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NOTICE:
The International Emergency Management Society's Transportation Saftey and Security Workshop Janurary 28-29th 2003
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Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and
Risk Management
Crisis and Emergency Management
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NOTICE: The ICDRM's monthly emergency managment forum, held at the GWU. Next Forum: contact infor: |
| December
2002
Volume 3 - Number 3 |
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Links:
Current events
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Proposed Changes to FEMA's Multi-hazard Mitigation
Programs, Present Challenges
(GAO Report: 30-SEP-02, GAO-02-1035).
by Dana Griffin
Over the past 12 years, federal disaster assistance costs have totaled more
than $39 billion (in fiscal year 2001 dollars)--a nearly fivefold increase
over the previous 12-year period--as a result of a series of unusually large
and frequent disasters and an increasing federal role in assisting communities and individuals affected by disasters. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the lead agency for providing federal disaster relief, has provided the bulk of the assistance to help those in need respond to and recover from disasters. As the costs for disaster assistance have risen, FEMA has made disaster mitigation a primary goal in its efforts to reduce the long-term cost of disasters and has developed mitigation programs designed to minimize risk to property or individuals from natural or man-made hazards. FEMA's multi-hazard mitigation programs differ substantially in how they have sought to reduce the risks from hazards but each has features that the state emergency management community believes has been successful for mitigation. The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP), FEMA's oldest multi-hazard mitigation programs, is a post disaster program that has provided the bulk of mitigation assistance to states and communities. State mitigation officials view the HMGP as a highly successful means for achieving mitigation because commitment to undertake mitigation efforts is greatest in the aftermath of a disaster, and the HMGP takes advantage of this ''window of opportunity''. FEMA has used its more recent and smaller pre-disaster Project Impact program to provide funding directly to communities in every state, regardless of whether the state had recently experienced a disaster. State and local officials said that Project Impact has been successful in increasing awareness of and community support for mitigation efforts due to its funding of these types of activities. GAO’s investigation of FEMA’s current multi-hazard mitigation programs indicates that these programs are viewed positively by the emergency management community, but questions about the programs’ cost-effective projects have lead to a proposal to consolidate and revise them. The proposed new mitigation program would fundamentally change FEMA's approach by eliminating the post-disaster HMGP and by funding mitigation activities on a nationally competitive basis. The administration believes that the new program will ensure that mitigation funding remains stable from year to year and that the most cost-beneficial projects receive funding. The heightened focus on homeland security has raised several issues related to the conduct of hazard mitigation activities. Foremost among these issues is whether the increased emphasis on preventing and preparing for terrorist events will result in less focus on natural hazard mitigation concerns. GAO considers that the focus of the proposed new program, on obtaining the most cost effectiveness projects in light of current budget concerns, is well intended. However, the issue facing decision makers is whether the proposed revision to FEMA’s overall mitigation program will make the program more effective in achieving disaster mitigation objectives. The structure of the new program may not be able to capitalize on the characteristics of the current programs that have been viewed as successful such as acting in the post-disaster environment to quickly take advantage of mitigation opportunities and undertaking outreach activities to develop grass root support for mitigation. A balance that includes these characteristics in the program may need to be struck, and GAO is encouraged to see that FEMA is obtaining input and consensus on how to best structure the new program if it obtains congressional approval. Furthermore, without careful structuring of the program, FEMA’s hazard mitigation program may not remain consistent with the approach of disaster mitigation legislation passed only 2 years ago by the Congress that emphasized involvement by all states, funding for planning activities, and increased post-disaster mitigation funding for states willing to undertake enhanced mitigation planning efforts. The proposed inclusion of FEMA in the Department of Homeland Defense (DHS) and, in the broader context, the heightened concern over terrorism raises more fundamental issues about hazard mitigation efforts, such as: (1) how natural hazard mitigation activities would fare in the new department that focuses on terrorism, (2) whether planning and program efforts in the mitigation and preparedness area should remain separate and distinct, and (3) how the HMGP and the legislation authorizing it, address the role and rationale for mitigation after a terrorism- caused disaster. The complete GAO Report can be located at: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/useftp.cgi?IPaddress=162.140.64.21&filename= d021035.txt&directory=/diskb/wais/data/gao Additional GAO Reports can be found at: http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aces160.shtml |