This November 11-12, the Council of Infrastructure Finance Authorities (CIFA) is holding their annual national conference in Portland, and the Oregon Infrastructure Finance Authority is doing their best to support this effort.  Specifically, I am helping to organize an Oregon-focused plenary session for the conference, as well as a tour of some of the sustainable infrastructure that exists around Portland.

For the plenary session that will take place on Wednesday November 12 at 9 am, we will be bringing together a number of excellent speakers to present the work they’ve been involved with in regards to the impending Cascadia Earthquake. Jay Wilson (Chair of the Oregon Seismic Safety Policy Advisory Committee), Josh Bruce (Director of the Oregon Partnership for Disaster Resilience), and others will talk about the infrastructure issues associated with this predicted earthquake and discuss what lessons other infrastructure professionals from around the country can learn from the work taking place in Oregon.

For the sustainable infrastructure tour taking place immediately after the plenary from 10 am – 1 pm, we will be making three stops: the Portland Building, Portland State University, and the Pearl District’s Brewery Blocks. The Portland Building houses both the Portland Water Bureau and the Bureau of Environmental Services. We will hear presentations from both of those agencies before heading up to the top of the Portland Building to check out its Eco-roof. At Portland State University, we will explore the campus’s storm water infrastructure. Finally, in the Pearl District’s Brewery Blocks, we will get a tour from Gerdling Edlen, the firm that designed this Eco-district. On top of getting to see the nation’s first condominium to receive LEED Gold Certification, tour attendees will also get to experience some local Portland culture by getting to explore the Brewery Blocks.

The 2014 CIFA Conference is being held at the Hilton Double Tree. Click here for more information about the conference.

This week, the IFA’s Seismic Rehabilitation Grant Program (SRGP) will be starting a series of workshops aimed at helping Oregon residents maneuver through the Benefit-Cost Analysis tool that is used by communities to receive SRGP funding.   Coming up, there will be workshops in Aloha, Salem, Grants Pass, Gresham, and Pendleton.

For more information about these workshops, click here: http://www.oregon4biz.com/calendar.php?site=IFA&site_category=general

For more information about the SRGP, click here: http://www.orinfrastructure.org/Learn-About-Infrastructure-Programs/Seismic-Rehab-Program/

On November 14,  the Governor’s Japan Tsunami Marine Debris (JTMD) Task Force  held a meeting at OEM.  At the meeting, there were presentations by Chris Havel (Oregon Parks & Recreation Department),  Nir Barnea (Marine Debris Coordinator for NOAA), Gus Gates (Surfrider Foundation), Katie Gauthier (Senator Jeff Merkely’s District Aid), Gabriela Goldfarb (Governor Kitzhaber’s Natural Resources Advisor), and others.  The meeting was led by Dave Stuckey, who is the Director of OEM and the Chair of the JTMD Task Force.

The major take-away of the day came from Gus Gates.  While we should of course be concerned with JTMD, we also have to realize that there are bigger issues at play here.  JTMD is just a small part of the general marine debris problem, and marine debris is just a small part of the general problem of over-consumption.  We need policies and plans in place to reduce waste in general; the JTMD issue just contributes to that conversation.

Dave Stuckey also pointed out that we need to think about this issue relative to the Cascadia Subduction Zone event we are expecting to occur here in Pacific Northwest sometime in the near future.  We need to learn from how the Japanese responded to the 2011 earthquake and subsequent tsunami, and we need to plan for the impacts that these types of events produce.  The JTMD discussion can contribute to natural hazard mitigation plans.

For more information about  this meeting, click here: http://www.oregon.gov/OMD/OEM/public_information/JTMD_PPT_11-14-13.pdf.

This past month, I had the opportunity to continue helping the Oregon Partnership for Disaster Resilience (OPDR) with two projects focused on building resilience networks for Oregon’s coastal communities.  The first was the North Coast Community Network Pilot Project.  As I’ve explained in previous blogs, the purpose of this this DLCD-led NOAA funded project is to help build a resilience network for communities on Oregon’s north coast.  Specifically, we are focusing on the cities of Seaside, Cannon Beach, and Gearhart, as well as Clatsop County.  This past month, we held a technical work group meeting at the DLCD office  in Salem to discuss the results of our public outreach.  Mostly, the conversation focused on how we should think about the edits made to the USAID benchmarks as a result of input by local residents.  We also discussed the role that interactive mapping will play in this project.  Our hope is that we can build a website that allows local residents to input their own information onto a map so that other residents can be aware of potential hazards.  The next step of this project is to create specific measures that would allow us to analyze whether the communities are meeting their benchmark goals.

