state and local mitigation planning how-to guide · state and local mitigation planning how-to...

STATE AND LOCAL MITIGATION PLANNINGhow-to guide

building support for mitigation planning

Version 1.0 September 2002

foreword

introduction

STEP ONE assess community support

task a determine the planning area

task b determine if the community is ready to begin the planning process

task c remove roadblocks

STEP TWO build the planning team

task a create the planning team

task b obtain official recognition for the planning team

task c organize the team

STEP THREE engage the public

task a identify the public

task b organize public participation activities

task c develop a public education campaign

afterword

appendix a glossary

appendix b library

appendix c worksheet

appendix d example questionnaire

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v

1-1

1-2

1-3

1-5

2-1

2-2

2-8

2-8

3-1

3-2

3-3

3-6

a-1

b-1

c-1

d-1

contents

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3

STATE AND LOCAL MITIGATION PLANNING how-to guide: Getting Started

thehazard

mitigationplanningprocess

Hazard mitigation planning is theprocess of determining how to re-duce or eliminate the loss of life andproperty damage resulting fromnatural and human-caused hazards.Four basic phases are described forthe hazard mitigation planning pro-cess as shown in this diagram.

For illustration purposes, this dia-gram portrays a process that ap-pears to proceed sequentially. How-ever, the mitigation planning processis rarely a linear process. It is notunusual that ideas developed whileassessing risks should need revi-sion and additional information whiledeveloping the mitigation plan, orthat implementing the plan may re-sult in new goals or additional riskassessment.

foreword

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foreword

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) hasdeveloped this series of mitigation planning "how-to" guides to

assist states, communities, and tribes in enhancing their hazardmitigation planning capabilities.

These guides are designed to provide the type of information stateand local governments need to initiate and maintain a planningprocess that will result in safer communities. These guides areapplicable to states and communities of various sizes and varyingranges of financial and technical resources.

This how-to series is not intended to be the last word on any of thesubject matter covered; rather, it is meant to provide easy to under-stand guidance for the field practitioner. In practice, these guidesmay be supplemented with more extensive technical data and theuse of experts when necessary.

mit-i-gate\ 1: to cause tobecome less harsh or hos-tile; 2: to make less severeor painful.

As defined by DMA 2000- hazard miti-gation: any sustained action taken toreduce or eliminate the long-term riskto human life and property from haz-ards.

plan-ning\: the act or process of mak-ing or carrying out plans; specif: theestablishment of goals, policies, andprocedures for a social or economicunit.

The Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000In the past, federal legislation has provided fund-ing for disaster relief, recovery, and some hazardmitigation planning. The Disaster Mitigation Act of

2000 (DMA 2000) is the latest legislation to improve this plan-ning process and was put into motion on October 10, 2000,when the President signed the Act (Public Law 106-390). Thenew legislation reinforces the importance of mitigation plan-ning and emphasizes planning for disasters before they oc-cur. As such, this Act establishes a pre-disaster hazard miti-gation program and new requirements for the nationalpost-disaster Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP).

Section 322 of the Act specifically addresses mitigation plan-ning at the state and local levels. It identifies new require-ments that allow HMGP funds to be used for planning activi-ties, and increases the amount of HMGP funds available tostates that have developed a comprehensive, enhanced miti-gation plan prior to a disaster. States and communities musthave an approved mitigation plan in place prior to receivingpost-disaster HMGP funds. Local and tribal mitigation plansmust demonstrate that their proposed mitigation measuresare based on a sound planning process that accounts for therisk to and the capabilities of the individual communities.

State governments have certain responsibilities for implement-ing Section 322, including:

! Preparing and submitting a standard or enhanced statemitigation plan;

! Reviewing and updating the state mitigation plan ev-ery three years;

! Providing technical assistance and training to local gov-ernments to assist them in applying for HMGP grantsand in developing local mitigation plans; and

! Reviewing and approving local plans if the state is des-ignated a managing state and has an approved en-hanced plan.

DMA 2000 is intended to facilitate cooperation between stateand local authorities, prompting them to work together. It en-courages and rewards local and state pre-disaster planningand promotes sustainability as a strategy for disaster resis-tance. This enhanced planning network will better enable lo-cal and state governments to articulate accurate needs formitigation, resulting in faster allocation of funding and moreeffective risk reduction projects.

To implement the new DMA 2000 requirements, FEMA pre-pared an Interim Final Rule, published in the Federal Regis-ter on February 26, 2002, at 44 CFR Parts 201 and 206,which establishes planning and funding criteria for states andlocal communities.

ii STATE AND LOCAL MITIGATION PLANNING how-to guide: Getting Started

The how-to guides cover the following topics:

" Getting started with the mitigation planning process,including important considerations for how you canorganize your efforts to develop an effective mitigationplan (FEMA 386-1);

" Identifying hazards and assessing losses to your commu-nity or state (FEMA 386-2);

" Setting mitigation priorities and goals for your commu-nity or state and writing the plan (FEMA 386-3);

" Implementing the mitigation plan, including projectfunding and maintaining a dynamic plan that changesto meet new developments (FEMA 386-4);

" Evaluating potential mitigation measures through theuse of benefit-cost analysis and other techniques (FEMA386-5);

" Incorporating special considerations into hazard mitiga-tion planning for historic structures and cultural re-sources (FEMA 386-6);

" Incorporating considerations for human-caused hazardsinto hazard mitigation planning (FEMA 386-7);

" Using multi-jurisdictional approaches to mitigationplanning (FEMA 386-8); and

" Finding and securing technical and financial resourcesfor mitigation planning (FEMA 386-9).

Why should you take the time to readthese guides?

" It simply costs too much to address the effects of disas-ters only after they happen;

" State and federal aid is usually insufficient to cover theextent of physical and economic damages resulting fromdisasters;

" You can prevent a surprising amount of damage fromhazards if you take the time to anticipate where and howthey occur;

" You can lessen the impact and speed the response andrecovery process for both natural and human-causedhazards; and

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foreword

" The most meaningful steps in avoiding the impacts ofhazards are taken at the state and local levels by officialsand community members who have a personal stake inthe outcome and/or the ability to follow through on asustained program of planning and implementation.

The guides focus on showing how mitigation planning:

" Can help your community become more sustainable anddisaster-resistant through selecting the most appropriatemitigation measures, based on the knowledge you gainin the hazard identification and loss estimation process;

" Can be incorporated as an integral component of dailygovernment business;

" Allows you to focus your efforts on the hazard areas mostimportant to you by incorporating the concept of deter-mining and setting priorities for mitigation planningefforts; and

" Can save you money by providing a forum for engaging inpartnerships that could provide technical, financial,and/or staff resources in your effort to reduce theeffects, and hence the costs, of natural and human-caused hazards.

These guides provide a range of approaches to preparing a hazardmitigation plan. There is no one right planning process; however,there are certain central themes to planning, such as engagingcitizens, developing goals and objectives, and monitoring progress.Select the approach that works best in your state or community.

introduction

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introduction

This first guide in the State and Local Mitigation PlanningHow-to series discusses the activities and issues involved in

initiating a hazard mitigation planning process. The topics coveredhere are presented within the context of the beginning phase ofthe mitigation planning process, although many of these activitieswill continue more or less behind the scenes throughout theprocess. Therefore, the efforts you put into identifying and orga-nizing your resources early on will pay dividends later as youprogress through some of the more challenging tasks of mitigationplanning. This how-to guide thus covers not only this first phase ofthe planning process, but also provides snapshots of later phases.You will then be able to begin the planning process knowing aheadof time what types of resources you may need to call upon in thefuture. Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, elected officials,community staff, citizens, and businesses will benefit from theknowledge, organization, positive attitude, and energy that you andyour team demonstrate.

Phases of EmergencyManagementTo better structure the way in whichcommunities in the United States re-spond to disasters, the "four phases ofemergency management" were intro-duced in the early 1980s after the simi-larities between natural disaster pre-paredness and civil defense becameclear. This approach can be applied toall disasters.

Mitigation is defined as any sustainedaction taken to reduce or eliminatelong-term risk to life and propertyfrom a hazard event. Mitigation, alsoknown as prevention, encourageslong-term reduction of hazard vulner-ability. The goal of mitigation is tosave lives and reduce property dam-age. Mitigation can accomplish this,and should be cost-effective and en-vironmentally sound. This, in turn,can reduce the enormous cost of di-sasters to property owners and alllevels of government. In addition,mitigation can protect critical com-munity facilities, reduce exposure toliability, and minimize community dis-ruption. Examples include land useplanning, adoption of building codes,and elevation of homes, or acquisi-tion and relocation of homes awayfrom floodplains.

Preparedness includes plans andpreparations made to save lives andproperty and to facilitate responseoperations.

Response includes actions taken toprovide emergency assistance, savelives, minimize property damage,and speed recovery immediately fol-lowing a disaster.

Recovery includes actions taken to re-turn to a normal or improved operat-ing condition following a disaster.

Communities that already participate in otherFEMA programs such as the Community Rating System (CRS),Flood Mitigation Assistance Program (FMA), and Hazard MitigationGrant Program (HMGP), but are interested in updating current plansto account for additional hazards and current regulations, should skim

through this guide to verify that they have a good framework in place for their(potentially multi-hazard) planning effort before starting the hazard identificationand risk assessment work described in the second how-to guide, UnderstandingYour Risks: Identifying Hazards and Estimating Losses (FEMA 386-2). You shouldalso check with the State Hazard Mitigation Officer (SHMO) for any additionalplanning requirements that must be met within your particular state or region.

Using a planning approach in hazardmitigationHazard mitigation is any action that reduces the effects of futuredisasters. It has been demonstrated time after time that hazardmitigation is most effective when based on an inclusive, compre-hensive, long-term plan that is developed before a disaster actuallyoccurs. However, in the past, many communities have undertakenmitigation actions with good intentions but with little advance

vi STATE AND LOCAL MITIGATION PLANNING how-to guide: Getting Started

planning. In some of these cases, decisions have been made "onthe fly" in the wake of a disaster. In other cases, decisions may havebeen made in advance but without careful consideration of alloptions, effects, and/or contributing factors. The results have beenmixed at best, leading to less than optimal use of limited resources.

Understandably, there is often pressure to do something tangibleas quickly as possible, especially in the period immediately follow-ing a disaster. This type of response frequently occurs at the ex-pense of working out which projects and policies would be the bestones to pursue through some sort of planning process.

The primary purpose of hazard mitigation planning is to identifycommunity policies, actions, and tools for implementation over thelong term that will result in a reduction in risk and potential forfuture losses community-wide. This is accomplished by using asystematic process of learning about the hazards that can affectyour community or state, setting clear goals, identifying appropri-ate actions, following through with an effective mitigation strategy,and keeping the plan current.

Effective planning forges partnerships that will bring together theskills, expertise, and experience of a broad range of groups toachieve a common vision for the community or state, and can alsoensure that the most appropriate and equitable mitigation projectswill be undertaken. Hazard mitigation planning is most successfulwhen it increases public and political support for mitigation pro-grams, results in actions that also support other important commu-nity goals and objectives, and influences the community's or state'sdecision making to include hazard reduction considerations.

Communities with up-to-date mitigation plans will be better able toidentify and articulate their needs to state and federal officials,giving them a competitive edge when grant funding becomesavailable. Planning also enables communities and states to betteridentify sources of technical and financial resources outside oftraditional venues.

In general, the amount of effort that citizens put into planningoften reflects the significance of the problems to members of thecommunity. However, since many citizens are not even aware thatvulnerability to hazards may be an issue within their community,hazard mitigation planning is often hindered by:

" Lack of understanding of the hazards and risks and thateffective solutions to these issues are available;

In 1996, FEMA estimatedthat Oregon had avoidedabout $10 million a year in flood lossesbecause of strong land-use planningthat considers natural haz-ards. This was not accom-plished by accident butthrough the foresight of pre-vious Oregon administra-tions to call for local plansto include inventories, policies, and or-dinances to guide development in haz-ard-prone areas for the previous 25years. Using a comprehensive ap-proach to planning has resulted in re-duced losses from flooding, landslides,and earthquakes.

Getting Started: BuildingSupport for Mitigation Plan-ning is part of a series of guides thatwill help you identify, plan, and evalu-ate measures that can reduce the im-pacts of natural hazards in yourcommunity or state through a compre-hensive and orderly process known asHazard Mitigation Planning.As detailed in the Foreword, the pro-cess consists of four basic phases asshown below. This guide, GettingStarted, addresses the first phase of theplanning process, which consists of cre-ating a mitigation planning team thathas broad representation, and devel-oping public support for the planningprocess. The second phase, AssessRisks, explains identifying hazards andassessing losses. The third and fourthphases, Develop a Mitigation Plan andImplement the Plan and MonitorProgress, discuss establishing goalsand priorities, selecting mitigationprojects, and writing, implementing, andrevisiting the mitigation plan, respec-tively.

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What is Planning?It is important to have a good understanding of whatis meant by "planning" in this context. As a generalpractice, planning is a way that people figure out

how to accomplish a goal or solve a problem. The methodsfor planning are quite varied, based on what people are try-ing to do. The following examples of planning in your per-sonal life can be used to understand the different approachesto planning, including mitigation planning.

Sometimes people plan as they go, literally making it up alongthe way. For example, if you decide to take a weekend drivein the country with your family, the "plan" simply consists ofdeciding when to leave the house and the general directionyou will take to get out of town. As you travel the roadways,your family makes decisions about where to stop, where toturn, and when to head back home, i.e., the plan continues tobe developed as it occurs. This type of planning is fine whenthe desired result is simply to have an experience without alot of specific expectations.

When there is a more specific goal in mind, a more thought-ful planning approach is required. For example, this time yourfamily needs to visit relatives in a distant city. You researchand evaluate your options for traveling, weighing the cost ofvarious transportation alternatives (cars, trains, airplanes, etc.)versus the amount of time it requires for each mode of trans-port. You decide on a method and a time to travel that meetsyour needs and budget, make the necessary travel arrange-ments, and undertake the journey. In so doing, the planningprocess helps you realize the goal of visiting your relativesusing your resources (in this case, time and money) in themost efficient manner. This approach only involves a fewsimple steps – researching and comparing options, and imple-mentation – and works well to attain a single distinct result.

When the ultimate goal is more complex, however, the plan-ning process required to reach a successful result must ac-

Why Follow a Planning Process?The planning process is as important as the plan itself. A thoroughplanning process can help your community or state:

! Create a vision of what it wants to become in the future.

! See the big picture of how the economy, environment, and people will change.

! Select and agree on common goals.

! Involve as many people, local organizations, and businesses as possible.

! Find out how much time, money, and other resources are necessary tocreate positive change.

! Regularly evaluate the success of the plan in achieving your goals, andupdate the plan as needed to account for new information, changes in com-munity goals, or new laws and regulations.

! Develop connections with organizations and institutions that will sustainyour planning outcomes.

count for more issues and takes a little more effort. Supposeyou want to plan for your eventual retirement so that you andyour spouse will have enough funds to take care of your ba-sic needs and to enjoy yourselves. You (perhaps with the helpof a financial advisor) take stock of your resources and earn-ing potential, your likely expenses over time, and options forsaving and investing your money to provide different levels ofreturn and security. As part of this process, you evaluate therisk that is inherent in different types of investments, the num-ber of years you will be working and saving, and a host ofother factors. During the planning process, you will probablyrefine and revise your retirement goals as you find out moreabout what you can realistically accomplish. Also, an impor-tant difference in this type of planning process, comparedwith the previous two examples, is that you will be makingdecisions about how to start your investment program, but ifyou are wise, you will revisit your financial plan from time totime to make sure it continues to fit your needs and capabili-ties.

In doing so, you will have embarked on a long-term planningprocess that:

! Has an overarching mission (in this example, "attain-ing financial security") but also allows for flexibility re-garding specific actions to be taken as the plan devel-ops;

! Accounts for the interactions of a number of dynamicfactors that might influence your decision making; and

! Does not have a finite life span, i.e., ultimate successrequires periodic attention through the years to makesure that your mission is attained.

You have also expanded your decision-making framework insuch a way that all of the other decisions in your life will nowhave to consider your financial goals with respect to retire-ment. Your retirement goals have now become integrated intoother important decisions in your life.

viii STATE AND LOCAL MITIGATION PLANNING how-to guide: Getting Started

" Lack of readiness to begin or to invest in the processdue to this lack of understanding; and

" Difficulty obtaining resources to undertake a planningprocess.

Elected officials have to balance many competing interests. Theirefforts and resources are often consumed by what are consideredmore immediate concerns; e.g., finding solutions to congestedroadways, fluctuating economic conditions, overcrowding inschools, etc. It is difficult sometimes to dedicate the limited re-sources of a community toward dealing with a problem such ashazard risk reduction, especially when the problem may be difficultto recognize on a daily basis.

When communities or states have not experienced significantdisasters within recent memory, the true magnitude of the problemmay not be recognized. Even if the basic threats are generallyknown, the descriptions often used to characterize the magnitudeof events can mislead the public as to the inherent risk. For ex-ample, a "100-year flood" can sound like something you don't haveto worry about in the short term, but in reality it can strike at anytime.

If communities do not believe that they are at risk from potentialhazards, efforts to initiate citizen involvement and partnershipsmay be for naught. Many residents assume that current buildingcodes, zoning regulations, subdivision review processes, and/orpermitting will adequately protect them, but this is not always thecase. Education is a key part of the planning process, and overcom-ing a lack of awareness should be an integral part of the planningprocess.

A community self-assessment tool is provided in Step 1 of thisguide to determine what issues may need to be tackled before anysignificant efforts in planning are initiated. This guide points youin the direction of a number of resources that can be used to helpconvince the right people that mitigation planning is worth theeffort and is a good investment for the future of your communityor state. This is particularly important early on to set the propercontext for the initiation of partnerships and citizen involvementthroughout the planning process. The results of your self-assess-ment can be folded into your capability assessment (Phase 3 of theplanning process) to help define the appropriate mitigationactions your community will support. Furthermore, this guideprovides information on various ways mitigation planning may be

Guidelines forCommunity-WidePlanning! Planning is not a product,

but rather a process. Ef-fective planning efforts result in high-quality and useful plans, but writtenplans are only one element in theprocess.

