External Grants - Priorities

Attachment A. Priorities for FY2024

USGS Cooperative Landslide Hazard Mapping and Assessment Program 

Introduction

The USGS Cooperative Landslide Hazard Mapping and Assessment Program Priorities, presented here, reflect the National Landslide Preparedness Act (Attachment F) and the National Strategy for Landslide Loss Reduction (Attachment G), which support the mission of the USGS Landslide Hazards Program (LHP) to reduce loss of lives and property from landslides and improve public safety and community resilience of the Nation. Applicants should review the risk reduction priority areas described below. Proposed risk reduction activities aim to advance landslide science and communication that underlie the priorities of the National Landslide Preparedness Act by focusing on landslide hazard planning, coordination, education, outreach, mapping, and assessments. Proposed work could: (a) advance landslide hazard mapping and assessments, (b) improve landslide hazard planning and coordination, and (c) improve dissemination and effectiveness of landslide hazard information in mitigating losses. Proposed work could also be a combination of these objectives. Proposals focused on development of new products, such as hazard maps or educational materials, must demonstrate strong collaboration and coordination with intended users. Proposals focused on landslide hazard mitigation and risk reduction for traditionally underserved communities, and for populations whose vulnerability may be directly related to socioeconomic factors, are strongly encouraged.

Risk Reduction Priority Areas 

The National Landslide Preparedness Act established the National Landslide Hazards Reduction Program to address four goals:

G1. Identify and understand landslide hazards and risks:

G2. Reduce losses from landslides;

G3. Protect communities at risk of landslide hazards; and 

G4. Help improve communication and emergency preparedness, including by coordinating with communities and entities responsible for infrastructure that are at risk of landslide hazards.

To meet these four goals, the National Strategy for Landslide Loss Reduction (hereafter the “Strategy”) was written in coordination with a Federal interagency working group, identifying specific goals and strategic actions applicable to all levels of government. In consideration of the four goals above and the goals and strategic actions identified in the Strategy, the following risk reduction priority areas are recommended and described in detail below:

P1. Landslide hazard mapping and assessment

P2. Planning and coordination

P3. Education and outreach

Proposals submitted to this grant program must address at least one of the Risk Reduction Priority Areas (P1, P2, P3). This document summarizes some of the relevant goals and strategic actions discussed above; the USGS invites those submitting a proposal to also review the National Landslide Preparedness Act and the Strategy (Attachments F and G, respectively) to improve their proposal alignment. The identified priority areas are not an exhaustive list of all potential proposal topics, nor intended to discourage submission of proposals to accomplish other important landslide risk reduction tasks. PIs are encouraged to reach out to USGS Project Officer to discuss potential topics. 

Risk Reduction Priority Area P1: Landslide hazard mapping and assessments

Characterizing societal risk from landslides is an interdisciplinary endeavor that requires the data, collaboration, and coordination of local, Tribal, state, territorial, and federal agencies, as well as input from communities at-risk, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector. Key to the effectiveness of this work in reducing landslide losses is the development of better landslide hazard mapping and assessments. The hazard assessments can then be used to inform vulnerability and risk-assessment activities, which can in turn help identify where more-detailed hazard assessments and improved monitoring are needed to reduce the uncertainty of where, when, and why landslides could occur. These maps and assessments, combined with place-based sociological research, can also help focus outreach and communications about landslide risk reduction and preparedness. 

 Proposal topics may include:

• Landslide hazard mapping following an established protocol and using a lidar (3DEP) DEM base map. Hazard mapping may include landslide inventory, susceptibility, runout, exposure, and risk modeling for a region, municipality, or other defined area within the proposer’s jurisdictional responsibility. 
• Landslide event database creation that describes spatial and temporal information related to storm events, earthquakes, or other regional landslide events. Data collected may include landslide timing, precise location, land use, damage estimates, losses, or other influences to improve the collective understanding of the impact that landslides have on people, the built environment, and ecosystem services. 
• Assessments to improve our understanding of landslide behavior, including where landslides will initiate and where debris could travel after an event.
• An assessment of the influence of land use and land management practices on landslide likelihood and magnitude.
• Development of best practices and tools for landslide mapping in collaboration and coordination with state, Tribal, territorial, Federal, and local governments. 
• Collecting and analyzing loss data from landslides.
• Or other topics relevant to this Risk Reduction Priority Area. 

Note that for any mapping efforts that require topographic data, applicants are strongly encouraged to use lidar DEMs (e.g., data from the 3D Elevation Program (3DEP)) and to describe their usage in their proposals. 

Risk Reduction Priority Area P2: Landslide planning and coordination

Reducing landslide losses requires strategies for improving preparedness and mitigation, and for increasing the Nation’s capacity to respond to and recover effectively from landslides when they affect communities, infrastructure, and other equities. Improving preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery requires planning, collaboration, and coordination across Federal agencies; state, Tribal, territorial, and local governments; academia; private industry; and nongovernmental and community organizations. Priority area 2 seeks to fund ways to improve planning and coordination among research, private industry, land management, and emergency management communities, as well as across various levels of government to ensure that the right information is in the right hands at the right time. Such coordination includes improving and standardizing linkages between landslide hazard science and operational entities responsible for providing watches and warnings, evacuation planning, and communication strategies. Formalizing roles and responsibilities for landslide response and research, as well as increasing coordination, will streamline landslide hazard responses and can result in improved short- and long-term outcomes to protect lives, property, infrastructure, and the environment.

Proposal topics may include:

• Development of landslide emergency and technical response protocols, roles and responsibilities, procedures, products, etc. to address local landslide emergencies. Partners may include emergency, land, and infrastructure managers, and others. 
• Development, coordination, and facilitation of a landslide working group that shares best practices and lessons learned for effective landslide outreach, preparedness planning, education, land use practices, and other areas of landslide risk reduction and consisting of landslide experts and emergency, land, and transportation managers, planners, and others. 
• Or other topics relevant to this Risk Reduction Priority Area.