood risk projects can be key ingredients for achieving these outcomes. See “Guidance for Flood Risk Analysis and Mapping: Incorporating Mitigation Planning Technical Assistance into Flood Risk Projects” for more information.

More guidance on interacting with stakeholders (in all phases of the Risk MAP process) is available in “Guidance for Stakeholder Engagement: Introduction and Key Terms.” It includes overviews of the following topics:

 Issues that Project Teams should consider during coastal or levee flood risk projects.

 Issues that Project Teams should consider when working with sovereign tribal nations.

 Effects of National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) reform legislation on flood mapping studies.

 Federal policies related to flood mapping studies.

 Supplemental resources to consider when engaging with project stakeholders.

 Definitions for common key terms.

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More guidance on the Discovery phase—specifically on identifying flood hazards and associated flood risk and mitigation activities in this phase—is available in “Guidance for Flood Risk Analysis and Mapping: Discovery.” Additional guidance on the Project Planning phase can be found in “Guidance for Flood Risk Analysis and Mapping: Project Planning.”

2. Audiences The primary audiences for this guidance document are staff from the 10 Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) regional offices and FEMA headquarters, and the Project Teams formed to carry out the Project Planning and Discovery processes. While Project Planning typically requires involvement by FEMA staff (with some support provided by the Regional Program Management Liaison [RPML] and Program Management [PM] provider staff), the Discovery phase can include significant participation by other Risk MAP providers and partners serving FEMA headquarters and regions, such as the Community Engagement and Risk Communication (CERC) provider, the Production and Technical Services (PTS) provider, and Cooperating Technical Partners (CTPs).

3. Additional Resources and Tools Throughout this document, you will find links to supplemental materials on the FEMA Risk Management Directorate (RMD) SharePoint Portal. These supplemental materials, which are meant to complement the information in this guidance document, include the following:

 Tactical tips or “how-to” guides on topics like designing effective presentations, handling contentious community questions, or working with local media.

 Resources for best practices in community engagement, such as the CERC Playbook.

 Case studies that highlight community and stakeholder engagement during the Project Planning and Discovery phase.

4. Project Planning and Discovery—Overview of Objectives

4.1. Project Planning Phase Project Planning, which takes place every year, is the first phase in the Risk MAP lifecycle. It is used to prioritize project areas and to estimate the budget for (1) the Discovery process or (2) the development and delivery of flood risk projects after the Discovery process.

The objectives of the Project Planning phase are to prioritize watersheds/project areas for review and to develop budget estimates for projects. This phase is led by regional teams working with states to achieve the following:

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 A clearer understanding of state preferences and priorities for the scope and prioritization schedules for the flood risk project.

 Collect information that FEMA regional offices can use to prioritize project areas for Discovery or for flood risk projects and to develop project plans and budget estimates.

 Compliance with the requirements of Section 216 of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 (BW12), as amended by the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014 (HFIAA).

 Information that may help regions meet Risk MAP metrics as they are identified.

4.2. Discovery Phase FEMA begins the Discovery process after planning and allocating a budget, when watersheds/project areas of interest have been identified and selected. FEMA’s primary objectives are to:

 Engage project stakeholders to start the foundation for relationships that will be built throughout the project.

 Understand the communities’ data, technical assistance, training, and other needs.

 Introduce or enhance flood risk discussions.

 Balance local needs with FEMA resources and plan for a possible flood risk project.

Discovery activities include developing a stakeholder engagement plan for the community or watershed, gathering data and information, developing a Discovery map (optional) and a Discovery report (required), and engaging project stakeholders before, during, and after Discovery meetings. If FEMA decides that a flood risk project may be appropriate based on need, the available resources, and the community’s interest, Discovery activities will also include engaging with communities to discuss expected changes to flood hazard information, defining the scope of the flood risk project, and outlining for project stakeholders the expected next steps (e.g., engineering models to be used, products and services to be provided, timeline, outcomes, roles/responsibilities, data sources). All flood risk projects must have a communication plan designed to keep project stakeholders informed of all key decisions, draft findings, and finished outputs. The plan should also be designed to regularly involve key stakeholders in discussions about local risks and potential actions to manage and reduce those risks.

5. The Importance of Stakeholder Engagement While developing updated flood maps for a community or watershed/project area is an important aspect of Risk MAP, the overarching goal of the process is to help communities have a more holistic understanding of their changing risks and know what actions they can take to achieve resilience. Communities are much more likely to act when they feel invested in the process, and these early

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phases are an opportunity to show that FEMA is fully committed to helping local officials and other stakeholders throughout this journey—not just during Risk MAP meetings or at other flood risk project milestones.

FEMA and its Project Teams should think of themselves as partners to the communities they work with, and a critical objective of these first phases—beyond making decisions about flood risk projects—is establishing or strengthening collaborative working relationships with key local stakeholders. Through a stronger approach to stakeholder engagement, FEMA can also make it easier for federal, state, and local mapping partners to exchange information throughout the lifecycle of a flood risk project.