! Planning must be based on a realis-tic assessment of hazards and of thelikely consequences of disasterevents. Hazard and vulnerability as-sessments are integral to all commu-nity-wide planning efforts.

! Planning efforts should be based asmuch as possible on a community'sdisaster experience, information onthe experiences of other communi-ties, and research-based planningprinciples. Both experience and re-search help communities under-stand what to expect when disastersoccur.

! No agency or organization shouldplan for disasters in isolation fromother organizations whose efforts arerequired to make plans work. Withthis goal in mind, a critical initial taskin all planning efforts is to identify andengage planning partners at the verystart of the planning process.

! In addition to being multi-organiza-tional, the planning process mustalso be inclusive – that is, it shouldinvolve governmental agencies atvarious levels, as well as private sec-tor and community-based organiza-tions.

! Planning efforts should seek to pro-vide a range of benefits and incen-tives for those involved in the process– benefits that they will receive evenif disasters do not occur.

! While planning is a long-term pro-cess, that process should involvetangible milestones and intermedi-ate successes on which future effortscan build.

Source: Project Impact Evaluation Team,University of Delaware Disaster ResearchCenter, 2002.

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integrated into existing community or state planning processes sothat over time, hazard reduction becomes part of the fabric ofplanning for community growth and change, and is not seen as anadditional or adjunct planning effort. This integration will alsoenable communities to seek out resources for mitigation planningthat previously may have been overlooked as viable.

This introductory material assumes that you, the reader, have someknowledge of hazard mitigation but do not know much aboutmitigation planning. This guide also assumes you are uncertainabout how much support you may have within your community orstate to undertake such an effort. This guide provides you, andothers like yourself, background information and basic steps tohelp you organize and initiate your planning effort.

How do you use this and other how-toguides?Developing a plan is a first step toward an end or goal. This guideshows how to use the planning process to reach your goal(s) and toengage key people to buy in and create momentum toward thatend.

The planning process is as individual as the jurisdiction that en-gages in it. Each community or state approaches growth andchange in a unique way, and your planning process should fit yourcommunity's particular 'personality.' As a result, you should notconsider the step-by-step sequence included in this and other how-to guides to be the only way to pursue mitigation planning. At thesame time, the process illustrated here is based on certain stepscommon to successful planning. Getting Started provides detailedinformation on the first of four phases of the hazard mitigationplanning process as described in the how-to guides.

Organize Resources. The first phase of the mitigation planningprocess includes assessing your readiness to plan, establishing aplanning team, securing political support, and engaging thecommunity.

Assess Risks. The second phase of the mitigation planning processinvolves identifying and evaluating natural hazards and preparingdamage loss estimates. Knowing where hazards can affect your builtenvironment and the likely outcome of damages and losses result-ing from a hazard event will help you focus on your most importantassets first. This will build the scientific and technical foundationsof your mitigation strategy. This phase of the mitigation planning

If after reviewingthese materials, you feel youhave completed all the stepsin Phase 1 as a result ofother related planning pro-

cesses, then go to Phase 2, AssessRisks – Understanding Your Risks(FEMA 386-2).

x STATE AND LOCAL MITIGATION PLANNING how-to guide: Getting Started

process is explained in Understanding Your Risks: Identifying Hazardsand Estimating Losses (FEMA 386-2).

Develop a Mitigation Plan. The third phase of the mitigationplanning process builds on the risk assessment by developing themitigation goals and objectives and ensuring that you are focusingon the identified risks and potential losses. This phase focuses onidentifying mitigation measures to help achieve your goals andobjectives and reduce future disaster-related losses, and thencapture your efforts in a written plan document. This phase of themitigation planning process will be explained in Developing aMitigation Plan: Identifying Mitigation Measures and ImplementationStrategies (FEMA 386-3).

Implement and Monitor Progress. The fourth phase of the mitiga-tion planning process involves adopting, implementing, monitor-ing, and reviewing the plan to ensure that the plan's goals andobjectives are met. Periodic review of the plan will help keep theplan current, reflecting the changing needs of the community orstate. This phase of the mitigation planning process will be ex-plained in Bringing the Plan to Life: Assuring the Success of the HazardMitigation Plan (FEMA 386-4).

The planning process outlined in this series of how-to guides willhelp you meet the basic planning requirements of FEMA's mitiga-tion programs. You must keep in mind, however, that differentFEMA mitigation programs, such as those in Table 1, sometimeshave different planning requirements that must be met to beeligible for participation in these programs. Therefore, whensubmitting a plan, you can either tailor it according to the specificcriteria of the program, or submit a comprehensive, multi-hazardplan that includes a "crosswalk," i.e., identify for the reviewer whatsections of the plan address the program's requirements. Forexample, if you are completing a Flood Mitigation Assistance(FMA) program or Community Rating System (CRS) plan, it mayneed to be expanded to receive credit under DMA 2000, but if youcomplete a DMA plan, all other program requirements are likely tobe met.

The Disaster Mitiga-tion Act of 2000 isalso driving the strengthen-ing of many pre-existing mitigation plan-ning requirements for non-mitigation-re-lated programs. For example, the FireManagement Assistance Grant Pro-gram was authorized by Section 420 ofthe Stafford Act and by DMA 2000, andprovides for the amelioration, manage-ment, and control of any fire on publiclyor privately owned forest or grasslandthat threatens such destruction aswould constitute a major disaster. As-sistance must be requested while thefire is still burning and constitutes thethreat of a major disaster. Grants areprovided through the Grantee to stateand local governments and Indian tribalgovernments at a 75 percent federalcost-share provided that fire hazardsare addressed in an existing statemitigation plan. Program regulationsfor the Fire Management AssistanceGrant Program are located in 44 CFRPart 204.

FEMA developed guidanceto meet planning criteria in DMA 2000for communities with plans created un-der other FEMA programs. Some statesmay have criteria that meet or exceedthe recommendations for planningfound in this document. Contact yourstate emergency management office foradditional guidance regarding theunique planning considerations withinyour state.

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xiVersion 1.0 September 2002

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xii STATE AND LOCAL MITIGATION PLANNING how-to guide: Getting Started

Types of information found in the how-toseriesThe how-to series contains several types of information. Someinformation is highlighted with icons. Additional information canbe found in Appendix B, Library. To illustrate how the how-toinformation is used, newspaper articles of the fictional town ofHazardville are provided.

Icons

Guidance focused solely on the role of "states" is identified as asidebar with this icon. Although much of the information will bethe same for local, tribal, and state governments, there are differ-ent requirements for state and local mitigation plans. Furthermore,states have additional responsibilities to assist local entities in theirplanning efforts. Guidance focusing on local governments appliesto tribes as well.

The "DMA" icon provides information relating to the mitigationplanning requirements outlined in the Disaster Mitigation Act(DMA) of 2000.

The "Caution" icon alerts you to important information and waysto avoid sticky situations later in the planning process.

The "Glossary" icon identifies terms and concepts for which adetailed explanation is provided in the Glossary included in Ap-pendix A.

The "Tips" icon identifies helpful hints and useful informationthat can be used in the planning process.

Library

A mitigation planning "Library" has been included in Appendix B.The library has a wealth of information, including Web addresses,reference books, and other contact information to help get youstarted. All of the Web sites and references listed in the how-toguide are included in the library.

Town of Hazardville Articles

Applications of the various steps in the mitigation planning processare illustrated through a fictional community, the Town of

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xiiiVersion 1.0 September 2002

The Hazardville PostVol. CXI No. 65 Thursday, January 22, 2002

[Hazardville, EM] MayorMcDonald returned from the an-nual National Conference of May-ors last week seemingly a new man."It all fits now, like finding a giantmissing piece of a jigsaw puzzle!"Mayor McDonald excitedly pro-claimed in a press conference yes-terday. The Mayor attended severalworkshops focusing on communitiesthat have incorporated sustainabledevelopment concepts into theircity, county, and town planning."These communities are now saferplaces to live, work and do business,and I want that for Hazardville aswell," McDonald said.

A major component of this sus-tainable development is hazard

Hazardville, located in the State of Emergency. Hazardville, a smallcommunity with limited resources and multiple hazards, is develop-ing a multi-hazard mitigation plan. Newspaper accounts illustratethe various steps in the mitigation planning process.

Worksheet

Finally, to help track your progress, a worksheet has been devel-oped to correspond with Step 2 of this guide. This worksheet isincluded at the end of Step 2 and also in Appendix C. Use thisform to record your progress as you undertake the process ofbuilding support for mitigation planning.

Mayor Declares a New Way of Thinkingfor the Town of Hazardville

mitigation, which is any action thatreduces or eliminates the loss of lifeor property damage resulting fromhazards such as floods, earthquakes,hazardous material spills, and tor-nadoes. Mayor McDonald said, "Al-though we have a Floodplain Ad-ministrator, we really haven't con-sidered the many other types ofnatural and human-caused hazards,which is surprising when you con-sider that we seem to be vulnerableto many different hazards. Our com-munity has not been using the plan-ning department to deal with riskreduction, and after a closer look, Ifeel our planning departmentshould play a larger role in support-ing risk reduction programs. The

planning department maintains awealth of information on existinginfrastructure, buildings, and popu-lation demographics, and keeps upwith growth issues in and aroundHazardville. It also manages the lo-cal planning process, and thus un-derstands what is important to citi-zens as Hazardville grows andchanges. They are in a pivotal posi-tion to help guide our mitigationplanning process."

Mayor McDonald has been verybusy meeting in closed-door sessionswith members of the Town Counciland several members of the towngovernment this week. He haspromised to release more informa-tion in the next few days.

1

1-1Version 1.0 September 2002

assesscommunitysupportOverview

Much of mitigation planning involves cycles of learning aboutyour community and then acting on what you have discov-

ered. The more you understand the issues, important concerns,and capabilities in your community, the more you can develop aplanning process that reflects community values and thereby gener-ates support for projects and outcomes.

Among the first steps in the planning process is measuring thelevel and source of community support for planning, and workingon securing any needed support where gaps are identified. Step 1provides questions to prompt you to identify and obtain appropri-ate sources of necessary ingredients for successful planning. Step 1also discusses how to determine the appropriate geographic area inwhich to focus the planning effort. Step 2 will assist you in seekinganswers to the questions posed in Step 1 so that you can begin toestablish the organizational framework for the planning effort.

The remainder of this section provides guidance on how to dealwith deficiencies in any of these particular areas. If your commu-nity is really ready to go, that is great! If not, as is more frequentlythe case, you may need to work hard to build support. This maytake a couple of meetings or many months, depending on thecommunity's level of readiness. Once you have "primed the pump,"you can begin enlisting others to form the planning team, Step 2of Getting Started.

Mitigation planning is not a linearprocess. With the exception of the risk assess-ment, most tasks can be completed in any orderthat works for the community, particularly when you

are working on building support in your community. For ex-ample, what would happen if you completed Step 1 and de-termined that the appropriate level of government for yourmitigation planning efforts was the town, but later on, yourealized the town did not have sufficient resources or theproper authority to develop and approve the mitigation plan?You may need to revisit this step after contacting the county.

Furthermore, if the community is not ready to plan (i.e., thereis no political support for planning or the community has in-adequate funding), it may be more appropriate in some casesto begin instead with Step 3, Engage the Public to build pub-lic pressure to support mitigation planning. This will allow thecommunity to build the support for planning before the plan-ning team is established. It is also possible that you will haveto complete a minimal type of risk assessment in order toobtain support for the planning process. In that case, you wouldrefer to Understanding Your Risks (FEMA 386-2).

1-2 STATE AND LOCAL MITIGATION PLANNING how-to guide: Getting Started

Defining thePlanning AreaStates should help commu-nities to determine the opti-mal planning areas in which they willwork. This determination may be basedon state planning goals, statewide plan-ning initiatives already underway, andresource availability.

Procedures and techniquesTask A. Determine the planning area.

In consultation with the state, identify the areas or jurisdictions tobe included in the mitigation planning process. Local governmentsmost often create a mitigation plan that covers their entire politicaljurisdiction, be it a county, city, township, parish, borough, or unin-corporated community that falls under a county's jurisdiction, butthe plan does not usually cross jurisdictional boundaries.

In many instances, however, planning on a broader scale can bringadditional resources, such as staff and experience, to the effort andcan help to address hazards that may originate outside of acommunity's jurisdictional boundaries. It may be a practical andcost-saving way to approach hazard reduction for a large number ofcommunities, particularly if hazards and vulnerabilities are similaracross a large area. An example of a multi-jurisdictional planningarea would be several towns located along the same fault zonewhose main hazard is earthquakes, or communities that lie withinthe same watershed.

Smaller jurisdictions may also benefit from working together be-cause of the additional resources and expertise that collaborationcan bring. Many counties with numerous townships and incorpo-rated municipalities may use a county approach simply for the sakeof streamlining, since counties often provide emergency manage-ment services to their jurisdictions, whether incorporated or not.Communities should also consider working with an existing re-gional planning commission or other regional planning organiza-tion.

A multi-jurisdictional approach carries with it the increased oppor-tunity for conflict, however, so if you have the option of choosing ajurisdiction with which to work, care should be given to selectingjurisdictions with similar characteristics and goals.

Consider including localities that you have teamed with in the past.Your jurisdiction already may be working together with anothernearby jurisdiction, or may work closely with a regional planningdistrict. If so, it may be a natural fit to become part of a larger plan-ning area. How your planning area is defined is up to you and thestate, but the one thing that the jurisdictions must have in com-mon is the commitment and the shared sense that somethingneeds to change. For more detailed guidance, see Multi-Jurisdic-tional Approaches to Mitigation Planning (FEMA 386-8).

Reasons for Multi-Jurisdictional Planning! Creates partnerships.

! Is practical for addressing issuesbest dealt with on a larger scale, suchas watersheds, which do not recog-nize political boundaries.

! Takes advantage of existing planningmechanisms, such as regional plan-ning organizations.

! Can create economies ofscale and enable poolingof limited resources.

While DMA 2000,along with CRS and FMA,allow multi-jurisdictionalplans, you should still checkwith the State Hazard Miti-gation Officer (SHMO) to determine ifthis is a viable approach.

Under DMA 2000regulations, local gov-ernments may be defined inmany different ways. A localgovernment may be definedby a political boundary such as an in-corporated city, county, parish, or town-ship, or it might not have a distinctpolitical boundary, for example a water-shed or metropolitan region.

assess community support 1


Task B. Determine if the community is ready to begin theplanning process.

Below is a series of questions designed to help you assess the avail-ability of key elements necessary for a successful planning process:KNOWLEDGE, SUPPORT, and RESOURCES. Seeking answers tothese questions will help you determine what you should focus onto ensure that you have the necessary ingredients in place to beginplanning:

Knowledge. Answering the following four questions can help youbegin to determine the level of understanding about hazard mitiga-tion planning and risk reduction in your community. If you deter-mine that your public officials are either unfamiliar with hazardmitigation or unconvinced that investing in mitigation measuresbefore a disaster strikes will save more money than it would cost torecover from the disaster, you should consider engaging in the ac-tivities related to "Knowledge" that are included later in this stepunder Task C to help increase knowledge of hazard mitigation inyour community.

1. How much do elected and/or appointed officials knowand understand about hazards in their area? Do theyknow what they and the community can do to reducetheir effects? Has there been recent disaster (or severeweather) activity?

2. How much do the citizens know about hazards in thecommunity?

3. Do officials and citizens understand that their actions,behavior, and decisions affect their vulnerability andthat steps can be taken to reduce risks?

Consult with the State Hazard Mitigation Officer(SHMO)The states play an important role in determining the appropriate plan-ning area for local hazard mitigation planning efforts. Given the diver-

sity of state and local planning authorities throughout the nation, the DMA andthe Interim Final Rule define "local government" broadly and provide the stateswith the necessary flexibility to determine how local governments will be in-volved in the hazard mitigation planning process. Some states may encourage aparticular level of local government to have the lead responsibility for "local" plandevelopment – be it an incorporated municipality, township, county or regionallevel of government. Other state mitigation planning programs may encourage aconsiderable range of flexibility in how communities can work together with ad-jacent jurisdictions, such as the development of local hazard mitigation plans ona watershed basis. Communities should contact the state emergency manage-ment office and, in particular, the SHMO, early on to obtain guidance for deter-mining the appropriate planning area.

States should as-sist local jurisdic-tions in assessing supportfor mitigation planning. Inaddition, states should build

their own support for mitigation planningby educating new state officials and de-partment heads and seeking to buildcollaborative relationships.


4. Is there a difference between the risk perceived by thecommunity and the actual risk (to the extent that riskis currently known)?

Support. Answering the following questions can help you begin todetermine the level of support for hazard mitigation planning andmitigation project implementation in your community. If you de-termine that your local government elected and/or appointed offi-cials or citizens do not know how they and the private sector cansupport mitigation, consider engaging in activities related to "Sup-port" included later in this step under Task C to help identify strat-egies to increase the level of support for hazard mitigation. If youare unfamiliar with other types of planning activities at work inyour community that can help support mitigation planning andactivities, review these examples as well in the "Support" sectionunder Task C.

5. Do elected and appointed officials understand howlocal, state, and federal levels each support hazardmitigation and emergency management?

6. Is there something (not necessarily hazard-related)that citizens are dissatisfied with that may be located ina hazard area (i.e., tourism, economic development,blight, transportation issues) that could be dealt within context of mitigation planning? How can the miti-gation plan contribute to other planning initiatives?

7. How likely is it that there will be an individual to serveas a champion to provide leadership and/or supportfor mitigation planning (individual, organization, orbusiness)?

8. What would it take to identify or recruit a planningteam leader? How will you capitalize and build on ex-panding enthusiasm?

