Course Overview

Welcome to the Tribal Hazard Mitigation Planning course.

While hazards cannot be prevented from occurring, hazard mitigation planning reduces the risk to people and property and reduces the cost of recovering from a disaster by identifying methods to reduce the impact of events. A mitigation plan can help tribal communities become more sustainable and disaster resistant. 

Here's a summary of the screen features you can use throughout the course:

• Use the Lessons drop-down menu to move between lessons within the course.
• Select the Glossary button to look up key definitions and acronyms.
• Select the Help button to review guidance and troubleshooting advice.
• Select the Previous or Next buttons at bottom of the screen to move backward or forward in the lesson. If the Next button is dimmed, you must complete an activity before you can proceed in the lesson.
• Select the Plug-Ins button will provide a list of downloadable plug-ins. Plug-ins are software that work with your browser to provide capability the browser may not otherwise have.

The goal of this course is to provide tribal officials, planners, emergency managers, and other partners with the information necessary to prepare and implement a Tribal hazard mitigation plan. The emphasis is on getting the right people to the table and working through the full planning process.

For specific policy and regulatory requirements, please refer to the Tribal Mitigation Plan Review Guide.    

• Engage in the eLearning lessons.
• Jumpstart your plan development process.

Worksheets from the Tribal Mitigation Planning Handbook are provided to enable you to apply what you are learning in the course. To download, visit FEMA Tribal Planning Worksheets.

Although the worksheets are not mandatory, you can jumpstart your plan development process by completing them and have a model for how to create an actual hazard mitigation plan by the end of the course.

These are some key resources and links that will help you during (and after) the training:

Plan Development and Implemention Resources:

Tribal Mitigation Plan Review Guide (2017): Helps Tribal governments update their plans to comply with FEMA’s policy on the natural hazard mitigation planning requirements. It is the official interpretation of the Code of Federal Regulations.

Tribal Mitigation Planning Handbook (2019): Tool for Tribal governments to develop and update hazard mitigation plans. It has possible advice for developing a plan, as well as worksheets and other resources.

Tribal Mitigation Planning Resources: Contains planning resources from across FEMA programs.

State, Tribal, Local Mitigation Planning: Contains Mitigation Plan Review guides that detail the process to complete an approved mitigation plan.

Mitigation Ideas: Resource for Reducing Risk to Natural Hazards (2013) is a resource for reviewing potential mitigation actions to reduce risk from natural hazards.

Mitigation Best Practices Portfolio: Documents successful mitigation implementation from across the country.

List of FEMA Tribal Liaisons: Organized by FEMA Region, find the contact information of the Tribal Affairs Liaison, who can answer questions and connect you with resources.

Lesson Overview

This lesson looks at the Tribal mitigation planning process and covers five planning process topics:

• Hazard Mitigation and Mitigation Planning
• Getting Started
• Build the Planning Team
• Engage the Public
• Integrate the Planning Process

After completing this lesson, you should be able to:

• Differentiate between mitigation and preparedness.
• Identify the role of the planning team in hazard mitigation planning.
• Identify the methods of gathering feedback from the public for the mitigation plan.
• Recall the process of gathering information and documentation essential for a successful mitigation plan.

Hazard mitigation is the effort to reduce loss of life and property by lessening the impact of disasters. Mitigation means acting NOW to prevent hazards from becoming disasters.

Sustained activity: Mitigation is an ongoing process that is focused on long-term solutions.

In this definition, there are a few important parts:

• Sustained action refers to ongoing and consistent policies, such as building codes and land use regulations.
• Reducing or eliminating long-term risk is referring to protecting people and structures from the impacts of future disasters.

These are hazard mitigation examples because they are long-term or sustained solutions to reducing risk:

• Retrofitting a critical facility
• Enforcing building codes
• Planning land use
• Clearing defensible space
• Drainage projects
• Tornado shelters
• Acquiring and removing homes, or relocating homes that have repeatedly flooded
• Instituting zoning ordinances that require fire-resistant roofing material in wildfire hazard areas
• Relocating entire reservations out of the tsunami zone, like the Quinault Tribe in Washington

Mitigation helps:

• Prevent injury and loss of life by reducing exposure to risk from natural hazards.
• Prevent damage to existing and future Tribal assets.
• Prevent damage to a Tribe’s unique economic, cultural, and environmental assets.
• Reduce costs of disaster response/recovery by minimizing down time and speeding up recovery after a disaster.
• Reduce first responders’ exposure to risk.
• Support what is important to the Tribe, whether it is an investment in infrastructure protection, natural and cultural resource protection, open space preservation, or economic resiliency.

According to the National Institute of Building Science’s Mitigation Saves: 2018 Interim Report, federally funded mitigation grants, on average, can save the Nation $6 in future disaster costs for every $1 spent on hazard mitigation. The National Institute of Building Science also found that every $1 invested in building codes saves $11 in avoided losses.

The calculated Benefit-Cost Ratios (BCRs) vary by hazard, but overall, there is a positive return on investment for these kinds of mitigation projects.

• Taking the extraordinary step of calculating how much damage had been averted in communities that have adopted modern building codes, FEMA found that, since the first edition of the International Codes (I-Codes) in 2000, communities that have adopted them have saved approximately $1.6B in average annualized losses, saving the Nation $32B over that 20-year period in avoided building and contents losses.
• The study also found that currently 65 percent of jurisdictions having authority have not adopted modern building codes, only 50 percent of cumulative post-2000 construction adhered to the I-Codes, and 30 percent of new construction is occurring in communities with no codes at all or codes that are more than 20 years outdated.
• Not all Tribal Nations adopt and enforce building codes. Tribal Nations that do have been included in the Building Codes Save study. For example, the Seminole Tribe adopted the Florida Building Code so that development in those areas has enhanced wind protection and contributes to the overall losses avoided in FL. The Lummi Nation in Washington State, a CRS community, adopts freeboard into their local ordinances which reduces damages during floods and contributes to the losses avoided. These tribal areas, and others that adopt building codes, are included in the Building Codes Save study.”

• If all new buildings across the U.S. were built to modern editions of the I-Codes, the country would save more than $600 billion by 2060.

• The cost of strengthening a new home against natural hazards is minimal compared with overall construction costs. For example, hurricane safeguards add $4,500 to the cost of a $300,000 home but avert $48,000 in damage over 30 years.

• Unless communities update their standards, around 4.2 million homes will be built between 2016 and 2040 in communities with archaic building codes unless states and localities update their standards. That represents 30% of the 13.9 million buildings to be constructed in that period.

What do you think the difference is between mitigation and preparation?

• Structural retrofits, green infrastructure, and fuel reduction are examples of mitigation.
• Emergency notification, preparedness kits, and command vehicles are examples of preparedness.
• Education and outreach efforts can be either—it depends on what you are educating and reaching out about.

Remember, mitigation is an ongoing process that is focused on long-term solutions, while preparedness seeks to rectify the short-term effects of hazards. Mitigation is in it for the long haul, and seeks to permanently reduce the risk from hazards.

Engage the whole community to understand risk

The planning process incorporates the participation of a wide range of partners and the public – the whole community – in the planning process. This creates an open and inclusive process that provides transparency and legitimacy to the decisions made during plan development. An inclusive mitigation planning process also facilitates the establishment of partnerships that will be critical to recovery should a disaster occur.

Come up with solutions to reduce risk

These mitigation policies and actions are identified based on an assessment of hazards, vulnerabilities, and risks.

Create an action plan to implement the solutions

The purpose of mitigation planning is to identify policies and actions that can be implemented over the long term to reduce risk and future losses.

Benefits include:

• Aligning risk reduction with other Tribal or community objectives, and focusing resources on the greatest risks
• Building partnerships for risk reduction involving government, organizations, businesses, and the community
• Identifying cost-effective actions to reduce risk
• Increasing education and awareness around hazards and risk

A successful planning process involves bringing Tribal members and other partners together to discuss their knowledge, their perception of risk, and how to meet their needs as part of the process.

This inclusive process works within the traditions, culture, and methods most suitable to a Tribal government, so that participants better understand the unique vulnerabilities to the Tribal planning area and can develop relevant mitigation actions.

Below are essential pieces of legislation that provide the basis for mitigation planning.

Robert T. Stafford Disaster and Emergency Assistance Act as amended by the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000

• Requires State, Tribal, and local governments to develop and adopt FEMA-approved hazard mitigation plans as a condition for receiving certain types of non-emergency disaster assistance, including Public Assistance Permanent Work and Hazard Mitigation Assistance funding.

Sandy Recovery Improvement Act of 2013

• Allows federally recognized Tribes to obtain their own major disaster declarations.
• Allows Tribes to apply for disaster assistance independent of a State seeking a declaration.

The Tribal Plan Review Guide (or “the Guide”) is the official interpretation of the Tribal Mitigation Planning Requirements, found at Code of Federal Regulations, Title 44, Section 201.7. The Guide focuses on requirements and simplifies the review process using:

• A consistent, streamlined format
• More clarity regarding the requirements
• Fewer redundancies

The Guide supersedes the 2010 Tribal Multi-Hazard Mitigation Planning Guidance, but there are no changes to the underlying regulations. The Guide lays out the requirements, and assists Tribes in understanding these requirements. It is also a resource for FEMA plan reviewers.

Note: 44 CFR Section 201.7 and the Tribal Mitigation Plan Review Guide apply to federally recognized Tribes (including Alaska Native Villages). Non-federally recognized Tribes do not have the option of applying directly to FEMA for assistance. FEMA treats non-federally recognized Tribes like other local entities under 44 CFR Section 201.6 and the Local Mitigation Plan Review Guide.

Now that we have gone over what hazard mitigation and mitigation planning are, we’ll talk about getting your planning process up and running. Before building the plan, it is important to remember that the mitigation plan belongs to your Tribal community. While FEMA has the authority to approve plans, there is no required format. You get to build a planning process and a plan that works with your history, culture, governance, and partners.

When writing your mitigation plan, keep the following in mind:

• Develop the plan to serve the community. To have value, your plan must represent the current needs and values of the community and be useful to Tribal officials and partners.
   
• Remember the Guiding Principles in the Guide:
• Nation to Nation
• Foster cooperation and understanding
• Focus on mitigation strategy
• Consider intent while reviewing the plan
• Planning process is important
• This is the Tribe’s plan

Single or Multi-Jurisdictional

One of the first decisions to make is how you will organize the process. Will you create the plan with just your own Tribe – a single jurisdiction or sovereign nation? Or will you create a plan together with other Tribes, cities, and/or counties – a multi-jurisdiction? Jurisdiction refers to a government entity.

It is important to keep in mind that in a multi-jurisdictional plan, each participating jurisdiction must adopt the plan to achieve grant eligibility. The final plan must clearly list the jurisdictions that participated in the plan and that are seeking plan approval.

You can change your approach with each update. For example, if you participated in a multi-jurisdictional plan for your first plan, you can later adjust to work as a single jurisdiction.

Single jurisdiction plans may offer the following advantages:

• Offers autonomy and control over how you set up your planning process.
• Focuses on your Tribe’s specific and unique needs.
• Works for both large and small Tribes.
• Offers improved internal coordination.

Multi-jurisdictional plans may offer the following advantages:

• Improves communication and provides an opportunity to coordinate with nearby communities, Tribal or not. Partnerships and networks created during the planning process will be helpful during response and recovery in the event of a disaster.
• Allows you to leverage existing plans and partnerships and available resources and capabilities. For example:
• Enables comprehensive mitigation approaches to reduce risks that affect multiple jurisdictions
• Enables cost and capability sharing
• Avoids duplication of efforts

While offering several benefits, a multi-jurisdictional planning process is not an easier approach and can present the following challenges:

• Involves coordinating among multiple jurisdictions that may have different capabilities, priorities, and histories working together, from plan development through adoption.
• Potentially reduces your control over the process.
• May result in less detailed assessment of risks or less specific mitigation actions.

If participating with other jurisdictions, make sure your Tribal members have an opportunity to provide input. Multi-jurisdictional plans need coordination and accountability from each jurisdiction. Specific partners from each participating jurisdiction need to be identified, and engagement activities need to be designed to reach the public across the planning area.

There are some specific requirements for multi-jurisdictional planning. Each tribe seeking plan approval must:

• Participate in the planning process

The plan should explain how each participating jurisdiction (who, what, when) shared in the overall planning process at the larger scale with all the jurisdictions, as well as describe how the overall planning team representatives worked with jurisdiction-specific personnel/staff/etc. to make decisions for the specific Tribal community. A multi-jurisdictional plan should clearly define the roles and responsibilities of the jurisdictional representatives on the multi-jurisdictional planning team and local jurisdictional supporting planning participants.

• Assess its unique risks
   
• Identify specific mitigation activities
   
• Provide the public with an opportunity to comment
   
• Adopt the plan

For multi-jurisdictional plans, it is important that the participating jurisdictions coordinate the timing of plan adoption so that the plan is adopted by each jurisdiction around the same time, as much as practicable. With multi-jurisdictional plans, the first participating jurisdiction (usually the lead jurisdiction, but not always) to adopt the plan starts the plan update cycle clock and determines the plan’s expiration date, which all participating jurisdictions will follow.

This course is focused on standard mitigation plans. However, a Tribal government that already has an approved standard Tribal mitigation plan (under 44 CFR 201.7) could receive approval of an enhanced plan (under 44 CFR 201.5) and increased funding by demonstrating through a narrative and examples:

• Integration with other Tribal planning initiatives:
• Sectors: Emergency Mgt., Economic Development, Land Use Development, Housing, Health and Social Services, Infrastructure, Natural and Cultural Resources.
• FEMA programs – HMA grant programs (PDM, HMGP, FMA), FMAG, and other FEMA programs that advance mitigation – THIRA, PA (406).
• Tribal mitigation capabilities: Tribe-wide mitigation councils, provides non-Federal match for HMGP, offers training and workshops, building design standards and enforcement, mitigation is part of post-disaster recovery, etc.
• HMA grants management performance.

The regulatory requirements for approval of an enhanced mitigation plan are quite challenging, and if you are interested in enhanced status you should contact your Regional Tribal Liaison or Regional Community Planner to discuss it. There are special procedures required for an Enhanced plan submittal and review. For more information, review Section 3 and Appendix B of the Tribal Mitigation Plan Review Guide.

Role of the Planning Team:

• Engaging Tribal members and the public to seek participation and input.
• Identifying risks to and vulnerabilities of the Tribal community through the risk assessment.
• Developing Tribe-specific solutions for the identified risks.
• Being champions for resilience and the plan. Your planning team should generate interest and promote risk reduction.

Who will be on your planning team?

The planning team represents organizations with the expertise and authority to implement the mitigation strategy that will be developed through the planning process. Here are things to consider when deciding who to ask to be a part of the planning team.

