Getting to Know the Emergency Debris Management Solution

When disaster-related debris presents a threat to public health and safety, a community must act quickly to negate the threat and ensure its economic recovery. In the immediate aftermath of an incident, the speed at which debris can be cleared from roads determines how quickly life safety resources can be mobilized.

Before recovery and rebuilding efforts can begin, debris must be efficiently assessed and removed safely. These efforts can be expensive. If debris removal activities are not monitored and proper documentation maintained, federal reimbursement may be delayed. 

The  Emergency Debris Management  solution can be used by public works departments, emergency management agencies, and other state or local government organizations to deliver a set of capabilities that will expedite initial debris clearance, assess debris removal needs, and monitor debris removal activities.

To prepare for disasters, effective organizations train in advance of an incident, using mock exercises to familiarize personnel with the processes and technology they will use in the field during a real disaster. To support training efforts, the Access Field Apps page in the Help section of the Emergency Debris Management Center app includes a section that can be used by debris operations leads to brief mobile workers on how to download and use apps associated with their job function. To simplify the process of provisioning of users to the apps they need, the solution also includes role-based security groups, ensuring that personnel have the permissions to perform their assigned job function.

After a disaster strikes, one of the top response priorities of emergency managers is to rapidly identify and clear obstructed roads so that medical and search and rescue teams can provide critical life safety services to the community. The Emergency Debris Management solution provides a comprehensive system that can be used to report roads obstructed by debris, assign reports to field clearance crews, update the status of clearance assignments, and monitor the clearance process.

To clear road debris, first responders or other emergency personnel must first drive the impacted area to identify locations where debris has obstructed roadway traffic. The Road Debris Reporter can be used by first responders during the first 72 hours of a disaster response to identify where debris is obstructing the roadway.

Once a road obstruction has been identified, the debris operations lead assigns a field crew to clear debris from the roadway to make it passable again. Crews clear debris from obstructed roads as they are assigned. Debris Clearance Assignments, an ArcGIS Workforce project, can be used by debris operations leads to assign debris obstruction reports to a work crew for clearance, and for crew supervisors to manage status as they complete each assignment.

During the first 72 hours of a disaster response, the debris manager in the Emergency Operations Center monitors the debris clearance efforts and coordinates with Emergency Managers and other key stakeholders. The debris manager helps to provide situational awareness relative to the status of clearance efforts, and coordinates with the debris operations lead to prioritize clearance activities relative to opening arterial roads leading to critical health and safety infrastructure or other priority locations.

The Clear page in the Emergency Debris Management Center app can be used by a debris manager to review active requests, monitor their status, and review requests by type and status, and visualize active requests in the context of critical infrastructure like hospitals and public safety facilities.

Once a disaster incident has passed, communities begin the recovery process by assessing the nature and extent of damage. With respect to debris generated from the incident, this means understanding where debris exists, the types of debris generated, and estimating debris volumes. This information, along with information generated from an initial damage assessment, can be used by communities to determine whether to make a request to the Federal government for an emergency or major disaster declaration in order to receive assistance under the Stafford act.

The Emergency Debris Management solution can be used by state and local governments to create and manage their assessment areas, perform debris assessments, update the status of assessment areas or routes, and monitor progress of assessment efforts.

Before they can begin performing assessments, assessors must be assigned a work area. The debris operations lead is responsible for assigning each assessor to a designated work area. The nature of the work area will depend upon the preferences of the jurisdiction; some prefer to use pre-existing operational boundaries (public works service areas), some prefer service routes (garbage or snowplow routes), and some prefer a grid of uniform size. As assessors complete their work, debris operations leads will update the assessment status field to reflect the current progress in that work area.

The Manage Assessment Status page of the Emergency Debris Management Center app can be used by operations leads to assign assessors to a work area and update the status of a work area as assessors perform their work.

Some jurisdictions prefer to create a grid of uniform size for debris assessment and removal activities, especially when the disaster area of impact does not extend across the entire jurisdiction or has an extent that does not cleanly align with preexisting operational boundaries or routes. The Manage Assessment Status page of the Emergency Debris Management Center app can also be used by operations leads to create a work area grid.

Personnel assigned to perform debris assessments are responsible for documenting each pile of debris observed in the right-of-way or on public property within the work area they are assigned. This critical work is inherently time-consuming, but when performed on paper, the forms require subsequent data entry that delays access to debris volume information that is critically important to the disaster declaration request process.

The Debris Assessment Form can be used by assessors to perform debris assessments on public facilities or in the right of way.

Once a removal crew has completed an initial pass of an area, assessors typically perform a review check to confirm that all initially assessed debris has been removed. Instead of updating these records individually, some organizations may prefer to update the status of debris assessments en masse from the office. The Manage Assessment Status page of the Emergency Debris Management Center app can also be used by operations leads to update the status of debris assessments en masse.

As recovery from a disaster begins, the debris manager in the Emergency Operations Center works with emergency managers, elected officials, and other key stakeholders to understand the impacts and scope of the disaster. As debris assessments get underway, the debris manager helps to provide situational awareness relative to the status of assessment efforts, and coordinates with the debris operations lead to ensure that debris is assessed in a timely fashion.