9. Is there an existing FMA or CRS flood mitigation planor other single hazard plan?

10. Is there an existing system for planning in the commu-nity? Is there a planning department? A communityplan? Are there local staff with planning capabilitieswith whom you can collaborate?

11. Is there a history of community interest and/or in-volvement in environmental issues? Recreational is-sues? Safety issues?



12. Is there an existing land use map, GIS system, contourmap, soils map, topographic map, or other materialthat can be used to better understand the hazards con-text of the community?

Resources. Answering the following questions can help you beginto determine the availability of resources and capabilities for haz-ard mitigation planning and mitigation measures in your commu-nity. If you determine that you are unfamiliar with programs thatmay be available in your community or state, or need financial re-sources to initiate the planning process, consider the activities re-lated to "Resources" that are included later in this step under TaskC to help identify untapped resources to support hazard mitiga-tion.

13. Are you aware of the range of non-FEMA or non-miti-gation programs available to assist in mitigationprojects?

14. What are the major employers, industries, and organi-zations that help shape the culture of the community?Are they willing to be involved?

It may be difficult to obtain these answers. If so, you may wish to goahead and begin to build your planning team knowing that youcan come back to this section for guidance on issues related toknowledge, support, and resources for planning. The answers tothese questions should be compiled and incorporated into yourplan document, particularly in the capability analysis section thatyou will develop during Phase 3 of the planning process. This infor-mation, coupled with hazard and vulnerability information you willcollect in Phase 2, will shape the projects and policies adopted inyour mitigation plan.

If your community can satisfactorily answer each ofthe questions above and is clearly ready to begin a

mitigation plan, go to Step 2. If not, go to theappropriate part of Task C below.

Task C. Remove roadblocks.

Mitigation planning roadblocks related to knowledge, support, andplanning resources, such as lack of interest and limited funding,can be overcome in several ways:

" Educating public officials about the benefits of reducingpotential losses through pre-disaster mitigation plan-


ning and about the costs of not having a mitigation plancan help convince them of the importance of mitigationplanning. It can also give them a new understanding ofwhat is at stake if they do not develop a plan for reduc-ing losses from hazards.

" Identifying leaders in other communities who were suc-cessful in developing and/or implementing mitigationplans can help bring peers together to benefit from ex-perience.

" Identifying a team leader in a position of authority, suchas a community leader, elected official, or influentialagency head, can help tremendously in convincingelected officials and others to support the planning ef-fort.

" Capitalizing on new regulations such as those imple-menting the DMA, which require states and local com-munities to have approved plans to be eligible forpost-disaster mitigation funding, can serve as an entrypoint of discussion with elected officials.

" Identifying existing processes such as comprehensiveplanning that can be expanded to include the develop-ment of a mitigation plan or include hazard mitigationelements.

" Identifying self-interests in mitigation for a variety ofsectors of the community or state to obtain broad sup-port.

" Identifying a variety of potential funding and technicalresources to support the planning process and beingready to provide this information to others.

Following are steps you can take to overcome these roadblocks.

Knowledge1. Educate public officials on hazards and risks in your

area.

a. Have statistics ready about the last disaster. Many pub-lic officials are unfamiliar with hazard mitigation plan-ning and the mitigation planning process. Unless yourcommunity or state has experienced a recent disaster,local elected officials might not be very familiar with



local hazards and the associated risks. Before you orothers meet with the officials, make sure you are wellprepared and have done your homework. Know thedetails of recent hazard events, such as the number ofhouseholds that were damaged or destroyed, the num-ber of businesses that closed, or the reduction in tour-ism as a result of recent disaster events. For details onestimating losses, refer to Phase 2 of the mitigationplanning process in Understanding Your Risks (FEMA386-2).

If it has been some time since the last disaster event,you may find it difficult to convince officials that yourcommunity is vulnerable to hazards. You are likely toget a negative response if you try to scare these officialsinto action. Some communities have always relied onthe promise that since disasters happen so infre-quently, it is better to wait until a disaster strikes thanto try to change the way the community conducts itsdaily business. If this is the case, you may wish to skipto Step 3, Engage the Public first.

b. Discuss general options. If you discuss potential mitiga-tion options that the community currently has underconsideration, try to be as inclusive as possible, withoutgoing into too many details. Only mentioning preven-tive actions, such as restricting development in hazardareas and enforcing stricter building codes, may givethe officials the wrong impression about the truerange and flexibility of mitigation options. Be sure tostress to officials that the plan's mitigation goals, objec-tives, and strategies will be determined with thepublic's input and support. For more details on devel-oping an implementation strategy, refer to Phase 3 ofthe mitigation planning process in Developing a Mitiga-tion Plan (FEMA 386-3).

c. Remember the bottom line. Elected officials are con-cerned about the safety and economic well-being oftheir constituents. To gain their support, therefore,you should emphasize how mitigation planning helpsto achieve these goals. In particular, elected officialslike to hear about the economic benefits associatedwith public actions, so provide as much information aspossible on the costs of a disaster and how mitigation

States can oftenprovide general informa-tion to local jurisdictionsabout prior disasters withintheir state. In addition, they

should be speaking with local electedand appointed officials regarding newregulatory requirements for planningunder DMA, as well as assistance thestate will provide for planning. Statesshould also be developing hazard re-duction policies and goals that will be-come par t of local planningconsiderations.

Go towww.hazardmaps.gov to find multi-hazardmapping information foryour community or state. It

is a Web-based collection of naturalhazards information and supportingdata.


actions can reduce those costs to individuals, busi-nesses, communities, states, and the federal govern-ment, particularly for a disaster that recently affectedyour community or a nearby community.

d. Be informative but brief. When elected officials holdmeetings, there is usually a multitude of issues beforethem. These officials will appreciate and respond posi-tively if you are organized and prepared for the meet-ing. Be clear and concise about your needs andactivities, keeping your speaking time to a minimumwhenever possible.

e. Provide examples and success stories from nearbycommunities. Public officials like to talk to fellow offi-cials and counterparts, and they will usually speak withthem before contacting state or federal staff. If youoffer them positive examples from nearby communi-ties, there is a good chance your officials will be inter-ested in pursuing similar programs, which could givethe planning process a big boost. Among the manysources of information on mitigation successes areFEMA's Web site (www.fema.gov) and CD-ROM, Mitiga-tion Resources for Success (FEMA 372), and the Web sitefor the Association of State Floodplain Managers(ASFPM) at www.floods.org.

2. Tout the benefits of hazard mitigation and mitigationplanning.

Many of the benefits of hazard mitigation planning are dis-cussed in this guide, including identifying cost-effective andtechnically feasible mitigation measures that will reduce lossesfrom future disasters; building partnerships with sectors not pre-viously involved; facilitating funding priorities, especially follow-ing a disaster; and creating more sustainable communities.Improved disaster resistance can also be used to attract newbusinesses and residents, which results in an improvement tothe overall economy.

a. Planning leads to judicious selection of risk reductionactions. Hazard mitigation planning is the systematicprocess of learning about the hazards that can affectyour community or state; setting clear goals; and iden-tifying and implementing policies, programs, and ac-tions that reduce the effects of losses from future

Six broadcategories ofmitigationmeasures include:

1. Prevention. Measuressuch as planning and zoning, openspace preservation, land develop-ment regulations, building codes,storm water management, fire fuelreduction, soil erosion, and sedimentcontrol.

2. Property Protection. Measuressuch as acquisition, relocation, stormshutters, rebuilding, barriers,floodproofing, insurance, and struc-tural retrofits for high winds andearthquake hazards.

3. Public Education and Awareness.Measures such as outreach projects,real estate disclosure, hazard infor-mation centers, technical assistance,and school age and adult educationprograms.

4. Natural Resource Protection. Mea-sures such as erosion and sedimentcontrol, stream corridor protection,vegetative management, and wet-lands preservation.

5. Emergency Services. Measuressuch as hazard threat recognition,hazard warning systems, emergencyresponse, protection of critical facili-ties, and health and safety mainte-nance.

6. Structural Projects. Measures suchas dams, levees, seawalls, bulk-heads, revetments, high flow diver-sions, spillways, buttresses, debrisbasins, retaining walls, channelmodifications, storm sewers, and ret-rofitted buildings and elevated road-ways (seismic protection).

Summary of "Benefits ofMitigation Planning"! Leads to cost-effective

selection of risk reductionactions

! Builds partnerships! Contributes to sustain-

able communities! Establishes funding priorities



disasters. A hallmark of the planning approach is thecareful selection of these mitigation activities throughcontinued community participation and technical andcost analyses.

b. Planning builds partnerships. Hazard mitigation plan-ning is one of the best ways to enhance collaborationand gain support among the parties whose interestsmight be affected by hazard losses. Working side byside, a broad range of stakeholders can forge partner-ships that pool skills, expertise, and experience toachieve a common vision for the community or state,helping to ensure that the most appropriate and equi-table mitigation projects are undertaken. The in-creased collaboration may also reduce duplication ofefforts that results when stakeholders work in isolation.Hazard mitigation planning is most successful whenthe public and elected officials support mitigation pro-grams and the identified mitigation actions supportother community goals and objectives.

c. Planning contributes to sustainable communities.There has been an increasing awareness in the last fewyears of the concept of sustainability and its intrinsiclink with natural and human-caused hazard risk reduc-tion. Sustainability is attained when decisions made bythe present generation do not reduce the options offuture generations. The present generation passes onto the next a natural, economic, and social environ-ment that will provide a continuing high quality of life.

States can provideguidance and can assist lo-cal communities in the de-velopment of hazardmitigation plans. The states

will be working with FEMA to developtheir own mitigation plans and will knowwhat FEMA is looking for to approveplans under DMA 2000. In turn, stateswill work with their communities to helpthem produce a plan that will meet DMA2000 criteria.

Planning Reduces Losses and FacilitatesRecoveryMost of the city of Kinston, North Carolina is located in the 50-yearfloodplain and is extremely vulnerable to flooding. When Hurricane

Floyd hit in 1999, the city was still recovering from Hurricane Fran that hit threeyears earlier. Fran inflicted major damage to the city and prompted Kinston toundertake a new recovery strategy guided by two objectives: to substantially orpermanently reduce flood hazards in the county and to revitalize existing neigh-borhoods and business developments in a long-term effort to empower citizensto be self-sufficient, and in the process, improve their quality of life. As such, thecity undertook an acquisition and relocation program to reduce potential floodinglosses from storms. Using federal and state funding, the city had acquired ap-proximately 100 houses before Hurricane Floyd hit in 1999. Of these houses,95% would have flooded and more than 75% would have been substantiallydamaged. Estimates for property and displacement losses exceeded $6 million.The city's investment in this program paid off. The city spent $2.1 million on thisprogram.

Planning HelpsSolve MultipleNeedsThere were only three un-

affected houses available for purchasein the $40,000 to $60,000 range inLouisa County in rural Iowa after ter-rible flooding occurred in 1993. As thecounty has limited affordable housingopportunities, instead of demolishing175 flood-damaged homes and tempo-rarily displacing nearly 5% of thecounty's population, the countypartnered with the Muscatine Center forSocial Action (MCSA) to address theshortage of affordable housing. MCSAhas a history of taking on projects noone else is willing or able to do and,working with the county, assumed re-sponsibility for relocating the structur-ally sound homes out of the floodplainand initiated an outreach campaign tofind potential buyers. The partnershipprovided a valuable service to the resi-dents and community by keeping thetax base within the county and provid-ing affordable and safe housing forcounty residents.


An essential characteristic of a sustainable communityis its resilience to disasters. For more information, seePlanning for a Sustainable Future: the Link Between HazardMitigation and Livability (FEMA 364) and Rebuilding fora More Sustainable Future: An Operational Framework(FEMA 365).

Using a planning approach to reduce hazard lossescan facilitate the incorporation of sustainable conceptsin both pre- and post-disaster timeframes. The mitiga-tion planning process can support a more robust andsustainable planning effort by assuring that land useplanning and development regulations guide develop-ment in directions that facilitate many goals simulta-neously.

Sustainable communities look for ways to combinepolicies, programs, and design solutions to bring aboutmultiple objectives and seek to address and integratesocial and environmental concerns. The planning pro-cess can provide a framework within which state andlocal governments can link sustainability and loss re-duction to other goals.

For example, sustainable communities often empha-size open space planning by promoting greenways,parks, and landscaping. Effective use of open spacecan prevent development from encroaching intofloodplains, active fault zones, landslide areas, andother disaster-prone areas.

d. Planning establishes funding priorities. Communitiesand states that have up-to-date mitigation plans arebetter able to identify and articulate their needs tostate and federal officials when funding becomes avail-able, particularly following a disaster. Communitieswith mitigation plans in place can often begin the re-covery process more quickly when a disaster occurs.Such communities can present projects as an integralpart of an overall, agreed-upon strategy, rather than asprojects that exist in isolation. Furthermore, by havingestablished priorities ahead of time, states and commu-nities are better able to identify technical and financialresources outside traditional venues. To encourageplanning, only those states and communities with ap-proved plans that meet the DMA 2000 criteria will be

A sustainable communityconsiders the following issues whenplanning for and with their citizens:

1. Environmental quality and quality oflife;

2. Disaster resistance;

3. Economic vitality and afair legacy for future gen-erations; and

4. The impact of its actions and poli-cies on adjacent jurisdictions as wellas the greater surrounding regionand beyond.

PlanningPromotesSustainabilityOne of the most widely rec-ognized examples of the connectionbetween hazard mitigation andsustainability involves the acquisition offlood-prone properties in low-incomeareas. In such areas, mitigation projectscan fail if adequate affordable housingcannot be provided for those who aredisplaced. When emergency manage-ment, planning, and affordable housingadvocates coordinate their activities, theresult is newer, better, and safer hous-ing for the affected residents. Somestates have been successful in usingweatherization funds, provided by theU.S. Department of Energy's Weather-ization Assistance Program (WAP) forresidential structures to retrofit homesagainst wind and flood damage, therebylinking energy efficiency and disasterprevention. The result is safer, more en-ergy efficient homes.

An example of this collaboration isValmeyer, Illinois. After the MississippiRiver flood of 1993, Valmeyer usedfunds from the Office of Energy Effi-ciency and Renewable Energy, Depart-ment of Energy, to incorporatesustainable technologies into the designand construction of a new town out ofthe floodplain.



eligible to receive HMGP funds for mitigation projects.Under the new regulations, states with enhanced planscan receive funding under HMGP equal to 20% of thetotal estimated Stafford Act disaster assistance (Indi-vidual and Public Assistance), rather than the 15% tra-ditionally allocated.

Support for planningElected officials tend to be more receptive to understanding thebenefits of hazard mitigation planning following a disaster. Manyofficials, however, may not be aware of the vulnerabilities to haz-ards if disasters have rarely occurred in your area. It is the officials'responsibility to protect the health, safety, and welfare of their con-stituents, and, in fact, most building, zoning, and subdivision codesand ordinances begin with such a preamble. Therefore, it is impor-tant for you to be able to explain to state and local governmentdecision makers, private sector entities, citizens, universities, andnonprofit organizations why they should support mitigation plan-ning programs. Equally important to discuss are the benefits theywould derive from such support, and the roles they can play to en-sure the success of the planning process.

To be successful, mitigation planning, just like all community plan-ning, requires collaboration between, and support from, federal,state, local, and regional governments; citizens; the private sector;universities; and non-profit organizations. Many of these entitieshave specific statutory authorities; some have funding resourcesavailable, and some can provide technical assistance to supportmitigation efforts. Most importantly, they all contribute toward en-suring that the planning process results in practicable actions tai-lored to local needs and circumstances.

1. Support from local government.

Local governments are responsible for enacting and/or enforc-ing zoning ordinances, land use plans, building codes, andother measures to protect life and property. They are respon-sible for informing citizens of the risks hazards pose to people,property, and the environment, and the measures they can taketo reduce losses from such risks.

Communities are the first to feel the effects of disasters; there-fore, local governments should do everything possible to protecttheir citizens from hazard risks and ensure that their commu-nity complies with federal and other regulations designed to

PlanningFacilitatesFundingIn Texas, the Harris County

Flood Control District (HCFCD), a divi-sion of the Harris County Public Infra-structure Department, implements aprogressive and efficient Acquisition/Buyout Program during and betweenflooding events. Funding for the HCFCDcomes primarily from a dedicated prop-erty tax, specifically an "ad valorem" tax.The HCFCD uses other federal agen-cies as partners to augment funding,i.e., FEMA, US Army Corps of Engi-neers, and Department of Housing andUrban Development. The HCFCD allo-cates county and flood control funds forthe purchase of homes in the county'sfloodplain. It sets priorities and providesa ranking for properties throughout thecounty that are vulnerable to flooding.HCFCD maintains an extensive data-base of every property that has flooded,including details on property location,floodplain location, dates of events andinspections, damage amounts, permitinformation, substantial damage infor-mation, and whether it was referred toa buyout program. For example, afterTropical Storm Allison hit, FEMA, theHCFCD, and the State of Texas createda "fast track" buyout process which al-lowed over 200 houses to be bought inthe first ten months after the flooding.This ongoing planning allowed theHCFCD to quickly leverage federalfunding in the immediate aftermath ofTropical Storm Allison.


reduce disaster costs. Local governments are responsible for ad-dressing hazard threats within the community and for followinga sound planning process for identifying and selecting the bestsolution for the community. They are responsible for ensuringthat each citizen has an opportunity to provide input into thedevelopment of local mitigation projects and activities, in thesame tradition as comprehensive planning for communities.

2. Support from state government.

State governments play a significant role in supporting mitiga-tion planning. States administer programs that provide assis-tance for mitigation initiatives and act as the liaison betweenfederal and local governments for all phases of emergency man-agement. In many states, the Emergency Management Office isassigned these responsibilities. The SHMO serves as the point ofcontact and coordinates all matters relating to hazard mitigationplanning and implementation. Planning departments, environ-mental agencies, and natural resource agencies may share orassist in these responsibilities.