Look for expertise in:

• People, culture, and social conditions
• Built and natural environments
• Hazards and disaster history
• Relevant government and community functions

Look for responsible people who can dedicate the time to develop and implement the plan, including:

• Implementing programs and activities.
• Making decisions on policies and resources.
• Dedicating time for mitigation planning activities. These activities are not a once and done. They are an ongoing commitment to the mitigation planning effort that should be built into one’s work schedule.

Note: When building the planning team, you can start with existing organizations or committees in the community. For mitigation plan updates, reconvene the team from the previous planning process along with any additional individuals or organizations.

Identifying potential planning team members may be straightforward, but persuading individuals with competing priorities to invest time and energy in the mitigation planning process can be challenging. Incorporating local leaders in the planning team is often met with success as they can provide guidance and direction for the plan amongst competing priorities. Here are some kinds of partners you should consider including in the planning team:

• Tribal officials, elders, or other decision-makers. They may be agency/department heads but could be elected. Think about natural resources, public health, housing, utilities, land use and transportation
• Business leaders
• Cultural partners, especially who those who can provide information on and context for sacred and cultural sites
• Educational institutions
• Non-Profits, including those involved in disaster preparedness, community advocacy, or emergency response
• Regional, State, and Federal partners that can lend data, expertise, or technical assistance

There are many potential partner organizations and agencies that can contribute to the mitigation planning process. At a minimum, you must extend participation to neighboring communities, Tribal and regional agencies involved in hazard mitigation activities, and agencies that have the authority to regulate development.

You should also include people or organizations that can:

• Help implement the plan
• Provide data
• Provide context on your Tribe or expected hazards
• Potentially provide funds

These partners may have similar interests or experiences in natural hazards. The mitigation planning process allows them to discuss these topics and to come up with solutions. For example, you may want to include your public works office. They may have historic knowledge of hazards, and might be the responsible agency for implementing an infrastructure project. They can bring information and expertise that strengthens the plan.

• Elected leaders of the community have the responsibility to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the Tribe, and are usually the ones who will guide the Tribe through the adoption and implementation process.
   
• It’s important to keep elected officials informed about the planning process from the earliest beginnings, and continue to keep them updated throughout the process.
   
• This will help build and maintain support for the plan over its lifetime.

In the exercise packet, use the “Planning Team Worksheet” and start building your planning team. You do not need to identify someone from each group. The worksheet is intended to help you think about who to ask to join the planning team. Consider including people that are knowledgeable of the Tribe’s natural hazard risks and mitigation capabilities.

The planning team will need to hold a series of meetings or work sessions during the planning process. The first meeting of the planning team, or the plan kickoff meeting, should focus on introducing team members, describing the overall purpose of the plan, defining the team’s responsibilities, validating the project scope and schedule, and brainstorming who else should be involved in the planning process.

Initial tasks include:

• Review the current mitigation plan (if you have one)
• Determine plan scope and schedule
• Gather data, plans, reports, and studies
• Develop an outreach strategy

Tips for meetings and engagement:

• It may be helpful to hold planning team meetings at a restaurant or to schedule the meeting at lunchtime and provide food to ensure a good level of attendance/participation.
• Planning team meetings can be working sessions or opportunities to review developed content, but it’s important to keep the planning team working together to build the plan.
• Partner and public engagement events – You can go to your partners and the public, or they can come to you. Remember that you must provide opportunities for participation in the planning process while the plan is being developed and prior to plan approval. Another aspect of the schedule is the review period(s). To maintain continuous grant eligibility, build in time for FEMA’s review of the plan before adoption by the Tribe.

For plan updates, you should:

• Locate your previous plan review from FEMA

It is important to start from your previous plan review from FEMA. This may be a “crosswalk” that has recommended revisions or a “Plan Review Tool.” If it is the Plan Review Tool, there will be a section with “Opportunities for Improvement” that you should use as you get started.

• Use FEMA’s recommendations to strengthen your plan

Review the comments and feedback from the last review and use them as the starting point to strengthen your plan.

• Incorporate any changes from the last 5 years

If your plan is an update, you should have been monitoring and evaluating the plan throughout the last 5 years; go back to those annual monitoring meetings or reports and incorporate changes you identified, like changes in leadership, in disaster activity, investments in mitigation, changes in development, and changes in regulations. In general, think about what went well with your past plan and what did not. Use those lessons to strengthen your planning process.

The kickoff meeting is a good time for the planning team to agree on the overall scope of work and schedule for developing or updating the mitigation plan and the requirements of a hazard mitigation plan for FEMA approval.

• At this meeting, set a schedule for the duration of the project.
• By setting dates for regular check-ins and future meetings, you can help keep the project on track.
• You can also identify existing meetings that planning team members attend and include the ones that could support hazard mitigation on the schedule.
• These meetings build connections and can support internal Tribal coordination and outreach.
• Make sure that all parties involved in the process know their roles, responsibilities, and deadlines.
• Be sure to provide clear milestones to keep plan development on track.
• It is important that everyone walks away from the kickoff meeting with an understanding of the overall project purpose, schedule, and tasks, as well as the agenda and goals for future planning team meetings.
• If you received FEMA grant funding for your plan, you should also keep the grant period of performance in mind. Usually, the planning grant requires a FEMA-approved plan at the end of the period of performance.
• FEMA will review your plan within 45 days whenever possible, and there may be required revisions you have to make. It is a good idea to build in more than 45 days to allow time for review and revision so that there is no interruption of your grant eligibility.

For a sample timeline you can use to develop your plan, review Appendix B of the Tribal Planning Handbook.

Mitigation plans must incorporate accurate, current, relevant information, usually from existing data, plans, reports, and studies. It is important to gather these resources (and ask your planning team members for any resources they know of) to support the planning process. Consider the following kinds of data: 

• Tribal – data that is specific to your Tribal planning area is the best source of information for your plan. Look for land use plans, emergency plans, comprehensive plans, or other documents to form the foundation of the mitigation plan.
• State – State mitigation planning efforts can provide background information as you get started. There may be State data sources that cover the geography of your Tribal planning area.
• Federal – Federal agencies can give context about hazard events. If your tribe is a part of the National Flood Insurance Program, make sure you incorporate information on mapped floodplains and available flood hazard data. FEMA should be your first stop for flood hazard data. Other data on natural hazards may come from these agencies: Environmental Protection Agency, US Army Corps of Engineers, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin., Census, Dept. of Agriculture, US Geological Survey, US Forest Service, or the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
• Local, county, and non-profit – it can be helpful to review data in the plans of adjacent jurisdictions. Ask any non-profits your Tribe works with if they have data to contribute.

• Give your public an opportunity to be involved in the plan 
   
• Inform them by:
• Advertising mitigation meetings in newsletters
• Providing a booth at community events
• Announcing the planning process at other community meetings
• Social media

Sometimes we will use the word “public” and sometimes we’ll use “Tribal community.” In your planning process, “Tribal community” may be the same as “the public.” Or, it might be identified as those living on Tribal land or in the Tribal service area regardless of their Tribal membership. Tribal members/citizens who do not live on the Tribal lands may also want to provide input or comment on the plan. Ultimately, you need to define what “public” will mean for your plan.

The public can include:

• Tribal members
• Reservation residents (Tribal and/or non-Tribal members)
• Tribal employees
• Business owners

Public engagement strengthens your plan and makes sure your plan reflects your Tribe’s values, experience, history, culture, and input.

It can also:

• Educate your members and partners about hazards and risk
• Bring in different perspectives
• Promote transparency in the process
• Create a sense of ownership and buy-in
• Strengthen community disaster resilience

Regardless of how it is done, it is crucial to give the public a genuine opportunity to participate in the mitigation planning process. After all, the plan is intended to protect their lives and property, and they may have ideas on how to do that.

There are a wide variety of potential outreach options that you should think about using to get the word out about the mitigation planning process. Use what works best for your community, and what is known to be tried and true. One approach is to bring information about the planning process to existing community events where lots of people will be passing through. Another is to put out information in a widely distributed newsletter or other form of publication. Social media can also be used to quickly get the word out for those who follow your Tribe.

• Community events
• Open houses/public workshops
• Interviews
• News media
• Presentations to governing bodies
• Questionnaires/surveys
• Roundtables/forums
• Social media
• Websites

Involve the public throughout the planning process, not just at the end when you have a draft written. If your Tribe has a policy in place for the public review of documents prior to adoption, follow it and incorporate it into the plan development schedule.

• Determine outreach objectives and schedule. Identify what type of input you need from partners and the public, and when you will ask for that input.
• Develop clear and consistent messages that align with community values. Consider your Tribe’s goals and values and how they align with reducing the impacts of future hazards and disasters. Then, personalize talking points for discussions with different audiences and develop messages that appeal to them.
• Conduct outreach early and often, using as many formats and venues as is practical. This will help bring a broader cross section of the community and partners into the planning process.
• Document, evaluate, and incorporate feedback received through outreach activities, such as completed questionnaires and surveys, comments at meetings, and comments on plan. Tell the people you engage with how the planning team will use the feedback to develop the plan.
• Celebrate success! Publicize accomplishments such as receipt of grant funding for mitigation activities or completion of an approvable plan to raise awareness of risk and of hazard mitigation efforts.

Reflection:

You might have multiple outreach strategies, such as one for partners and one for community members. Do you have someone in charge of social media? They could help facilitate outreach and provide guidance on your outreach strategy.  

The final topic for the planning process is integration. This means to coordinate the mitigation planning process with other plans, processes, and decisions.

Think about it this way: your Tribe may already have planning efforts that have force of law behind them. It’s a good idea to make sure that the mitigation plan works with those processes to help create a safe community. Coordinating these efforts can help get more out of all your efforts by using common data, coordinating efforts, preventing conflicting priorities, and bringing more people together around risk reduction.

You know your resources best, but here are some potential kinds of planning efforts, initiatives, and programs that you might want to integrate with the mitigation planning process:

• Plans such as:
• Comprehensive or general plan
• Housing plan
• Climate adaptation plan
• Capital improvement plan
• Pre-disaster recovery plan
• Transportation plan
• Processes such as:
• Economic development initiatives
• The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)
• Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA)
• Risk Mapping, Assessment, and Planning

For each one, consider questions like:

• Can this planning process provide data or insights that can help the mitigation plan and avoid doing the work twice?
• Are there people who participate in this planning process or program who should also contribute to the mitigation plan?
• Does this plan determine where or how things are built? Would coordinating it help keep people or investments out of harm’s way?

Here are a few examples in greater detail of planning efforts, initiatives, and programs that you might want to integrate with the mitigation planning process:

Climate Adaptation Plan

• Climate adaptation plans help Tribes anticipate, plan for, and adapt to future climate conditions.
• A Climate Adaptation Plan may have data or insights that can be used in the mitigation plan, especially for the discussion of the future probability of hazard events. If it identifies projects, those can be considered for inclusion in the mitigation strategy.

Economic Development Strategy

• The Economic Development Strategy helps create and maintain a vibrant economy by guiding the economic growth and development in the Tribe.
• By coordinating economic development and hazard mitigation, you can look to grow the economy in places less vulnerable to hazards and to increase disaster resistance in the places most essential for the economy. Investments in mitigation can be important to the business community since they can reduce downtime and lost income during disaster events.

Emergency Operations Plan

• The Emergency Operations Plan governs how the Tribe will respond to an emergency or disaster event.
• While the Emergency Operations Plan focuses on the response to an emergency or disaster event, it also often outlines hazards or kinds of events that are of concern to the Tribe. This can be a starting point for your risk assessment. In addition, those involved in developing the Emergency Operations Plan are usually already well-versed in the Tribe’s hazards and vulnerabilities. That knowledge can make a better risk assessment and can identify where mitigation is needed. Working with the emergency manager and Tribal Emergency Response Team can also make sure that mitigation is a part of post-disaster efforts.

Indian Housing Plan

• The Indian Housing Plan is an annual prerequisite to receive the Indian Housing Block Grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. It covers the housing activities the Tribe plans to undertake.
• The Indian Housing Plan includes planned housing activities for the coming year. The mitigation plan can consider how any planned housing projects can be made more disaster-resistant, both in location and construction type.

Reflection: What kinds of plans do you already have?

It’s important to document the planning process as you go. The plan should also serve as the written record or documentation of the planning process. Documentation of the planning process is very important, as it provides the transparency and legitimacy of the decision-making during the planning process. Additionally, it helps those involved to understand who was included in the previous planning process and what the planning process entailed.

This includes:

• Who was involved in the process?
• How was the plan prepared?
• How was the public involved?

Documentation examples:

• Sign-in sheets for all planning meetings
• Public or project meeting summaries and minutes
• Table of events and the major issues covered
• Narrative of how actions were selected and prioritized
• Email invitations to stakeholders/neighboring jurisdictions
• Newspaper publicity and articles
• E-newsletter blasts
• Social media postings
• Community surveys and supporting documentation.
• PowerPoint slides
• Table or spreadsheet of how each jurisdiction participated in a multi-jurisdictional plan

In this lesson, you have learned how to describe how to organize the hazard mitigation planning process and engage community members.

Planning Process Summary

• Mitigation is the effort to reduce loss of life and property by lessening the impact of disasters.
• Mitigation planning attempts to strengthen community disaster resilience.
• When establishing the planning area, clearly identify the boundaries of land holdings in the Tribal planning area.
• Identify a wide array of stakeholders and parties to assist and support the mitigation plan.
• There are helpful tips for outreach that help broaden the foundation of the mitigation strategy.

Lesson Overview

This lesson covers the first two steps of Risk Assessment:

• Describe your community
• Identify your hazards

The third step of risk assessment will be covered in the next lesson:

• Explain the impacts that hazards can have on the community

After completing this lesson, you should be able to:

• Differentiate between risk assessment terms.
• List the types of community assets.
• Recall methods of determining at-risk assets.
• Identify the various types of hazards.
• List parameters and approaches involved in profiling hazards.

The previous lesson described important considerations for how your Tribe can organize its planning process. Once those decisions are made, it is time to start developing the plan while following the seven-step process.

The Plan Development process involves the following steps:

1. Describe your community
• Describe the planning area, Tribal assets, and any unique characteristics of your Tribe.
2. Identify your hazards
• Figure out what natural hazards could occur in your planning area.
3. Explain impacts that hazards can have on the community
• Describe what the natural hazards could do to your people, property, and land and determine the Tribe’s biggest hazard concerns.
4. Review your current capability to mitigate the impacts
• Inventory your Tribes’ plans, policies, and programs that could be used to protect your community.
5. Develop the strategy
• Keeping in mind your risks and your capabilities, identify your Tribe’s mitigation goals and actions.
6. Develop an action plan
• Prioritize your actions and develop the details to assist with implementation.
7. Keep track of progress
• Observe and record progress in implementing your mitigation program using a defined method and schedule.