I also helped OPDR with a workshop pertaining to a South Coast Socio-Economic Resilience Network they are working on.  The purpose of this Ford Family Foundation funded project is to create a resilience network amongst the local businesses on Oregon’s southern coast.  This past month, we held a meeting at the Culinary Institute in Coos Bay to engage local business owners.  OPDR invited a number of speakers to join a panel discussion about the natural hazards that face the area, and they led a workshop to get feedback from the business owners.  In the end, this project hopes to focus on socio-economic gaps that many times are forgotten by planners who are working to create resilience networks.

I also organized a meeting for the Oregon Sea Grant Marine Debris Coordination Group.  This time, we asked a number of external partners to join us: Kim Lippert (OEM), Nir Barnea (NOAA), Alicia Lyman-Holt (Hinsdale Wave Center), and Mary Donohue (Hawaii Sea Grant).  A lot of great projects were discussed, and a number of new connections were made.  For example, Kim Lippert’s work as OEM’s Public Information Officer seems to be a great fit for a number of Sea Grant partners.   As a result of this meeting, some of her work will be promoted through the Sea Grant. Another meeting is tentatively scheduled for January.

There is a lot coming up next month.  Stay tuned.

With only a few months to go, I have a lot of work to do before the end of the year to make sure all of my projects get completed.

For OEM, I’ve been helping Cory Grogan (OEM’S PIO) create a social media policy document. Members of the community increasingly utilize social media, smartphones, and other electronic technology devices to access, capture, and share emergency information.  Therefore, OEM believes it is vitally important to also utilize these resources in case of an emergency in order to effectively engage with the public.  Being involved with social media is a key factor in terms of emergency resilience and preparedness. This document will describe OEM’s policy and procedures related to the use of social media.

For the Oregon Sea Grant, I’ve been helping Joe Cone (OSG’s Assistant Director) coordinate meetings with OSG staff members who are currently working on projects pertaining to Japan tsunami marine debris (JTMD), or marine debris in general.  The purpose of these meetings is to discuss the work each person is doing and discover whether there are any opportunities for collaboration.  For the next meeting, we will also be inviting external partners from OEM, NOAA, and Hawaii Sea Grant to discuss the marine debris work they are currently doing.

I’ve also continued to help the Oregon Partnership for Disaster Resilience (OPDR) coordinate meetings for the Coastal Community Resilience Network Pilot Project.  Oregon’s Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) received grant funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to implement a two-year pilot project that focuses on implementing a natural hazard risk-based approach to increasing community resilience known as RiskPlan. As a sub-recipient of funds under this DLCD-led NOAA funded project, the Oregon Partnership for Disaster Resilience (OPDR) generally provides research and technical planning assistance for risk, vulnerability, and resilience assessments. OPDR helps to co-chair the Resilience Technical Work Group and assist in the compilation and development of materials to be used in subsequent hazards and resilience planning efforts.  A major part of the project focuses on engaging with planners, policymakers, and community members from Oregon’s northern most county, Clatsop County.  Specifically, these meetings include planning commissioners, city administrators, and residents from the cities of Seaside, Cannon Beach, and Gearhart.  Using an USAID guide as a template, the purpose of these meetings is to build a resilience plan and social network that can be effectively utilized in the case of a natural disaster along Oregon’s coast.

Come back next month for updates on all of these projects.

As I mentioned in July, the Seismic Rehabilitation Grant Program (SRGP) is now being moved from the Oregon Office of Emergency Management (OEM) to the Oregon Business Development Department (OBDD), also known as Business Oregon.  For any questions regarding the SRGP, you can now contact the new Program Coordinator, Gloria Zacharias, at gloria.zacharias@biz.state.or.us.  Click here to read SB 813, which is the legislation that moved the SRGP from OEM to Business Oregon:  http://www.leg.state.or.us/13reg/measpdf/sb0800.dir/sb0813.en.pdf.

In support of Congresswoman Bonamici’s work to expedite federal funding for Japan tsunami marine debris cleanup projects, Senator Jeff Merkley recently announced plans to introduce a companion bill, which is also called the “Marine Debris Emergency Act.”  To read more, view this link: http://www.marinelink.com/news/introduce-emergency357933.aspx.