2023 Disaster 

Supplemental

May 2023
Craig Buerstatte – Deputy Assistant Secretary for Regional Affairs

Welcome
 The Economic Development Administration (EDA) leads the federal 

government in economic development by supporting growth, innovation, 

and competitiveness across the country.

 EDA invests in communities by supporting strategy and implementation 

projects that include planning, technical assistance, infrastructure 

development, and disaster recovery.

 Today, EDA is proud to announce the $500 million 2023 Disaster 

Supplemental.

EDA Overview
 EDA has long addressed the disaster recovery 

and resilience needs of 

communities and businesses impacted by 

natural disasters through annual 

and supplemental disaster appropriations from 

Congress.

 Since the early 1990s, EDA has 

received approximately $3.2 billion to support 

disaster recovery and resilience, with much of 

this funding received in the last six years.

EDA and Disaster Recovery/Resilience
EDA and Disaster Recovery/Resilience

As the leader of the National Disaster Recovery Framework (NDRF) Economic Recovery 

Support Function (ERSF), EDA has worked closely with communities and federal agencies 

to assess the impact of numerous disasters and identify key areas of need for economic 

recovery and resiliency in impacted communities. Unmet needs often include:

 Lack of business and economic disaster preparedness

 Limited access to capital for businesses

 Inadequate infrastructure, economic resilience strategies, and partnerships

 Insufficient economic diversity to stimulate or sustain economic growth and job creation

 Limited capacity to conduct and implement comprehensive economic development 

planning.
 Tracking and mapping disasters

 Overview of the 2023 Disaster Supplemental

 Funding and Eligibility for the 2023 Disaster Supplemental

 Key Updates from the Notice of Funding Opportunity

 Review Criteria

 Tools and Data

 Insights from EDA Regional Directors

 Now accepting applications – contact your EDR for more info

Contact Us | U.S. Economic Development Administration (eda.gov)

Agenda
The increasing number of annual disasters illustrates the need to plan and 

prepare for future disasters.

Increase in Disaster Frequency & Severity

https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/billions/
Last year there were 18 events that cost $171.5B
2023 Disaster Supplemental

$483 Million

Grant rates generally at 80%

Infrastructure and longterm economic recovery 

projects

All Presidentially-declared 

major natural disasters in 

2021 & 2022

Details in NOFO

District Planning Orgs

Federally Recognized Tribes

State and local governments

Institutions of higher education

Public & Private non-profits

For-profit entities

Individuals

Funding Eligibility
Regional Allocations - $483M Total

SEATTLE

$35M

Seattle: 

American Samoa

Guam

Federated States of Micronesia

Palau

Marshall Islands

Commonwealth of the Northern 

Mariana Islands

Philadelphia: 

Puerto Rico

U.S. Virgin Islands

DENVER

$57M

AUSTIN

$110M

CHICAGO

$18M

PHILADELPHIA

$103M

ATLANTA

$160
Occurring in CY2021 or CY2022

May 2023

FEMA Major Disaster Declarations 

FEMA CY2021/CY2022 Major Disaster 

Declared Area

Not a FEMA Declared Area

Hawaii

Puerto Rico

Alaska

American Samoa is fully eligible.
Declaration Type: Major Disaster

Year(s): Incidents that occurred in 

CY 2021 or 2022. Declaration for 

such incidents may occur after 

2022.

Designated Areas: All counties in 

declaration area are 

eligible. https://www.fema.gov/disas

ter/declarations

Eligible Locations

Example: California
 A wide range of Economic Adjustment Assistance project types are 

possible, including planning, workforce development, entrepreneurship, 

revolving loan funds, public works, and infrastructure projects.

 Submissions should be based on long-term, regionally 

oriented, coordinated, and collaborative economic development or 

redevelopment strategies that foster economic growth and resilience.

 Projects must be consistent with the region’s current CEDS, or an 

equivalent EDA-accepted regional economic development strategy.