• A process used to collect information and understand how natural events will affect the Tribal community. It helps Tribes:
• Communicate vulnerabilities
• Develop mitigation priorities
• Inform decision making
• The foundation for a mitigation strategy to reduce future losses.
• The planning team conducts a risk assessment to determine the potential impacts of natural hazards on the community. The risk assessment provides the foundation for the rest of the mitigation planning process, which is focused on identifying and prioritizing actions the community can take to reduce risk of natural hazards that may affect the planning area defined during the planning process.
• Focuses on the planning area defined during the planning process.
• In addition to informing the mitigation strategy, the risk assessment can be used to establish land use and comprehensive planning priorities, and for decision making by elected officials, Tribal government departments, business enterprises, and communities that the Tribe coordinates with. There are many approaches to risk assessments depending on available data, technology, and resources. Tribal risk assessments do not need to be created using sophisticated technology, but do need to be accurate, current, and relevant.

This step involves describing the planning area, assets, and unique characteristics of your Tribe in a community profile.

This step should answer a few important questions:

• What do you want to protect?
• Who do you want to protect?
• How does your Tribe operate?

Before you can assess your risks, you need to determine and describe the planning area.

• Identify the planning area
• Describe land you maintain outside reservation boundaries
• Identify status of the lands (e.g., fee, trust, usual, and accustomed)

The planning area is not just the land area. It should include a description of the people and property that your Tribe wants to protect from the impacts of natural hazard events. Describing the Tribal community is an important part of helping the plan’s users understand the context. This section is a good place to include any unique characteristics of the population and landscape of the planning area that could factor into risk reduction decisions. For example, consider focusing on aspects of the geography and built environment that contribute to vulnerability, such as geology, land use, and development trends.

Note: If you’re working with other communities, each community must describe its respective planning area(s).

Here are the steps to the process:

• The requirement is to "include a description of the Tribal planning area" - and this at its most general means that you must describe the area are you planning for. If you don't have land or land use authority, that’s ok – just describe what area you are planning for.
• Identify the boundaries of land holdings in the Tribal planning area, including non-contiguous Tribal lands and checkerboard areas.
• Potential for these to be separated by vast distances or in multiple counties/States
• Could follow Tribal jurisdictional boundaries, reservations, or natural features
• Be mindful of multijurisdictional boundaries
• Describe any land your Tribe maintains outside the reservation boundaries. For example, if your Tribe owns land and businesses in an adjacent community, include that in the plan.
• Identify the status of the lands (e.g., fee, trust, usual, and accustomed).
• Potential exists for these to be separated by vast distances or in multiple counties/States.
• Could follow Tribal jurisdictional boundaries, reservations, or natural features.

If you’re doing a multi-jurisdictional plan, be aware of all communities – the planning area needs to be stated for each participating community.

In describing your community, think about who you want to protect. This could be aspects of either the built or physical environment.

It can also be cultural assets or historic places. When we think of “assets,” typically the first thing is monetary value, though these can be qualitative as well.

People are your most important asset. Describe the population of the Tribal planning area and Tribal membership. Consider areas where there is a higher population density of residents and workers, as well as the types of populations that may have unique vulnerabilities or be less able to respond and recover in a disaster.

Consider the following populations in the community:

• Concentrations of residents and employees during day, night, and commute hours. Populations shift throughout the day, typically based on a work commute schedule, seasonal tourist events, and school calendars. If the Tribe has a casino or other business ventures, who are its customers and employees?
   
• Types of visiting populations and locations where they are likely to congregate. Visiting populations include students, second homeowners, migrant farm workers, or visitors for special events that may be less familiar with the local environment and hazards and are not prepared to protect themselves in an event. Keep in mind the population that visits during large events, like Tribal canoe journeys on the west coast.
   
• Locations and concentrations of special needs and dependent populations. Children, the elderly, the disabled, and non-English speakers are just some of the special needs and dependent populations that may require more assistance during and following hazard events. Locations of facilities that provide necessary services (e.g., hospitals, shelters, oxygen delivery, accessible transportation, etc.) also need to be considered in terms of their vulnerability to risks.
   
• Demographics of projected population growth. This information may also be considered to avoid potential development that is subject to hazards.

It is helpful to identify the economic assets whose losses or inoperability would have severe impacts on the community and its ability to recover from a disaster. These may include primary economic sectors in the community, major employers, and commercial centers. The plan would benefit from having the dependencies between major economic assets and infrastructure assessed.

Economic assets may include:

• Major employers, both within the Tribal planning area and where many community members work (if applicable).
   
• Primary economic sectors. Consider if the economy in the planning area relies on a certain kind of economic sector, like agriculture, retail, or others.
   
• Key infrastructure that supports economic activity, like telecommunications networks.

Historical, Cultural, and Sacred Sites/Resources may include buildings, structures, objects, sacred sites, historic districts, archival storage facilities, etc. It is highly recommended that plans discuss these sites. They are important places to protect.

The planning team should consider including a discussion of assets and resources that are significant for subsistence, economic, religious/spiritual, medicinal, historical, or other values/purposes.

To show an understanding of the number and type of structures in the planning area, consider the following key components of the structure assets inventory:

• Locations and types of planned new development or redevelopment
• Existing infrastructure – roads, bridges, etc.
• Infrastructure for new development
• For infrastructure, it is important for you to describe if your Tribe owns the infrastructure or not, because mitigating impacts to it may require coordination with an outside entity.
• Planned capital improvements
• This is important because FEMA regulations require considering not only the existing built environment, but also future development.

Each participating jurisdiction could consider the following:

• Types of buildings by occupancy type, including commercial, industrial, and single- and multi-family residential
• Age and construction type of existing buildings to understand inventory
• Current building code and subdivision standards to determine whether the minimum requirements reflect the Tribe’s acceptable level of risk
• Museums, concert halls, parks, stadiums, or any asset that is important to the Tribe can be considered a cultural resource
• Existing land uses, as well as future land uses permitted by zoning and development trends
• Location, numbers, and types of structures of planned new development and redevelopment
• Existing stormwater management infrastructure and upgrades that will be necessary with any future development
• New facilities, infrastructure, annexations, and other planned capital improvements

The community can determine how much detail about community assets to provide in the plan. You may not have all of this information, and that’s okay.

Note: When a community extends infrastructure into known hazard areas, it will create greater risk.

This map illustrates existing land use. Existing structures can be seen (and potentially counted) on aerial imagery.

If the Tribe uses zoning or has defined future growth areas, the plan should include maps and/or a discussion of where future structures might be built. Are there areas of future development, or areas where utilities are going to be extended?

Note: When a community extends infrastructure into known hazard areas, it will create greater risk.

Critical facilities, such as hospitals, schools, and emergency operation centers, are specific assets of the built environment that provide services that are essential for life, safety, and economic viability. The continued operations of critical facilities during and following a disaster are key factors in the speed of recovery.

Include locations, types, value, and construction materials.

Consider where the critical facilities are located, how old they are, and value of the structure and its contents. In addition, the Planning Team may want to evaluate not only their structural integrity and content value, but also the ways in which one critical facility depends on another and the effects of an interruption of the service they provide to the community to identify vulnerabilities. Infrastructure systems are also essential for life safety and economic viability.

Many critical facilities are dependent on utility infrastructure to function.

For example, hospitals need electricity, water, and sewer systems to continue helping patients. As with critical facilities, the continued operations of infrastructure systems during and following a disaster are key factors in the severity of impacts and the speed of recovery.

Environmental assets and natural resources are important to community identity and quality of life and support the economy through agriculture, tourism, and recreation, and a variety of other ecosystem services, such as clean air and water.

Natural Environment assets may include:

• Environmental functions that reduce the magnitude of hazards, like riparian buffers or protected open spaces
• Critical habitat areas to protect
• Hunting, gathering, fishing, and/or usual and accustomed areas
• Other natural resources

The natural environment also provides protective functions that reduce the impacts of hazards and contribute to resilience. For instance, wetlands and riparian areas help absorb and attenuate flood waters, soils and landscaping contribute to stormwater management, and vegetation in the upper watershed provides erosion control and reduces runoff.

Read the Fictional Roaring River Community Profile (HB, p. 15)

Then answer this question: What assets can be identified for this community?

• Agricultural
• Independent living facility
• Fire and Police departments
• Administrative building
• Wastewater management
• Grazing land
• Casino
• Horse ranch

This section focuses on identifying the hazards that present the most risk to the Tribal community. Every community is different and has different vulnerabilities, and your Tribal mitigation plan should reflect your unique situation and hazards. 

The focus of mitigation planning is typically natural hazards so that the most significant natural hazards and the actions get the Tribe’s maximum attention and energy. FEMA approval of the tribal hazard mitigation plan is based on a review of natural hazards only. You may choose to add additional hazards that impact your Tribal area.

Here are some examples of the natural hazards:

• Earthquake
• Flood
• Hurricane/Typhoon
• Tornado
• Tsunami
• Volcanic eruption
• Winter storm

There are many sources of hazard information available to assist the planning team. A few data sources include:

• Interview the planning team and stakeholders about which hazards pose risks to the planning area and should be described in the mitigation plan.
• Consider interviewing elders and other community members.
• Document the disaster declaration history of the planning area.
• Review existing studies, reports, and plans related to flooding, wildfire, geological, and other hazards.
• Review the State hazard mitigation plan and the hazard mitigation plans of adjacent jurisdictions. These plans may provide insight to already-identified hazards in the planning area.
• State and Federal agencies are also good sources for hazard-related information. For example, the USGS studies landslides and earthquakes; the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers maintains information on ice jams, dams, and levees; and NOAA is an excellent source of severe weather and climatic information.
• Contact colleges or universities that have hazard-related academic programs or extension services.
• Consult local resources such as the newspaper, chamber of commerce, local historical society, and other resources with records of past occurrences.
• Base Level Engineering data is being produced over large swaths of the United States that are at risk to floods.

For plan updates, reference previously identified hazards and determine if they are still fitting. Include sources of information and lists of references in the plan.

Location means the geographic areas in the Tribal planning area that are affected by the hazard. For many hazards, maps are the best way to illustrate location. However, location may be described in other formats. For example, if a geographically specific location cannot be identified for a hazard, such as tornadoes, the plan may state that the entire Tribal planning area is equally at risk of that hazard.

Maps are the best way to illustrate location for many hazards. The locations that could be affected by a hazard may be described in a narrative or shown on maps in the plan. It can sometimes be helpful to describe low- and high-risk areas, but be sure to define what you mean if you use those terms.

The Tribal planning area includes the lands upon which the Tribal government is authorized to govern, develop, or regulate. These lands may include, but are not limited to, lands within the Reservation and off-Reservation lands owned by, managed by, or held in trust for the Tribal government, allotted trust land, and fee land. These lands may be either contiguous or non-contiguous, and for multi-jurisdictional planning may include other Tribes or non-Tribal jurisdictions.

This map is part of a Flood Insurance Rate Map showing the location of the 1-percent-annual-chance floodplain in Moab, Utah.

Note that a flood hazard is a hazard affecting a specific location within the planning area which is different than hazards such as storms that could affect the entire planning area. Similarly, wildfires can happen in identified areas. USGS provides maps on the probability of ground shaking in certain places based on specific scenarios.

Extent is the anticipated severity and/or magnitude of a hazard.

• The best measure or discussion of extent will depend on individual hazards. Measures of strength include depth of flooding, wind speed, peak ground acceleration due to an earthquake, etc.
   
• Use nationally recognized scales when possible to measure a hazard event’s strength (ex: Fujita for Tornadoes, Mercalli for Earthquakes, Saffir-Simpson for Hurricanes, etc.).
   
• Speed of onset is a component of extent because the greater the lead time, the more time there is to prepare and the smaller the potential severity of the extent.
   
• With respect to duration, the longer the duration of an event, the greater the extent. Flooding that peaks and retreats in a matter of hours is typically less damaging than flooding of similar depth that remains in place for days.

Many plans fail to make the distinction between extent and impact and require revision. This is because describing the extent of a hazard is NOT the same as describing potential impacts on a community.

Extent defines the characteristics of the hazard regardless of the people and property it affects.

• Includes the potential magnitude/severity of a hazard
• Think of the Enhanced Fujita Scale or the Richter Scale

In other words, try to imagine how bad the hazard itself can get.

Impact means the consequence or effect of the hazard on the Tribal government and its assets. Assets are determined by the Tribal government and may include, for example, people, structures, facilities, systems, populations or other community assets, as defined by the Tribe, that are susceptible to damage and loss from hazard events. Assets may also include cultural sites and capabilities and/or activities that have value to the Tribal government. Impacts could be described by referencing historical disaster impacts and/or an estimate of potential future losses.

• Injuries and deaths
• Percent of property damaged

The plan must include the history of previous hazard events and describe how each hazard has affected the Tribe in the past. This information helps estimate the likelihood of future events and predict potential impacts. When data are available, describe the extent of the event and the impacts that occurred, such as fatalities and injuries, building and infrastructure damage, and loss of services.

Examples can include:

• Dates of events
• Description of the damage that occurred
• Duration of each event
• Include Presidential Emergency and Disaster Declarations

Past events can also be mapped, like this image of previous earthquakes in Alaska.

When looking at your Tribe’s vulnerability, it is important to consider how often hazard events will occur in the future, because this is a long-term strategy to reduce risk. Consider if events will happen on a regular, predictable basis, but have a lower impact. Are they more scattered but are more destructive? By gauging probability, your community can be prepared for all potential events.

Climate change is not necessarily a type of hazard, but is rather a factor that may change the frequency or severity of certain natural hazards we already prepare for. Climate change can be profiled separately or may be cited as an exacerbating factor for many other hazards. It is an important consideration in mitigation planning because mitigation planning prepares communities for long-term risk reduction.

We’ll look at four different ways to address the probability in a way that incorporates future climate and weather patterns:

• Qualitative approach, using oral histories and general descriptors
• Regional data approach, looking at National or Regional data and reports
• Down-scaled data projections approach looking at micro-level climate data
• Historical analysis approach, which looks to the past to understand future probability

A qualitative approach can be generalized, so long as each of the descriptors is defined in terms that are meaningful to the Tribe. For example, “unlikely” could mean “not certain to occur,” or “highly likely” could be defined as “expected to occur every year.” Defining descriptors is important to keep consistency.

• Descriptions based on Tribal knowledge
• Can use general descriptors

Use National or Regional data to identify probability.

This approach uses data, reports, and models to quantify changes in frequency or probability. This is a very large-scale approach that offers general future conditions. When analyzing how climate change may affect your Tribe, this approach takes a look at how it is affecting communities across the Nation, as well as in your Region.

Look at trends affecting the Nation at large.