The Assess page in the Emergency Debris Management Center app can be used by debris managers and operations leads to view assessments and monitor assessment progress by work area, debris type, and volume.

Removal of disaster debris is often the first visible step a community takes on the road to recovery. Municipalities responsible for debris removal face a challenging task, demonstrating responsiveness to community demands to get debris out of their neighborhoods; coordinating multiple contractors and removal service providers; storing and minimizing large volumes of debris while it awaits a final disposal location; and adhering to processes and meticulously documenting each step to ensure compliance with Federal regulations for reimbursement.

The Emergency Debris Management solution can be used by state and local governments to support debris removal workflows including certification of trucks used in debris removal, managing removal provider work areas and status, completing debris monitoring load and unload tickets, sharing assessment or ticket logs with contractors and auditors, sharing information with the public, and monitoring the progress of removal efforts.

As debris removal operations commence, the debris operations lead assigns work areas to each removal provider. The nature of the work area will depend upon the preferences of the jurisdiction; some prefer to use pre-existing operational boundaries (public works service areas), some prefer service routes (garbage or snowplow routes), and some prefer a grid of uniform size. As removal crews complete their work, debris operations leads will update the removal status field to reflect the current progress in that work area.

The Manage Removal Resources and Status page of the Emergency Debris Management Center can be used by operations leads to assign work areas to contractors or other providers of debris removal services, and can also be used to add or update debris removal providers or debris management sites.

During removal operations, a debris operations lead may also need to add or update removal resources to reflect a changing scope of work. This may include additional contractors or activating new debris management sites to keep up with capacity needs, or deactivating resources as operations come to a close. The Manage Removal Resources and Status page of the Emergency Debris Management Center can also be used to add or update debris removal providers or debris management sites.

Debris monitoring documentation is critical to verify that debris operations are eligible for reimbursement...and all work and costs comply with regulatory requirements. 

FEMA Debris Monitoring Guide (2020)

To ensure compliance with the FEMA Public Assistance reimbursement program, trucks used for debris removal must have their capacity certified and documented by assessors. These assessors, typically public works employees, measure the capacity of each truck and document other key information like identification numbers and information about the vehicle drivers and owners. The Truck Certification Form can be used by assessors to document the capacity of each truck used in debris removal operations.

The FEMA Public Assistance reimbursement program also requires that debris removal operations are observed and documented from initial debris loading to final disposal. Debris monitors perform this work at each loading site, initiating a chain of custody that is completed by another monitor when a truck is unloaded at a debris management site or landfill. The Load Ticket can be used by debris monitors at a load site to initiate a load monitoring ticket, documenting the time and location where the debris was loaded and the truck used.

The Unload Ticket can be used by debris monitors working at a debris management site to document the location debris was unloaded to, the volume being unloaded, and the distance traveled by the truck. Once debris volume is reduced at a management site, both tickets can be used to track debris loads as they are hauled out from the management site to a landfill or other final location.

Throughout removal operations, the debris manager in the Emergency Operations Center works with emergency managers, elected officials, and other key stakeholders to ensure the process is handled expediently. The debris manager provides situational awareness relative to the status of the removal effort and coordinates with the debris operations lead to ensure that debris removal providers are completing their work in a timely fashion. The Remove page of the Emergency Debris Management Center app can be used by managers to monitor removal progress by work area, understand removal volumes by type and contractor, track debris management site capacity, and review monitoring tickets.

When a disaster incident is over, residents want to get back to normal as quickly as possible and need to know when debris in front of their house will be removed. To expedite the process, residents are asked to segregate debris piles in their right-of-way according to specific types. In addition, drop-off sites enable residents to drop-off specific types of debris, reducing workload for removal crews. The Debris Removal Services app can used by the public to understand the debris removal requirements, the pickup schedule for their property and where debris can be dropped off

Search for an address or click on the map to get information about your removal service area, removal schedules, and points of contact, as well as locations where debris can be dropped off. Filter by debris type to find sites that accept the specific type of debris you wish to drop-off.

A variety of stakeholders need debris records to support their internal processes. Contractors use debris assessment records from the office and the field to identify the parts of a work area they need to complete, and to identify where specialized types of debris removal crews are required. Contractors also need access to monitoring tickets for invoicing purposes as their contracts are typically volume-based.

FEMA representatives from the Public Assistance program also need access to these records for auditing purposes, verifying that debris removed corresponds to debris assessed, and that FEMA documentation procedures for debris removal are being followed.

The Debris Records Reviewer can be used by contractors or auditors to view debris records from the field, and to review or export logs from the office.

When you deploy Emergency Debris Management in your ArcGIS organization, you will get a collection of maps and apps that can be used by public works departments, emergency management agencies, or state and local governments to expedite initial debris clearance, assess debris removal needs, and monitor debris removal activities.

The solution will help your organization improve efficiency of debris clearance operations, expedite management of debris removal, and ensure proper documentation for federal reimbursement, ultimately enabling the community to recover faster from disaster incidents.

ArcGIS Solutions for Public Safety help law enforcement, fire, and emergency management agencies improve operations and enhance services provided to the public. Visit  ArcGIS Solutions  for more information.