New Interagency Resources Highlight Opportunities for Federal Support of Voluntary Community-Driven Relocation Due to Severe Environmental Hazards from Climate Change

Date: Monday, December 9, 2024
Contact: Interior_Press@ios.doi.gov

WASHINGTON — The Department of the Interior and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, in partnership with the White House Council on Environmental Quality and Office of Science and Technology Policy, are pleased to announce the release of Opportunities for Federal Support of Community-Driven Relocation and Community-Driven Relocation: Guide for Communities to Federal Programs and Resources. These two resources were produced by the federal interagency Community-Driven Relocation Subcommittee, co-led by the Interior Department and FEMA with representation from 14 federal agencies and seven Executive Offices of the President.  

The Opportunities for Federal Support of Community-Driven Relocation report provides an overview of the current landscape of voluntary community-driven relocation in the United States. The phrase “community-driven relocation” is deliberate—the intent is to collectively reinforce that it is essential for the consideration or implementation of planned relocation projects to be grounded in a community’s ability to define and determine their future.  The report identifies next steps federal agencies can take in developing a coordinated strategy for holistically supporting communities that have determined they must relocate or are exploring relocation in the face of persistent climate impacts or pollution hazards. The report also seeks to highlight that the federal government must consider challenges that may exist in the areas that individuals are relocating to (i.e., receiving communities) in order to establish holistic support of community-driven relocation. 

“The Biden-Harris Administration has made historic investments to help communities facing catastrophic climate impacts, and today’s announcement will continue to help those in need to access critical resources if they determine relocating is their only option,” said White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory. “By identifying next steps and best practices for federal agencies to support community-driven relocation, we can bridge the gap between at-risk Tribes and communities seeking assistance and the resources available across the federal government to support them for generations to come.” 

This is the first federal report that begins to lay out an approach for building an all-of-government strategy for considering all the needs of a community when choosing community-driven relocation – and it is the first time that climate and legacy pollution-based relocation have been considered together. This report represents the next step to advance collaborative interagency support of communities seeking to relocate out of harm’s way.  

Report Highlights:

• Describes a whole-of-government approach to supporting communities that are exploring voluntary community-driven relocation or have determined they must relocate, outlining a unified vision, goals, and guiding principles for the federal government to follow. 
• Details what community-driven relocation is, describing the challenges and the importance of the adaptation strategy.  
• Examines how the federal government can support communities through existing federal authorities and programs.  
• Presents actions for the federal government to improve support for community-driven relocation through a series of near-term, intermediate-term, and long-term actions.   

An additional resource, the Community-Driven Relocation: Guide for Communities to Federal Programs and Resources, was created as a tool for communities considering relocation to explore available federal resources. The guide includes details on programs, activities, and eligibility to help communities understand the range of opportunities that may be available to them. While the guide includes program information from many agencies it is does not capture all the intricacies of each program 

To learn more, visit the White House’s website. 

###