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PLAN INTRODUCTION What are Hazard Mitigation and Hazard Mitigation Planning? Hazard Mitigation is defined as any sustained action taken to reduce or eliminate long- term risk to human life and property from hazards. Planning is the process of setting goals, developing strategies, and outlining tasks and schedules to accomplish the goals. Hazard Mitigation Planning is the process through which the natural hazards that threaten communities are identified, the likely impacts of those hazards are determined, mitigation goals are set, and appropriate strategies that would lessen the impacts are determined, prioritized, and implemented. Hazard Mitigation Planning is a requirement for state and local governments in order to maintain their eligibility for certain federal disaster assistance and hazard mitigation funding programs. Communities that are at risk from natural disasters can ill afford to jeopardize this funding. What is the Hazard Mitigation Planning Requirement? This plan has been developed pursuant to the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000, PL- 106- 390 (hereafter referred to as DMA; see Appendix A for a list of acronyms used in this document), and the regulations published in the Federal Register Volume 67, Number 38, Tuesday, February 26, 2002. Section 104 ofDMA revises the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act by adding Section 322, which provides new and revitalized emphasis on hazard mitigation, including adding a new requirement for local mitigation plans. These new local mitigation planning regulations are implemented through 44 CFR Part 201.6. Why is Hazard Mitigation Planning Important? Each year, natural disasters in the United States kill hundreds of people, injure thousands more, and leave as many as 50,000 people homeless. Nationwide, taxpayers pay billions of dollars each year to help communities, organizations, businesses and individuals recover from disaster. These monies only partially reflect the true cost of disasters, because additional expenses upon insurance companies and non-government organizations are un-reimbursed by tax dollars. Additionally, many natural disasters are predictable. Many more are repetitive, often with the same results. Many of the damages caused by these events can be alleviated or even eliminated. FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, now a part of the Department of Homeland Security, has made reducing losses from natural disasters one of its primary goals. Hazard Mitigation planning and the subsequent implementation of the projects, measures, and policies developed through those plans, is the primary mechanism in achieving these goals. Where success in reducing disaster damages has taken place, it has been the result of mitigation projects that were implemented as a result of mitigation planning. That's why Hazard Mitigation Planning is important. That is why DMA now 1