The states ensure that local governments uphold federal regula-tions intended to reduce losses due to hazards. To do this effec-tively, the state should provide technical and/or financialresources to their local governments to achieve common mitiga-tion goals. States continuously evaluate their own facilities andresource capabilities and produce and maintain statewide miti-gation plans based on their own priorities, and on local needsand priorities. The state should educate and inform local gov-ernments, businesses, and citizens about the hazards and riskswithin the state, and should assist them in developing plans toreduce the risk. The state's role in coordinating hazard mitiga-tion planning has become even more important with the pas-sage of DMA 2000.

3. Support from the federal government.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is thelead federal agency responsible for providing technical and fi-nancial assistance to state and local governments for disastermitigation planning and the implementation of mitigationprojects. FEMA also promotes mitigation activities and programsamong federal, state, and local governments, as well as busi-nesses, academic institutions, and non-profit organizations.FEMA has been given the authority to implement the DisasterMitigation Act of 2000 (DMA 2000); however, other federal

Local GovernmentPowers that Applyto HazardReductionPlanning. Although the degree of plan-ning authority of a local jurisdiction isdetermined by state legislation, all lo-cal governments can use a planningprocess to educate, encourage partici-pation, and reach consensus on pro-moting hazard mitigation.

Regulatory Power. Local jurisdictionshave the authority to regulate land usedevelopment and construction throughzoning, subdivision regulations, designstandards, and floodplain regulations(note: many states have adopted state-wide model building codes wherein thelocal governments are not allowed tomodify or change the code).

Spending Authority. The way in whichlocal jurisdictions use public funds caninfluence development in hazard areas.One fiscal management tool that manycommunities embrace is the capital im-provement program, which is generallya 5-year plan for funding improvementsto public facilities.

Taxing Power. If the private sectorseeks development in hazard areas,special taxing districts can be createdto balance more equitable and appro-priate public investments. Preferentialassessments can also be used as in-centives to retain agricultural and open-space uses in high hazard areas.

Acquisition. Local governments canacquire lands in high hazard areasthrough conservation easements, pur-chase of development rights, or outrightpurchase.



agencies implement programs that may also provide support formitigation goals, such as the Department of Housing and UrbanDevelopment's Community Development Block Grant program.Examples of federal assistance available for mitigation are in-cluded on the FEMA CD, Mitigation Resources for Success (FEMA372), available through FEMA's publication warehouse.

4. Support from the private sector.

Businesses and private organizations have much to gain by re-ducing their risks to hazards, in terms of their own well-being, aswell as contributing to reducing risks in the community as awhole. Historically, more than 25% of businesses never reopenafter a disaster. Even if a business is not physically damaged dur-ing a disaster, it cannot operate if its employees cannot get towork, if water and electricity are unavailable, or if customers fearsafety hazards.

5. Citizen support.

Citizens are ultimately responsible for their own safety and forprotecting their assets from damage by preparing for potentialdisasters that could occur within their community. It is impor-tant that they find out about local hazards and identify measuresthey can take to reduce their impact on their homes and fami-lies. For example, the purchase of insurance that will cover theirrisk from these hazards is one specific approach. The larger is-sue of economic viability of the community is also very impor-tant to citizens, so it is crucial to convey to citizens howinvolvement in a mitigation planning process helps protect eco-nomic assets from disaster losses.

6. Support from academic institutions.

Academic institutions often have their own emergency responseor operations plans to ensure the safety of their faculty, staff,and students. Often, however these institutions are unfamiliarwith the hazards that could threaten their facilities and have notidentified measures that can be taken to reduce their impact.Just as with private sector entities, schools stand to sustain lossesin disasters and can gain much by supporting and participatingin planning. In addition, they can often provide valuable re-sources to the community, such as technical expertise, facilitiesin which to host meetings, post-disaster services and facilities,and student resources to assist in data gathering.

The ability of busi-nesses to recover af-ter a flood, fire, earthquake,or other disaster could bethe difference between

community survival and failure. Whena major company that employs a largepercentage of a community's popula-tion remains closed following a disas-ter, employees may leave town or seekjobs elsewhere.

What happened in Elkins, West Virginiais just one example. The KingsfordManufacturing Company's charcoalproduction plant employs more than100 residents in this small town. "TheKingsford plant is an essential memberof its local community, contributing over$8.5 million to the economy in directimpact including payroll, taxes, and pur-chases of supplies, utilities, and rawmaterials from local lumber mills. Addi-tionally, the Kingsford plant's total eco-nomic impact on this community isestimated annually at $23 million." (Pro-tecting Business Operations, FEMA331.)

In November 1985, the plant sustained$11 million in damage and 2 months ofdowntime when it received more than7 feet of floodwaters. After it was shutdown twice in 1996 due to flooding, re-sulting in another $4 million in damages,the plant developed a mitigation strat-egy to reduce its risk from future floodlosses. The alternative of moving theplant to another community out of thefloodplain could have spelled economicdoom for Elkins.


Under DMA 2000,states have an opportunityto create enhanced statemitigation plans that willdemonstrate their mitigationcapabilities and can obtain up to an ad-ditional 5% in HMGP funding. Statesshould also ensure that communitiesknow that post-disaster funding, suchas the HMGP, will only be awarded tocommunities with approved local miti-gation plans (refer to Interim Final Ruleat 44 CFR Parts 201 and 206 publishedin the Federal Register on February 26,2002).

States that have an approved mitiga-tion plan in place can still use up to 7%of the HMGP funds for mitigation plan-ning after a major disaster declaration.

The Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program(PDM), authorized by DMA 2000, canprovide pre-disaster funding to states,communities, and tribes for cost-effec-tive hazard mitigation activities that areidentified in a mitigation plan, and forplanning itself.

7. Support from a champion.

Having a prominent and well-respected community businessleader, elected official, or agency head advocate for the initia-tion of the planning process will help you enlist the support ofother officials and community leaders. This also increases the"human" aspect of loss reduction by associating it with a recog-nizable personality.

8. Capitalize on new regulations.

DMA 2000 and its implementing regulations provide significantopportunities for states and local governments to strengthenmitigation efforts through planning. Interim Final Regulationsimplementing DMA 2000 were published February 26, 2002.These regulations provide guidelines for the planning processand the content of plans. According to these regulations, statesand communities must have approved plans in place to receiveHMGP funds. States must have approved plans in place to re-ceive any non-emergency Stafford Act funds.

States and communities with existing mitigation plans are urged to re-vise them to comply with the new DMA 2000 regulations. In addition,tying mitigation planning into other ongoing planning initia-tives can significantly streamline your planning efforts and buildcoalitions across units of local government, the private sector,and your community. Integrating mitigation planning withother efforts provides the opportunity to draw from other plans,which enables hazard reduction goals, objectives, and actions toalign with other community goals, values, and policies.

9. Create support by expanding current planning initia-tives to include mitigation concepts, policies, andactivities.

Some opportunities to increase support for mitigation activitiesmay include those shown below. Note that many of these oppor-tunities are best used after mitigation actions are identified inPhase 3 of the planning process. However, knowing early onthat you can use these tools to further support planning canhelp lend momentum to early planning efforts. In addition,these tools are efficient as implementing mechanisms for mitiga-tion actions identified in Phase 3 of the planning process.

By examining various community plan documents, you may dis-cover public dissatisfaction or concern with issues or physicalfeatures that have implications for hazard reduction. For ex-

Identify an upcom-ing opportunity foryour community or state toinitiate planning for hazards.Recently experienced di-sasters may provide increased aware-ness and concern for developing amitigation plan. This interest can act asa catalyst for structuring a successfulmitigation planning effort. Such cata-lysts do not necessarily have to residein the community itself. They can involvea high profile disaster elsewhere, a re-cent hazards analysis study, a book orpopular movie about a disaster, or otheractivities that focus attention on hazardsand risks.



ample, citizens may be concerned about a blighted downtownbusiness district that also happens to lie in the floodplain. Bytapping into the existing momentum for this issue, you canchannel some of the same support into reducing losses in thatarea.

a. Comprehensive and other community-oriented plan-ning activities. Not all communities have comprehen-sive plans or are required to develop them understate-enabling legislation, but all communities need toplan for their future. Integrating mitigation conceptsand policies into existing plans provides expandedmeans for implementing initiatives via well-establishedmechanisms. As comprehensive plans are reviewed andupdated, and after mitigation strategies are developed,mitigation policies and activities should be incorpo-rated into elements of the plan such as economic de-velopment, transportation, recreation, historicpreservation, and housing. A natural hazards elementmay also be desired. Planning for future land uses byconsidering hazard constraints and opportunities, ad-dressing environmental concerns, and incorporatinghazard reduction into capital improvements and infra-structure elements are all potential mitigation oppor-tunities.

Some other special purpose community plans that canbe used to help support mitigation planning include:

" Stormwater management plans: these plans describeactions to maintain system capacity to handlestormwater, which also provides flood mitigationbenefits;

" Open space and recreation plans: these plans targetlocations for open space and recreation areas whereproperty acquisition or buyout programs in hazardareas can complement the planned improvements;

" Redevelopment and housing plans: these plansidentify areas where construction is occurring or willoccur. Opportunities exist to incorporate mitigationtechniques into retrofit activities and new construc-tion, and to influence the location of redevelop-ment away from hazard areas; and

" Transportation plans: these plans identify andprioritize road improvement projects where mitiga-

Disasters can affectyour community's housing,economy, transportation,cultural resources, andnatural resources, which are

all usually covered in a comprehensiveplan. A comprehensive plan reflectswhat the community would like to seehappen in the future. The plan is car-ried out through other local measuressuch as capital improvements, zoning,and subdivision ordinances. The com-prehensive plan can incorporate miti-gation strategies identified in thecommunity's mitigation plan to discour-age new development in hazard-proneareas and encourage practices that areconsistent with the mitigation goals.Some mitigation activities, such as theacquisition of land in high hazard ar-eas, can tie in with pre-existing com-munity goals, such as preserving openspace, improving environmental qual-ity and natural features, and enhancingrecreational opportunities.

More informationand resources re-garding compre-hensive plans, including

developing hazard elements, can befound on the American PlanningAssociation's Web site atwww.planning.org. You may also con-tact your local planner, regional plan-ning agency, or state planning agencyfor more information.


tion of transportation and utility systems can beincorporated.

b. Capital improvement plans. State and local govern-ments and private organizations of any size have capi-tal improvement plans for building new facilities andreplacing inadequate facilities. These plans could in-corporate mitigation principles into planned projectssuch as locating new public buildings out of high haz-ard areas or sizing adequate culverts to accommodatefloodwaters. These plans could also include provisionsfor upgrading replacement facilities using the latestmitigation techniques; ensuring that new facilities arebuilt to the most current codes, standards, and specifi-cations; and avoiding the extension of public facilitiesin hazard areas.

c. Floodplain remapping or updating. FEMA is currentlyin the process of updating Flood Insurance Rate Maps(FIRMs) for approximately 3,300 communities. Overthe next five to seven years, more than 2,700 new digi-tal maps of flood-prone communities that have neverbeen mapped before will also be included in this pro-gram. The new and updated information that will bedelineated on the maps is an important impetus toeither revise your existing mitigation and floodplainmanagement plans, or to create a new mitigation planto address flood hazards. Check with your local flood-plain administrator or your state National Flood Insur-ance Program (NFIP) coordinator to discuss the publicparticipation requirements of revising your FIRMs andhow the flood hazard will affect risk in your jurisdic-tion.

It is always important to revisit the mitigation plan ev-ery time a flood map is revised, particularly if flood-plains encompass developed areas. For moreinformation on FEMA's flood hazard mapping, or tofind out if your community is scheduled to beremapped, go to http://www.fema.gov/mit/tsd/st_main.htm, or talk to your state NFIP coordinator.

d. Existing mitigation plans and other emergency manage-ment plans. Communities and states should review ex-isting mitigation plans and update them to meet DMA2000 requirements. However, planning does not end



with this update. It is important to understand thatvulnerability to hazards does change over time. Drain-age patterns, shoreline erosion, water levels, popula-tion demographics, and development patterns withinhazard areas are not constants. New research and animproved understanding of hazards and the develop-ment of new mitigation approaches will also requireyou to update your mitigation plan. Finally, plans oftenhave to be updated within an established timeframe inorder to be compliant with federal and state regula-tions. This update provides an excellent opportunity tobegin incorporating multi-hazard mitigation principlesinto these plans. Bringing the Plan to Life (FEMA 386-4)will address the plan maintenance and update pro-cesses.

Emergency operations plans identify preparedness andresponse procedures into which mitigation consider-ations could be incorporated to facilitate post-disasterreconstruction and recovery. To keep plans up-to-date,states and local governments must conduct real-lifeexercises based on actual risk scenarios. Issues thatemerge from post-disaster scenarios often draw atten-tion to pre-disaster mitigation activities that can beundertaken now to prevent future disaster losses.

FEMA can make available post-disaster mitigation andrecovery exercises for flood, earthquake, and hurri-cane disaster scenarios. Exercises designed to assistcommunities in pre-disaster mitigation planning arealso being developed. Check with your FEMA regionaloffice.

e. Post-disaster recovery planning. Trying to organize andprioritize projects in a post-disaster situation without apreviously adopted mitigation plan can be a disaster inits own right. Officials face extraordinary pressure toimmediately rebuild affected areas back to pre-disasterconditions, eliminating the possibility of reducinglosses from future events. A mitigation plan that ad-dresses post-disaster issues before the event could helpto take some of the pressure off elected officials, andwould provide a publicly supported reason for a moresustainable redevelopment effort. See Planning for Post-

After the initial ap-proval, state mitigationplans must be reviewed,updated, and submitted forre-approval by FEMA every

three years. Local mitigation plans mustbe reviewed, updated, and re-submit-ted to FEMA every five years.

Do not assume thathazard elements in local,state, or other federal plansrequired by state law auto-matically meet DMA 2000

requirements. You should review any ex-isting hazard elements against the In-terim Final Rule published in the FederalRegister February 26, 2002 (44 CFRParts 201 and 206) to determine com-pliance. Your SHMO can also help you.


Disaster Recovery and Reconstruction for guidance, avail-able from the FEMA publications warehouse.

10. Support from other programs.

a. The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) offersfederally-backed flood insurance to help reduce disas-ter losses from flooding. It provides flood insurance toproperty owners for structures that otherwise would beuninsurable because of their susceptibility to flooding,in exchange for communities adopting and imple-menting floodplain management regulations to mini-mize future flood losses to new construction.

b. The Community Rating System (CRS) is a programunder NFIP that recognizes and encourages commu-nity floodplain management activities that exceed theminimum NFIP standards. The CRS recognizes com-munity efforts beyond the NFIP minimum standardsby reducing flood insurance premiums from 5% to45% for the community's property owners, dependingon the amount of public information and floodplainmanagement activities that the community undertakes.Communities receive credit under CRS for developinga flood mitigation plan.

c. The Flood Mitigation Assistance Program (FMA) is aprogram under the NFIP that provides funding forstates and communities for the preparation of mitiga-tion plans and for flood mitigation projects. Plans re-quired under FMA can serve as the basis of DMA 2000plans, and can be expanded using the criteria in theInterim Final Rule implementing DMA 2000.

d. Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program (PDM), authorizedunder DMA 2000, provides for pre-disaster funding ofmitigation planning and projects on a competitive ba-sis. An approved mitigation plan is required to receivefunding. Check with your FEMA regional office forlatest information on availability of funds.

See Table 1 (page xi) for planning requirements for the HMGP,PDM, FMA, and CRS programs.



Planning resourcesThere are three primary types of resources that will facilitate yourplanning efforts: technical, financial, and human.

1. Technical resources for mitigation planning includeprofessional advice on matters related to economics,science, engineering, mapping, and planning, as wellas procedural information. In mitigation planning,expertise on this wide array of topics is often neededin order to have enough information to make determi-nations as to project type and priority. Not all of thisexpertise is needed in the beginning stage of plan-ning. However, you should note when you feel you willneed to obtain such assistance and where you mightobtain such assistance. Technical resources also in-clude data necessary to complete risk assessments ormake project decisions.

2. Financial resources are critical for implementing mostprojects, as well as for securing the technical resourcesdiscussed above. In addition to the "traditional" FEMAfunding programs, you should seek out community,state, and other federal agency funding sources fromprograms with missions related to the type of mitiga-tion activity being pursued. For example, funding formitigation of transportation facilities should also besought from transportation programs. Financial re-sources for planning will be summarized in this sec-tion.

3. Human resources. In addition to private citizens, em-ployers, industries, and organizations can provide thestaff and expertise necessary to conduct a meaningfulplanning process.

1. Technical resources.

These include existing planning, engineering, and scientificresources on staff, GIS, local universities and colleges, and re-gional planning associations. States often have staff devoted totechnical matters within the state, such as the State Geologistand State Climatologist. Program staff such as the State Hurri-cane Program Manager and State Earthquake Program Managercan also provide technical assistance.

FEMA's MitigationResources for Suc-cess CD (FEMA372) features a variety oftechnical, case study, and

federal program information that willhelp build support and provide re-sources for undertaking hazard mitiga-tion activities and programs. You will finduseful information, publications, techni-cal fact sheets, photographs, case stud-ies, and federal and state mitigation pro-gram information and contacts. The vastarray of documents and photographsare available for exporting to other docu-ments, Web sites, and publications, andfor use in educational and training pre-sentations. To obtain a copy, call theFEMA publications warehouse at1-800-480-2520.


Local and state higher education institutions can often be excel-lent sources of student and faculty expertise and data. In addi-tion, the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program(NEHRP) provides technical materials to the 45 states and terri-tories that have earthquake program managers. Some technicalassistance is provided through the National Earthquake Techni-cal Assistance Program (NETAP) sponsored by FEMA.

