; and (3) a consortium of other public universities or colleges selected by the Administrator and the lead partner institution based on their ability to fulfill specific purposes of NFREC. (b) Purposes The purposes of NFREC are as follows: (1) To plan, conduct, and arrange for competent public research, data, education, and recommendations within the following categories as they relate to flooding issues nationwide, regionally, and locally: (A) Physical sciences, including engineering, hydrology, environmental, and atmospheric sciences, of flooding and flood-related events. (B) Social science of flooding and flood-related events focused on increasing community resilience. (C) Economic analysis of flooding and flood-related events in addition to analysis of a variety of existing and new strategies and techniques to reduce, manage, and prevent flooding and flood-related events. (D) Policy analysis and recommendations on flooding-related policy on a Federal, State, and local governmental basis. (E) Risk analysis and risk management of flooding and flood-related events. (F) Improvement of existing, and testing of new, risk assessment tools, methods, and models for flooding and flood risks used by Federal, State, and local governments and other interested organizations. (G) Improvement of existing, and testing of new, monitoring and predicting strategies and techniques of flooding and flood-related events. (H) Improvement of existing, and testing of new, flood management and prevention strategies and techniques. (2) To carry out this Act within a variety of regions in the United States which are identified and categorized by NFREC based on their specific flooding and flood-related issues, hydrology, weather, and related issues so that diverse flood situations are represented and examined through NFREC’s work. (3) To identify opportunities for increased efficiency in allocation of resources, coordination, cooperation, and consolidation of efforts as they relate to local, statewide, regional, and Federal flood-related