One example of this is the National Climate Assessment, a product that shows how the climate is changing and how it will affect the country as a whole. Characteristics of hazards changing include:

• Timing of precipitation events
• Intensity of precipitation events
• Snow falling as rain
• Height of storm surge
• Changes in the number of very warm days

There are a lot of things that could happen in the future that might change the type, location, magnitude, frequency, and impact of hazards. Future conditions are more than weather – it’s climate, population patterns, and how the land is changing.

Statistics show that the total number and cost of natural disasters has increased in recent years. Record setting hurricane seasons, brushfires, flooding, and drought conditions are all examples of how natural disasters have continued to worsen. Adapting to these conditions can help to reduce the more severe impacts of these events.

You have learned how to start the plan development process and describe how to identify at-risk community assets and hazards as they relate to risk assessment.

• Risk assessment is used to describe community assets and the hazards that might affect them.
• Assessing risk must include not only land, but also the people, economic, cultural, and physical structures in the planning area.
• Information is available publicly to identify hazards which can then be better quantified by location, extent, previous occurrences, and their probability.
• There are different ways for analyzing hazards which include qualitative, regional data, down-scaled data, and historical approaches.

In the exercise packet, use the Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment Worksheeet to describe the characteristics of hazards and capture information about which hazards are most significant to your planning area. Modify the list as necessary and exclude hazards that are not relevant to your Tribe. For plan updates, it can be helpful to describe if and how each characteristic has changed in the last five years.

1. Read the Roaring River Indian Hazard Identification case study. (HB., p. 19)

2. Answer these questions:

a. What three hazards exist in this community?

b. What future probability is there for each hazard?

Lesson Overview

In the last lesson, we covered steps 1 and 2 of the risk assessment process: Describing Your Community and Identifying Your Hazards. In this lesson, we will focus on Step 3: Explaining hazard impacts, which will help you:

• Determine potential impacts to vulnerable community assets
• Summarize the community’s overall vulnerability to the identified hazards

We will describe what you should think about, what you need to document, and how to continue completing the steps for your project with the reference worksheets provided.

After completing this lesson, you should be able to:

• List what is included in a vulnerability and impact assessment.
• Recall the various methods for assessing vulnerability and impacts.
• Identify the steps to use when assessing risk.
• Recollect tools and resources to help with the risk assessment process.

Think back to the beginning of this lesson when we talked about hazards and community assets. Risk is where hazards and assets overlap.

Risk, for the purposes of hazard mitigation planning, is the potential for damage or loss created by the interaction of hazards with community assets. Damage and impacts occur when people, property, and other community assets are exposed to hazards. That’s what makes a hazard a disaster. Impacts are the consequences or effects of the hazard on the community and its assets. The type and severity of impacts are based on the vulnerability of the asset, as well as the community’s ability to mitigate, prepare, respond, and recover from events.

Multi-Jurisdiction Considerations:

• Describe unique or varied hazards within communities.
• Assess assets and risks for each jurisdiction. Assets, vulnerabilities, and overall risk are unique to each community. For multi-jurisdictional planning efforts, the risk assessment must result in an evaluation of potential impacts and issues of concern for each participating jurisdiction to use in developing mitigation actions specific to each jurisdiction.

Impacts and vulnerability must be considered for each hazard. There are a variety of methods for analyzing risk, and impacts can be expressed qualitatively or quantitatively. Qualitative evaluations describe the types of impacts that might occur in a hazard event and can be developed by using the planning team, subject matter experts, stakeholders, and community members to brainstorm and discuss potential impacts. Quantitative evaluations quantify the assets at risk of hazards and potential losses. Loss estimations quantify potential fatalities, injuries, direct property loss and damage, and indirect economic loss for a certain event scenario or over time (annualized loss).

For each hazard:

Analyze your risk - take a look at the asset inventory developed and discuss which ones may be vulnerable, either because they are located within the known area of a hazard, like the Special Flood Hazard Area, or because some characteristic of an asset makes it more susceptible to an event, like an older structure that has not been well-maintained. Conversely, some assets may be less at-risk because they were built to a higher regulatory standard, they were recently renovated, etc.

Assess potential impacts - consider the consequence or effect of the hazard event on the community and its assets overall. Consider both short- and long-term impacts.

• What is the consequence or effect of the potential hazard event on the community and its assets overall?

Estimate future losses - understand the economic impact of hazard events. This can be helpful later when the Planning Team is deciding which mitigation strategies to pursue, because the planning team would ideally want the strategies to address the areas of highest potential loss.

Include vulnerabilities - include a statement of vulnerabilities for each jurisdiction. Vulnerable assets and potential losses are more than a list of the total exposure of population, structures, and critical facilities in the Tribal planning area. An example of an overall summary is a list of key issues or problem statements that clearly describes the Tribal government’s greatest vulnerabilities and that will be addressed in the mitigation strategy.

Regardless of how the results are expressed or the methods of analysis used, this step must result in a description of the potential impacts of each hazard for each participating jurisdiction in the plan. We will review some methods of analyzing risk in this unit.

Again, there are a variety of methods to analyze vulnerable assets and potential impacts and estimate losses depending on the hazard and the available time, data, staff, and technical resources.

Start with your past

• Look at historic events to see what impacts and losses were caused

Overlay your assets and your hazards

• This is often done with maps and geographic software
• This approach can help lead to a list of assets in harm’s way

Ask yourself “what if?”

• You can use hypothetical scenarios to describe the impacts of a hazard
• Especially helpful for events that don’t have a defined hazard area

Historical analysis uses information on impacts and losses from previous hazard events to predict potential impacts and losses in a similar type of future event. 

Historical analysis is most useful for hazards that are weather-related. Because of the frequency of these events, communities are more likely to have experience with and data on the impacts and losses. For recent events, consider not only what was damaged, but what might have been damaged if the event had been of greater magnitude. For hazard events that have not occurred recently, consider new development and infrastructure that would now be vulnerable in a similar event. 

Historical analysis relies on past data to indicate future trends. However, consider incorporating future projects and/or climate data, when possible, especially if the planning area is in an area that has begun seeing the impacts of climate change.

Historical analysis may be appropriate for events that occur relatively frequently in the planning area. Hazards often suitable for historical analysis include:

• Drought
• Floods
• Severe winter weather
• Tornado
• Wildfire
• Hurricane

Other hazards may be suitable for historical analysis, depending on data availability and the frequency of the hazard event. However, keep in mind that changing climate may mean that future weather events are more severe or more frequent.

Exposure analysis is the first method of analyzing risk and seeks to answer the question: “What assets are located in hazard-prone areas?” Exposure analysis can be used to quantify the number, type, and value of structures, critical facilities, and infrastructure in hazard areas and to estimate potential dollar losses for vulnerable structures. It can also be used to identify assets at risk from multiple hazards. 

When doing exposure analysis, try to:

• Quantify the number, type, and value of assets.
• Estimate future development in hazard-prone areas based on planning and zoning.
• Consider the magnitude of hazard or event. For example, assets in a high wildfire hazard area may be more at-risk than those in a moderate wildfire hazard area, but both are, to a certain degree, at risk. The same thing goes for assets located in different flood frequency areas (1-percent-annual-chance flood and 0.2-percent-annual-chance flood risk).
• Use maps and GIS for analysis as they are helpful tools for identifying assets located in hazard-prone areas. 

The table below is an example of exposure analysis for erosion hazards from the Shaktoolik Tribal Council Hazard Mitigation Plan. It outlines the type and number of assets and summarizes exposure. Note that while this table summarizes exposure by providing the full value of structures in erosion zones, it does not estimate potential loss. Damage will not typically equal 100 percent of the value of a structure.

Scenario analysis looks at the potential impacts and losses if a particular event occurs. Scenario analysis focuses on “what if” rather than “what’s happened before?”

• Scenario analysis can incorporate monetary costs, casualties, down time, damage, etc.
• Scenario analysis can be helpful for low-frequency, high-consequence events (e.g., earthquake) – events where the planning team may not have a frame of reference for how bad the event could be.
• Scenario analysis uses modeling tools, such as Hazus.

This type of analysis can also be used to describe possible impacts for if different growth and development scenarios were to take place.

The previous three steps in the risk assessment process generate large amounts of information about hazards, vulnerable assets, and potential impacts and losses. This information needs to be summarized so the community can understand the most significant risks and vulnerabilities, not only to inform the mitigation strategy, but also to communicate findings to elected officials and other stakeholders to inform decision making. As mentioned previously, the results should also lead to the development of a mitigation strategy.

If the plan is multi-jurisdictional, it must include a summary of each jurisdiction’s vulnerability to the identified hazards.

It is also important in the summary of overall vulnerability and risk to document any data limitations that arose. Propose actions that will remedy the limitations and improve the risk assessment over time.

• Vulnerabilities change over time as communities and conditions change
• Addressing future potential vulnerabilities is not optional
• Methods for assessing future potential vulnerabilities and how to address them

Problem statements can be used to summarize the risk assessment and be a bridge to the mitigation strategy, where the planning team selects activities that help address the risks. For instance, analysis of impacts and losses allows the planning team to identify which critical facilities are located in the identified hazard areas, the neighborhood that has experienced the most flood damage in the past, or which hazard-prone areas are zoned for future development. This type of information about the issues of greatest concern can be summarized as problem statements.

To communicate vulnerabilities, develop problem statements that:

• Are clear and concise
• Are not overly technical
• Identify key issues or problems
• Are based on the results of the risk assessment
• Pertain to specific community assets or hazards

Each problem statement summarizes a particular vulnerability or problem that is supported by the findings of the risk assessment. A problem statement does not include a lot of technical information, but clearly communicates one issue. The problem statement should answer:

•   Location of problem
•   Cause and contributing factors creating the problem
•   Significance of impacts
•   Who is impacted, if applicable

These problem statements are from the Village of Kongiganak Draft Hazard Mitigation Plan and refer specifically to the Ground Failure hazard identified in their plan.

• Residents of the village describe ground failure impacts such as some homes and facilities sinking on their pilings, particularly in the downtown “old town” area.
• Three homes have been relocated as a result of ground failure.
• The boardwalk to the new school, which is used for evacuation, has ground failure damage.
• In addition, the community’s marine fuel header has begun to sink into the ground and slant to one side.

These problem statements are short and simply describe what the problem is and where impacts have been seen. Problem statements may also refer to a lack of data about the vulnerability, or a lack of capability to address a certain hazard.

The plan should ideally have at least one problem statement for each hazard, and some may have several.

There are some special considerations for updating a risk assessment instead of developing a new one.

Consider:

• Changes in hazards, like:
• Changes in the number of occurrences
• New disaster declarations
• Intensities of events
• Areas of flash, coastal, or riverine flooding
• Changes in the geographic location of hazards due to other kinds of events, or human activity (like land subsidence due to drought or mining or areas of landslide due to logging or construction)
• Changes in community assets. Have there been population increases or decreases? Has the number and type of structures or critical facilities changed?
• Changes in community priorities.
• Changes in vulnerability. Have there been changes in vulnerability, either of people or places?
• New data available to address previously identified data gaps.

One good place to start when deciding on hazards are State Hazard Mitigation Plans. These often have a comprehensive profile of all the hazards that can occur within their boundaries. Some of these may be commonly located in your community. Keep in mind there may be some hazards that don’t affect you due to local geography or a lack of previous occurrences, or that they are minor and are not a priority.

For plan updates, it can be helpful to describe if and how each characteristic has changed in the last 5 years.

Here are some questions to consider as you document this step:

• What vulnerabilities were identified?
• What potential impacts were identified?
• How was the community vulnerable to the impacts?

Lesson Overview

Now that you have learned how to start the planning process and conduct a risk assessment, let’s discuss the steps to review and assess mitigation capabilities.

After completing this lesson, you should be able to:

• List the purpose of the capability assessment.
• Provide examples of each category of capabilities.

• Every Tribe has unique capabilities to accomplish mitigation.

Reviewing capabilities helps you identify what resources are currently available to reduce losses and where there are gaps that you could fill through the planning process. The capability assessment is most beneficial when developing and reviewing mitigation strategies. The assessment can help you understand how the strategies should be prioritized or implemented.

• The Capability Assessment helps to identify what resources exist, and where there might be gaps.

Each type of capability may include laws, regulations, policies, programs, staff, funding, or cooperative agreements. They should be specific to your pre- and post-disaster policies, programs, and resources, but they may go beyond mitigation. Include a description of any capabilities your Tribe has that help make the planning area more resilient.

The primary types of Tribal capabilities in mitigation planning are:

• Planning and Regulatory
• Administrative and Technical
• Financial
• Education and Outreach

The planning team may also identify additional types of capabilities relevant to mitigation planning.

Planning and regulatory capabilities help provide a legal basis for mitigation planning. Having land use plans, building codes, ordinances, and plans in place helps to set guidelines for the mitigation planning efforts. These can also help to provide the basis for preventing development in hazard-prone areas, or by requiring resilient infrastructure where able.

Examples of policies and programs that guide development include:

• Land use plans and development standards
• Building codes
• Ordinances
• Environmental review process
• Emergency response and operations plans
• Community wildfire prevention plans
• Comprehensive plans
• Transportation plans
• Vegetation management plans

Ask the following questions to identify your Tribe’s planning and regulatory capabilities:

• What kinds of plans has your Tribe completed?
• Are there any Tribal laws or ordinances (e.g., not building in the floodplain, crop rotation, environmental protections, historic or cultural preservation) that mitigate hazards or support keeping people safe?
• What cultural practices or beliefs have been passed on by your Tribe through generations and relate to or translate into actions for development or non-development in high-hazard areas?
• How do you protect your critical facilities such as police stations, fire stations, schools, and hospitals from natural hazards?
• How do you notify Tribal members about emergencies and evacuations?

Additional planning and regulatory capabilities may include, but are not limited to:

• Vegetation management plans
• Water quality control plans
• Floodplain management plans
• Climate adaptation plans
• Watershed management plans
• Comprehensive plans
• Transportation plans
• Budgetary plans

Ask the following questions to help determine your Tribe’s administrative and technical capabilities:

• Which Tribal staff are available to support the mitigation actions?
• Does the staff available have the capability and training to implement mitigation?
• Is there a need for outside expertise and resources to implement actions?
• What technical assistance is needed for your Tribe to implement actions?
• Is your staff trained to write and administer grants?
• Are there agreements in place with other Tribes or non-Tribal agencies that provide regular administrative or technical assistance?
• Does your Tribe retain any outside consultants to support planning or other technical work?
• Does your Tribe work with any foundations or philanthropic organizations who are potential supporters of hazard mitigation?

Administrative and technical capabilities refer to the staff, the staff’s skills, and tools that a community has for mitigation planning and implementing specific mitigation actions, such as:

• Engineers
• Planners
• GIS analysts
• Building inspectors
• Emergency managers
• Natural resource managers
• Grant writers

It also refers to the ability to access and coordinate these resources effectively. Think about the types of personnel available to each Tribe and the public and private sector resources that may be accessed to implement mitigation activities in your community, and their level of knowledge and technical expertise.

