Federal Support and Local Action

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Recovery & Resilience in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands
Find out more about the briefings in this series below:
June 2	Federal Support and Local Action
June 3	Resilient Housing and Communities
June 4	Sustainable, Democratic Energy and Public Health

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) held a series of one-hour online briefings about resilience initiatives in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands and their ongoing recovery from back-to-back natural disasters over the last several years. Every U.S. coast is facing climate adaptation challenges due to rising sea levels and other coastal hazards, but island economies are especially vulnerable. The Fourth National Climate Assessment points to the small size and relative isolation of the U.S. Caribbean islands (including Puerto Rico, Vieques, Culebra, St. Croix, St. Thomas, St. John, and Water Island), which means their “social, economic, and ecological systems are likely to be more sensitive to changes in temperature and precipitation than similar systems in the mainland United States.”

This panel provided an overview of resilience initiatives in the U.S. Caribbean and discussed the status of federal support for disaster recovery and hazard mitigation. Margarita Varela-Rosa, Counsel in the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources, discussed issues and legislation pertaining to the U.S. Territories of Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and American Samoa. Ernesto Diaz, Director of the Coastal Management Program, Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, illustrated the science behind the extreme climate events Puerto Rico has faced in the last six years and provided a policy update and vision for recovery.

HIGHLIGHTS

 

 

 

Margarita Varela, Counsel for Office of Insular Affairs, House Committee on Natural Resources

• In 2017, Hurricanes Irma and Maria caused fatalities and damage in both Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In Puerto Rico, Hurricane Maria caused approximately 3,000 fatalities and nearly destroyed the electric grid, leaving people and the systems they rely on in houses, schools, hospitals, and airports without power for months.
• Congress appropriated emergency funding through Community Development Block Grants to transform Puerto Rico’s electric grid, rebuild homes and schools, and develop resilience to future natural disasters. However, it was a long process for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to publish the guidance and it has been difficult to ensure that the funds are actually dispersed.
  • The House Committee on Natural Resources has conducted oversight over HUD to ensure that the money can be used by local governments.
• Puerto Rico has been impacted by approximately 1,000 earthquakes since late 2019. The earthquakes damaged schools, homes, roads, economic development projects, and the electric grid, which requires investments to ensure that people do not experience frequent power outages. Thousands of residents’ mental health continues to be affected.
• The House passed the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief and Puerto Rico Disaster Tax Relief Act (H.R.5687) to provide Puerto Rico with disaster funding to rebuild after the earthquakes. The Senate should include this funding in future legislation.
• Coastal erosion is another major threat to the resilience of infrastructure in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
• One of the priorities of the Natural Resources Committee is ensuring that people have the resources to recover from and build resilience to natural disasters.

 

Ernesto Diaz, Director of the Coastal Management Program, Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources

• The Puerto Rico Climate Change Council (PRCCC) is a voluntary association of over 150 members working to assess the state of Puerto Rico’s climate, understand its socio-economic vulnerabilities, and develop strategies to build a resilient society.
• The PRCCC published a Puerto Rico State of the Climate report in 2014, which included adaptation strategies. The group is working to update resilience strategies using a multi-hazard approach in response to subsequent droughts, hurricanes, earthquakes, and COVID-19.
• The Fourth National Climate Assessment’s chapter on the Caribbean details climate challenges facing Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. These include geographic isolation and dependence on imports, freshwater availability, temperature increases, drought vulnerability, decreased rainfall, sea level rise, coastal erosion, and increasing storm impacts.
• Puerto Rico is particularly vulnerable to coastal hazards, because a majority of its population is centered in coastal areas. The island’s airports, ports, energy facilities, and internet infrastructure are also all sited on coastal areas, making sea level rise a significant concern.
  • Sea level rise exacerbates existing hazards, and will cause storm surge damage to affect areas further inland, outside of current flood maps.
• After Hurricanes Irma and Maria, the island lost power for months. Looking forward, Puerto Rico’s power grid and energy transmission are of great concern.
• Public and private property and ecosystems were damaged both by direct wave impact and subsequent flooding. Many wetlands were underwater for days, resulting in biodiversity loss.
• The federal response to the hurricanes was mixed. The Coast Guard’s project to remove sunken vessels was conducted efficiently, and this response should be a model for other agencies planning and executing disaster response and recovery.
• The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funded a damage assessment which resulted in a report on the state of Puerto Rico’s coral reefs. Coral reefs help protect infrastructure and economic activity against wave damage by attenuating wave energy, which they do more effectively than gray infrastructure.
• Category 4 and 5 hurricanes are predicted to become more frequent due to climate change, so investments should be made in enlarging beaches, dunes, and wetlands to reduce the costs of future disasters.
• Puerto Rico passed the Climate Change Mitigation, Adaptation, and Resilience Law (Law 33) in 2019, which details pathways to phase out fossil fuels, achieve 100 percent clean energy by 2050, improve energy efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, promote electric car use, and conduct reforestation and ecosystem service restoration. Law 33 also establishes an advisory committee which will develop a Mitigation, Adaptation, and Resilience Plan.
• FEMA should do more to provide new funding opportunities for resilience projects to reduce the costs of future disasters.
• Puerto Rico’s recovery is an opportunity to create a new generation of infrastructure that is nature-based, promotes adaptive design, increases resilience, and protects natural systems that are threatened by climate change.
  • Existing cost-benefit analysis tools used by federal agencies are barriers to nature-based interventions, since these tools are built to favor projects with a rapid return on investment. Congress and agencies should reexamine these analysis tools and the kinds of projects they favor.
• Puerto Rico has requested funding for restoration and resilience projects under sections 428, 406, and 404 of the Stafford Act, but eligibility for many of these projects has not yet been decided. Billions of dollars in funding is available, but these funds are not being invested quickly or effectively.

 

Q&A Session

 

How is Congress working with communities in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands?

• Varela: We have worked with nonprofits and community organizations to make sure they have a say in how funds are utilized. At oversight hearings, we have given community members the opportunity to participate as panelists to share their concerns and priorities. Engaging with local stakeholders is definitely a priority.

 

The Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 amended the Stafford Act and put FEMA in charge of implementing much of the federal disaster response. Will the Natural Resources Committee be conducting oversight on how FEMA determines which projects are eligible for funding?

• Varela: We are not pursuing oversight of FEMA in that way, but we are working on legislation to consider the specific needs of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and to provide other mechanisms for territories to have resources to invest in resilience initiatives.

 

You mentioned barriers to spending resources that have been provided by Congress. What are some of the key barriers that keep projects from being implemented?

• Varela: The main barrier we have experienced has been the timeline for notices for dispersing community block grants. It has taken about two and a half years to see progress on this, and this is only the first step of distributing the funds. There have also been delays in grant application approvals. It is essential to expedite that process while ensuring that there are controls in place so people in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands have the resources that they need to rebuild.
• Diaz: The bureaucratic process has stalled the process of effectively investing funding where they are needed. The need is there and the funding is available, but connecting that funding to the solutions people need is either not happening or happening at a very slow pace.

 

How does the benefit-cost analysis process encourage or discourage the use of nature-based solutions?

• Diaz: Colleagues from FEMA, the Army Corps, universities, and other organizations are working to communicate the ability of nature-based solutions to protect life and property. When decisions are made using existing benefit-cost analysis tools, investments that cost more in the short term but have a longer design life or lower medium- and long-term maintenance costs are not favored.

 

Highlights compiled by Abby Neal