Are you interested in reducing flood insurance premiums while enhancing your community's resilience? Then this webinar series, presented by the Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) and the Coastal States Organization (CSO), is for you. The National Flood Insurance Program's (NFIP) Community Rating System (CRS) is a federal incentive program that provides flood insurance policyholders with discounts on their premiums in exchange for their community taking actions to reduce flood risk. In 2015, ASFPM and CSO began researching elements of the CRS program that can both enhance community resilience and protect the environment. This free webinar series will specifically highlight how communities can achieve success in these “green” elements of the CRS program.
This is the first webinar in a four-part webinar series focused on the CRS program. The goal of this webinar is to provide attendees with a primer on the CRS program, discuss how the CRS can protect and enhance the natural and beneficial functions of floodplains, and to share a success story from one the leading CRS communities in the country.
Moderator:
Chad Berginnis, CFM, ASFPM Executive Director
Chad Berginnis became executive director of ASFPM in July 2012, after joining the association staff as associate director in 2011. Since 2000, he served the association as Insurance Committee chair, Mitigation Policy Committees' coordinator, vice chair and chair. He has a Bachelor of Science in natural resources from Ohio State University. Since 1993, his work has focused on floodplain management, hazard mitigation and land use planning at the state, local and private sector level. As a state official, Berginnis worked in the Ohio Floodplain Management Program and was Ohio's state hazard mitigation officer. As a local official, Berginnis administered planning, economic development and floodplain management programs in Perry County, Ohio. In the private sector, he was the national practice leader in hazard mitigation for Michael Baker Jr. Inc.
Presenters:
Robyn Wiseman, CFM, ASFPM Research Scientist
Robyn Wiseman supports a variety of projects at ASFPM’s Flood Science Center as a research scientist. Before coming to ASFPM, she worked in emergency management for the state of Wisconsin, serving as the state public assistance officer and delivering the FEMA Public Assistance Program statewide. Wiseman participated in disaster field operations in four federally-declared disaster declarations and helped manage recovery and mitigation projects across nine declarations in hazard mitigation and recovery. Her passion for combining land use planning, floodplain management and disaster response and recovery experience stems from background in state and local emergency management. She holds a B.A. in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, an M.S. in urban and regional planning (land use and environmental planning emphasis) from the University of Iowa, and is a Certified Floodplain Manager.
Rebecca Pfeiffer, CFM, Floodplain Regulatory Team Lead at the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation
Rebecca Pfeiffer is the Floodplain Regulatory Team Lead with the Vermont Rivers Program, and has worked in the Program for over 11 years. Over the years, she has worked in Vermont NFIP Coordinating Office, which has become the River Corridor & Floodplain Protection Program. Work with the program includes a variety of experiences, such as providing technical assistance to local communities and general public for development in flood hazard areas, local planning & regulatory review, providing review and comments for Vermont’s Act 250 land use permit, the preparation & implementation of educational outreach to a variety of audiences for No Adverse Impact (NAI) floodplain and river corridor policies and issues, as well as leading the VT Flood Hazard Area & River Corridor permitting team. Rebecca holds a B.S. in Natural Resource Management from Rutgers University, and has completed M.S. coursework in Natural Resources at the University of Vermont.
Dennis Dixon, CFM, Project Manager at Pierce County Surface Water Management
Dennis is in his twentieth year at Pierce County Surface Water Management. He has been the project manager for flood studies, LAMP, the Countywide DFIRM update, channel migration zone studies and mapping the deep and fast flowing water risk as a floodway. He has extensive experience writing and implementing floodplain management regulations and stormwater & site development regulations. He is the county’s CRS coordinator where Pierce County is a Class 2 CRS community. For the last five years he has been the chair of the Northwest Floodplain Managers Association-NORFMA CRS User Group and is in his second year on the CRS Task Force as a community representative.
Time: All webinars in this four-part series will be held from 1:00PM-2:30PM CT/2:00PM-3:30PM ET
Target Audience: Floodplain managers, planners, and other local officials who are interested in joining the CRS or learning more about its "green" elements and CRS Coordinators who would like to give more attention to elements that will enhance the resiliency of their community and the natural environment.
Did you miss this webinar? Check out the webinar recording and slides for more information.
Not familiar with FEMA’s CRS program? No problem, visit FEMA’s CRS website or CRSresources.org to view overview videos or learn about FEMA’s upcoming CRS training. The CRS Green Guide Webinar Series is based on research and interviews conducted by ASFPM and CSO and is not part of official FEMA CRS webinars or training.
Image Credit: Jeanethe Falvey, US EPA retrieved from the Flickr Creative Commons.