Eligible Projects

The project must be in, or substantially benefit, a geography that was subject 

to Presidentially declared disaster that occurred in 2021 or 2022.
 Planning for economic recovery and response to disasters: feasibility studies; 

design and engineering; disaster response, recovery and resiliency strategies

 Restoring or enhancing economic infrastructure: Development and construction 

of infrastructure (energy, transportation, broadband, water and wastewater)

 Support the creation of new businesses and jobs: incubators, industrial parks, 

technical assistance

 Facilitating access to private capital investments: revolving loan funds

 Workforce: sectoral partnerships that support Americans in securing and 

retaining quality jobs

 Capacity building measures including disaster recovery 

and resiliency coordinators.

Project Types
 Resilience is emphasized

EDA expects every project it funds to be resilient to future disruptions, to the greatest 

extent possible, including the impacts of climate change.

 Equity

EDA expects projects to advance equity to underserved populations to the extent 

practicable.

 Workforce Development Projects

EDA expects projects involving workforce development to be consistent with the DOC 

Workforce Principles.

Key Updates in this NOFO
 Resilience is the ability of a community or region to anticipate, withstand, 

and bounce back from various disruptions to its economic base.

 Inclusion of resilience principles is a necessary step to improve the capacity 

of the region to recover more quickly from future disasters.

 Proposals should demonstrate a consideration of future disruptions.

For more information on economic and climate resilience: 

https://www.eda.gov/node/10701

What is “Resilience”?
 Account for current and future weather- and climate-related risks, such 

as wildfires, droughts, extreme heat and cold, inland and coastal flooding, 

and the high-impact winds produced by weather events such as 

tornadoes and hurricanes.

 Include how new infrastructure assets will be designed, built, and 

operated to be resilient to high-impact weather and climate changes that 

may occur over the full asset’s lifetime.

What Does "Consideration of Future Disruptions" 

Mean?
 Protect assets from sea level rise, increased storms, droughts, high heat 

events, longer wildfire seasons

Savanna, IL: A wastewater treatment plant was built so close to the Mississippi River that it flooded 

frequently and caused back-ups across the city. EDA provided the City of Savanna $2 million to 

help relocate the facility which relieved the flooding issue.

 Take advantage of new economic and job creation opportunities

Examples of Economic Resilience

Choctaw Nation, OK: EDA invested $750,000 in Choctaw to 

support feasibility and analytical studies to support the exploration 

of business development, industrial parks, ports, and other 

economic development activities to diversify and strengthen the 

regional economy. As a result, a portion of the Choctaw Nation 

was designated as a pilot location for the Unmanned Aircraft 

System Integration program.
 Underserved and marginalized communities may be more vulnerable to 

the effects of natural disasters and climate change, and slower 

to recover.

 EDA expects projects to advance equity to underserved populations 

to the extent practicable.

 A successful project will articulate which populations or communities will 

benefit and include a plan for inclusive community engagement ensuring 

project's economic benefits will be shared by all communities in the 

project region, including any underserved communities.

Equity
 Projects involving workforce development should be consistent with the 

Department of Commerce’s workforce principles.

 Projects should support demand-driven sectoral partnerships (employers 

from the same industry).

 The lead entity of the sectoral partnership serves as the backbone 

organization and is responsible for applying to EDA.

 For more details see page 7-9 of the NOFO.

Workforce Development Principles
Proposals for construction and non-construction projects should:

1. Be feasible 

2. Be responsive to the needs of the community

3. Demonstrate support from regional stakeholders

4. Align with the regional CEDS or economic development strategy

5. Incorporate resilience principles and consider future sudden and severe economic dislocations

6. Be responsive to the impacts of the disaster

7. Foster job creation and retention

8. Start quickly have immediate impact

9. Demonstrate the applicant’s ability to successfully implement the proposed project

What makes a strong application?
10. Focus on the community/region becoming more economically diversified, prosperous, and resilient

11. Describe the economic distress experienced in the project region

12. Share benefits across the affected communities with a priority to historically underserved, rural, 

minority, and women populations

13. Align with EDA’s Investment Priorities www.eda.gov/funding/investment-priorities.

Workforce projects should describe the extent to which the project incorporates the workforce principles 

articulated in the NOFO (pp 7-9), including the expected # of job placements and the # and type of employer 

commitments.