5.1. Stakeholder Engagement Goals

5.1.1. DISCOVERY PLANNING Engagement with both internal and external stakeholders while planning for the Discovery phase is essential. Key questions that the Project Teams typically ask while planning for Discovery include:

1. What can the Discovery planning team learn that will help the community become more resilient?

2. What other stakeholders should be considered for this project area, beyond traditional stakeholders such as other federal agencies, state agencies, and local officials? For example, librarians, who may be able to help community members understand flood mapping resources and information; major land holders that could be a strategic partner; or local nongovernmental or civic organizations that can help advocate for the goals of the flood risk project.

3. How can the Discovery planning team incorporate local demographic and socioeconomic information to inform FEMA’s stakeholder engagement approach?

Ultimately, the goal is to learn as much as the team can about the community before the Discovery meeting, so the meeting is tailored to be as useful and productive as possible.

Stakeholder engagement during Discovery planning should be flexible and scalable—each FEMA regional office, watershed, and community is unique. Some common goals of successful stakeholder engagement during Discovery planning are listed here:

 Stronger relationships, a sense of partnership, and shared objectives between FEMA, community officials, and other stakeholders

 A clearer understanding of which flood risk project activities may benefit the area most

 Plans and estimates for how the Risk MAP investment may be used to identify, communicate, or reduce risk in a targeted area

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5.1.2. DISCOVERY PHASE Although engagement with federal, state, and regional partners begins during the Project Planning phase, engagement with communities and other stakeholders begins during the Discovery phase. During the initial coordination with watershed/project stakeholders, the Project Team collects data and information that will help them accomplish the following:

 Understand the watershed or project area—and the community/communities within it—in a more comprehensive and holistic way (not through mapping and engineering study needs alone).

 Establish or improve relationships with state partners, community officials, key influencers, and other project stakeholders.

 Establish the trust and transparency required for successful, longer term collaboration with communities, to last across the Risk MAP lifecycle and into the future.

 Help communities understand why identifying flood hazards is important to their long-term resilience, and connect them to mitigation planning and action through reducing local flood risk.

 Determine the level and types of mitigation planning and other assistance (such as training, outreach and communication, mitigation scenario development, ordinance support including the identification of appropriate higher standards, substantial damage planning, and other support) the communities need.

 Learn about the communities’ capabilities, including GIS knowledge, to see what kind of assistance they will need from FEMA or other partners to understand and use the data generated by a flood risk project.

 Identify data that may be used to create regulatory products, including Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs), Flood Insurance Study (FIS) reports, and FIRM databases.

 Identify data that may be used to create Flood Risk Products, such as Flood Risk Databases, Flood Risk Reports, and Flood Risk Maps.

 Identify factors that may be contributing (positively or negatively) to flooding and flood losses in a watershed. (Some of these items may eventually be used for Areas of Mitigation Interest, one of the Flood Risk Datasets in the Flood Risk Database.)

If FEMA knows at this stage which engineering models the agency will use to update the flood hazard information shown on the FIRM, then the Project Team must notify each community affected by the update of the engineering models it plans to use. In addition, the Project Team must give the communities (1) an explanation of the appropriateness of using these models, and (2) a 30-day period to consult with FEMA on the appropriateness of the engineering models. These actions will meet the requirements of Section 216 of BW-12 and FEMA Standard ID (SID) 620. The Project Team can access templates to support the implementation of SID 620 through the password-protected

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RMD SharePoint Portal in the Flood Mapping Letter Repository or by contacting the FEMA Project Officer. This step can also be performed later in the study, after the Discovery phase.

Collecting and Maintaining Stakeholder Contact Information During Discovery, the Project Team must engage all communities and the appropriate level of project stakeholders identified within the project area. Getting the project stakeholders to the table early and engaging them in a meaningful way is important. The contacts and stakeholder information identified during the Discovery phase will be used throughout the flood risk project. It is important for the Project Team to collect contact information for community officials—particularly the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and Floodplain Administrators (FPAs)—and keep them current throughout the flood risk project.

One source of this information is the FEMA Community Information System (CIS). After compiling an initial contact list using community websites and CIS, the Project Team may find it helpful to refine the list with the assistance of the State NFIP Coordinator, the State Hazard Mitigation Officer (SHMO), and representatives of larger communities in the watershed/project area. In addition, to avoid unnecessary duplication of federal, state, or local mapping efforts, coordinating with state and federal partners at the beginning of the flood risk project is important. Note that CIS is accessible to users with FEMA Personal Identity Verification (PIV) cards. Other Project Team members may request access to CIS by visiting https://portal.fema.gov/famsVuWeb/home.

5.2. Types of Stakeholders This section broadly outlines the kinds of stakeholders—internal and external, federal and local, government and private—that might be considered when building a stakeholder engagement plan during the Discovery phase of the flood risk project. Project Team should determine their project stakeholders appropriately, based on the area being studied.

5.2.1. INTRODUCTION During the Risk MAP lifecycle, Project Teams may tend to refer to “stakeholders” or “the community” as if these terms represent a single group with similar goals and objectives. Instead, for more successful engagement, it is important to consider the many kinds of stakeholders and community audiences, and the needs (and values) of these distinct groups.

If tribal lands are included in a project area, Project Teams must coordinate with the Tribal Liaison in the FEMA regional office. Additional tribal considerations are addressed in Section 4.0 of “Guidance for Stakeholder Engagement: Introduction and Key Terms.”

5.2.2. INTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS In addition to coordinating with external stakeholders, the Project Team may want to engage (or continue to engage) with internal partners, such as the following:

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