The planning team can identify resources available through other entities, such as counties, special districts or other Federal agencies which may be able to provide technical assistance to communities with limited resources.

Questions to consider when looking at these capabilities:

• Which Tribal staff are available to support the mitigation actions?
• Does the staff available have the capability and training to implement mitigation?
• Is there a need for outside expertise and resources to implement actions?
• Does your Tribe have the physical resources available that could be used during implementation of mitigation actions (e.g., a bulldozer, backhoe, or heavy construction equipment)?

Financial capabilities are the resources that a community or Tribe has access to or is eligible to use to fund mitigation actions. Resources available to fund mitigation actions include:

• Operating budgets
• Grants resources
• Capital projects

Some mitigation actions, such as outreach efforts, require little to no cost other than staff time and existing budgets. Other actions, such as the acquisition of flood prone properties, could require a substantial commitment from external funding sources.

Describe Existing Funding Sources in Your Plan

The plan shall describe the Tribe’s existing funding sources for hazard mitigation actions and/or projects, including a general discussion of how the tribe has used:

(1) Non-FEMA (Tribal, private, or other Federal) funds for hazard mitigation projects; and

(2) FEMA mitigation funding, including the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP), Building Resilient Infrastructures and Communities (BRIC), Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA), Public Assistance Categories C-G (PA C-G), and Fire Management Assistance Grants (FMAG).

Potential funding sources for mitigation actions are listed here. This is not an exhaustive list and other sources may be available.

• Department of Homeland Security: FEMA and other DHS agencies
• Bureau of Indian Affairs
• Environmental Protection Agency
• Department of Housing and Urban Development
• Bureau of Land Management

Ask the following questions to help determine your Tribe’s education and outreach capabilities:

• What funding mechanisms are currently in place?
• What have been some successes in program funding?

Education and outreach capabilities and programs may include methods already in place that could be used to implement mitigation activities and communicate hazard-related information. Examples include fire safety programs that fire departments deliver to students at local schools; participation in community programs, such as Firewise or Storm Ready; and activities conducted as part of hazard awareness campaigns, such as Tornado or Flood Awareness Month. Some communities have individuals designated as public information or communication leads to handle outreach initiatives.

Programs that implement mitigation and communicate risk include:

• School programs
• Firewise communities
• Storm Ready communities
• Hazard awareness campaigns (e.g., Spring breakup)
• Community newsletter
• Local radio

Ask the following questions to help determine your Tribe’s education and outreach capabilities:

• What venues does your Tribe use for outreach activities (e.g., gatherings, feasts, festivals, celebrations, meetings) to communicate with Tribal members?
• How does your Tribe communicate new Tribal policies, ordinances, or resolutions with Tribal members (e.g., word of mouth, meetings, email)? Can those methods be used to communicate about mitigation?
• What new or additional outreach efforts would need to be considered to get the most public participation and support for mitigation?

When looking at capabilities, it is important that they be both catalogued and evaluated for their overall effectiveness.

For each capability, check how well they might support mitigation projects. It is entirely possible that some programs, policies and regulations may be unpopular or under criticism, which is why it is important to look through all of them.

The capability assessment provides a critical opportunity to get everyone in your community on the same page, and to strengthen overall cooperation between departments, leaders, and Tribal members.

• Describe how your capabilities help your Tribe reduce risk.
• Use the planning process to strengthen your opportunities and lessen the impact of the challenges.

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is a program created by Congress that enables property owners in participating communities to purchase insurance protection from the government against losses from flooding.

Jurisdictions that participate in the NFIP are required to conduct these types of activities for mitigating floods:

• Floodplain Mapping
• Floodplain Management
• Flood Insurance

In this lesson, we discussed step 4 in the mitigation planning process: assessing current mitigation capabilities.

The Mitigation Strategy process assesses risks and then seeks actions to address them. This starts with a review of the Tribe’s capabilities. This lesson has shown you how to begin the process for developing a mitigation strategy that reflects the results of the risk assessment and capabilities of the community.

In the exercise packet, use the “Capability Assessment Worksheet” to assess your Tribe’s planning and regulatory, administrative and technical, financial, and education and outreach capabilities. Your Tribe may not have each kind of capability, but you should complete the tables and questions in the worksheet as completely as possible.

Lesson Overview

Now that you have learned how to start the planning process, conduct a risk assessment, and assess capabilities, let’s discuss how to develop the mitigation strategy and action plan.

After completing this lesson, you should be able to:

• Recognize examples of goals for each type of mitigation action.
• Given examples, identify a well-written goal for mitigation.
• Identify considerations for selecting and prioritizing mitigation actions.

The mitigation strategy is the crux of the whole plan and planning process – tangible solutions to address the identified vulnerabilities or capability gaps.

The Mitigation Goals and Actions are the core of the strategy, and take into account the vulnerabilities that the Tribe has identified through the Risk Assessment. It then provides specific actions that can be taken to reduce the loss of life and property due to natural hazards.

The Action Plan then takes those actions and turns them into a blueprint of what the Tribe wants to achieve during the plan’s lifespan, prioritizing them based on their needs.

Step 5 is to develop the mitigation strategy. The previous steps looked at how things currently are, but now we will look at how things could be by developing a mitigation strategy. This step requires pulling together and building on all the information previously gathered in the plan development process to create a valuable and actionable mitigation strategy.

Goals and actions are what make up the mitigation strategy.

• Goals are general guidelines and broad policy statements that explain what you want to achieve.
• Actions are the specific projects or tasks that will help you achieve your goals. Actions may include planning and regulations, structure and infrastructure projects, ways to protect the natural environment, and educational programs.

As you develop your mitigation strategy, remember that it must:

• Represent a range of solutions.
• Reduce risks to existing structures and new or planned structures.

Mitigation actions should address specific problems that address issues identified in the Risk Assessment.

• To ensure the hazard mitigation actions are based on identified vulnerabilities and that they are focused on reducing or avoiding future losses. This is the heart of the mitigation plan and is essential for risk reduction.

All hazards identified need to have actions to address them.

• Given the goals, consider mitigation actions that address each problem statement identified. Note that mitigation actions must be considered for every hazard described in the plan. You may decide not to prioritize and implement actions for every hazard, but you do need to consider options that could reduce the impacts of each hazard.

Consider actions that reduce risk to:

Existing buildings and infrastructure. Keep in mind that mitigation actions must be considered for existing structures (e.g., relocation out of a flood zone) and for new or planned structures (e.g., adopting updated building codes). It is important to think about both existing and new structures because your plan is a long-term strategy to reduce disaster losses. There are mitigation options that alter existing buildings to make them safer, but safe buildings are those built to current building standards and outside hazard-prone areas. In the end, choose the best solutions based on your Tribe’s capabilities. You can use ideas from the planning team, Tribal experts, and the public.

It is important to choose actions that are compatible with the Tribe’s existing capabilities, but it is also important to consider actions that are possible with access to funding. New development and redevelopment. Communities must also consider actions that reduce risk to future development. The planning team should evaluate the effects of current growth plans and regulations (i.e., comprehensive plans, zoning and subdivisions ordinances, building codes, and capital improvement programs) on community safety and consider how these could be updated to reduce the community’s vulnerability.

Review Risk Assessment

When developing actions, start by reviewing the Risk Assessment, including both natural hazards and community assets.

Review Problem Statements

Review the problem statements from the risk assessment. For each problem statement, consider different types of mitigation actions for addressing the problem. You may end up with multiple ideas that are categorized under one type (e.g., education and awareness or local plans and regulations) and no ideas under another type. The intent is to think broadly, or comprehensively, when identifying potential actions, and to consider future development.

[Continued on next slide]

Vulnerabilities change over time as communities and conditions change.

• Ongoing assessment of potential future vulnerabilities also includes identifying potential actions to address them
• Methods for identifying future actions

Types of mitigation actions may include:

• Tribal Plans and Regulations:
  Government authorities, policies, or codes that influence the way land and buildings are developed and maintained.
   
• Structure and Infrastructure Projects:
  Modifying existing structures or infrastructure to remove them from a hazard area or construction of new structures to reduce impacts of hazards.
   
• Natural Systems Protection:
  Actions that minimize damage and losses and also preserve or restore the functions of natural systems.
   
• Education and Awareness Programs:
  Sustained programs to educate the public and decision makers about hazard risks and community mitigation programs.

Emergency response and operational readiness actions are not considered hazard mitigation.

• Mitigation actions reduce or eliminate long-term risk and are different from actions taken to prepare for or respond to hazard events. Mitigation activities lessen or eliminate the need for preparedness or response resources in the future. When analyzing risks and identifying mitigation actions, the planning team may also identify emergency response or operational preparedness actions.

Tribes can retain them in the plan as part of an overall emergency management framework.

• For some hazards, such as tornadoes, it may be practical to include preparedness actions in the mitigation plan. The mitigation plan may be the best place for your community to capture and justify the need for these actions.

Although it may be appropriate for the mitigation strategy to include non-mitigation actions, these will not take the place of mitigation actions. They are not required for plan approval, either.

Read Fictional Roaring River Mitigation Goals and Actions (HB, p. 35). For each goal, match the problem statements with the actions to address them:

Goal 1: Make Roaring River assets more resistant to the effects of drought, flood, and wildfire.

    Problem statement:

a) Aquifer level fluctuates due to frequent droughts. This limits the availability of water for agricultural uses.

b) The wastewater management plant is in the floodplain. The facility loses power during flooding. This has the potential to cause pollution downstream.

    Action:

a) Implement an aquifer storage and recovery project to improve the availability of groundwater during droughts.

b) Build a dike around the facility to prevent inundation.

Goal 2: Build Roaring River’s mitigation capabilities to increase the Tribe’s resilience.

   Problem statement:

a) The Tribal land is subject to poor stormwater management that contributes to flash flooding, causing 200 persons to be without water for 20 days.

b) Current building practices do not include fire-resistant materials for residential structures in high wildfire risk areas.

   Action:

a) Develop a stormwater management plan.

b) Develop brochures on fire-resistant building materials and practices.

Using one problem statement for your project, identify one goal and three possible mitigation actions. Consider addressing one or more of the following action areas: Tribal Plans and Regulations, Natural Systems Protection, Structure and Infrastructure Projects, and Education and Awareness Programs.

• Prioritization could be done by numerical ranking; high, medium, or low designation; chronologically by date of implementation; or other methods.
• Prioritization may change over time in response to changes in community characteristics and risks, and to take advantage of available resources.
• Prioritization should look at the opportunities and constraints of implementing a mitigation action.

Consider the following questions to prioritize your action plan:

• What impact will the project have on the safety of businesses, residents, and properties within the Tribe?
• Are costs reasonable compared to the problem and probable benefits?
• Is there sufficient staff currently to implement the project?
• Does the action advance other Tribal objectives or plans, such as capital improvements, economic development, environmental quality, or open space preservation?

The one criterion that must be part of the evaluation and prioritization process is benefit-cost review. The planning team must consider the benefits that would result from a mitigation action versus the cost. This does not mean a full benefit-cost analysis, such as the FEMA Benefit-Cost Analysis (BCA) , but a planning-level assessment of whether the costs are reasonable compared to the probable benefits. Cost estimates do not have to be exact but can be based on experience and judgment. Benefits include losses avoided, such as the number and value of structures and infrastructure protected by the action and the population protected from injury and loss of life. Qualitative benefits, such as quality of life and natural and beneficial functions of ecosystems can also be included in the review.

Note: An in-depth Benefit-Cost Analysis using FEMA’s BCA module criteria is not required for the plan, but is required for Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) grant funding.

The planning team needs to agree upon the other criteria that will be used to analyze the mitigation actions. There is a mitigation action evaluation and prioritization worksheet from the Tribal Mitigation Planning Handbook, but your Tribe can use whatever methodology you would like.

The more information you have about how to implement these mitigation actions, the more prepared you will be when the grant funding cycle opens or funding becomes available. Implementation steps may include a project scope of work, participating or partner agencies, cost estimate, environmental and historic preservation impacts, cost effectiveness, and Tribal council approval to pursue funding.

You will need to consider how to present the final action plan in a format that can be easily used and referenced by community members and officials. The action plan is the primary tool that will be used to obtain funding, assign priorities, guide the decision-making process, and track mitigation progress and accomplishments in future plan updates.

In this lesson you have learned how to describe the complete process for developing a mitigation strategy that reflects the results of the risk assessment and capabilities of the community. We discussed steps 5 and 6 of the mitigation planning process: developing the strategy, and developing the action plan. The Mitigation Strategy takes the issues that are identified in the Risk Assessment and looks for feasible, actionable ways to address them. This starts with a review of the Tribe’s capabilities, looking at the plans, regulations, personnel, financial reality, and outreach abilities. These capabilities can then be used to come up with mitigation actions.

• Looks at the capabilities of your Tribe that could be used for mitigation
• Takes the problems identified in the Risk Assessment and finds actionable projects to prevent losses
• Prioritizes those actions based on the capabilities and feasibility

In the exercise packet, use the “Mitigation Action and Prioritization Worksheet” to evaluate and prioritize each mitigation action being considered for your project. For each action, evaluate the potential benefits or likelihood of successful implementation for the example criteria.

Lesson Overview

A Hazard Mitigation Plan is a living document that will provide guidance for reducing the impacts of natural hazards for future generations. To make sure the plan is accurate and current, it will be monitored, evaluated, and updated over its life. Plan Maintenance sets the plan on a path to being a living document that the Tribe can use to reduce their long-term risk.

After completing this lesson, you should be able to:

• Identify the three components of plan maintenance.
• Recall considerations for evaluating plan effectiveness.
• Identify essentials steps and considerations when updating the hazard mitigation plan.
• Recall the benefits of plan integration.
• List the methods for sustaining public involvement in the maintenance of the hazard mitigation plan.

• Keeping track of progress during the plan’s lifetime.

What is meant by “plan maintenance” is keeping the plan accurate, current, and relevant over the 5-year approval period.

• Keeping the plan accurate, current, and relevant.

Plan maintenance includes monitoring, evaluating, and updating the plan – and generally keeping the planning process active.

Plan maintenance is critical if you will use your plan to continually reduce your natural hazard risk. Though a requirement in the CFR, the heart of it is maintaining your plan for the good of your tribe.

The mitigation plan is a living document that guides actions over time. It’s a blueprint for reducing risk. Maintaining your plan recognizes that things change. New information becomes available, sometimes disasters happen, and you’ll make progress on implementing the mitigation strategy. All this means that you’ll have to adjust the plan to keep it relevant. This should be done at regular intervals, but your planning team can decide on how to do it.

The plan must include a description of the method and schedule for monitoring, evaluating, and updating it within a 5-year cycle. It must also describe a system for reviewing progress on achieving the mitigation strategy, including project closeouts.

