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U.S.
Senators
U.S. Senators
Gordon Smith and Ron Wyden
April 15, 2005 PRESS
RELEASE:
Smith, Wyden Announce Support for
National Drought Preparedness Act
Washington,
DC – U.S. Senators Gordon Smith and Ron
Wyden have announced the introduction of the
National Drought Preparedness Act (S.802), which
will finally bring a national, coordinated approach
to drought preparedness and response efforts. The
legislation authorizes, for the first time, the
Federal Emergency Management Agency to respond to
the economic and human suffering resulting from
drought conditions.
“Currently
our ability to respond to the devastation of
widespread drought is limited,” said Smith. “This
legislation provides the framework to monitor
conditions, and plan effectively to keep family
farms and the economy running in the face of
catastrophic water shortages.”
“One of
the biggest concerns I heard at the Drought
Preparedness Forum in Salem last month was that
there’s a confusing alphabet soup of government
agencies that are supposed to help folks in a
drought, but they are difficult to find and access
quickly,” Wyden said. “In addition,
these agencies have struggled with limited resources
and a lack of coordinated vision to help folks
through hard times in dry years. This legislation
will finally bring more resources and a coordinated
approach to the federal drought response.”
Instead of
federal agencies each taking their own approach to
drought, the Act will improve the federal
government’s ability to respond to droughts by
creating a National Drought Council, a 14-member
group consisting of top federal officials,
governors, mayors, tribal representatives and
appointees of the National Association of Counties.
The Council will coordinate federal drought
preparedness activities with those of the states,
local governments, tribes, and counties and will
also:
·
develop a comprehensive
National Drought Policy Action Plan that outlines
and integrates the roles and responsibilities of the
federal agencies for drought;
·
make recommendations to
establish common drought triggers;
·
coordinate and
prioritize specific actions to establish a national
integrated drought system to collect and integrate
information on key indicators of drought;
·
encourage and facilitate
development of drought preparedness plans; and
·
develop and coordinate
public awareness activities.
The legislation also
creates a Drought Assistance Fund to be used for:
-
technical and
financial assistance to states, tribes, local
governments, watershed groups, and other entities
for development and implementation of drought
preparedness plans;
-
federal funds to be
cost-shared for mitigation risks and impacts of
droughts;
-
developing
mitigation measures to address environmental,
economic and human health and safety issues
related to drought;
-
expanding technology
transfer of drought and water conservation
strategies and innovative water supply techniques;
and
-
developing
post-drought evaluations and recommendations.
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Tucker Bounds
Press Secretary
Office of Senator Gordon Smith
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