# Presentation: 168566

## New Directions in Mitigation

- David R. Godschalk, FAICP
- Stephen Baxter Professor of Planning
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

## Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief & Emergency Assistance Act of 1988

- Sec. 409 state mitigation plans
- Submitted 180 days after presidentially -declared disaster

- Sec. 404 hazard mitigation grants
- Federal matching funds for state & local mitigation projects

## Stafford 

- Act

- Disaster

- State 409
- Plan

- State &
- Local
- 404
- Grants

- Risk
- Reduction ?

## Disaster Policies Moving Toward Stronger Mitigation

- 1993 Midwest floods
- 1993 Hazard Mitigation & Relocation Assistance Act
- National Flood Insurance Reform Act of 1994
- 1994 Galloway Report
- 1994 Northridge Earthquake
- National Mitigation Strategy
- Project Impact
- 1999 Hurricane Floyd
- 2000 Disaster Mitigation Act

## Newest Mitigation Game Changes

- Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act amended
*Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000*
- Sec. 203. Pre-Disaster Hazard Mitigation
- Sec. 322. Mitigation Planning
- Sustainable development linked to hazard mitigation
*Planning for a Sustainable Future  (364) *&* Rebuilding for a More Sustainable Future (365) *(FEMA  2000)

## 2000

- Disaster
- Act

- 322
- Plans

- 404
- Grants

- Disaster

- Sustainable
- Communities

- Increased
- Resiliency

## Playing the New Mitigation Ball Game

- Learn new  rules in 2000 Disaster Act
- Revise state 322 mitigation plan
- Initiate local mitigation planning
- Link mitigation and sustainable development

## Goal 1: Change Mitigation Culture from Post- to Pre-Disaster Mindset

- Old 409 plans assumed *post-event *mitigation
- 322 plans assume *pre-event* mitigation
- Funding incentives reinforce pre-event plans

## Goal 2: Broaden Mitigation League to Local Teams

- Old 409 plans often ignored localities
- New 322 plans *require* local mitigation plans
- New funding incentives reinforce local pre-event plans

## Goal 3: Merge Mitigation With Community Development 

- Create a vision of a sustainable & resilient community
- Integrate hazard mitigation with development plans & decisions
- Implement mitigation on many fronts, including HMGP, zoning, capital investment program (CIP), etc.

## Mitigation Home Run--Eligibility for 20% HMGP Funds

- State pre-disaster plan
- Risk assessment
- Mitigation strategy
- Coordinated local mitigation planning
- Plan maintenance process
- Local plan
- Risk assessment
- Mitigation strategy
- Plan maintenance process

## 2000 Disaster Act: If You Build It, Will They Come?

- Dilemma: Before disaster,  mitigation often low  on state & local agendas (weak commitment)
- 2000 Act’s incentives:
- HMGP funds  go from 15 to 20% with FEMA-approved plan
- Up to 7% of HMGP funds for state, local, tribal plans
- Designation of Managing States under HMGP

## Potential Obstacles: Mitigation Strike Outs

- Weak state and local commitment
- Weak state and local capacity
- Weak links between plans & implementation
- Countervailing federal flood insurance
- Weak private insurance cooperation
- Lack of mitigation ethic

## 2000

- Disaster
- Act

- 322
- Plans

- 404
- Grants

- Disaster

- Sustainable
- Communities?

- Increased
- Resiliency?

- State & Local
- Capacity &
- Commitment?

- Private
- Sector
- Actions?

- Mitigation
- ethic?