Monitoring, evaluating, and updating are three separate pieces of plan maintenance.

• Involve your planning team.

The planning team’s responsibilities do not stop after the plan is adopted; they continue through implementation. Mitigation plans are meant to be living documents that change over time and should be actively maintained. To ensure that the plan, and specifically the action plan, remains current and relevant, the planning team will need to establish procedures and coordinate maintenance of the plan.

• Describe the method, schedule, and who will maintain the plan.

A monitoring system must include a schedule of when each action will be initiated/in progress/complete, the Tribal department or office responsible for coordinating the action, the role of each agency or office involved in plan implementation, and project closeout procedures.

• Describe the system for monitoring implementation.

Monitoring may also involve the submittal of periodic reports, site visits, invoices, and/or project closeouts.

• Describe future public involvement.

The plan must explain how each community will keep the public engaged, as actions are implemented.

Let’s pause for a minute to talk about the definitions of terms for plan maintenance.

• Monitoring

The process of tracking how the plan is being implemented. This includes the implementation of the action items, plan integration, public involvement, and other goals. The agency or department in charge of the plan coordinates with any other involved agencies to expand opportunities to implement the plan, track progress on actions that have been initiated, identify and address any barriers to implementation, and take advantage of grant opportunities.

• Evaluating

Evaluation involves a review of the stated vulnerabilities, capabilities, and mitigation goals. Plan evaluation may not happen as frequently as plan monitoring, but it is an important step to ensure that the plan continues to serve a purpose in the community. Many communities commit to, at a minimum, annually reconvening the planning team to review the mitigation plan or preparing a report for their governing bodies that demonstrates progress or changes to date. This information also serves as the basis of the next plan update.

• Updating

The plan must be reviewed and updated at least every 5 years to maintain grant eligibility, but updating can also occur more frequently. For example, the planning team may want to update the plan after a major event or after a project is finished. Additionally, mitigation priorities can change after a disaster, and additional funding sources might become available.

Plan monitoring refers to the overall process of tracking implementation. The plan must identify how, when, and by whom the plan will be monitored.

Identify a process to track progress and ensure strategy is being followed.

• For example, the plan may describe a monitoring system for tracking the status of the identified mitigation actions and reporting this information on a quarterly basis to the planning team. The responsible agency assigned to each mitigation action may be responsible for tracking and reporting on each of their actions. The planning team identifies the lead position or agency, usually the same individual or agency leading the plan’s development, for coordinating the monitoring process. A method and schedule for regular monitoring can include reports or other deliverables and expectations for meeting attendance. Monitoring, therefore, becomes part of the regular administrative function of the offices or positions to which it is assigned.

Have regular meetings with those involved in the planning process.

• Keep in mind that grants have processes and procedures to track and report progress. The same reporting procedures for monitoring plan implementation as a whole can be used for grant tracking. Consider using those progress reports and processes for monitoring progress.

In short, having a process in place for monitoring will not only help keep you accountable and organized in terms of who-is-doing-what, but will keep the planning team “in the know” for reporting to the Tribal Council and preparing for the next plan update.

Monitoring the plan actively will also position the plan to be a resource for your Tribe in the case of a disaster.

Your planning team is encouraged to monitor the plan after a disaster event so that any information or knowledge gained during the disaster is captured. The mitigation strategy can and should be the starting point for identifying mitigation actions and projects you plan to pursue using post-disaster funding.

Evaluating effectiveness is measuring how effective the plan has been at meeting its stated purpose and goals. The planning team identifies the who, how, and when the plan will be evaluated.

The planning team may develop a list of metrics to evaluate progress toward goals on an annual basis. If a goal is to reduce the number of structures in hazard-prone areas, evaluate how these numbers change over time. The planning team can also evaluate the percentage of actions implemented.

Plan evaluation may not occur as frequently as plan monitoring, but it is an important step to ensure that the plan continues to serve a purpose. Many communities commit to, at a minimum, annually reconvening the planning team to evaluate the plan’s effectiveness and the preparation of a report for their governing bodies to demonstrate progress to date. This information also serves as the basis for the next plan update.

Consider the following questions:

• Are the goals and objectives of the plan still relevant?
   
• Are there enough resources (funds, people, or programs) available to implement the plan?
   
• What outcomes occurred that can demonstrate progress? Were any different than expected?
   
• Are there any technical or political issues with implementation? If so, can they be addressed?
   
• What outcomes have occurred that can demonstrate progress? Were any outcomes different than you expected? (HB, p. 39)

After a disaster:

• Did your risk assessment match what happened?
• Did any of your completed actions reduce impacts?

Evaluation may work best by creating a standard form that can be used from year to year that includes these and any other questions that measure how the plan is doing overall.

There is no required timeline for when evaluation must occur. However, regular evaluation sets your plan up for success and will be valuable when the plan is due to be updated. Many choose to do it annually, but it can happen at any point within the plan’s lifecycle. Evaluation will help determine what mitigation goals have been accomplished, which ones require additional work, and what progress you have made on your mitigation actions.

Again – this should connect to your plan update. Use the lessons learned in evaluating effectiveness to make your planning process better next time.

Plans expire on a 5-year cycle

• Update, review, and approval of a mitigation plan every 5 years is required to maintain eligibility for FEMA Hazard Mitigation Assistance grant programs. Plan updates may also occur after a disaster event or alongside the development of a post-disaster recovery plan. The first plan adopted by your Tribe will establish a baseline on which future plans will be built. The updated plan includes any new development or redevelopment, progress in mitigation efforts, and changes in priorities. This ensures that the risks, capabilities, and mitigation activities remain effective based on the most current information available.

Review and revise your plan to stay current

• All aspects of the plan will need to be updated, including the planning process, the risk assessment, and the mitigation strategy, as well as each of their individual components. This update will need to account for changes in leadership, new hazards or disasters, progress towards actions, changes in development, and changes in regulations.

Lastly, when considering the schedule and process for a plan update, don’t forget to account for the time it will take to secure grant funding (if needed), contract for support services, and establish a reasonable, inclusive update process timeline. Also, keep in mind that plan review, adoption, and approval take time. (HB, p. 39)

• Sustained plan maintenance keeps your Tribe’s mitigation goals moving forward.
• Maintain momentum - through continued engagement and accountability in the plan’s progress.
• Institutionalize and integrate mitigation principles - into your Tribe’s daily job responsibilities and roles
• Conditions change - communities are dynamic- your Tribe may have new development not captured in your HMP and/or your exposure to risk may have changed; Plan Maintenance allows you to make mid-course corrections and ensures the HMP remains an active and relevant document.
• Build on successes - if something works, use that process again!
• If using a consultant for Proposals Development/Procurement – plan maintenance can help you keep on top of your plan to inform consultants on what needs to be updated most.
• Planning Project execution - keeping an eye on the plan throughout its life can help you more easily implement mitigation projects.

In the plan maintenance process Tribes must develop a method and schedule for updating the plan on a 5-year cycle in order to:

• Describe modifications to the system used to track action implementation.
   
• Discuss whether mitigation actions were implemented as planned.
   
• Indicate who will be responsible for continued management and maintenance of the monitoring system, and timeframe for future reviews.

Then:

• Assess how the method and schedule in the previous plan worked and identify elements and processes, if any, that were changed for the next 5 years.
   
• Identify any elements and processes that will be changed in the updated plan.
   
• Describe modifications, if any, to the monitoring system described in the previous plan.

An important part of keeping the plan current is keeping it alive by integrating it into other plans, ordinances, studies, and decisions AND maintaining public involvement in the process.

Mitigation plans must describe the Tribe’s process to integrate the data, analysis, and mitigation goals and actions into other planning mechanisms. The plan also must identify the existing planning mechanisms where hazard mitigation information and actions may be incorporated.

“Planning mechanism” means a governance structure used to manage land use development and other Tribal government decision-making, such as a reservation master plan, a capital improvement plan, an emergency operations plan, or other long-range plan.

Integrate plan goals with other community objectives.

The mitigation plan should work with other Tribal planning efforts like land use plans, development standards, building codes, emergency operations plans, etc.

Look to integrate goals with other community objectives.  

Incorporation of hazard information and mapping into land use plans, zoning and subdivision codes, and the development review process can guide growth and redevelopment away from high-risk locations. This information can also be used to design and site future public facilities to minimize exposure to hazards.

[Continued on next slide]

Use the risk assessment to inform plans and policies. 

Also think about how you can use the information in the plan to inform other decisions. The risk assessment provides data, analysis, and maps that can be integrated into other plans to inform policies and decision making. For instance, the risk assessment can form the basis for other emergency management program activities and plans, including the emergency operations plan, evacuations plans, and post-disaster recovery plans.

Implement mitigation actions through existing mechanisms and capabilities.

Where possible, you should implement the identified mitigation actions through existing plans and policies that already have support from the community and policy makers. For instance, a Community Wildfire Protection Plan, as defined by the Healthy Forest Restoration Act, identifies a community’s priorities for wildfire fuel-reduction projects. A capital improvements program outlines a jurisdiction’s spending plan for capital projects that support existing and future development, such as roads, water, and sewer systems, usually over a 5-year period. Mitigation projects that could be included in the capital improvements plan include strengthening at-risk critical facilities or acquiring open space in identified hazard areas. Other implementation tools for mitigation actions could include staff work plans, permitting procedures, job descriptions, and training.

Plan integration supports risk reduction through opportunities to address hazard mitigation in a way that:

• Supports multiple community objectives
• Increases partner collaboration and coordination that:
• Identifies and highlights mitigation activities and opportunities
• Fosters interdisciplinary idea sharing
• Maximizes resources and avoids duplication of efforts

The other aspect of plan maintenance is keeping people informed and keeping the public involved.

Throughout the plan approval process, continue to:

• Communicate often with the Tribal community
• Keep decision makers informed of the plan’s progress
• Allow time for FEMA review and Tribal Council adoption
• Celebrate and publicize the adoption and approval of the plan:
• Post a notice on the community’s Web site
• Issue a press release on plan adoption and approval to local media outlets
• Distribute notices of approval to partners
• Announce the first project or projects to be initiated
• Propose a congratulatory resolution or achievement award for the planning team (or specific individuals) for their successful work and commitment to making the community safer

• What types of plans do you have in place right now?
• Comprehensive Plans
• Economic Development Plans
• Land Use Plans
• Etc.
• How can you build mitigation into these existing plans?

Look at the Capability Assessment that you developed earlier. How can mitigation be incorporated into these plans?

Also, think back to the limits you identified that might impede mitigation progress. How might the mitigation actions conflict with these plans?

For example, if a mitigation action is to limit the number of buildings in a floodplain, but then the land use plan zones that area as high density residential, the two plans are working against each other.

Let’s dive into considerations for plan updates.

While your plan must describe how you’ll update your plan in 5 years, this section will look at what to think about when doing your plan update. These questions and considerations can be used throughout your plan maintenance cycle, but they are especially important to incorporate into the 5-year update.

It’s important to remember that your 5-year plan update is just that: an update. You don’t need to rewrite your plan from scratch. It is okay to keep what’s still relevant and refresh what has changed.

We’ll talk about considerations for plan updates by the section of the plan.

Between the last draft of the plan and the update, a lot will likely have happened. People move jobs, or roles change, meaning that there may be new members of your planning team. Some people may be the same and can help guide new members through the process. They may also have suggestions on how to improve the overall planning.

Updating the planning process should take a look at who participated then, who should participate now, and if there are new partners to bring to the table. Think about whether there are other planning processes or mechanisms that will be going on around the same time, and consider how the mitigation planning process can and should be integrated.

Here are some relevant questions:

• Who participated in the process last time?
• Has there been staff turnover between the previous plan and now?
• Who should be included this time in terms of elders, staff, or organizations?

The plan update is also an opportunity to think about how to improve the process and the plan.

• What about the process worked?

When reviewing how the planning process took place during the last draft, first consider what went well. Consider using the Review Tool for opportunities for improvement and light the path for the new plan update.

• What were the challenges?

Is there anything that you think could be done better? What did you find the most helpful in terms of data or information provided? Is there anything you would have liked to have seen more of? Were there suggestions offered from the last round by the public on how to improve the process?

If large-scale changes are not necessary, it is acceptable to implement incremental changes as you look to update the plan.

Between plan updates, populations and community assets, including infrastructure, can change. If those changes include mitigation techniques, like if a school has built a storm shelter on school grounds, they can reduce vulnerability. But new development or redevelopment in high-risk areas may put more people in harm’s way. For example, if homes were recently constructed in the Wildland Urban Interface, they may be more prone to wildfire.

Here are some relevant questions to ask:

• What has changed?
• Has there been any development or redevelopment?
• How has vulnerability changed?
• How is population shifting?
• What new community assets exist?
• What has stayed the same?

Updated mitigation plans need to include risk information that is accurate, current, and relevant. Consider what kinds of hazard events have happened since the last plan update. Also consider what new hazard and risk data is available that should be included in the plan update.

Some questions to ask:

• What events have occurred since the last plan?
• What new data needs to be incorporated?

Look at your previous Capability Assessment.

• Are there new plans or regulations?
• Have there been personnel changes that might affect the Tribe’s ability to implement mitigation?

Much like how the planning process needs to be updated due to changes in roles or personnel, the capabilities of the Tribe will change with it.

It is important to note that there are some updates to the mitigation strategy that are required and add value to the planning process:

• The update must describe changes in priorities
• There must be an update to the status of each mitigation action in the previous plan
• The plan must describe how the Tribe incorporated the mitigation plan into other types of plans, regulations, and community development

To continue to be an effective representation of the community’s overall strategy for reducing risk from natural hazards, the plan must reflect current conditions and past achievements.

The plan update is an opportunity for each jurisdiction to assess its previous goals and proposed actions, to evaluate progress made in implementing actions, and to adjust proposed actions to address current realities and changes in priorities.

The mitigation strategy should be revised following a disaster to determine if the recommended actions are still appropriate given the impacts of the event.

Be sure to identify new actions based on updated risk and capability assessments, and reprioritize with remaining actions from previous assessments.

Factors influencing changes in actions may include:

• Hazard events and recovery priorities
• Rate of growth and development
• Political and economic changes
• New State or Federal funding sources
• New partners

Addressing changes in priorities allows your community to redirect actions to reflect current conditions, including financial and political realities, or changes in conditions or priorities due to disaster events. In addition, now that the community has implemented some actions, you will be able to apply what you learned about what works and what does not. New actions can be identified based on the updated risk assessment and capability assessment and prioritized in combination with actions that will be carried over or revised from the previous plan.

Factors that may influence changes in priorities include:

• Altered conditions due to disaster events and recovery priorities
• Changing local resources, community needs, and capabilities
• New State or Federal policies and funding resources
• New hazard impacts identified in the updated risk assessment
• Changes in development patterns that could influence the effects of hazards
• New partners that have come to the table

The last part of updating the mitigation strategy is reporting out on the status of all mitigation actions from the prior plan.