2. Financial resources.

Pre-Disaster Programs

" The Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program (PDM), autho-rized by DMA 2000, can provide funding to states,communities, and tribes for cost-effective hazardmitigation planning activities that complement acomprehensive mitigation program and reduce inju-ries, loss of life, and damage and destruction ofproperty before a disaster strikes. Check with yourFEMA regional office on the status of funding.

" The Flood Mitigation Assistance Program (FMA)provides funding to assist states and communities inimplementing measures to reduce or eliminate thelong-term risk of flood damage to buildings, manu-factured homes, and other insurable structures. Thethree types of grants available through FMA areplanning, project, and technical assistance grants.Only communities that participate in the NationalFlood Insurance Program (NFIP) can apply forproject and technical assistance grants. Planninggrants are to be used by states and communities toprepare flood mitigation plans, with a focus on re-petitive loss properties. Currently, funding for FMAis provided through the NFIP and is funded at $20million annually.

Post-Disaster Programs

" The Stafford Act (Public Law 100-107, as amended)authorizes funding for all federal disaster-relatedassistance in place today.

" The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP),authorized by Section 404 of the Stafford Act, pro-vides grants to state, local, and tribal governments(up to 15% of the FEMA disaster funds they re-

How the DisasterMitigation Act of2000 (DMA 2000)Relates to theStafford Act

The Stafford Act authorizes federal as-sistance after the President determinesthat a disaster has overwhelmed stateand local resources. FEMA and otheragencies administer most Stafford Actassistance, which includes such thingsas:! Provision of temporary housing as-

sistance, including vouchers, minorrepairs to homes, and the use ofmobile homes;

! Repair, reconstruction or replace-ment of public facilities;

! Aid for individuals and familiesthrough grants for personal, unin-sured emergency needs;

! Clearance of debris;! Access to counseling and legal ser-

vices; and! Funding for mitigation grants.

Although the Stafford Act does providesome funding for mitigation initiatives,mainly through its Hazard MitigationGrant Program (HMGP), it is geared to-wards helping communities and victimsrespond and recover after a disasterhas occurred.

The Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000(DMA 2000) amends the existingStafford Act. These amendments autho-rize the President to provide grants tostate and local governments for pre-di-saster mitigation activities, delineatecriteria to be used in awarding suchgrants, and define mitigation planningrequirements that state and local gov-ernments must meet before receivingadditional funding. If state and localgovernments meet these criteria andget their plan approved by FEMA, theyare eligible to receive increased fund-ing under HMGP, which is implementedunder Section 404 of the Stafford Act.

DMA 2000 shifts federal emergencymanagement policy away from a reac-tive "response and recovery" empha-sis. Emphasis is now placed on identi-fying hazards before they occur,preventing future losses, and minimiz-ing the impact of disasters.



ceive) to implement long-term hazard mitigationmeasures after a major disaster declaration.

" The Assistance to Individuals and Households GrantProgram is authorized by Section 411 of theStafford Act and authorizes grants to be used formitigation measures to cover serious unmet, disas-ter-related real property losses.

" The Public Assistance Program (PA) is authorizedunder Section 406 of the Stafford Act. This programprovides funding, following a disaster declaration,for the repair, restoration, or replacement of dam-aged facilities belonging to governments and to pri-vate nonprofit entities, and for other associatedexpenses, including emergency protective measuresand debris removal. The program also funds mitiga-tion measures related to the repair of damaged pub-lic facilities.

Start identifying funding resources to support theplanning process. Many grants can help pay for creating theplan, while others can help pay for the activities themselves. Thereare many federal agencies that offer grants and technical assistancefor general planning that may be used towards mitigation planning.

Some states and local governments hire or task an individual to track downdifferent grants that may be available. A few states have automated computersystems to help local governments locate funding for mitigation projects. Plan-ning initiatives almost always gain more support from local officials if there is apotential for grant money from an outside source that can help pay for cost-effective actions that result from the plan. Numerous resources are available tolocal governments to help fund mitigation efforts. The need for outside fundingsources reinforces the need to look at multi-objective planning. Some fundingsources are not specifically designated for hazard mitigation planning, but canbe used for that if it accomplishes the specified goal in tandem with hazardmitigation. An example of approaching mitigation planning in a multi-objectivecontext is a community that wants to bury its power lines to reduce wind-relateddamages. This community might be able to tap into blight-reduction grants fromthe Department of Housing and Urban Development (as power lines are usuallyseen as unsightly and can detract from the community's character). Refer to theMitigation Resources for Success CD (FEMA 372) for other federal programs.


Check with yourState Hazard Mitiga-tion Officer (SHMO)for technical assistance andsources of funding for plan-ning. In addition, consult with the SHMOfor planning guidance and to get themost up-to-date requirements.

The state should assistlocal jurisdictions in identify-ing funding for mitigationplanning or to fund mitigationmeasures.

3. Human resources.

These include the community's citizens, businesses, andassociation leaders who want to be involved in the plan-ning process.

In addition to the staff it brings, private sector participa-tion can also lead to financial and in-kind resources.Citizens with expertise in areas such as survey techniques,fundraising, public relations, and other technical subjectscan be valuable to the planning team. For additionalguidance on planning resources, see Securing Resources forMitigation Planning (FEMA 386-9).



The Hazardville PostVol. CXI No. 100 Thursday, February 25, 2002

Mayor Challenges Town to Reduce Disaster Costs[Hazardville, EM] In an attemptto follow through on his commit-ment to make Hazardville a saferplace to live, work, and do business,Mayor McDonald has appointed JoeNorris, the Planning DepartmentDirector, to head a hazard mitiga-tion steering committee. To assisthim with these efforts, the CityCouncil has appointed to the com-mittee David Waters, Hazardville'sFloodplain Manager, Wendy Soot,Hazardville's Fire Marshall, MaryTremble, Director of Hazardville'sEmergency Management Agency,and Rita Booke, head of the localCitizens for Action group.

Mr. Waters, Hazardville's Flood-plain Manager, is excited about theopportunity to work with Mr.Norris to integrate all of the Town'splans together. "It certainly is longoverdue that Hazardville begins totake a comprehensive approach todeal with our hazards. We are asmall town that seems to be repeat-edly plagued by problems broughton by floods and landslides. In ad-dition, I understand there is a sub-stantial risk for a major earthquake

in the region," said Mr. Waters.Mr. Waters finds that by getting

many of the local business memberstogether, he is able enlist their helpand build partnerships that willhelp Hazardville become a saferplace to live and work. He has askedJim Snow, owner of Snow's Snow-plows and a local business leader,to research efforts to gain outsidesupport in the form of grants andlocal monetary resources. Jim ex-plains, "Grants will help cover theactivities necessary to implementthe plan. Getting this committee to-gether to develop a plan will helpsave more of our tax dollars in thelong run. It will help our town be-come more efficient at dealing withrisks, and will save things from be-ing destroyed."

Disasters can affect ourcommunity’s economy, housing,transportation, cultural resources,and natural resources. These ele-ments are all part of the bigger pic-ture. Ms. Tremble, Director ofHazardville's Emergency Manage-ment Agency, sees that as a mem-ber of the hazard mitigation plan-

ning team, she can help update theexisting emergency managementplan by reviewing and focusing onthe recent disasters and thecommunity's vulnerabilities to haz-ards, and by ensuring that the planis compliant with federal and stateregulations and plans.

Mayor McDonald commented inthe interview, "We need to think ona more regional scale. When a di-saster occurs, there are no bound-ary lines stating how far a flood canreach or how much damage anearthquake can cause for a commu-nity or communities. Some floodingproblems are multi-jurisdictional,and therefore, I have asked theHazardville planning team to con-sider working closely on this miti-gation planning effort with ourneighbors to the north, Soppytown,to deal with the flooding and wa-tershed issues in a coordinatedmanner." At the time of press, noresponse was forthcoming fromSoppytown's Mayor Smith. If youare interested in becoming involvedin the plan, please call the PlanningDepartment at 888-777-6666.

2


build theplanningteamOverview

Once you have the support for initiating the mitigationplanning process, it is time to identify a group of dedicated

and interested individuals to be on your planning team. Theseindividuals will be the "workhorses" who will see the planningprocess through. Selecting members who are a good fit will becomecritical to the eventual success of your community's mitigationplanning process. Creating a planning team can be one of the mostchallenging aspects of the process. Involving a variety of peoplefrom different segments of the community will allow all sides of theissues to be examined and will help ensure broad-based support forthe plan. Many communities already have a Local EmergencyPlanning Committee (LEPC) in place to deal with hazardousmaterial (HAZMAT) spill contingencies and to improve the safetyof all agencies involved with HAZMAT. Some LEPCs deal withnatural hazards as well, and they would be a good base from whichto build your planning team.

If your community has developed a comprehensive plan, you maywant to identify those who participated in the process and addthem to your mitigation planning team. Alternatively, you coulddetermine that the mitigation planning process could be inte-grated into the existing comprehensive plan.

In CRS, reference ismade (and points aregiven) for involving commu-nity staff, the public, andstakeholders in the flood

mitigation planning process as the plan-ning "committee." To obtain maximumpoints under CRS, you may wish to or-ganize your planning committee orteam (as referenced here) according tothe CRS approach. Additionally, pointsare awarded if a planner prepares theplan. Regardless of the approach used,make sure that you take into accountthe unique strengths and weaknessesof those available in your community tohelp create, implement, and maintainthe plan.


The planning team should consist of community leaders, represen-tatives of local government agencies, business owners and opera-tors, interested citizens, and anyone else who has an interest inreducing hazards in your community. While it can be a challengeto bring together all of the experiences, personalities, resources,and policies in your community, it is nonetheless a critical part ofthe planning process. It is especially good to include past activistsor "squeaky wheels" because this will bring them into the processand hopefully educate them, as well as other committee members,on why certain projects are or are not feasible, including projectswhich are of particular concern to them. Ensuring that your teamhas an equitable and diverse representation will enhance yourplanning efforts and help build support for mitigation.

Procedures & TechniquesTask A. Create the planning team.

The planning team should be built on existing organizations orboards whenever possible. Larger communities may want to con-sider building on capabilities that already exist within their agen-cies and departments. For example, as mentioned previously,

Consider Establishing a Steering CommitteeSome communities or states may find the need to first organize acore group of individuals into a steering committee. This group willprovide leadership and support in the early stages of creating a miti-

gation plan, oversee the planning process, and be the point of contact for thevarious interest groups in the community or state. This steering committee maylater be absorbed into the larger planning team.

Depending on the size of your community, you may have a wealth of potentialcandidates from which to choose. Consider selecting candidates who have thetrust and respect of others and can represent different interests within the com-munity. Ideally, you would like to have representation from each major interestgroup in the community on the committee.

When selecting potential steering committee members, look for people who:

! Possess the ability to command the respect of citizens, businesspersons,and government elected officials.

! Are visionary and open to new ideas.

! Have the desire, time, and commitment to address the issues.

! Have the ability to communicate planning and hazard concepts to col-leagues, citizens, and others.

! Have opposed mitigation planning, or planning in general, in the past (theoryof inviting your "enemies").

! Understand local politics and issues.

! Have planning experience or hazard knowledge.

The American Planning As-sociation (APA) is a professionalassociation to which many plannersbelong. Planners can be certifiedthrough the American Institute of Certi-fied Planners, a subsection of APA, bypassing a comprehensive exam. Theseindividuals must meet certain criteria forplanning experience anddemonstrate their knowl-edge of a wide variety ofplanning subjects and pro-fessional ethics.


build the planning team 2LEPCs can provide a good base from which to create a planningteam.

The planning team can welcome anyone who is available to partici-pate regularly in the meetings. Smaller subgroups may have to beestablished later in the process if there are numerous issues theteam wants to explore, if hazard-specific groups are desired, or ifthe number of stakeholders is too large for effective discussion ofissues.

1. Select a chair of the committee. An experienced chair willunderstand how to navigate issues related to team momen-tum, conflict, team composition, and schedules for complet-ing tasks.

2. Determine your stakeholders. Stakeholders are individualsor groups that will be affected in any way by a mitigation ac-tion or policy and include businesses, private organizations,and citizens. There is no "best" way to identify stakeholders;indeed, the stakeholders you involve may change severaltimes during the mitigation process as the needs or focus ofthe team or processes change. Brainstorming with the plan-ning team is a good way to bring to light candidates that youmay have missed earlier. Discuss the following questions with

Help! Do You Need a Consultant?Decide if you need or want a consultant to assistyou in the planning process. Although leading themitigation planning process does not require for-

mal training in planning, engineering, or science, sometimesit is necessary to hire someone to assist you in all or portionsof the planning process. You may need assistance if:

! Your community does not have enough staff to devotesomeone to lead the process as part of their job du-ties;

! You wish to have targeted assistance in identifying haz-ards, risks, and vulnerabilities, and in performing lossestimates;

! You feel you need an outside facilitator to manage publicmeetings or to assist in goal setting or prioritizing; or

! No one in the community feels comfortable leading theplanning process, or has the time to devote to it.

Hourly rates for planning consultants vary depending on theirexperience. In addition to private consultants, consider con-tracting with your regional planning agency, if one exists. Is-sues such as finding a consultant you are comfortable with,determining the scope of work, guidelines for how much of arole the consultant will have during the process, and how theywill interact with the lay planners are all important to considerbefore hiring a consultant.

Many communities hire outside consultants to assist them inthe coordination, facilitation, and implementation of the miti-gation planning process. If your community decides to hire aconsultant to assist with your mitigation plan, consider look-ing for a planner that:

! Understands that each community has unique demo-graphic, geographic, and political considerations thatneed to be taken into account when creating a fullyintegrated mitigation plan.

! Understands all pertinent regulations and consider-ations as they apply to the mitigation plan (e.g., re-quirements of DMA 2000, state and local ordinances,and NFIP requirements).

! Recognizes that community input and public partici-pation are keys to any successful mitigation plan.

! Is familiar with emergency management and multi-haz-ard mitigation concepts.

! Will provide you with the names and phone numbersof past clients.

For more information on hiring and working with a planningconsultant, go to the American Planning Association Web siteat www.planning.org, or see the additional Web sites and ref-erences that are listed in the Library in Appendix B.

Planning Teammembers should thinkabout organizations andpeople they know who mightbe interested in helping with

the mitigation plan. They should beasked to provide contact information atthe first meeting so that the planningteam can consider additional candi-dates to invite.


your team members and see what kind of candidates youidentify:

" Who are the representatives of those most likely tobe affected?

" Who might be responsible for what is intended?

" Who is likely to mobilize in support of the mitiga-tion planning process? Against it?

" Who can make the planning process more effectivethrough their participation or less effective by theirnonparticipation or outright opposition?

" Who are the "voiceless" for whom special efforts mayhave to be made?

" Who can contribute financial or technical re-sources?

3. Include stakeholder representation from the followinggroups. Even if these groups decline to participate early on,keep them in mind for later participation and advice whenyou are further along in the planning process. Also, copythem on meeting notices and meeting minutes. The level ofparticipation from each of the groups that follows can rangefrom advisory to active participant.

" Neighborhood groups and other non-profit organi-zations and associations. These entities often act asadvocates for citizens and can be essential in garner-ing support and local buy-in from citizens. Thesegroups include neighborhood associations, housingorganizations, watershed associations and other en-vironmental groups, historical preservation groups,parent-teacher organizations, church organizations,and the local Red Cross.

" State, regional, and local government representa-tives. State, regional, and local agencies can providelocal expertise and guidance on statutes and pro-grams that can provide grants. In addition, localagency representatives from departments such aspublic works, recreation, fire, or public safety canprovide the team with valuable technical expertise.Representatives from neighboring communitiesshould also be included. Key state representativesinclude the State Hazard Mitigation Officer, Na-

SpecializedPlanning TeamMembersYou have an opportunity to

include planning team members whohave specialized areas of expertise. Forexample, if your mitigation plan will in-clude sensitive areas, lands with endan-gered species, or historic structures,you will want to include people repre-senting these issues on your planningteam. In addition, if you are includingtechnological hazards in your mitigationplan, such as hazardous materials orterrorism, invite members with the back-ground and expertise to identify appro-priate mitigation measures to reducethe risks from these hazards.

As referenced in the Introduction, addi-tional how-to guides will be preparedas special issues arise. These guidesmay suggest appropriate people or de-partments to include on your planningteam to address these issues. Checkthe FEMA Web site or contact yourState Hazard Mitigation Officer for newguides.

build the planning team 2


tional Flood Insurance Program coordinator, StateCoastal Zone Manager, State Geologist, State Clima-tologist, and other state agencies associated with thefederal agencies mentioned below.

" Businesses and development organizations. Localbusinesses are vital to the economic health of thecommunity. Involving local businesses and the localunits of national or regional chains will help ensurethat the local economy becomes more disaster resis-tant, and it will yield a larger resource base forproject implementation.

" Elected officials. Elected officials can help validatethe hazard mitigation program and process by pro-viding visibility and political influence. These offi-cials often can expedite legislative and budgetconsiderations, proclamations and resolutions, anddirectives to local personnel and agencies.

" Federal agency representatives. Federal agencies canprovide technical expertise, knowledge about gov-ernment processes, guidance on federal programsand grants, and awareness about current trends inthe area. These federal agencies can include theregional FEMA office, the district Army Corps ofEngineers office, Economic Development Adminis-tration, Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fishand Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, Na-tional Weather Service, U.S. Department of Agricul-ture, and the Natural Resources ConservationService (NRCS) planners. In coastal areas, the Na-tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA) may be able to provide technical assistanceon coastal issues.

" Academic institutions. Academic institutions canprovide valuable resources to both state and localgovernment mitigation planning. State universitiesare often engaged in research that addresses state,regional, or local issues, and they can provide thelatest data related to your community or state.

