You should be receiving notification from The Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety, information regarding mandated local floodplain manager training requirements. This training requirement is the result of Senate Bill 387, which passed during the 2012 Legislative Session. The person charged with the responsibility for implementing your community's floodplain management ordinance to achieve the goal of sound community development while lessening losses due to flooding should plan to attend the training.
The Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, will be offering a series of training sessions that will be in addition to the formal FEMA courses or multi-day conferences that have been held in the past. They plan to offer four (4) six-hour courses and six (6) one hour webinars annually so you can receive training that will be convenient for you to attend and help you improve your floodplain management skills while meeting the training requirements passed by the legislature during this past session.
Attached is a copy of the West Virginia State Code that establishes annual training requirements for local floodplain managers. The Governor and Legislature realize that training and education are essential for you to do your job, but recognize the challenges you would face to meet the training requirements. Therefore, the training opportunities mentioned above and outlined on the attached fact sheet are designed to help you meet this six (6) hour annual floodplain management training requirement with the least amount of disruption to your work schedule.
The initial timeframe in which this annual requirement must be met will end June 30, 2013. Subsequent years, the requirements must be met during the standard fiscal year ending June 30. The Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management will maintain the official training records for this program. Since there will be many questions regarding this requirement, you are urged to contact the state floodplain associate assigned to your community to assist you with answers.
Floodplain management is essential to protecting our citizens and their property from destruction by the flooding that will inevitably come. This training will help you better provide the service to your citizens. Working together we can achieve the goal of protecting life and property from the devastating effects of flooding.