For completed actions, ask:

• Did the action have the intended results?
• What factors contributed to success?

For actions not completed, ask:

• Is the action still relevant? Will it be part of the updated mitigation strategy?
• What were the barriers to implementation?

The plan also must describe the status of the mitigation actions identified in the previous plan by describing those that have been completed or not completed. For actions that have not been completed, the plan must either describe whether the action is no longer relevant or indicate whether it is included as part of the updated action plan.

In a plan update, it is important to look at each of the actions that were identified in the previous plan, and to provide an updated status for them. Many of the actions may not be completed, and that’s fine! Mitigation actions are a wish list of items, and the Tribe is not beholden to complete all of them. For those that are not yet complete, provide their current progress. These descriptions do not need to be long, but they do need to provide rationale as to why the action hasn’t been completed.

If an action item is no longer viewed as applicable, it can be removed from the plan. Make sure that there is a reason provided for its removal.

Lesson Overview

In the previous lesson you learned about plan maintenance and that to make sure the plan is accurate and current, it will be monitored, evaluated, and updated over its life. In this lesson you will learn the review, adoption, and approval process, steps to implement the plan, and recommendations on moving the mitigation forward.

But how do you even start to implement your plan? You must use the action plan you developed earlier as your primary guide for implementation. The mitigation action table contains the information you need to get started—descriptions of the prioritized actions, projected timelines, estimated costs, and responsible departments. This lesson covers what may be the most important part of the whole planning process:

How will your Tribal community use the mitigation plan to achieve its goal of becoming a more resilient community?

After completing this lesson, you should be able to:

• List the steps of the approval and adoption process.
• Identify some common challenges and possible solutions to the implementation process.
• Recall best practices that will help move mitigation actions forward.

Planning is a continuous process and does not end once your plan is written. After you finish developing or updating your mitigation plan, it must be adopted by the Tribal Government to meet FEMA planning requirements. This signals a commitment to move toward resilience, fulfill the mitigation goals, and allow responsible agencies to implement the plan. Adoption can take a few forms, including a Tribal resolution, an executive order, a notice of action, or another official documentation of adoption allowed by Tribal law.

First, let’s take a look at how your plan gets reviewed, and then, ultimately, adopted.

You’ve gone through all the steps in the planning process and you finally have a complete plan document. Here are some recommendations to get from a complete draft to submitting your plan for review and approval.

• Review your plan with the planning team

First, review the entire draft plan to make sure it meets the requirements. This internal review is best done by the planning team. We recommend using the Plan Review Tool in the Tribal Mitigation Plan Review Guide to confirm your plan meets Federal requirements before you put it out for public comment and submit it for approval.

• Make available to Tribal members

Next, it is a good idea to make your plan available for Tribal members and the public to review. Making it available for review and comment can be active or passive. It could be done at an existing meeting or event, on a website, or the plan could be made available through any other mechanism.

• Publicize comment period

While there is no requirement to publicize a comment period, if you do use one, make sure the public is given enough time to comment, especially if your plan is longer. Incorporate the feedback where it makes sense.

• Present to Tribal officials

It can be helpful to present your plan to Tribal officials, especially if they were not involved in the bulk of the planning process. Making elected officials aware of the results of the planning process can build buy-in for plan implementation and building resilience.

The Tribal Mitigation Plan Review Guide provides detailed procedures for plan review and approval.

It is a good idea to keep the Planning Team and your partners informed throughout the review and approval process.

In addition, remember to build time into your planning process for the review and approval procedures.

FEMA typically has 45 days to review your plan, and there may be revisions needed before it can be approved, adding additional time.

This is a simplified view of the plan submission and review process if the Tribe is submitting the plan directly to FEMA. The next slide explains the diagram and process in more detail. For more information and a detailed comparison of submittal options, see Appendix B of the Tribal Mitigation Plan Review Guide.

Select each link to learn more:

1. Submit to FEMA Region for Review
2. Approvable Pending Adoption
3. Plan Adoption
4. Plan Approval

Note: All jurisdictions seeking plan approval must adopt the plan and submit the documentation for final plan approval.

This is a simplified view of the plan submission and review process if the Tribe chooses to review and coordinate with the State. The next slide explains the diagram and process in more detail. For more information and a detailed comparison of submittal options, see Appendix B of the Tribal Mitigation Plan Review Guide.

Select each link to learn more:

1. Submit to State for Review
2. Submit to FEMA Region for Review
3. Approvable Pending Adoption
4. Plan Adoption
5. Plan Approval

Note: All jurisdictions seeking plan approval must adopt the plan and submit the documentation for final plan approval.

Submit to State for Review - Once the planning team is confident your plan meets the required elements and includes all supporting documentation, send the plan to the State Hazard Mitigation Officer (SHMO) for review and consideration.

Submit to FEMA Region for Review - The SHMO will coordinate with your FEMA Regional office for the Tribal plan review. FEMA will conduct its review within 45 days, if possible, and return the completed Tribal Plan Review Tool to the State and Tribal government. The FEMA Regional office and/or the SHMO may contact you to discuss additional revisions to the plan to ensure that it meets the mitigation planning regulations.

Approvable Pending Adoption - Once FEMA reviews your plan and it is in compliance with the regulations, the Regional office will notify the Tribe that the plan is “approvable pending adoption” (APA). APA is a recommended process by which you submit the final draft of the mitigation plan to FEMA for review prior to formal adoption by the Tribal Council or other authorized governing body. If FEMA determines the plan is not approvable, and revisions are needed, the Tribe will be able to make revisions before taking the plan through adoption, thereby avoiding unnecessary delays in plan approval.

Plan Adoption - The final plan must include documentation that it has been formally adopted by the governing body of the jurisdiction(s) requesting approval. Adoption by your governing body demonstrates the Tribe’s commitment to implementing the mitigation strategy and authorizes responsible agencies to execute the mitigation strategy.

Plan Approval - Upon receiving the record of adoption, FEMA will issue an official approval letter stating that the Tribe has adopted the plan and the expiration date. Attached to the approval letter will be a FEMA-completed Tribal Mitigation Plan Review Tool. Hold onto this review tool for when you are ready to update your plan! It will have recommendations for improvement in your next plan update.

In order to meet FEMA planning requirements, the plan must be adopted by Tribal governments. Therefore, after you finish developing and updating your plan, your Tribe must submit documentation of adoption to FEMA. You are not eligible for certain FEMA assistance, and your plan cannot be fully approved, until you have adopted the plan, sent documentation of adoption to FEMA, and the Agency has issued an Approval Letter.

• Signals a commitment to mitigation and Tribal resilience
   
  Tribal adoption signals a commitment to move toward resilience, fulfill the mitigation goals, and allow responsible agencies to implement the plan.
   
• Can be by resolution, executive order, notice of action, or another format
   
  Adoption can take a few forms, including a Tribal resolution, an executive order, a notice of action, or another official documentation of adoption allowed by Tribal law.
   
• Must take place within 1 year of receiving approvable-pending-adoption status
   
  Adoption must take place within 1 year of receipt of FEMA’s APA letter. If your plan is not adopted within 1 calendar year, the Tribal government must update the entire plan and resubmit it for FEMA review.

Next, we’ll cover putting your plan into action.

Once your plan is completed, the next step is to implement its mitigation actions to reduce risk. This protects public safety, prevents damage to Tribal assets, reduces the costs of response and recovery after a disaster event, improves Tribal capabilities to mitigate and recover from future disasters, and creates a safer, more sustainable community!

The more you can establish accountability measures upfront, e.g., include specific roles and responsibilities as part of the adoption resolution, the easier it will be to keep momentum and update regularly. Start thinking about developing your project applications to ensure project readiness for current or future funding opportunities.

After the plan is developed, implementation begins. Plan implementation begins at the time the plan is adopted. During implementation you will carry out the action items in your mitigation strategy and document your progress through a monitoring process and evaluation schedule.

As we discussed in the Mitigation Strategy lesson, to implement the mitigation plan there has to be a clear definition of who is responsible for that action, what the timeline is, and how it will be funded.

When you go to implement your plan, keep in mind that the specifics may change, and that’s okay! The important thing is that a plan is in place. You want to use your mitigation strategy to advance your Tribe’s resilience.

The community planner who helped develop or update the Tribe’s hazard mitigation plan, can continue to play a role in making sure that projects and actions are successful. For projects that have an infrastructure component, planners can help with the permitting process, as they’re typically more familiar with it. There may also be a design element that they can assist with if they have the technical expertise, or they can point to someone who does. Planners can also help secure funds by offering their assistance on applications for grants. For regulatory strategies, planners can help to develop language and guide it through the approval process for their community. This will help ensure that the plan is consistent with other existing planning mechanisms and policies.

Reflection:

Think about Your Tribe. What are some common challenges you face regarding The Mitigation Project?

Turning your mitigation plan into action can be difficult. Here are some types of challenges you may face, along with ways to overcome such challenges provided in subsequent slides. The goal is to prepare you to successfully address these challenges as they arise to ensure that your process continues to move forward. Knowing your challenges will help you manage expectations as you move through the plan development, update, and mitigation action implementation processes.

Select each link to learn more:

• Competing and Changing Priorities
• Lack of Interest
• Lack of Funding and Resources/Limited Local Capability or Capacity/Frequent Staff Turnover
• Insufficient Political Will
• Disconnect with Day-to-Day Operations

Disconnect with day-to-day operations: There may not be a connection between the mitigation strategy and the day-to-day operations of a local jurisdiction governed by staff work plans, established procedures, and the policies and objectives of other local plans and programs.

Hazard mitigation is not a community priority

Often, hazard mitigation is not a community priority. Unlike zoning, it is not seen as a typical or traditional planning function, and it may need to compete with other community priorities, such as developing waterfronts. Many communities are also pro-growth and want more development; hazard mitigation practices can be seen as having a detrimental effect on the tax base of a community by effectively taking land out of circulation. The U.S. also has a strong history of prioritizing property rights, which can hinder making good, smart land use choices.

Capabilities may not exist

Other challenges relate to what communities see as limited capacity in a time of tight funding, which can mean a limited political will to integrate efforts. In addition, many communities and States see a lack of actionable data as a challenge to mitigation planning and integration. If a community does not have the data it needs to understand what, for example, the design level of a storm is, it cannot design appropriate mitigation measures. Without some kind of incentive or “carrot” to entice communities to integrate, many will continue with the status quo

Conflict of Timeframes

The insufficient framework for coordination really speaks to the silos commonly seen in planning efforts. There may also be a conflict of timeframe, meaning that a hazard mitigation plan is updated every 5 years, while a CIP is a 6-year document and a comprehensive plan is completed every 10 years. This mismatch may make it more difficult to plan in a unified matter.

Conflict of Geography

In addition, there is sometimes a conflict of geography. In some States, like Pennsylvania and New Jersey, local land use authority rests at the lowest aggregation of government, the municipality, but the hazard mitigation plan is most frequently written as a countywide effort.

Expand education

First: educate, educate, and educate! Use your existing engagement and education opportunities to start talking about safe growth and community resilience. You’ll have to combat “disaster amnesia” or the complacency that sets in between events. Both active and passive campaigns can be used to increase awareness of risk. By going to the community and meeting them where they are, rather than asking them to come to you, you can increase your chances of success.

Listen to Tribal leaders

It is also essential that you frame the issue for your Tribe, understanding their actual complaints or challenges to implementation and integration. Focus on what will resonate with your Tribe and on efforts that match your risks and capabilities

Balance Competing Priorities

It will be important to recognize and balance competing priorities. Part of this solution is to spread the word that by integrating hazard mitigation goals and objectives with other planning efforts, you do not need to compete with priorities – you can support and complement them. It can be a win-win situation and can allow communities to leverage time and money.

A lack of political will can slow any planning process. Building political will means creating awareness of the wide range of benefits of your plan, including the social, economic, and environmental aspects of your efforts.

Make Tribal leaders aware of the benefits

Some decision-makers need data and proof that integration works; this can be provided using quantifiable metrics, documenting the losses avoided, and emphasizing efficiencies and cost savings. Having a framework or forum for intergovernmental coordination helps to remove some of the silos we discussed earlier and can build political will and support. First use existing channels of communication, like metropolitan or rural planning organizations, water management districts, or councils of government. Consider flexibility in digital communication options!

Incentivize mitigation planning

Incentives and drivers for integrated planning can help overcome barriers to success. Incentives can kick-start the momentum of plan integration and can make integrating a more attractive option than doing nothing.

Expand local capacity for mitigation

Expanding local capacity to support local resources seeks to use creative alliances and partnerships to support plan integration. Limited resources do not need to derail mitigation efforts; you just have to be smarter about using what you have. For example, is a college nearby? Would any of their majors or professors have an interest and ability in helping integrate plans? Could an insurance agent or industry group support your efforts? Can you incorporate hazard mitigation into the lifecycle of existing projects?

Reflection:

What methods are applicable to moving your mitigation strategy project forward?

Here are some recommendations for moving mitigation forward throughout the plan’s life cycle and beyond.

This list is just a snapshot of a few ways you can set up for success. None of these recommendations are mutually exclusive and they are not prioritized. They can be built upon each other!

We will cover each one in more detail.

Take advantage of public interest and political will

• Following a disaster, there is generally a great deal of public interest in mitigation and a desire to avoid a recurrence of the effects of the hazard.

Funding opportunities to address problems

• Various funding opportunities may be available after a disaster to fund mitigation actions; funding may come through State and Federal sources, as well as through volunteers and donations.

Recover with mitigation in mind

• Redevelopment may provide a chance to recover with mitigation in mind. By implementing features of community economic development, environmental protection, land use, growth management, or other plans when the Tribe is already undertaking large scale rebuilding, you can better protect your lands and people in the future.

Education and outreach programs are often easily-implemented and are low-cost. Starting with these mitigation activities can also help to gain public buy-in for long-term implementation, and may even garner a few volunteers along the way.

• Demonstrating success and progress can quickly go a long way toward gaining support
  
• Try to complete a few low-cost actions that can be implemented quickly

Successful projects often involve a strong, local champion. Champions are leaders who understand the mitigation vision, can clearly communicate it, and can engage others in the project.

• Champions should:
• Be credible with the community
• Understand your plan
• Be able to communicate it to others
• Look to the organizations that are identified in the action plan

During the planning process, through stakeholder and public participation, community partnerships are formed. These community partnerships should be continued after your plan is completed because they are very important for mitigation action implementation.

Leverage your partnerships

Working with these community partnerships provides a forum where ideas and best practices can be shared, as well as the ability to leverage other funding sources for mitigation that not everyone may know. These sources may not necessarily be called mitigation funding, but can be used to achieve similar community goals for a safer, stronger community.