If possible, a community or state planner should be identified to bethe expert, guide, and facilitator of the planning process. Local,regional, or state government agencies such as the planning,housing, environmental, or transportation departments can also be

Many graduate studentsmay be interested in under-taking a community or statewide so-cial, environmental, planning, hazardmapping, or geological information ini-tiative as their thesis or class project. Aclass instructor may also be willing tocoordinate a class project that couldassist a community or state in their haz-ard identification and risk analysis orplanning needs. Collaborating with lo-cal universities and colleges could pro-vide low to no-cost planning assistanceand would provide students with hands-on experience. When considering thiskind of assistance, be prepared to ad-dress the following issues:

! Can the project be com-pleted within one or twosemesters? If not, can theproject be broken downinto smaller tasks?

! Will there be a sufficient amountof guidance and internal organi-zation to enable the instructorsand students to perform theprojects successfully?

! Understand that the students willneed guidance in understandingand adhering to any regulations.


valuable resources when looking for professional planners. Re-gional economic development and planning districts may beparticularly active in your state and could facilitate the planningprocess. These planners work daily with planning processes, plan-ning resources, and plan development. Therefore, they are familiarwith the legislative and political framework in which the mitigationplan must operate. It is also beneficial to have a plan leader withexperience chairing other committees, ideally other planningcommittees. This helps greatly in all steps of the planning process.

Communities and states should also consider looking for candi-dates with spirit, enthusiasm, and the time to dedicate to theinitiative. Look towards the leaders and advocates who are alreadyinvolved with activities to improve the quality of life in the commu-nity.

Task B. Obtain official recognition for the planning team.

Your individual community must decide whether this planningteam will serve only as an advisory committee or if it will be adecision-making body. Either way, your planning efforts will bemore successful if your team is designated with the official author-ity to develop a mitigation plan. Your planning team should con-sider obtaining official recognition in the form of a council resolu-tion, a proclamation, a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), or aMemorandum of Understanding (MOU). This recognition can goa long way toward demonstrating community or state support formitigation action, and it greatly increases the plan's chances ofbeing formally adopted.

Task C. Organize the team.

1. Have an informal kick-off. Once potential candidates havebeen identified, it is important to convene the group to en-list their participation and educate them about hazard miti-gation planning. This meeting should generate a sense ofteamwork among individuals who may not be used to work-ing together, or who come from different backgrounds orhave different values and interests. The first meeting shouldfocus on creating a mood for learning rather than jumpingdirectly into problem solving. Participants will probablycome to this first meeting with preconceived notions of whatthey already know about hazards and what they think can bedone about them.

States may decideto identify specific stateor regional planning re-sources to support localplan development. The statecan help local communities to identifyplanning team members and shouldparticipate in some way on the planningteam.



Memorandum of UnderstandingThe following provides an example Memorandum of Under-standing (MOU) for a typical planning effort where the com-munity government is being represented by the Planning De-partment, which serves as the lead staff resource for thecommunity. Reading and signing a similar MOU should beone of the first tasks of the planning team.

I. Purpose

As part of the Community Mitigation Planning Program, aMemorandum of Understanding (MOU) must be executedbetween the [insert community name] and the authorizedcitizen representative of the [insert planning team name]planning area. The plan created as a result of this MOU willbe presented to the Planning Commission and City Councilfor adoption.

When adopted, plans provide guidance to city boards, com-missions, and departments. Adopted plans serve as a guideand do not include a specific financial commitment by thecity. All adopted plans should address land use, communityfacilities, and transportation networks. Priority projects are con-sidered for recommendation as a part of the Annual Improve-ment Project Report. This report is forwarded to the City Coun-cil.

The intent of this MOU is to ensure that the mitigation plan isdeveloped in an open manner involving neighborhood stake-holders, and that it is consistent with city policies and is anaccurate reflection of the community's values. Its purpose isto form a working relationship between the citizens of [insertcommunity name] and the [insert community name] Plan-ning Department.

This MOU sets out the responsibilities of all parties. The MOUidentifies the work to be performed by the planning team andPlanning Department. Planning tasks, schedules, and finishedproducts are identified in the Work Program.

II. Responsibilities

A general list of responsibilities follows:

COMMUNITY PLANNING TEAM RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Ensure that the planning team includes representativesfrom the neighborhood stakeholders groups, includingall residents, neighborhood associations, communitygroups, property owners, institutions, businesses,schools, etc. The Planning Director should approve thefinal composition of the planning team.

2. Develop the Work Program with the Planning Depart-ment.

3. Organize regular meetings of the planning team in co-ordination with the Planning Department.

4. Assist the Planning Department with organizing publicmeetings to develop the plan.

5. Identify the community resources available to supportthe planning effort, including people to serve as meet-ing facilitators and committee chairs.

6. Assist with recruiting participants for planning meetings,including the development of a mailing list, distributionof flyers, and placement of meeting announcements inneighborhood newsletters.

7. Gain the support of neighborhood stakeholders for therecommendations found within the plan.

8. Submit the proposed plan to the city for interdepart-mental review.

9. Work with the Planning Department to incorporate in-terdepartmental comments into the proposed plan.

10. Submit the proposed plan to the Planning Commissionand City Council for consideration.

11. After adoption, develop a Coordinating Committee tomonitor and work toward plan implementation.

12. After adoption, publicize the plan to neighborhood in-terests and ensure new community members are awareof the plan and its contents.

PLANNING DEPARTMENT STAFF RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Assign a planning staff member to provide technicalassistance and necessary data to the planning effort.

2. Coordinate and facilitate community meetings with theassistance of the planning team.

3. Provide any necessary materials, handouts, etc., nec-essary for public planning meetings.

4. Work with the planning team to collect and analyze dataand develop goals and implementation strategies.

5. Provide assistance with the creation of the plan, includ-ing review, editing, and formatting.

6. Coordinate with other city departments, public agen-cies, and other stakeholders during plan development.

7. Coordinate the city interdepartmental review.

8. Prepare for plan consideration by the Planning Com-mission and City Council.

Director of Planning Planning Team Chair

Name: Signed after selection Name: Signed after selection

Signature: Signature:

Date: Date:


The first gathering should be relaxed, friendly, and brief.The meeting should focus on an introduction of the teammembers, what the meeting is for, and what the team wantsto accomplish. This first meeting should include a discussionof roles and responsibilities, decision-making processes, con-flict resolution strategies, administrative procedures, finan-cial management, and communication strategies. Considershowing a video about planning (floodplain planning, forexample) as this could help orient the participants and pro-vide background information on why planning is important.These issues are essential to sustaining the planning processover the long run. When possible, a representative from thestate should provide an overview of mitigation planning andDMA 2000 or other applicable requirements. Over thecourse of the next few meetings, it would be helpful for theteam to create a chart of the planning process that includesa timeline. The chart should describe who is responsible forwhat and when, what each member's roles are, and how eachparty's contribution is related to the overall process. Thechart should not remain static; it should be continually up-dated and revised as the planning process progresses.

2. Prepare for the first formal meeting. Before the first formalmeeting is convened, the team leader should determine thelocal procedural requirements for these meetings. Theselaws usually concern whether the team can have closed meet-ings, whether the records and minutes must be available tothe public, and whether there must be public notices of themeetings. The team leader or chair of the planning teamshould also help develop issues and points of discussion forthe first meeting from the information it has collected. Anagenda should be developed and sent to the members be-fore the first meeting. Someone should be designated foreach of the three roles that are vital to conducting meetings:the chair, a facilitator, and someone to record all of the in-formation. These roles should have been appointed prior tothe first formal meeting.

A designated team member or two should also begin togather data and information about things like theresources the community has available, the date of themost recent disaster, damage estimates from the mostrecent disaster, etc.

During subsequentmeetings, you may wantto spice up the meeting bywatching a short video orconducting a "what if" exer-cise to find out what locations or assetsmay be vulnerable to hazards. Informa-tion on conducting tabletop mitigationexercises or a list of videos can be foundon the FEMA Web site or the FEMApublications warehouse at 1-800-480-2520.

A few simple guiderules should be postedsomewhere in the room,and should include each ofthe following guidelines:

! Everyone participates fully

! All input is honored

! Keep your personal agendasoutside of the team

! One colleague speaks at a time

! Be honest and speak what's onyour mind

! No one is ridiculed or made tofeel unimportant

! Look for connections

! Trust the process

! Have some fun



3. Develop a mission statement. The planning team is nowready to develop a mission statement that will describe theoverall purpose of developing the mitigation plan. Often theterm "mission" is used interchangeably with "vision." How-ever, the mission statement is about the plan's purpose whilethe vision statement is about where your community wantsto be in the future as an outcome of your mission. You maychoose to develop both. Developing a mission statement isthe first step toward developing goals to guide you in accom-plishing your mission. Subsequently, you will develop objec-tives and activities to support these goals. Goals andobjectives will be discussed in more detail in Developing aMitigation Plan (FEMA 386-3).

Developing a mission statement will help team members tounderstand what outcomes they want to achieve. This stepwill help build a common understanding of the purpose ofthe plan. The central theme for your mission statementshould acknowledge in some way that a specific problem ex-ists and that there are ways to solve it. The mission statementshould answer the following questions:

" Why is the plan being developed?

" What does the plan do?

" For whom or where?

" How does the plan do this?

4. Establish responsibilities. Each planning team membershould have a clear understanding of what is expected ofthem as a member of the team, what they can expect fromthe team and the planning process, and how much time theywill need to dedicate to the initiative. Team members shouldhave answers to each of the following questions:

" What do you see as your role and responsibility inthis initiative?

" To be successful, what do you need from the rest ofthe team?

" To be successful, what do you need to give to theteam in return?

" How do you see the plan contributing to the better-ment of the community?

Mission and VisionStatementsMission statements de-scribe the overall duty and

purpose of the planning process. Visionstatements describe the ultimate out-come that you strive for through yourmission.

North Carolina Natural HazardsMitigation Plan (August 2001)

! Mission statement – To makeNorth Carolinians, communities,state agencies, local govern-ments, and businesses less vul-nerable to the effects of naturalhazards through the effectiveadministration of hazard mitiga-tion grant programs, hazard riskassessments, wise floodplainmanagement, and a coordinatedapproach to mitigation policythrough state, regional, and lo-cal planning activities.

! Vision statement – Institutional-ize a statewide hazard mitigationethic through leadership, profes-sionalism, and excellence, lead-ing the way to a safe, sustainableNorth Carolina.


" What specific things will this committee do to en-sure such an outcome?

5. Assign key roles and provide job descriptions to team mem-bers. Assignments should be broad to accommodate futuregrowth of the team. A focus that is too narrow in scopecould require reorganization after the size of the team in-creases. Also, community professional staff or a consultantcould perform some of these functions as well. Types of rolesinclude:

" Developing public information

" Public outreach to special interest groups

" Technical assistance from agencies or departmentsthat are involved

" Meeting location planner

" Meeting documentation – One person should keepa record of all meeting minutes, voting and atten-dance records, resolutions of the team, open publicmeetings, and research work summaries. The desig-nated member may also be in charge of posting no-tices for meetings and press releases. Keeping goodrecords will provide documentation to support theteam's decisions and provide evidence that the deci-sions were well considered. Your team might want totape the meetings for easier and more completerecord keeping. Minutes should be provided to eachmember of the partnership, including memberswho are not present at the meetings. Communica-tion networks that provide access to the informa-tion, such as email or a Web page, can beestablished.

6. Establish a regular meeting schedule. During initial meet-ings, the team should decide upon a meeting schedule thatis frequent enough to hold the team's interest, but flexibleenough so that team members do not burn out early in theprocess. Scheduling outside field trips and visits to nearbytowns and communities are good ways to give team membersfirst-hand knowledge of problems in the area, and they canalso help break the monotony of meetings. Have one teammember create a calendar of meeting dates, times, and loca-tions and send a copy to all team members.

Documentation ofthe planning pro-cess, including public in-volvement, is required tomeet DMA 2000 (see44CFR §201.4(c)(1) and §201.6(c)(1)).The plan must include a description ofthe planning process used to developthe plan, including how it was prepared,who was involved in the process, andhow other agencies participated. A de-scription of the planning process shouldinclude how the planning team or com-mittee was formed, how input wassought from individuals or other agen-cies who did not participate on a regu-lar basis, what the goals and objectivesof the planning process were, and howthe plan was prepared. The descriptioncan be in the plan itself or contained inthe cover memo or an appendix.



Initially, the team will require frequent meetings to organizethe process and to further define the mission and responsi-bilities of the team. Later, the structure of the workgroups,projects, grant applications, and disaster events will deter-mine the frequency of the meetings. One of the goals of anymitigation planning team should be to increase coordina-tion among its members so that it almost becomes secondnature whether the meeting structure is formal or relaxed.

7. Set goals for each meeting. To ensure focus, the meetingfacilitator should set goals for each meeting and share thesegoals with the group. When setting meeting goals, be surethat the following questions are addressed:

" How will I measure the success of this meeting—what specific things need to be seen or heard?

" Are we making progress?

" What will participants take away from the meeting?What will be its value?

" If this meeting were a press event, what headlinewould I want to come out of this meeting?

8. Set future meeting agendas; keep it action-oriented. Urgemembers to submit future agenda requests that outline whatthe individual would like the planning team to do, why he orshe would like the planning team to do it, and what benefitit will bring to the planning team and project as a whole.This prevents unnecessary agenda items that can be handledon an individual or subgroup basis and reveals topics thatneed to be further developed before they are submitted tothe entire planning team.

When developing the agenda for team meetings, use action-oriented words that not only state what you are going to talkabout, but connote activity and outcomes. This will helpkeep your meeting focused and cut down on time. Examplesof a few action-oriented words are: recruit, evaluate, decide,assess, monitor, appoint, select, determine, recommend, publicize,follow-up, write, send, design, and publish.

9. Set timelines for projects to be completed. Timelines arecritical to the success of a hazard mitigation team. They keepthe team focused on its mission and serve as a method tomeasure progress.


10. Consider forming subcommittees or workgroups. One op-tion for organizing members of the planning team is to cre-ate workgroups or subcommittees. Workgroups orsubcommittees that meet independently of the full planningteam focus on one central issue and usually provide the lead-ership, research, and plan-writing responsibilities for thatissue. Many planning teams choose to use the workgroup/subcommittee option for several different reasons. Someplanning teams use workgroups or subcommittees to con-centrate participants with similar interests or expertise intoone group. Others use them to foster more organized andproductive meetings than an assemblage of the entire teamwould provide. Other planning teams choose workgroups orsubcommittees simply to help prevent "burnout" caused byparticipating in too many meetings.

Actual terminologycan vary from planningteam to planning team.Whether your team hasworkgroups, subcommit-tees, or task forces, the function of thesegroups is the same.

Example planningteam committees orworkgroups include:

! Risk Assessment

! Infrastructure

! Critical Facilities

! Land Use Planning and Zoning

! Businesses



Look out forCommon PlanningPitfallsSometimes planning teams

experience difficulty working together asa unified group. These problems can re-sult from a lack of commitment to thecause, unclear missions or goals, per-sonality conflicts, personal agendas, orill-defined roles for the team members.Most of these problems will work them-selves out over time, but on rare occa-sions, this difficulty could threaten thevery existence of the group, or the abil-ity to achieve the team goals. This mayhappen explosively through conflict orquietly through indifference. If this oc-curs within your team, consider tryingdifferent strategies to get the team backon track.

1. Recognize the constraints andlimitations of a public-private re-lationship. The concept of public-pri-vate partnerships is still a relativelynew concept for planning. The diver-sity of these stakeholders will addcomplexity to the relationships andcould cause increased tensionsamong team members. The teammust be alert to possible tensions ofany kind and should be prepared totake immediate action to address theissue before it becomes a major im-pediment to the team's efforts. Prob-lems will arise when team members

perceive an inequality of power, havea lack of trust of other team mem-bers, are unclear about their roles,or do not feel that their expectationsfor the planning process are beingmet in any way.

When dealing with governmentagencies there are laws, regulations,and procedures that their represen-tatives are expected to follow. The pri-vate sector may also have con-straints and limitations on how theycan operate in a partnership relation-ship from issues such as serving asboards of directors, company poli-cies, grant restrictions, and legalregulations. Small businesses maybe limited in the amount of resourcesthey can contribute and the amountof time they can devote to the part-nership. Recognizing and under-standing the constraints and limita-tions of both sides throughdiscussions and strategies to ad-dress the issues will enable the teamto function more effectively.

2. Check level of understanding.Some information that will be dis-cussed during the team meetings willbe somewhat technical, but criticalto the success of the mitigation plan-ning process. Ask questions of theparticipants to make sure they un-derstand everything that is discussedand why it is important before mis-

understandings become a barrier tofurther progress.

3. Go back to the drawing board. Theplanning team or chair of the plan-ning team may need to determinewhether the proper team membershave been invited to participate, todefine more clearly the purpose anddirection of the hazard mitigationteam and its roles.

4. Check on the speed of the plan-ning process. Too much time be-tween meetings or steps in the plan-ning process may cause the team tolose interest. The team may want toconsider assigning homework foreach member before the meetingsso that more work can be completedin less time, and by tightening updeadlines to finish the planning pro-cess more quickly.

5. Conduct icebreaker exercises atthe beginning and middle of eachmeeting. Icebreakers such as men-tal or physical games or exercisescan enhance creative thinking andhelp create a relaxed, more informalatmosphere.

6. Appoint or hire a trained facilita-tor to run meetings. Facilitators areskilled professionals who help meet-ings run more smoothly and effi-ciently, and help keep the focus ofmeetings on track.


The Hazardville PostVol. CXI No. 65 Thursday, March 13, 2002

[Hazardville, EM] The HazardvilleMitigation Committee is seekingnew members.

Mr. Joe Norris, Planning Depart-ment Director and Chair of thenewly formed Town of HazardvilleOrganization for Risk Reduction(THORR), stated; "In forming thiscommittee we are looking for peoplewho want to plan for the future andsupport the idea of planning beforea disaster strikes, which is the onlyway to truly make our communitysafer, healthier, and more economi-cally resilient."

