Trans-Boundary Risk Identification

and Mitigation SystemCd. Acuna-Del Rio

Workshop July 23, 2009

Part IWHAT IS A TRIMS ?

• A set of arrangements through which sister jurisdictions on Mexico-US border formalize and/or strengthen cooperation to identify and mitigate those risks whose origins and/or impacts extend across the international boundary.

•

TRIMSWord-for-Word

Transboundary Risk - the prospect of an event occurring in association with a natural disaster or catastrophic accident whose impact extends across the international boundary and threaten lives and property.

• Incident that may pose a threat to both cities and the region• Incidents affecting one city or region to the extent assistance is necessary

from the other city or region

Identification – a shared perception that something can or might exist

Mitigation - elimination or reduction of frequency, magnitude, or severity of exposure to risk .

System - as used in planning:• a set of facts, principles, rules, etc. classified or arranged in a regular,

orderly form so as to show a logical plan linking the various parts • an established way of doing something; method; procedure

Who identifies the risks and defines needed “Mitigation Actions”?

TRIMS is conceived as a grass-roots, risk-driven disaster mitigation planning in which the contiguous communities analyze the risks they share and adopt mitigation measures they can execute through legally sanctioned cooperation.

Who is promoting TRIMS planning?

In January FEMA and the Texas Governors Division of Emergency Management approved the Cover the Border Hazard Mitigation Plan for 66 local jurisdictions on Texas border.

Plan recognized that transboundary hazards presented grave threats to life and property and recommended extraordinary binational planning initiative supported by local, state and federal authorities

Is TRIMS emergency response planning ?

• No, this is mitigation planning focused on identifying risks and trying to reduce or eliminate them well before a disaster occurs.

• A TRIMS should make the work of first responders and all emergency workers easier and safer but plays no role during an incident.

• To the extent that communications and response protocols are inadequate, this could be considered as a risk.

TRIMS Development Teams

As the concept is embraced locally there will be as many “teams” formed as there are sister jurisdictions interested in establishing a TRIMS.

A “Kick-off” team for Del Rio-Acuna workshop is being organized by participants from the Cover the Border planning group: Rio Grande Institute, Texas A & M International University.

Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon represented by Dr. Alfonso Martinez has joined the team, working with Bill Skeen, President Rio Grande Institute, and senior consultants to the Rio Grande Institute, Larry Dovalina and Remberto Arteaga as well Laurel Lacy of Lacy Associates.

Sources of Input for TRIMSPlanning

Consulates of the Governments of Mexico and US U.S. Department of State- Offices U. S.- Mexico Border Affairs

and International Communications Policy Governor’s Division of Emergency Management (Tx) Protection Civil – Sec. De Gobernacion /Tamaulipas and Coahuila Texas National Guard Local governments from Brownsville/Matamoros to to Ciudad Acuña/Del Rio. Local and Regional Emergency Management officials Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council Middle Rio Grande Valley Development Council Border 2012 – EPA/SEMARNAT International Boundary and Water Commission/CILA FEMA, Region 6 and Office of International Affairs UT Space Science Center Texas Natural Resources Information System Texas Commission on Environmental Quality

What is new about TRIMS ?Cooperative projects already exist

• The Border Mechanism and exemplary informal cooperative arrangements are in place. Notably, there are two well-established, treaty-based structures for levee protection and haz-mat threats – IBWC and Sister City Plans supported by EPA/SEMARNAT.

• TRIMS planning helps local governments cooperate on a risk-driven approach that generates local actions supported as needed by federal and state.

• A TRIMS can put any transboundary contingency “on the table” for mitigation action.

What Agencies will Sanction Local TRIMS ?

• The Cover the Border Plan: Adopted by sixty-six participating US cities and

counties and approved by FEMA and the Governor of Texas’s Division of

Emergency Management in December, 2008 the CTB provides an

unequivocal recognition of the need for TRIMS in border communities.

• US and Mexico: Each local TRIMS will be tailored to conform to the October

2008 Agreement on Emergency Management Cooperation in Cases of

Natural Disasters and Accidents. Hopefully, Working Group to be formed

under the agreement will be in place soon and establish “TRIMS-friendly

norms.”

• Other agreements: All TRIMS will be subject to applicable laws and will be

shaped in conformity and consultation wherever possible with the local, state

and federal authorities having jurisdiction

Part II – First year

• Local workshops postponed on advice of federal authorities, first because of Hurricane Dolly then by influenza.

• Hazard assessment consultations in US and Mexico have proceeded in working meetings with local, state and federal emergency managers.

• Findings: All Rio Grande border communities face threats associated with inability to predict inundation patterns, organize cross-border evacuations, address communications protocols and interoperability.

• Sister City updates needed.