Working together also ensures efforts are not duplicated and resources are utilized effectively and efficiently.

Communities generally benefit a great deal from carrying out a few important projects that significantly reduce risk. As you transition from plan development to plan implementation, it is important to achieve a few wins early in the process and/or successfully complete some initial mitigation actions based on staff availability and project timeline. These could be low-cost actions that can be implemented quickly or a single high-priority project.

Focus on projects that target the highest risks

The Tribe should identify and focus on projects that target the highest risks and greatest community needs; this is why the Tribe evaluates and prioritizes projects during the mitigation strategy development process. Plans can be revised on an ongoing basis, outside of the formal 5-year update process. When revising be sure to document the changes made to your plan so they are captured and incorporated into the formal plan update process. Demonstrating progress can go a long way in gaining the support needed to implement more complex actions in the future.

Messaging can be complex

Each stakeholder group will want/desire a number of different things that may or may not overlap with the wants/desires of other stakeholder groups. However, stakeholders will need to see personal value in investing in mitigation. It may require greater effort to gain political backing or public support for some actions than for others. Actions that require local financial and/or administrative commitments and actions that generate opposition from competing interests may be challenging.

Consider unique concerns

You should consider the unique concerns of various groups and identify ways mitigation can address their concerns. You will need to make a convincing case for the long-lasting benefits of mitigation.

Explain how action support other Tribal objectives

For each proposed action, you should be prepared to clearly and succinctly explain how well the action supports other Tribal objectives, such as by providing social, economic, or environmental benefits.

For each proposed action, identify key selling points such as:

• The action is economically viable
• The action contributes to the community’s long-term resilience and sustainability
• The action can be completed efficiently using staff time and coordination among departments
• The action is a wise and cost-effective expenditure
• The action will reduce the overall community risk and protect public safety
• The action will achieve multiple objectives
• The action is supported by a broad array of stakeholders including intergovernmental or public-private partnerships
• The action has a local champion who will work toward its completion and success

Now that the plan is adopted and approved, the work is just beginning. But first, it’s time to celebrate! Publicize the adoption and approval of the plan.

Consider getting the word out using multiple methods, such as:

• Post a notice on the Tribe’s website.
• Issue a press release on plan adoption and approval to the Tribe’s media outlets.
• Distribute notices of approval to stakeholders.
• Announce the first project(s) to be initiated.
• Propose a congratulatory resolution or achievement award for your planning team (or specific individuals) for their successful work and commitment to making the Tribe safer.

These and similar steps are easy to complete, are inexpensive, and will keep your plan at the forefront of people’s minds, helping to build momentum as you move into implementation.

What are some of the things that have gone well for you when implementing planning projects? These can be mitigation-related, or any other planning project.

How might the processes and lessons learned be used in the future to better implement mitigation projects, and integrate it into existing planning measures?

• In this lesson, you have learned how to describe the process for implementing a hazard mitigation plan.
   
• After you finish developing or updating your mitigation plan, it must be adopted by the Tribal Government to meet FEMA planning requirements.
   
• You learned about the plan submission and review process for both Tribes as recipients and Tribes as Sub-Recipients.
   
• You also learned the challenges that come with implementing the mitigation plan, as well as possible solutions for these challenges.
   
• Finally, you learned the recommendations for moving mitigation forward throughout the plan’s lifecycle and beyond.

Lesson Overview

In the prior lesson, you learned the challenges that come with implementing the mitigation plan as well as possible solutions for these challenges. In this lesson you, will learn potential sources of funding for hazard mitigation actions, and requirements for applying.

Having a strong mitigation plan can help your Tribe be better positioned to take advantage of resources and funding available after a disaster. A key component of your mitigation plan is exploring new funding sources that could be used to implement mitigation.

After completing this lesson, you should be able to:

• Identify the sources of mitigation funding and assistance.
• Recognize the various FEMA HMA funding sources.
• List the steps in the HMA application process.

Mitigation planning can help a Tribe leverage a wide range of resources and fully use FEMA’s funding programs. A FEMA approved Tribal mitigation plan is a condition of receiving certain kinds of non-emergency disaster assistance grants, including Public Assistance (PA) permanent work and Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA), which includes the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP). Tribes with a FEMA-approved hazard mitigation plan are positioned to be more resilient because the planning process helps them consider the hazards that may occur and proactively address their impacts.

You will learn about the following in the next section.

• Including funding options in your plan
• Non-FEMA (Tribal, private, or other Federal) funds
• FEMA mitigation funding
• Potential sources for new additional funding
• Mitigation success stories

Mitigation projects can be funded with grants, loans, and through Tribal revenue sources, if available. Mitigation projects may require technical assistance or training that can be provided by State and Federal agencies. Mitigation projects can also be supported with in-kind services including volunteer labor and donated materials.

• Grants
• Loans
• Tribal revenue
• Technical assistance
• In-kind services and materials

FEMA offers Hazard Mitigation Assistance grants to Tribal, State, and local governments to support mitigation projects. Specific funding availability may vary from year to year and program requirements vary.

For the current and detailed eligibility requirements and application procedures, please review the most recent version of the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Assistance Guidance.

Federally recognized Tribal governments with a FEMA-approved mitigation plan may apply for assistance directly to FEMA or through their SHMO if their mitigation plan was coordinated with the State.

Please note that 44 CFR Section 201.7 and the Tribal Multi-Hazard Mitigation Planning Guidance apply to federally recognized Tribes (including Alaska Native Villages). This statement, for example, does not apply to non-federally recognized Tribes, which do not have the option of applying directly to FEMA for assistance. FEMA treats non-federally recognized Tribes like other local entities under 44 CFR Section 201.6 and the Local Mitigation Plan Review Guide.

With regard to Hazard Mitigation Assistance and in accordance with 44 CFR § 201.7, “Tribal governments who would like the option of being a subgrantee under the State must also submit their plan to the State Hazard Mitigation Officer for review and coordination.” If the Tribal government receives an award through the State, the Tribal government is the subrecipient.

Note that if the Tribe is applying directly to FEMA for PA – through a Tribal declaration - an approved FEMA Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP) needs to be in place to be eligible to receive Category C through G funding (Permanent Work).

HMGP – if the Tribe does not have an approved HMP, an option for planning grant funding is either through the State under HMGP or through the Building Resilient Infrastructures and Communities (BRIC) program.

There may be options available through other Federal or non-Federal sources.

Available to states, local and tribal governments

Fire Management Assistance is available to states, local and tribal governments, for the mitigation, management, and control of fires on publicly or privately owned forests or grasslands, which threaten such destruction as would constitute a major disaster.

Initiated when State submits request

The Fire Management Assistance declaration process is initiated when a State submits a request for assistance to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Regional Director at the time a "threat of major disaster" exists. The entire process is accomplished on an expedited basis and a FEMA decision is rendered in a matter of hours. The Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) Program provides a 75 percent Federal cost share and the State pays the remaining 25 percent for actual costs. Before a grant can be awarded, a State must demonstrate that total eligible costs for the declared fire meet or exceed either the individual fire cost threshold - which applies to single fires, or the cumulative fire cost threshold, which recognizes numerous smaller fires burning throughout a State.

Some of the eligible expenses

Eligible firefighting costs may include expenses for field camps; equipment use, repair and replacement; tools, materials, and supplies; and mobilization and demobilization activities.

The purpose of the HMGP is to provide post-disaster funding. HMGP funds can be used to mitigate any natural hazard and can be used for planning, as well as for a project. The non-Federal share is 25 percent.

• Tribes have the option to go through State governments or work directly with FEMA.
   
• Please be aware that if a Tribe chooses to go through a State, that process will vary. Applying through the State is only an option if the Tribe coordinated its plan with the State.
   
• These grant programs are not available directly to individuals and businesses; these entities must apply through the sub-applicant. Private non-profits may apply for HMGP funding only.
   
• Wildfires can destroy homes, businesses, infrastructure, natural resources, and agriculture. They can also increase secondary hazards and leave areas prone to floods, erosion, and mudflows for many years.
   
• FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) has Post Fire assistance available to help communities implement hazard mitigation measures after wildfire disasters.

Citation: FY15 Hazard Mitigation Assistance Guidance

Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) supports states, local communities, tribes, and territories as they undertake hazard mitigation projects, reducing the risks they face from disasters and natural hazards. BRIC is a new FEMA pre-disaster hazard mitigation program that replaces the existing Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) program.

The BRIC program guiding principles are supporting communities through capability- and capacity-building; encouraging and enabling innovation; promoting partnerships; enabling large projects; maintaining flexibility; and providing consistency.

The Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program aims to categorically shift the federal focus away from reactive disaster spending and toward research-supported, proactive investment in community resilience. FEMA anticipates BRIC funding projects that demonstrate innovative approaches to partnerships, such as shared funding mechanisms, and/or project design. For example, an innovative project may bring multiple funding sources or in-kind resources from a range of private and public sector stakeholders or offer multiple benefits to a community in addition to the benefit of risk reduction.

Through BRIC, FEMA will continue to invest in a variety of mitigation activities with an added focus on infrastructure projects and Community Lifelines.

The purpose of the FMA program is to provide funds to mitigate the effects of flooding to structures insure in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

FMA is available annually depending on Congressional appropriations. FMA can be used to fund projects, as well as the portions of plans that address flooding. The non-Federal share ranges from 10 percent to 25 percent.

Applications for FMA grants are generally due to the State in August or September; however, Tribes should contact their FEMA Region and/or their SHMO for more information about the timeline, as it changes each year.

A 10-percent non-Federal share applies to Small and Impoverished communities, as defined by the Stafford Act. Planning grants do not require that a FEMA-approved hazard mitigation plan be in place. A FEMA-approved multi-hazard mitigation plan will meet the FMA planning requirements.

Tribes have the option to go through the State government, or work directly with FEMA. Applying through the State is only an option if the Tribe coordinated its plan with the State.

Please be aware that if a Tribe chooses to go through a State, that process will vary.

There are other FEMA programs that help fund mitigation projects. Please contact your FEMA Region for more information on these programs.

Public Assistance (PA) Program Section 406 Mitigation

Section 406 of the Stafford Act through the Public Assistance Program provides funding for hazard mitigation actions for public facilities and infrastructure damaged by hazard events. This funding is available as a component of the FEMA Public Assistance award to a community as part of the disaster recovery process following a Presidential Disaster Declaration. Communities need to specifically request Section 406 Mitigation in order for it to be considered.

Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG)

The purpose of the Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) Program is to provide Federal funds to States to assist State, local, Territorial, and Tribal governments in preparing for all hazards by building and sustaining core capabilities. For more information on the EMPG, please contact your FEMA Region.

Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC) under the NFIP

The Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC) benefit provides additional funding under the NFIP to homeowners with flood insurance whose structures have been determined to be substantially damaged by flood. This funding can be used to pay for or offset the costs of mitigation when the structure is rebuilt. Often this funding is used to offset the non-Federal share for hazard mitigation grants.

Tribes of various sizes and with a wide variety of capabilities have successfully implemented mitigation actions.

FEMA has a portfolio of mitigation best practices available online. The Mitigation Best Practices Portfolio and the Homeland Security Digital Library provide information about other successful stories of communities (local and Tribal) implementing mitigation actions.

FEMA Mitigation Best Practices Portfolio

Homeland Security Library

1. Read one of the mitigation success stories on the FEMA Mitigation Best Practices Portfolio page

2. As you read, consider what hazards were experienced, what plans were in place, and how successful was plan implementation.

In this lesson you learned potential sources of funding for hazard mitigation actions and requirements for applying. You learned about:

• Sources of mitigation funding and assistance.
• Various FEMA HMA funding sources.
• Steps in the HMA application process.

Lesson Overview

We are now at the course conclusion. In this lesson, we will:

• Review the course goal and learning objectives
• Revisit key points from each lesson

The goal of the course is to provide plan developers with the information necessary to prepare and implement a Tribal hazard mitigation plan.

The emphasis is on getting the right people to the table and working through the full planning process.

To start off the course, we discussed the seven parts of the Mitigation Planning Process.

You then learned the planning process, which describes how to engage the community and build your planning team.

• Hazard Mitigation and Mitigation Planning
   
• Building the Tribal Planning Team
   
• Engage the Public
   
• Integrate the Planning Process

You learned the steps to review and assess capabilities and that:

• Every Tribe has unique capabilities to accomplish mitigation
   
• The Capability Assessment helps to identify what resources exist and where there might be gaps.

Next, we addressed Risk Assessment, which identifies the hazards and addresses the vulnerability that the community faces by looking at past events, future probabilities, location, extent, and impacts. You learned that the issues identified in the Risk Assessment can be mitigated through the Mitigation Strategy.

• Describe your community and its assets
   
• Identify the hazards that affect your community
   
• Assess the vulnerability and develop problem statements

You learned in this lesson that the Mitigation Strategy is the heart of the mitigation plan. It addresses the vulnerabilities identified in the Risk Assessment and proposes actions to help reduce potential losses. The action plan then prioritizes those actions based on your capabilities.

• Look at your existing capabilities to implement mitigation projects
   
• Use the problem statements to identify how to prevent losses
   
• Prioritize your needs with the action plan

In this lesson, you learned to consider your plan as a living document, and to keep the public involved throughout the process.

• The plan is meant to be a living document!
  
• Integrate the plan into other existing plans and capabilities
  
• Keep the public involved throughout the planning process

In this lesson, you learned that your plan must be adopted by the Tribal Government to meet FEMA requirements. You learned about:

• Challenges that come with implementing the mitigation plan.
   
• Possible solutions for these challenges.
   
• Recommendations for moving mitigation forward throughout the plan’s lifecycle and beyond.

In this lesson, you learned how a strong mitigation plan can help your Tribe be better positioned to take advantage of potential sources of funding for hazard mitigation actions.

• Sources of mitigation funding and assistance.
   
• Various FEMA HMA funding sources.
   

Plan Development and Implemention Resources:

Tribal Mitigation Plan Review Guide (2017): Helps Tribal governments update their plans to comply with FEMA’s policy on the natural hazard mitigation planning requirements. It is the official interpretation of the Code of Federal Regulations.

Tribal Mitigation Planning Handbook (2019): Tool for Tribal governments to develop and update hazard mitigation plans. It has possible advice for developing a plan, as well as worksheets and other resources.

Tribal Mitigation Planning Resources: Contains planning resources from across FEMA programs.

State, Tribal, Local Mitigation Planning: Contains Mitigation Plan Review guides that detail the process to complete an approved mitigation plan.

Mitigation Ideas: Resource for Reducing Risk to Natural Hazards (2013) is a resource for reviewing potential mitigation actions to reduce risk from natural hazards.

Mitigation Best Practices Portfolio: Documents successful mitigation implementation from across the country.

List of FEMA Tribal Liaisons: Organized by FEMA Region, find the contact information of the Tribal Affairs Liaison, who can answer questions and connect you with resources.