This page provides information, resources and status updates about the draft Environmental and Historic Preservation Guidance for Federal Disaster Recovery Assistance Applicants. The guidance provides an overview of the environmental and historic preservation review process for applicants applying for federal assistance and permits to support projects needed to recover from a presidentially-declared disaster.
* Status: The comment period has closed. A final version of the Applicant Guidance will be published on this webpage following a review of comments received and revision of the draft guidance.
As part of the Sandy Recovery Improvement Act (SRIA), which amended the Stafford Act, Section 429 was added, directing the President to “establish an expedited and unified interagency review process to ensure compliance with environmental and historic requirements under federal law relating to disaster recovery projects, in order to expedite the recovery process, consistent with applicable law.” The Unified Federal Environmental and Historic Preservation Review was created with the goal to improve federal, state, tribal and territorial decision-making to allow for more predictable outcomes from planning and implementing disaster recovery projects.
Documents and Information
Draft Applicant Guidance
This is the draft guidance that is currently open for comment. As a part of the implementation of the Unified Federal Review process, the Steering Group has developed a guidance document that will assist applicants in navigating through environmental and historic preservation (EHP) compliance requirements. The guidance outlines types of information applicants should submit to federal agencies to assist in expediting the EHP review and also provides an overview of the EHP review process for applicants applying for federal assistance and permits. The input provided during the public review period (October 28th thru November 28th 2014) will inform the further development of the Applicant Guidance.