Mr. Norris was tasked with orga-nizing a committee to create a haz-ard mitigation plan. The committeeshould include stakeholders orpeople directly affected by disasters.Although there is no "best way" tosingle these people out, Mr. Norris

Planning Committee Looks for Memberssaid he is looking for people willingto support the mitigation planningprocess as well as those with accessto financial and/or technical re-sources. He is enlisting the help ofneighborhood associations, housingorganizations, local environmentalgroups, historical preservationgroups, and the local American RedCross in order to generate a success-ful and well-integrated mitigationplan.

Mr. Norris said when interviewed,"Team members should have a clearunderstanding of what is expectedof them and how much of his or hertime will be needed or dedicated tothe initiative. I want potential teammembers to walk away from anygiven meeting or forum feeling thatthey have helped Hazardville on theroad to establishing a successful

mitigation plan that will reducelosses from future disasters."

"We need to develop a missionstatement and a vision that willunite the committee, and ultimatelythe community. We need to build arelationship that is based on an un-derstanding and commitment toachieve a positive outcome for cur-rent and future generations wholive and work in Hazardville."

A proposed work plan and sched-ule, which will be reviewed andagreed upon by the planning com-mittee, is included at the end of thisarticle. This should give residentsan idea of the planning process andthe actions that the committee willbe responsible for. If you are inter-ested in participating, please call JoeNorris at (888) 222-1111.



Draft Work PlanHazard Identification, Analysis and Risk Assessment (June '02 – October '02)

! Project Initiation Meeting

! Public Meeting #1

! Hazard Identification

! Hazard Events Profile

! Community Asset Inventory

! Risk Assessment/Loss Estimation

! Progress and Coordination Meetings

Capability Assessment (June '02 – October '02)

! Plans, Policies, and Programs Examination

! Assessment of Previous Mitigation Activities

! Identification of Resources

! Public Meeting #2


Assessment of Alternative Hazard Mitigation Measures and Needs (November '02 – January '03)

! Develop Goals and Objectives

! Research of Mitigation Alternatives

! Progress and Coordination Meeting

! Evaluate the Mitigation Measures

! Mitigation Recommendations

! Public Meeting #3

Development of Implementation Strategy (February '03 – May '03)


! Mitigation Action Plan

! Public Meeting #4

! Public Hearing: present the draft Hazard Mitigation Plan

! Final Presentation: elected and appointed officials or other designated forum

Production of Final Plan (March '03 – May '03)

! Draft Plan

! Final Plan

! Adoption of plan by Planning Committee and City Council

Ongoing Activities (ongoing from June '03)

! Plan Evaluation

! Plan Updates

! Incorporate changes into plan


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In establishing a planning team, you want to ensure that you have a broad range of backgrounds and experiencesrepresented. Below are some suggestions for agencies to include in a planning team. There are many organizations, bothgovernmental and community-based, that should be included when creating a local team. In addition, stateorganizations can be included on local teams, when appropriate, to serve as a source of information and to provideguidance and coordination.

Use the checklist as a starting point for forming your team. Check the boxes beside any individuals or organizations thatyou have in your community/state that you believe should be included on your planning team so you can follow up withthem.

Task A. Create the planning team – Suggestions for team members. Date:____________Local/Tribal

Administrator/Manager’s OfficeBudget/Finance OfficeBuilding Code Enforcement OfficeCity/County Attorney’s OfficeEconomic Development OfficeEmergency Preparedness OfficeFire and Rescue DepartmentHospital ManagementLocal Emergency Planning CommitteePlanning and Zoning OfficePolice/Sheriff’s DepartmentPublic Works DepartmentSanitation DepartmentSchool BoardTransportation DepartmentTribal Leaders

Special Districts and AuthoritiesAirport and Seaport AuthoritiesBusiness Improvement District(s)Fire Control DistrictFlood Control DistrictRedevelopment AgenciesRegional/Metropolitan Planning Organization(s)School District(s)Transit/Transportation Agencies

OthersArchitectural/Engineering/Planning FirmsCitizen CorpsColleges/UniversitiesLand DevelopersMajor Employers/BusinessesProfessional AssociationsRetired Professionals

StateAdjutant General’s Office (National Guard)Board of EducationBuilding Code OfficeClimatologistEarthquake Program ManagerEconomic Development OfficeEmergency Management Office/State Hazard Mitigation OfficerEnvironmental Protection OfficeFire Marshal’s OfficeGeologistHomeland Security Coordinator’s OfficeHousing OfficeHurricane Program ManagerInsurance Commissioner’s OfficeNational Flood Insurance Program CoordinatorNatural Resources OfficePlanning AgenciesPolicePublic Health OfficePublic Information OfficeTourism Department

Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)American Red CrossChamber of CommerceCommunity/Faith-Based OrganizationsEnvironmental OrganizationsHomeowners AssociationsNeighborhood OrganizationsPrivate Development AgenciesUtility CompaniesOther Appropriate NGOs

Worksheet #1 Build the Planning Team step


3engagethe public

Overview

Although the planning team represents a cross-section of thecommunity, it is important to include broad public participa-

tion in the planning process as well. Involving stakeholders who arenot part of the core team in all stages of the process will introducethe planning team to different points of view about the needs ofthe community. It will also provide opportunities to educate thepublic about hazard mitigation, the planning process, any findings,and could be used to generate support for the mitigation plan.

The stakeholders to involve include those individuals who do notregularly participate in the planning process, but may be affectedor have an interest in the plan and its implications. Such stakehold-ers include public officials, agency heads, neighborhood and othercivic organizations, business associations, institutions, and indi-vidual citizens.

Involving these stakeholders in a public participation process willaid in developing support for the plan and its implementation.Getting these stakeholders' support, however, may be a challenge.Two obstacles are commonly encountered. First, most people maynot be aware of risks in their community; secondly, they may notknow what mitigation is or how it can compliment an array ofexisting goals. Therefore, it is important to find ways to engagethese stakeholders and educate them about the planning processand the benefits of mitigation to them personally and at the com-munity level.

This step will show you how to identify the stakeholders, organizeyour public participation activities, and incorporate public feed-back into your decision-making process.


Procedures & TechniquesTask A. Identify the public.

Identifying the people to involve will be similar to what you did inStep 2, Task A, when you created the planning team. In this step,however, you will be looking more toward educating and informingthe public about what is happening and how proposed measuresmay affect them, providing opportunities for them to voice theirconcerns, and integrating their feedback as you make decisions.

As a start, you may have developed a list of stakeholders when youidentified members for the planning team. Revisit this list to seewho declined to join the planning team and put them on yourcontact list. Also, as you learned more about your community, youmay have encountered other stakeholders you may not have origi-nally considered. Revisit the questions in Step 2, Task A.2 to helpyou identify these people. You may also have lists of participantsfrom previous planning efforts. Review these lists and select thosewho should be contacted.

Public Participation MethodsGroups make decisions in many ways. In a partnership, the level ofenthusiasm or involvement of individual members is tied directly tothe feeling of ownership in the project. Using a consensus-based ap-proach to decision making helps promote an attitude of respect for

other opinions while ensuring a process that allows everyone to participate andbe heard. This differs from the majority-rule concept, in which members of thegroup may leave the decision-making process feeling unhappy with the outcome.Majority rule is a legitimate way to make decisions when the situation does notwarrant the time consuming process of consensus. The group should be able todecide whether the seriousness and significance of the situation requires con-sensus or majority rule.

Consensus is a way of working together as a group to reach a decision or solu-tion. The consensus-based approach is an important part of working and actingas a team because it forces the individual members to move beyond their ownself-interests and take into consideration the positions of other stakeholders. It isan informal discussion involving talking issues through, understanding what otherpeople are saying and feeling, and then trying to work out decisions acceptableto everyone. All of the members should be a part of the decision and should feelthe decision that was reached was the best possible one for the team. The deci-sion may not be their personal preference, but it is one they should be able tosupport.

For additional information, including techniques you can use to reach consen-sus, see Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In, and Breakingthe Impasse: Consensus Approaches to Resolving Public Disputes (see Appen-dix B).

An effective way to identifyleaders in the community (this wouldinclude people who may notnecessarily be heads of or-ganizations or elected offi-cials, but who command therespect of community mem-bers, e.g., a lawyer, neigh-borhood activist, or philanthropist) is toask team members and those who at-tend public participation activities toname individuals they think should becontacted. You will notice that the samenames keep coming up. You may wantto personally invite these people or fol-low-up a mailing to them with a phonecall to ensure that they are aware of thenext planning team meeting.

engage the public 3


Task B. Organize public participation activities.

1. Schedule public participation activities.

During your organization of the team (Step 2), you set upa regular meeting schedule (Task C) and a timeline forcompleting certain phases of your plan. Revisit this sched-ule and identify points where it is important to inform thepublic of what is happening and to seek their input toassist you in making a decision. For example, you may wantto hold a public meeting at the beginning of the planningprocess to let stakeholders know the purpose of yourplanning effort and how you are approaching it. You mayhave one or more people join the team after such a meet-ing. Once they understand what is involved, they maydecide it is worth their time. Another good time to invitepublic involvement is after you have completed your riskassessment and damage loss estimation [see UnderstandingYour Risks (FEMA 386-2)]. This will give the public achance to learn specific information about thecommunity's vulnerabilities, which can be a revelation asto why mitigation planning is important. You may alsowant to get feedback and input on setting goals, andidentifying and selecting mitigation alternatives. Stake-holders should review and agree with your selection andevaluation criteria. Once you have a draft plan that thepublic can review, invite them to provide comments beforethe plan is presented formally for adoption [see Bringingthe Plan to Life (FEMA 386-4)]. Note that Hazardville heldfour public meetings during the one-year planning pro-cess.

Determine the appropriate public participation method fordifferent types of stakeholders.Not everyone likes to participate or voice opinions in alarge meeting setting. Others may prefer to learn aboutcommunity initiatives during their regularly scheduledassociation meetings. It is important to assess how best toreach your stakeholders. Ask others on the team what theyhave done in the past to inform or get input from stake-holders. The public participation methods that will workfor your community or state depends on the size of yourcommunity, the extent of citizen involvement, governmen-tal policies, and the capabilities of the officials to supportthe planning initiative. Review how you have handled this


in the past and what produced good results. You may havefound that elected officials prefer a one-on-one briefing.Businesses, non-profits, and institutions may have wel-comed you at their business association meetings orinvited you to speak at their regularly scheduled break-fasts. The team can also ask to be added to the agendas ofscheduled community group meetings, including neigh-borhood associations, community service groups (Lions,Jaycees, etc), business alliances, and the local Chamber ofCommerce, to explain and talk about the planning pro-cess. Take advantage of the meeting infrastructure alreadyin place.

Some other participation methods you may want to con-sider for your community or state include: hosting a publicworkshop, establishing a hotline, conducting interviews,and distributing a questionnaire. Workshops can be heldduring different milestones in the planning process forlarge or small groups of community or state representa-tives, business representatives, and citizens. These meet-ings can bring problems and issues to the table and pro-vide new ideas for solutions.

Holding regular community meetings can create a publicforum in which questions can be asked, issues can beraised, answers can be given, and concerns can be ad-dressed. These public meetings will also help you sellmitigation beyond the planning team to the community atlarge. As part of this, you need to agree on the publicparticipation rules. You may decide to use the same onesthat apply to the planning team or modify this list. Also,agree on how you will handle conflict beforehand.

A hotline can be established so that anyone with a concern,question, or comment can reach a person who will be ableto speak knowledgeably about the planning process. Thisnumber should be well publicized in newsletters, newsreleases, meeting announcements, etc. The key to aneffective hotline is ensuring that callers feel that theperson at the other end of the hotline is interested in whatthey have to say, and not whether or not they have all theanswers. A cost-effective alternative to a telephone hotlinewould be to post an e-mail address or use an interactiveWeb site.

engage the public 3


Interviews allow you to gather information from keypeople, including community representatives or leaders,heads of civic groups, and people who will be most af-fected by the plan and might be more comfortable talkingone-on-one. Obviously, you cannot interview everyone, butby interviewing key community members, you can gatherspecific qualitative information that you probably cannotobtain in any other way.

Questionnaires can also be used to gather valuable infor-mation that people might not feel comfortable disclosingface-to-face. The questionnaire can be as simple or de-tailed as you want and is a good way to collect a lot ofinformation on citizens’ knowledge of hazards as well aswhat mitigation activities they'd like to see implemented.An excellent example is the questionnaire used by thePartners for Disaster Resistance: Oregon Showcase StateProgram, which is included as Appendix D.

Once you determine how to best approach public stake-holders, assign responsibilities for:

! Organizing mailings;

! Logistical coordination;

! Meeting facilitation;

! Establishing a hotline;

! Contacting interviewees; and

! Developing presentation materials.

Again, select the method, or methods, most appropriatefor your community and assign responsibilities accord-ingly.

Analyze, evaluate, and incorporate comments.As a team, decide how to analyze, evaluate, respond, andincorporate comments into your decision-making process.Stakeholders should know that you will listen to theiropinions and suggestions, and that you will decide how tobest incorporate these into the plan. They should bewarned, however, that while suggestions are welcome, theywill not always be acted upon. However, stakeholdersdeserve an explanation of your decision. Someone shouldbe assigned the responsibility for organizing the feedbackyou receive, including summarizing meeting points,


identifying and tracking key issues, and responding tofeedback.

Keeping track of and analyzing public comments can getcomplicated if you have a large amount of informationcoming in. Develop a process for organizing and storingthe comments you receive. This can be based on suchthings as the topic addressed in the comment, the geo-graphic area of the person making the comment, orwhether it is a positive or negative comment. It doesn'tmatter how the feedback is organized, as long as youensure that the comments are incorporated into thevarious stages of the planning process. The Library inAppendix B contains references that include more specificinformation on how to analyze and evaluate public feed-back.

2. Document results.

Documenting results is a crucial part of analyzing, evaluat-ing, and incorporating public feedback. As mentionedpreviously, all public comments, regardless of the source ofthe comment, should be recorded and organized. Aftereach public participation activity, results should be docu-mented so that they can be referred to later. Decisionmakers will use the public comments to ensure that allissues are addressed during the formation of the mitiga-tion plan. The documentation of the feedback serves as apermanent record that shows you included public inputduring the planning process. A specific person or personsfrom the planning team should be designated the centralcontact for public feedback. This person will be respon-sible for maintaining and organizing the comments.

Task C. Develop a public education campaign.

You will need a specific way to present information to each type ofstakeholder. When meeting with elected and public officials, forexample, you may want to present a brief PowerPoint presentationthat can be expanded for use in a larger public meeting setting.You may leave brochures with them that can also be distributed atfairs or libraries. Look at the activities and map out what informa-tion would be useful to leave with stakeholders and what informa-tion you need to prepare for presentation purposes. The followingare information materials you can prepare as part of your educa-tion campaign, as well as venues for distributing them.

Obtain Letters ofSupport orEndorsementDuring public outreach ac-tivities, you may come torealize that certain groups ororganizations strongly support your miti-gation plan and planning process. Tryto get these organizations to provideyou with letters of support or endorse-ment. To ease this process, providethem with a template letter that they cantailor and send back to you. These let-ters will let you know who is interestedand can possibly help you, and will alsobe of assistance during the formal planadoption process. They may also helpin continuing to attract new participants.

engage the public 3


1. News media.

One of the easiest and most effective ways to inform andinvolve the public is through the media. Print, radio, andtelevision media have the ability to affect and shape ouropinions and behavior, and influence our preferences andchoices. Your team might want to include a special insertin the local paper, broadcast public meetings on the localaccess channel or through public service announcements,or even produce a video highlighting recent disasters anddamages in your community or state.

You can contact local reporters and give them a press kit,which is a folder summarizing the key information thatincludes your goals and actions, to pique their interest andprovide them with accurate information. You can also do anews release, which you write and provide to local newsmedia. If your story generates enough interest, a featurestory may be done. This is a full news story written by areporter. A news conference is another way to get informa-tion out, but to generate enough interest and ensure thatthe media will show up, these are usually only done formajor announcements by well known people.

You can also contact local publications and newsletters andask them to include information about the plan and theplanning process. Examples of local organizations thatmight have publications include: watershed organizations,historic societies, volunteer organizations, technicalassociations, garden clubs, and churches.

2. Brochures, fliers, and newsletters.

Brochures, fliers, and newsletters are relatively inexpensiveto produce and can be useful in reaching audiences thatmight not otherwise have the opportunity to learn moreabout hazards that affect your community. Someone onthe planning team can create the brochure or newsletter,or perhaps you can find a volunteer willing to produce it.Make sure these publications are reviewed and approvedby key members of the planning team before they aredistributed. The brochures should be clear and easy toread and understand. The brochures, fliers, and newslet-ters should include information about the planningcommittee and what the mitigation plan is expected toaccomplish in your community or state. Make sure that the

While the media isa good source for get-ting information to the pub-lic, you do have to be care-ful. Sometimes the media

can distort the information you givethem or give it a different spin. The me-dia likes attention-grabbing headlinesso they may try to make your plan con-troversial in some way. You should workon establishing an honest, working re-lationship with a local reporter so thateach of you has someone to turn towhen you need to gather or provide in-formation to the community.


documents include a designated department or contactname and phone number in case anyone wants to learnmore about the initiative. These documents can be distrib-uted through utility bills, grocery or department stores,government buildings, and libraries throughout thecommunity or state.

3. Outreach activities at festivals, fairs, and bazaars.

Public events provide unique opportunities for planningteam members to interact with the public in a relaxed andinformal atmosphere. The planning team may want to askthe event coordinators if they would consider donating abooth or a table to display hazard and mitigation-relatedbrochures, fliers, and newsletters. During the event, teammembers can talk to citizens about their experience withhazards and try to get feedback on any mitigation activitiesthe team is considering. This also provides people with anopportunity to ask questions face to face. Someone on theplanning team should be in charge of keeping track of thedates of local fairs, festivals, etc. and should be responsiblefor contacting the organizers of the events.

