Chapter 3 - The Role of Governments in Hazard Mitigation

Abstract

Chapter 3 begins with the description of various federal mitigation programs in the United States including Hazard Mitigation Assistance Program (HMA), National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), National Hurricane Program (NHP), National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program (NEHRP), and structural mitigation projects by the USACE. The chapter describes all three HMA grant programs and explains the role of federal appropriations to award mitigation grants. It also discusses the major components of the NFIP including flood mapping, flood insurance study, and the Community Rating System. The National Hurricane Program is a multi-agency partnership among several federal agencies that helps protect communities and residents from hurricane hazards through various mitigation projects. The National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program is another multi-agency federal program that is committed to reduce future earthquake risks by means of innovative research, development, and implementation. The USACE involves in the design and construction of many structural mitigation projects in coastal and watershed areas especially for flood control, shoreline and riverbank protection. The chapter also discusses the role of state and local governments in hazard mitigation exercising regulatory powers and explains the local government structure. Finally, the chapter concludes with the description of the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) strategy by the United Nations and also describes other notable mitigation efforts initiated by governments in different countries including Japan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.