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<br />. Specific information about, and techniques for, sustainable floodplain management need to be <br />catalogued, documented, and built into the appropriate curricula of universities, elementary and <br />secondary schools, training facilities, and programs for the continuing education of professionals. <br /> <br />. Programs such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Project Impact, which fosters <br />the development of model "disaster-resistant" communities through public-private partnerships, <br />citizen involvement, comprehensive planning, and a multi-hazard and multi-purpose approach to <br />mitigation, should be expanded and encouraged. <br /> <br />COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING FOR SUSTAINABILITY, <br />DISASTER RESILIENCE, AND MITIGATION <br /> <br />A local or regional comprehensive plan (sometimes called a master plan, and distinct from a <br />floodplain management plan) is a collection of policies on how the community or region will grow <br />and change in the future, and should also be a blueprint for how it can achieve and maintain <br />sustainability and disaster resiliency, The plan is the result of a process that involves many local <br />departments, business people, landowners, developers, and citizens, Out of the process emerge <br />policies that reflect local values and concerns. Comprehensive plans should include elements that deal <br />with land use, transportation, housing, community facilities, economic development, education, <br />historic preservation, the environment, and other issues. Floodplain management policies should be <br />part of the overall decisionmaking process; they may be included in the plan's environmental element <br />and cross-referenced to sections on land use, community facilities, and public infrastructure. <br /> <br />Comprehensive planning, zoning, and subdivision control are a local government's primary land use <br />tools, They can serve as a foundation for the community to address floodplain development concerns, <br />Floodplain development standards in the form of a community's zoning ordinances, subdivision <br />regulations, building and health codes, and special purpose ordinances build on that foundation by <br />providing for mitigation measures that reduce or prevent flood damage. For example, if the <br />community policy is to avoid development in the floodplain, the plan should indicate that major <br />investments in new roads and utilities will not be made in those areas, If, through the planning <br />process, the community had decided to convert portions of the floodplain to recreational use or open <br />space, that too, should be stipulated in the comprehensive plan. <br /> <br />In this time of competition for scarce economic development dollars, disaster-resistant communities <br />have an advantage in attracting and sustaining business, Integrating mitigation into community <br />planning, development, and decisionmaking is an important step towards building that disaster <br />resiliency and overall sustainability, The International City/County Management Association is <br />forming the Natural Hazard Mitigation Program to foster such communities. Similar efforts have been <br />led by the ASFPM, the American Planning Association, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, <br />the Institute for Business and Horne Safety, and others. <br /> <br />. Localities should adopt plans that use the sustainability approach, <br /> <br />IMPROVING MITIGATION <br /> <br />The ASFPM historically has promoted nonstructural flood loss reduction measures. Their <br />effectiveness has been emphasized in part because of the imbalance between structural and <br />nonstructural techniques in federal and state programs and policy, For example, a large number of <br /> <br />Association of State Floodplain Managers <br /> <br />-6- <br /> <br />National Flood Programs in Review 2000 <br />