4. Get your planning team connected to the Internet.

As more communities learn about the Internet and obtainthe resources to set up Web sites, more people come toexpect information at their fingertips. Almost all state,regional, and local governmental entities now have Websites. Linking to a Web page on these sites can be anexcellent way to publicize and highlight your planningefforts. The Web page can be as simple as a description ofthe planning initiative with upcoming meeting dates,times, and minutes from the last meeting, or it can behighly developed with links to mitigation and hazardresources and sites. The Web site could also be used topost questionnaires for citizens to determine their percep-tions of hazards and risks in the community or state, aswell as provide an additional outlet to generate feedbackon issues.

FEMA's MitigationResources forSuccess CD(FEMA 372) is full of ma-terials and practical ideas forbuilding community awareness. Thesuccess stories from other communi-ties or states may ignite a wealth of newideas in your planning team. The Miti-gation Library contains brochures, factsheets, and step-by-step instructions ondisaster preparedness, mitigation, re-sponse, and recovery. To order, call theFEMA publications warehouse at1-800-480-2520.

When creating amitigation plan in re-sponse to the Cerro GrandeFire, the town of LosAlamos, NM created a Webpage to announce public meetings, gainpublic input into the process and devel-opment of the plan, and to inform thepublic about the potential mitigationmeasures and the progress of the miti-gation plan.


engage the public 3

The Hazardville PostVol. CXI No. 65 Thursday, May 3, 2002

[Hazardville, EM] The Town ofHazardville Organization for RiskReduction (THORR) is organizinga facilitated workshop to educatethe community on the mitigationplanning process and to outline op-portunities for public input in theplanning process. This meeting willalso serve as a forum for the publicto voice their opinions and concernsabout the mitigation plan. Ms. RitaBooke, head of the local Citizen's forAction group, has agreed to recordall public comments and will postthem and their responses on theTHORR Web page. Ms. Bookestated, "Public input into this pro-cess is so important, I really hopepeople come to the meeting andvoice their opinions and ask ques-tions. Without public commentsthis process will not be nearly as ef-fective; in fact, we're counting on

THORR to Hold Public Workshoppublic input to help us shape theplan."

Mr. Joe Norris, Planning Depart-ment Director and Chair ofTHORR, said he would be availableto answer questions on the day ofthe workshop. "I have details aboutthe last flood and how it affected thecommunity as a whole," said Mr.Norris. "These details are not eas-ily forgotten since I, as well as manyothers, lost crops and ended up do-ing major repairs on our homes af-ter the flooding of May 2000."

Mary Tremble, Director ofHazardville's Emergency Manage-ment Agency, will discuss the disas-ters that have occurred in the pastin and around Hazardville, andstate representatives from the Of-fice of Emergency Preparedness(OEP), Office of the Environment,and Office of Planning will be on

hand to demonstrate their sup-port for the planning process.Hazardville received a $20,000grant from the State EmergencyManagement Agency's Pre-DisasterMitigation Grant Program tocomplement local funding to de-velop Hazardville's All-Hazard RiskReduction Plan.

Starting May 5, 2002, local radiostation WHAM will begin announc-ing the date, time, and location ofthe workshop to ensure that asmany people as possible are awareof what is happening and, therefore,better informed. Jim Snow, ownerof Snow's Snowplows and the busi-ness leader of THORR, and Mr.Norris will also distribute postersand fliers announcing the work-shop.

afterword

afterwordVersion 1.0 September 2002

afterword

You have organized your resources, established your planningteam, and engaged the public. The work you have done in this

first phase will continue to pay dividends throughout the planningprocess. You are now ready to move to the next phase of the hazardmitigation planning process, Assess Risks.

The next how-to guide in this series, Understanding Your Risks(FEMA 386-2), will walk you through a four-step process of identify-ing your hazards and estimating the potential losses from futurehazard events. The loss estimation is important to help you identifythe hazards or assets you should address first in your mitigationplan.

As detailed in the Foreword,the Hazard Mitigation Planning processconsists of four basic phases.

The next how-to in the series, Under-standing Your Risks, will provide the fac-tual basis for your plan.

appendices

Version 1.0 September 2002 a-1

appendix aglossary

Acquisition

Asset

Building

Coastal Zone

Community Rating System (CRS)

Contour

Debris

Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000(DMA 2000)

Earthquake

Erosion

Extent

Fault

Local governments can acquire lands in high hazard areas through conser-vation easements, purchase of development rights, or outright purchase ofproperty.

Any manmade or natural feature that has value, including, but not limitedto people; buildings; infrastructure like bridges, roads, and sewer and watersystems; lifelines like electricity and communication resources; or environ-mental, cultural, or recreational features like parks, dunes, wetlands, orlandmarks.

A structure that is walled and roofed, principally above ground and perma-nently affixed to a site. The term includes a manufactured home on apermanent foundation on which the wheels and axles carry no weight.

The area along the shore where the ocean meets the land as the surface ofthe land rises above the ocean. This land/water interface includes barrierislands, estuaries, beaches, coastal wetlands, and land areas having directdrainage to the ocean.

CRS is a program that provides incentives for National Flood InsuranceProgram communities to complete activities that reduce flood hazard risk.When the community completes specified activities, the insurance premi-ums of the policyholders in those communities are reduced.

A line of equal ground elevation on a topographic (contour) map.

The scattered remains of assets broken or destroyed in a hazard event.Debris caused by a wind or water hazard event can cause additional damageto other assets.

DMA 2000 (Public Law 106-390) is the latest legislation to improve theplanning process. It was signed into law on October 10, 2000. This newlegislation reinforces the importance of mitigation planning and empha-sizes planning for disasters before they occur.

A sudden motion or trembling that is caused by a release of strain accumu-lated within or along the edge of earth's tectonic plates.

Wearing away of the land surface by detachment and movement of soil androck fragments, during a flood or storm or over a period of years, throughthe action of wind, water, or other geologic processes.

The size of an area affected by a hazard or hazard event.

A fracture in the continuity of a rock formation caused by a shifting ordislodging of the earth's crust, in which adjacent surfaces are differentiallydisplaced parallel to the plane of fracture.

STATE AND LOCAL MITIGATION PLANNING how-to guide: Getting Starteda-2

Independent agency created in 1979 to provide a single point of account-ability for all federal activities related to disaster mitigation and emergencypreparedness, response, and recovery.

Height of the flood water surface above the ground surface.

The area shown to be inundated by a flood of a given magnitude on a map.

Map of a community, prepared by FEMA, shows both the special floodhazard areas and the risk premium zones applicable to the communityunder the National Flood Insurance Program.

A geographical area shown on a FIRM that reflects the severity or type offlooding in the area.

Any land area, including watercourse, susceptible to partial or completeinundation by water from any source.

A source of potential danger or adverse condition.

A specific occurrence of a particular type of hazard.

The process of identifying hazards that threaten an area.

Sustained actions taken to reduce or eliminate long-term risk from hazardsand their effects.

A GIS-based, nationally standardized, loss estimation tool developed byFEMA.

An intense tropical cyclone, formed in the atmosphere over warm oceanareas, in which wind speeds reach 74 miles per hour or more and blow in alarge spiral around a relatively calm center or "eye." Hurricanes developover the north Atlantic Ocean, northeast Pacific Ocean, or the south PacificOcean east of 1600E longitude. Hurricane circulation is counter-clockwisein the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.

Refers to the public services of a community that have a direct impact onthe quality of life. Infrastructure includes communication technology suchas phone lines or Internet access, vital services such as public water suppliesand sewer treatment facilities, and includes an area's transportation systemsuch as airports, heliports, highways, bridges, tunnels, roadbeds, overpasses,railways, bridges, rail yards, depots; and waterways, canals, locks, seaports,ferries, harbors, drydocks, piers, and regional dams.

Downward movement of a slope and materials under the force of gravity.

LEPCs consist of community representatives and are appointed by the StateEmergency Response Commissions (SERCs), as required by SuperfundAmendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA), Title III. They develop anemergency plan to prepare for and respond to chemical emergencies. Theyare also responsible for coordinating with local facilities to find out whatthey are doing to reduce hazards, prepare for accidents, and reducehazardous inventories and releases. The LEPC serves as a focal point in the

Federal Emergency ManagementAgency (FEMA)

Flood Depth

Flood Hazard Area

Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM)

Flood Zone

Floodplain

Hazard

Hazard Event

Hazard Identification

Hazard Mitigation

HAZUS (Hazards U.S.)

Hurricane

Infrastructure

Landslide

Local Emergency PlanningCommittee (LEPC)

appendix a – glossary

Version 1.0 September 2002 a-3

Magnitude

Mitigate

Mitigation Plan

National Flood Insurance Program(NFIP)

National Weather Service (NWS)

Planning

Preparedness

Probability

Recovery

Regulatory Power

Response

Risk

Scale

Stafford Act

community for information and discussions about hazardous substances,emergency planning, and health and environmental risks.

A measure of the strength of a hazard event. The magnitude (also referredto as severity) of a given hazard event is usually determined using technicalmeasures specific to the hazar

To cause something to become less harsh or hostile, to make less severe orpainful.

Systematically evaluating community policies, actions, and tools, and settinggoals for implementation over the long term that will result in a reductionin risk and minimize future losses community-wide.

Federal program created by Congress in 1968 that makes flood insuranceavailable in communities that enact minimum floodplain managementregulations as indicated in 44 CFR §60.3.

Prepares and issues flood, severe weather, and coastal storm warnings andcan provide technical assistance to federal and state entities in preparingweather and flood warning plans.

The act or process of making or carrying out plans; the establishment ofgoals, policies, and procedures for a social or economic unit.

Actions that strengthen the capability of government, citizens, and commu-nities to respond to disasters.

A statistical measure of the likelihood that a hazard event will occur.

The actions taken by an individual or community after a catastrophic eventto restore order and lifelines in a community.

Local jurisdictions have the authority to regulate certain activities in theirjurisdiction. With respect to mitigation planning, the focus is on such thingsas regulating land use development and construction through zoning,subdivision regulations, design standards, and floodplain regulations.

The actions taken during an event to address immediate life and safetyneeds and to minimize further damage to properties.

The estimated impact that a hazard would have on people, services, facili-ties, and structures in a community; the likelihood of a hazard eventresulting in an adverse condition that causes injury or damage. Risk is oftenexpressed in relative terms such as a high, moderate, or low likelihood ofsustaining damage above a particular threshold due to a specific type ofhazard event. It also can be expressed in terms of potential monetary lossesassociated with the intensity of the hazard.

A proportion used in determining a dimensional relationship; the ratio ofthe distance between two points on a map and the actual distance betweenthe two points on the earth's surface.

The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, PL100-107 was signed into law November 23, 1988 and amended the Disaster

STATE AND LOCAL MITIGATION PLANNING how-to guide: Getting Starteda-4

Relief Act of 1974, PL 93-288. The Stafford Act is the statutory authority formost federal disaster response activities, especially as they pertain to FEMAand its programs.

Individual or group that will be affected in any way by an action or policy.They include businesses, private organizations, and citizens.

The representative of state government who is the primary point of contactwith FEMA, other state and federal agencies, and local units of governmentin the planning and implementation of pre- and post-disaster mitigationactivities.

Damage of any origin sustained by a structure in a Special Flood HazardArea whereby the cost of restoring the structure to its before-damagedcondition would equal or exceed 50 percent of the market value of thestructure before the damage.

Torsionally rigid, thin segments of the earth's lithosphere that may beassumed to move horizontally and adjoin other plates. It is the frictionbetween plate boundaries that cause seismic activity.

Characterizes maps that show manmade features and indicate the physicalshape of the land using contour lines.

A violently rotating column of air extending from a thunderstorm to theground.

A generic term for a cyclonic, low-pressure system over tropical or sub-tropical waters.

A tropical cyclone with maximum sustained winds greater than 39 mph andless than 74 mph.

Great sea wave produced by submarine earth movement or volcanic erup-tion.

Describes how exposed or susceptible to damage an asset is. Vulnerabilitydepends on an asset's construction, contents, and the economic value of itsfunctions. Like indirect damages, the vulnerability of one element of thecommunity is often related to the vulnerability of another. For example,since many businesses depend on uninterrupted electrical power, if anelectric substation is flooded it will affect not only the substation itself, but anumber of businesses as well. Often, indirect effects can be much morewidespread and damaging than direct ones.

The extent of injury and damage that may result from a hazard event of agiven intensity in a given area. The vulnerability assessment should addressimpacts of hazard events on the existing and future built environment.

An uncontrolled fire spreading through vegetative fuels, exposing andpossibly consuming structures.

Stakeholder

State Hazard Mitigation Officer(SHMO)

Substantial Damage

Tectonic Plate

Topographic

Tornado

Tropical Cyclone

Tropical Storm

Tsunami

Vulnerability

Vulnerability Assessment

Wildfire

Version 1.0 September 2002 b-1

appendix blibrary

American Planning Association:

Association of State Floodplain Managers:

Developing the Implementation Strategy:

Federal Emergency Management Agency:Mitigation Planning

Community Rating System:

Flood Hazard Mapping:

Flood Mitigation Assistance Program:

Hazard Mitigation Grant Program:

Individual Assistance Programs:

Interim Final Rule:

Multi-Hazard Mapping:

National Flood Insurance Program:

Public Assistance Program:

Oregon Natural Hazards Workgroup:

Working with Consultants:

Web Siteshttp://www.planning.org

http://www.floods.org

http://www.pro.gov.uk/recordsmanagement/eros/framework.pdf

http://www.allhandsconsulting.com/ERI_books.htm

http://www.esri.com/news/arcuser/0100/firetools.html

http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/~bernard/hazard3.pdf

http://www.uli.org/Pub/Pages/d_search/allbooks.cfm

http://www.fema.gov/fima/planning.shtm

http://www.fema.gov/nfip/crs.htm

http://www.fema.gov/mit/tsd/st_main.htm

http://www.fema.gov/fima/planfma.shtm

http://www.fema.gov/fima/hmgp

http://www.fema.gov/rrr/inassist.shtm

http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fedreg/a020226c.html

http://www.hazardmaps.gov

http://www.fema.gov/nfip

http://www.fema.gov/rrr/pa

http://www.uoregon.edu/~onhw/index2.htm

http://ntweb03.asiandevbank.org/oes0019p.nsf/pages/209ATP

http://www.mapnp.org/library/staffing/outsrcng/consult/consult.htm

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/business/WorkingWounded/workingwounded001020.html

STATE AND LOCAL MITIGATION PLANNING how-to guide: Getting Startedb-2

PublicationsCreighton, James L., 1992

FEMA

Fisher, Roger and William Ury, 1981

Schwab, Jim et al., 1998

Susskind, Lawrence and Jeffry Cruikshank,1987

The Program for Community Problem Solving. InvolvingCitizens in Community Decision Making: A Guidebook.

Publications Warehouse 1-800-480-2520.

Mitigation Resources for Success CD (FEMA 372).

Planning for a Sustainable Future: the Link Between HazardMitigation and Livability (FEMA 364).

Protecting Business Operations (FEMA 331).

Rebuilding for a More Sustainable Future: An OperationalFramework (FEMA 365).

Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement without Giving In.Penguin Books: New York.

Planning for Post-Disaster Recovery and Reconstruction.American Planning Association: Chicago.

Breaking the Impasse: Consensual Approaches to ResolvingPublic Disputes. Basic Books: New York.

c-1Version 1.0 September 2002

appendix cworksheet

Worksheet #1 Build the Planning Team

In establishing a planning team, you want to ensure that you have a broad range of backgrounds and experiencesrepresented. Below are some suggestions for agencies to include in a planning team. There are many organizations, bothgovernmental and community-based, that should be included when creating a local team. In addition, stateorganizations can be included on local teams, when appropriate, to serve as a source of information and to provideguidance and coordination.

Use the checklist as a starting point for forming your team. Check the boxes beside any individuals or organizations thatyou have in your community/state that you believe should be included on your planning team so you can follow up withthem.

Task A. Create the planning team – Suggestions for team members. Date:____________Local/Tribal

Administrator/Manager’s OfficeBudget/Finance OfficeBuilding Code Enforcement OfficeCity/County Attorney’s OfficeEconomic Development OfficeEmergency Preparedness OfficeFire and Rescue DepartmentHospital ManagementLocal Emergency Planning CommitteePlanning and Zoning OfficePolice/Sheriff’s DepartmentPublic Works DepartmentSanitation DepartmentSchool BoardTransportation DepartmentTribal Leaders

Special Districts and AuthoritiesAirport and Seaport AuthoritiesBusiness Improvement District(s)Fire Control DistrictFlood Control DistrictRedevelopment AgenciesRegional/Metropolitan Planning Organization(s)School District(s)Transit/Transportation Agencies

OthersArchitectural/Engineering/Planning FirmsCitizen CorpsColleges/UniversitiesLand DevelopersMajor Employers/BusinessesProfessional AssociationsRetired Professionals

StateAdjutant General’s Office (National Guard)Board of EducationBuilding Code OfficeClimatologistEarthquake Program ManagerEconomic Development OfficeEmergency Management Office/State Hazard Mitigation OfficerEnvironmental Protection OfficeFire Marshal’s OfficeGeologistHomeland Security Coordinator’s OfficeHousing OfficeHurricane Program ManagerInsurance Commissioner’s OfficeNational Flood Insurance Program CoordinatorNatural Resources OfficePlanning AgenciesPolicePublic Health OfficePublic Information OfficeTourism Department

Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)American Red CrossChamber of CommerceCommunity/Faith-Based OrganizationsEnvironmental OrganizationsHomeowners AssociationsNeighborhood OrganizationsPrivate Development AgenciesUtility CompaniesOther Appropriate NGOs

Worksheet #1 Build the Planning Team step

Version 1.0 September 2002 d-1

appendix dexamplequestionnaire

STATE AND LOCAL MITIGATION PLANNING how-to guide: Getting Startedd-2

appendix d – example questionnaire


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