## A Winning State Game Plan: NC

- 2000 *Project Impact Outstanding State Award*
*Hazard Mitigation Planning Initiative*--requires local planning
-  $400 mil. In HMGP from 9 disasters since 1996 to acquire 6000 homes & elevate 1000
- Permanent Housing Replacement Program
- Floodplain Mapping Initiative
- Model state organization with 50 mitigation staff

## Risk Assessment

- NC flood maps out of date (55% > 10 years old, 75% > 5 years old)
- FEMA can deliver one new county flood map/year
- NC re-mapping floodplains to create digital FIRMs
- State allocated $23 mil.; FEMA $6 mil.
- Maps will be on Internet for public use
- Includes real-time flood forecasting/mapping

## Mitigation Strategy: A Resilient State

- 322 plan vision is for a sustainable, resilient state
- Plan explicitly  links goals, objectives, and mitigation projects
- Strategies for sustainable housing, business, infrastructure & critical facilities, & environment
- See program on www.ncem.org

## Local Mitigation Planning

- State builds local capacity by:
- Funding demonstration community plans
- Technical assistance in vulnerability assessment, planning, & GIS
- Providing data at a county & regional scale
- Required local mitigation plans if HMGP funds received

## Plan Maintenance Process

- Assessing effectiveness of mitigation policies
*Hazard Mitigation in NC;* *Measuring Success* (NC DEM 2000)
*Hazard Mitigation Successes* (NC DEM 1999)

## A Winning Local Game Plan: Kinston, NC

- Neuse River flooded in Hurricane Fran (1996) & Floyd (1999)
- Buyouts of 100 homes after Fran avoided $6.3 mil. In losses from Floyd; set stage for current plan
- Total buyout: 700 homes
- Recovery plan based on smart growth & sustainable development

## Flooding from Floyd (Greenville subdivision)

## Plan Maintenance

## Kinston Smart Growth Hazard Mitigation Plan

- Build back inside city
- Maximize use of infrastructure
- Provide safe housing
- Relocate and elevate
- Redevelop neighborhoods
- Restore green space

- Greater Kinston Smart Growth Plan 2000-2010

- Neuse River Flood Plain

- 1

- 2

- 2

- 3

- 3

- Kinston

- Buyout Areas

- 3

- 2

- 1 = Primary
- 2 = Secondary
- 3 = Long Term

## A Winning National Game Plan: Building a Congressional Fan Base

- Congress passed Disaster  Mitigation Act of 2000 with proviso
- Sec. 209. Within 3 years, Congressional Budget Office to study reduction in Federal disaster assistance resulting from Act
- FEMA also directed to assess future savings from types of mitigation activities

## Identifying Mitigation Action Benefits

- Multihazard Mitigation Council  commissioned by FEMA to study benefits & costs of mitigation
- Task: Quantify direct & indirect savings from types of mitigation

## Connecting Federal Programs to Mitigation

- Need to connect all federal agencies to mitigation: housing (HUD), transportation (DOT), environment (EPA), economic development (EDA), etc.
- Sec. 103 sets up a Federal interagency task force to coordinate predisaster mitigation
- Chaired by FEMA director & including Federal agencies, state & local governments, Red Cross

## Building A Corps of Mitigation Players

- Emergency Management Institute’s Higher Education Project supports:
- college/university programs in emergency management (www.fema.gov/emi/edu)
- FEMA Mitigation Fellowships Program supports:
- internships for graduate students in urban planning

## Instilling Mitigation Ethics

- Dilemma: responsibility for public safety avoided rather than shared
- Need ethical guidelines to highlight ethical choices in mitigation:
- who should benefit & who should pay
- what is public & what is individual responsibility
- how are priorities set (e.g., life/property, environment/economic development)

## Issuing a National Hazard Risk Report

- Issue: risk not understood, thus commitment weak
- National “at risk”report would educate public & decision makers about:
- Cumulative risks from disasters
- Efficacy of mitigation programs
- Benefits of mitigation
- See 1966 Australian guide: *Economic Assessment of Disaster Mitigation*

## Summary of New Directions

- Pre-event mitigation
- Local mitigation plans
- Linkage of plans and projects
- Identification of mitigation benefits
- Coordination of federal programs
- Education of mitigation planners
- Instillation of mitigation ethics
- National “at risk” report

## Selected References

- Godschalk et al. 1999. *Natural Hazard Mitigation: Recasting Disaster Policy and Planning. *(Island Press)
- Platt. 1999. *Disasters and Democracy: The Politics of Extreme Natural Events. *(Island Press)