APA Washington Supports Washington Summit to Sea Grant Proposal

Washington State could be in line for major resilience planning funding.  The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Natural Disaster Resilience Competition (NDRC) will make $1 billion available to communities that have been struck by natural disasters in recent years.   

Called Summit to Sea, the proposal seeks funding for the Puget Sound region to address flooding and landslide areas.  The national competition promotes risk assessment and planning and will fund the implementation of innovative resilience projects to better prepare communities for the impacts of climate change and extreme weather. Given the complexity of this challenge, helping communities build toward a more resilient future requires innovation, broad commitment, and a multi-faceted approach. 

HUD is identifying how the federal government can support communities recovering from disasters while also strengthening their ability to withstand future disasters. All successful applicants will need to tie their proposals to the eligible disaster from which they are recovering.

Because the HUD grant’s focus is on recovery of nationally declared disaster areas, Washington’s focus will be on flooding and landslides in the Puget Sound region. The Washington proposal could place Washington in a position to win a portion of the $1 billion available funding in order to develop plans and toolkits to benefit multiple communities throughout the Puget Sound region. 

Recognizing this as a major area of importance for Washington planners, Washington APA submitted a letter supporting the grant application.  President Ivan Miller summarized why planners should be concerned:

We encourage incorporation of sound planning principles and approaches in order to develop methodologies for recovery from past disasters and anticipation for future events. We look forward to working with the partners in this effort to establish a framework for equitable and environmentally sound principles to address disaster recovery in our region.

HUD will announce in June whether or not Washington State will be invited to submit a second part of the application with final grants awarded in December.    

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