Presidential Disaster Declaration Approved for December Storm

Gov. Dennis Daugaard says 24 South Dakota counties and two tribes may receive federal funding assistance to help recover from a late December storm that did more than $9.1 million in damage to public property.

The public assistance is made available through a Presidential Disaster Declaration signed by President Trump.

Counties involved are Butte, Clark, Codington, Day, Deuel, Dewey, Edmunds, Fall River, Faulk, Grant, Haakon, Hamlin, Harding, Jackson, Jones, Marshall, McPherson, Meade, Pennington, Perkins, Roberts, Stanley, Sully and Ziebach. Also included is the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe within Dewey and Ziebach counties and the Oglala Sioux Tribe within Jackson County.

All of the counties and tribes included in the declaration were those included in the Governor’s request to the President.

The storm started December 24 and continued through December 26. Blizzard conditions, high winds and freezing ice led to broken power poles, downed electrical lines and stranded motorists. Three deaths were associated with the storm.

Gov. Daugaard requested a disaster declaration on January 23 after public property damage information was verified by FEMA, state and local officials.

A disaster declaration authorizes the federal government to provide recovery assistance for up to 75 percent of the eligible costs.

Notice of Hazard Mitigation Grant Program Funding for Disaster 4298

South Dakota received a Presidential Disaster Declaration as a result of Christmas Day 2016 statewide severe winter storms. Subsequently, approximately $1,025,000 of funding is now available for local governments and certain private-non-profit organizations to apply for hazard mitigation projects that will reduce the loss of life and property by lessening the impacts of future disasters.

To find out more about the eligibility of mitigation projects or applying for these funds, contact Jim Poppen at 605-7733231 or jim.poppen@state.sd.us. Discussions on your project are vital to ensure all components of the application are completed. Applications due October 13, 2017.

Timelines: j Applications due to state: October 13, 2017 and we highly encourage to submit your applications prior to deadline to ensure they are complete. j OEM reviews the applications for completeness:

October/November 2017 j OEM presents applications to the State Hazard

Mitigation Team: December 2017 j State Hazard Mitigation Team approved projects submitted to FEMA: January 2018 j FEMA has until February 1, 2019 to award projects j Period of Performance to complete approved projects:

January 31, 2021

Notes: j State disaster assistance is available to sub-recipients who qualify by meeting certain criteria. Please contact

Jim Poppen at jim.poppen@state.sd.us or 605-7733231 for more information. j In addition to this notice, Office of Emergency

Management will be hosting applicant briefings and dates/times will be announced at a later date. j Application and support documentation are located on the OEM website under Hazard Mitigation Grant

Program, http://dps.sd.gov/emergency_services/ emergency_management/forms.aspx. j FEMA has released a new version of the Benefit Cost

Analysis software, version 5.3, which can be downloaded at https://www.fema.gov/media-library/ assets/documents/128334. j When submitting an application for a phased project, you will need to indicate that you are requesting the project to be phased and provide a detailed scope of work and budget for each phase of the project. A new benefit cost analysis is required for phase 2. j If you intend to request progress payments throughout the construction of your project then this will need to be indicated in your application. j All agencies that have a stake in environmental and historical preservation for your project will need to have an environmental letter sent to them for their response on your project. These response letters must accompany the application. If construction is taking place on or near tribal property, it is a possibility the

Tribal Historic Preservation Office may request a

Class III Archeological Survey to be completed prior to award. This survey is an eligible expense.