As shown in figure 1, resilience is a concept that has gained increasing attention for its potential to decrease disaster losses. FEMA, a component of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), leads the federal effort to mitigate, respond to, and recover from disasters, both natural and man-made. Major disaster declarations can trigger a variety of federal response and recovery programs for government and nongovernmental entities, households, and individuals, including hazard mitigation programs intended to increase the nation’s disaster resilience. However, multiple federal agencies can play a role in rebuilding after a major disaster. For example, 19 agencies were appropriated funds for more than 60 programs for Hurricane Sandy recovery in the Sandy Supplemental, some of which provide opportunities to incorporate hazard mitigation and other disaster resilience-building activities into disaster recovery efforts. These programs include the (1) FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP), (2) FEMA Public Assistance (PA), (3) HUD Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR), (4) the Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Emergency Relief Program (ERP), and (5) USACE’s Sandy Program. See table 1 for a description of these key programs and how they help to support disaster resilience-building efforts. Because FEMA is the lead federal agency for emergency management, FEMA’s national-level strategies for recovery and hazard mitigation also highlight the importance of incorporating hazard mitigation and other disaster resilience activities into the recovery process. FEMA’s September 2011 NDRF recognizes resilient rebuilding as one of the keys to recovery success, stating that recovery is an opportunity for communities to rebuild in a manner that reduces or eliminates risk from future disasters.hazard mitigation breaks the cycle of damage-repair-damage resulting from rebuilding without hazard mitigation measures following disasters. Similarly, FEMA’s NMF states that linking recovery and The NMF issued in May 2013 addresses, in part, how the nation will develop, employ, and coordinate core hazard mitigation capabilities to reduce loss of life and property by lessening the impact of disasters. The NMF explains that building widespread disaster resilience throughout communities is a national priority and is a responsibility that is shared by individuals; businesses; non-profit organizations; and federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial governments. The NMF also established MitFLG to help coordinate hazard mitigation efforts of relevant local, state, tribal, and federal organizations. MitFLG is an intergovernmental coordinating body that was created to integrate federal efforts and promote a national culture shift that incorporates risk management and hazard mitigation in all planning, decision making, and development to the extent practicable. Although federal agencies play a critical role in promoting disaster resilience through the use of federal resources, a large part of disaster resilience-building efforts and decision-making also occurs at the state and local level. State and local laws and regulations can heavily influence disaster resilience efforts, for example, by strengthening building codes. In addition, state emergency management officials, such as State Hazard Mitigation Officers, play an important role by coordinating with local communities to enhance disaster resilience. States and localities have used funds appropriated to federal agencies by the Sandy Supplemental to plan and implement a variety of hazard mitigation activities, including but not limited to the following types of projects: acquiring and demolishing properties at risk for repeated flooding, elevating flood prone structures, erecting physical flood barriers such as seawalls and berms to protect protecting critical facilities against power loss. against coastal flooding, restoring or enhancing storm water management measures, restoring wetlands and coastal areas to control erosion, and Four federal agencies—DHS’s FEMA, HUD, DOT’s FTA, and USACE— administer five programs that funded the majority of these disaster resilience-building measures during the Hurricane Sandy recovery effort. These five programs are FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, FEMA’s Public Assistance, HUD’s Community Development Block Grant- Disaster Recovery, FTA’s Public Transportation Emergency Relief Program, and USACE’s Sandy Program. Designed specifically to ensure opportunities to reduce the risk of loss of life and property from future disasters are not lost during the reconstruction process, HMGP can fund a variety of long-term solutions, including but not limited to acquisition and demolition; elevation; and retrofitting to minimize damages from high winds, earthquake, flood, wildfire, or other natural hazards. FEMA requires that HMGP projects (1) advance the state's Hazard Mitigation Plan; (2) meet the environmental and historical requirements; and (3) be cost-effective, as determined by FEMA’s Benefit-Cost Analysis Tool or other FEMA-approved methodologies. In addition, HMGP projects must contribute to a long-term solution, meaning that temporary measures—such as sandbagging to protect against flooding—are not eligible. FEMA awards HMGP after a major disaster has been declared, and