A regional vision has emerged

Strengthen bi-national commitments between US and Mexican local and regional jurisdictions for cooperation on management of natural disasters and potentially catastrophic accidents

Provide training and capacity building to local governments wishing to meet challenges for trans-boundary disaster preparedness, response and recovery; and thereby

Diminish risks faced by residents of the US and Mexico border from trans-boundary hazards that can threaten their lives, property, economy and social well-being

TRIMS Planning Area

Key Element: A TRIMS REGIONAL SUPPORT CENTER

• Concept - As soon as practicable the TRIMS Progam will integrated into the work of a sustainable border-based training Center or Institute for local emergency management capacity building. Specific features of TRIMS will include:

• Flood Inundation Models: Training local emergency managers for using and enhancing flood inundation models and GIS

• Directories: Procedures and software for compiling directories and emergency contact protocols, including one sister-city prototype

• Communications Interoperability: Training and technical assistance for local officials to improve their cross-border emergency communication capacities in conformity with requirements of the US and Mexican governments

• Hazard Assessment Training : Developing and testing through local workshops procedures and techniques for identifying and analyzing the trans-boundary hazards that threaten residents

• “Sister City Agreements”: Seek the legal and financial underpinnings needed to sustain existing arrangements between “Sister Cities”

Key element:Trans-Boundary Emergency Management Directory

• This electronic directory will provide contact information and emergency communications protocols for use by authorized emergency management officials in contiguous sister jurisdictions along the US-Mexico border

• The Directory will provide the essential contact information needed for every-day communication and information needed in real-time to maintain communications during emergencies

• Due to the sensitive nature of some of the information, controlling access to Directory will be a critical component

• The Directory will provide means for linkage to key external contacts, both hierarchical and geographical to be used in extraordinary circumstances

• All user information and protocols will be available in English and Spanish and constantly updated

Key Element:Emergency Communications Training

With concurrence from the Department of State pursuant to the United States-Mexico High Level Consultative Commission on Telecommunications (“HLCC”), TRIMS will develop a curriculum to train emergency management coordinators, public affairs officers, and support staff from border area local governments and extraterritorial jurisdictions in the procurement, maintenance, operation, and security of communications equipment. Under the HLCC efforts are currently underway in California, Arizona, and New Mexico to advance cross-border communication networks

Working with GDEM and DPS, establish protocols needed to ensure effective communication between emergency management coordinators, emergency management agencies, local governments, and extra-jurisdictional entities such drainage districts

The enhancement of public safety communications and protocols are designed to focus on the interoperability of cross border communications systems

The communications training will improve the capacity of local governments to communicate using defined radio frequency links across jurisdictional lines to exchange critical information in times of natural disasters, accidents, and emergencies

Key Element: Local Government“Sister Jurisdiction” Hazard Assessment Workshops

TRIMS will sponsor workshops between local jurisdictions along the U.S. Mexico border focused on improving their capacity to identify and mitigate risks to human life, property, and economic activity from natural disasters and accidents that impact both sides of the international boundary

The local governments will be encouraged to prioritize those risks that have potential impact on both sides of the border

The identification of these risks are designed to create mitigation projects

Part III Workshops -Purposes

Facilitate training, technical assistance, and planning

of participating “sister jurisdictions”

Improve capacity to anticipate shared hazards

Develop information and procedures for cross border

evacuation contingencies

Support update and expansion of existing hazmat

sister city arrangements

Enhance public safety communications

Del Rio and Ciudad Acuna Kick-off Workshop

Participants:

– City of Del Rio

– Ciudad Acuna

Facilitators:

– Rio Grande Institute

– Mundo Sustentable

Contributors to the process

• List of partipants will be provided with final power point

Workshop Ground Rules

1. Working meeting leading up to design and acceptance of a TRIMS for Cd Acuna and Del Rio. This is for the “Sister Cities”.

2. NOT a conference, seminar, symposium or outreach meeting.

3. Speak freely. Nothing is official until there is a draft TRIMS to be approved by the “Sister Cities.”

More ground rules

• Agenda is set to establish a TRIMS to meet the needs of the “Sister Cities”

• Focus on transboundary hazards and mitigation actions

• Facilitators guide and enforce agenda

Agenda

• (insert agenda here)

Outcomes Checklist

• Conclusion of workshop will involve review of original outcomes sought and any additions

• Review will include who will write narrative and who will serve as resources to help

Outcomes & Follow-upRE: Who Does Hazard Assessment Narratives

1. Confirmation/Validation of Inundation risks - Lead __Support from__ Interoperability- Lead __ Support from__ Directories / protocols - Lead__ Support from ___ US-Mexico Evacuation - Lead__ Support from __ Sister City Contingency Plan- Lead__ Support from __

2. Description of workshop-identified risks

(Facilitator will list and determine who

will provide/authorize narrative & input)

Outcomes & Follow-upRE: Designing and Populating GIS

• Base Map to be provided by _______

• Architecture to be provided by ______

• Data layers and sources ________

• ______ ________

• ______ ________

Curriculum Development and Training

• Identified needs – who will provide narrative from workshop

• Follow-up curriculum development institution (who will draft)

• Training venues – list and assign follow-up

Outcomes & Follow-up MitigationAction Narratives

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?

Sanderson, TXUSGS archivesFall 2008Rio Grande RiverFlooding