Puerto Rico projects should describe the project’s alignment with a Puerto Rico-wide strategic planning 

document as described in NOFO.

What makes a strong application? (continued)
Proposals for preparing or revising a CEDS should:

1. Describe in detail the proposed scope of work for the development, implementation, revision, or 

replacement of a CEDS;

2. Increase the capacity of the community or region to promote job creation, private investment, and 

resilience;

3. Be feasible;

4. Align with EDA’s Investment Priorities https://www.eda.gov/funding/investment-priorities;

5. Demonstrate the applicant’s ability to successfully implement the proposed project

6. Have support from regional stakeholders; and

7. Articulate a plan for ensuring that the needs of all affected communities are considered

What makes a strong application? (continued)
1. Understand Current and Future Vulnerabilities and Risk

 National Economic Resilience Data Explorer (NERDE), EDA/Argonne. Consolidates a wide range of publicly available data about local and regional economic 

conditions. The NERDE contains FEMA’s National Risk Index which considers natural and community risk.

 FEMA Hazard Mitigation Plans FEMA-Approved Hazard Mitigation Plans identify risks and hazards for geographic areas. For information on aligning the EDA CEDS with a 

Hazard Mitigation Plan, see this Plan Alignment Guide.

 Climate Mapping Explorer, US Climate Resilience Toolkit. Provides climate projections down to the county level based on two futures: one in which global emissions 

of heat-trapping gases are reduced and stabilized and one in which we continue increasing emissions through the end of 21st century.

 Climate Mapping for Resilience and Adaptation (CMRA) Portal, NOAA and DOI - New

Interactive portal to explore current and future climate hazards. Enter your project's address in the portal's Assessment Tool to explore how conditions are projected to change at that location over the coming decades.

 ClimRR - Climate Risk and Resilience Portal by FEMA, AT&T, and Argonne – New

Summarizes multiple climate variables for a single location using sophisticated modeling techniques. Can examine simulated future climate conditions at mid- and end-of-century for range of 

climate hazards. Makes multiple data sets understandable in a non-technical format.

2. Research innovative best practices and solutions

 ARC-X – EPA Climate Adaptation Resource Center Adaptation strategies based on areas of interest.

 Community Resilience Portal - NIST

 Building Resilient Infrastructure Communities, FEMA grant program.

 Nature Based Solutions, FEMA

Strategic Recovery and Resilience Tools - General
Strategic Recovery and Resilience Tools - Specific

Disaster Type Resource 1 Resource 2 Resource 3

Floods FEMA Flood Risk Maps First Street Foundation 

– Flood Factors

Coastal Areas NOAA’s Digital Coast NOAA’s Sea Level Rise 

Tool

NFWF CREST Tool

Water Utilities EPA Water Utilities Tool

Broadband NTIA Climate 

Resilience Toolkit

Wildfires USDA Wildfire Risk First Street Foundation 

Tool

Drought NOAA – NIDIS Drought 

Tool
Philip Paradice – Atlanta Regional Office

Angela Martinez – Denver Regional Office

Insights from Regional Directors
1. Determine if you’re eligible

2. Check out EDA’s FY23 Disaster page (eda.gov/strategic-initiatives/disaster- recovery/supplemental/2023) and review the NOFO

3. Become familiar with some of EDA’s previous disaster projects

4. Consider if you are project ready

5. Contact your Economic Development Representative for more information 

(eda.gov/about/contact/ )

6. Review EDA's Climate Resilience Guidance

7. Register for EDA’s new grants management portal EDGE

Next Steps to Get Started