the total available amount for any given disaster is dependent on the sum of other FEMA disaster grants—generally it is 15 percent of the first $2 billion but may be higher under specific circumstances.notifies the states of how much funding they are eligible to receive, and the states working with FEMA then decide how to award the funds to localities and other applicants. Recipients of HMGP are usually responsible for 25 percent of the total project cost. HMGP may be used statewide—that is, it is not required to be used only in parts of the state that sustained disaster damage—as long as the state and local recipient of funds has a FEMA-approved hazard mitigation plan in place. As of May 2015, FEMA has awarded over $1.7 billion in HMGP funds from the Sandy Supplemental for damage from Hurricane Sandy. State officials we interviewed in all 13 Sandy-affected states reported using the HMGP they received as a result of Hurricane Sandy to enhance disaster resilience. These funds are being used for acquisition and demolition, home elevations, or the purchase of generators to protect critical facilities from future power loss, among other reasons. Figure 2 provides an example of how one state in the Sandy-affected area used HMGP funds to elevate homes. The Public Assistance program provides grants to states, local governments, federally recognized Indian tribes, and certain private non- profit entities to assist them with the response to and recovery from disasters. Specifically, the program provides assistance for debris removal, emergency protective measures, and permanent restoration of infrastructure, including funding hazard mitigation measures to reduce future risks in conjunction with repair of disaster- damaged facilities (under Stafford Act section 406) if cost-effectiveness can be demonstrated. The federal share of assistance is not less than 75 percent of the eligible cost for debris removal, emergency protective measures, and permanent restoration. The state grantee determines how the non-federal share (up to 25 percent) is split between the state and eligible applicants. There is no pre-set limit to the amount of Public Assistance funds a community may receive; however, Public Assistance hazard mitigation measures must be determined to be cost-effective. In addition, Public Assistance may fund measures that are not classified as “hazard mitigation measures” but nevertheless serve to prevent or reduce future damage. For example, in one state, Public Assistance was used to replace boat docks that had been damaged by Sandy with floating docks instead of the stationary docks that had previously been in place. Although this activity was not classified as hazard mitigation under Public Assistance guidelines, the state official expected the floating docks to be more resilient than stationary docks during future disasters. Sometimes, a combination of Public Assistance and HMGP funding may be appropriate. That is, Public Assistance hazard mitigation funding may be used to enhance the resilience of parts of the facility that were damaged and HMGP funding may be used to provide future protection to the undamaged parts of the facility. States can also receive funds through the Public Assistance program Alternative Procedures, under the authority of Stafford Act section 428, which provides flexibility and financial incentives, some of which can be used to enhance disaster resilience. For example, applicants using the Alternative Procedures Program may choose to combine multiple critical facilities of a state, tribal, or local government that were damaged by a disaster and rebuild them in a manner that makes them less likely to incur future disaster damages. For example, a community that had a fire and police station destroyed could combine the facilities, rebuild them in an area less prone to be affected by a future disaster, and enhance the construction of the facility to meet up-to-date building codes. As of March 2015, FEMA has awarded over $1.8 billion in total Public Assistance permanent work funds to the 13 Sandy-affected states, of which $400.6 million (22 percent) was approved to fund hazard mitigation activities. FEMA data shows that 11 of the 13 Sandy-affected states used PA funding for mitigation. Figure 3 provides an example of how Public Assistance funded hazard mitigation measures for a critical facility that was damaged by Sandy-related flooding. Congress appropriated $16.0 billion in the Sandy Supplemental to HUD’s Community Development Fund for disaster relief, long-term recovery, restoration of infrastructure and housing, and economic revitalization. This program is designed to address needs not met by other disaster recovery programs—including but not limited to disaster resilience initiatives—particularly for low and moderate income persons. The Sandy Supplemental directed these funds to be available for areas most impacted and distressed as a result of Presidentially-declared major disasters from 2011-2013. HUD allocated $930 million of the Sandy Supplemental appropriation to fund resilient recovery projects that resulted from Rebuild by Design—a competition sponsored under the authority of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010—to promote innovative disaster resilience solutions in the Sandy-affected area that are compatible with local circumstances and then to fund selected solutions.