The American Lifelines Alliance Progress in the Development of National Consensus Guidelines for the Design of Lifeline Systems for Natural and Man-Made Hazards

Abstract

The American Lifelines Alliance (ALA) was initiated with financial support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in 1998 with a primary goal of facilitating the development and improvement of the design of key utility and transportation systems (electric power, telecommunication, water, waste water, oil, natural gas, rail, and shipping ports) to achieve the desired level of performance in natural hazards. ALA has not attempted to focus efforts on all lifeline systems but has instead chosen to place priority on specific topics relevant to selected lifeline systems where a need for improved hazard mitigation practices is identified. To assist in identifying gaps in existing knowledge or practice, ALA prepared a matrix of existing guidelines and standards related to the design of lifeline systems for natural hazards. The natural hazards matrix is revised annually based on feedback from ALA corresponding members and comments solicited from standard developing organizations. Based on this matrix, ALA has prioritized a suite of potential projects related to natural hazards to be carried out over the next several years. The approach to developing the matrix of existing lifeline system guidelines and standards for natural hazards and the general parameters considered by ALA in prioritizing potential projects are discussed in the paper. In addition, ALA has recently developed a similar matrix for man-made hazards. The need for a man-made hazards matrix is a direct result of FEMA's desire to expand the goals of ALA to include man-made hazards. This expanded role for ALA is in part related to the fact that some measures, taken to improve lifeline system performance in natural hazards, also have benefits in reducing the susceptibility of prolonged system interruption from certain types of man-made hazards. As of the end of 2002, ALA has sponsored nine projects that affect three existing guidelines or standards and will result in five new guidelines under the direction of ANSI-accredited standards organizations or industry-sponsored organizations. This paper provides a summary of the key technical issues that have been investigated in these past ALA projects and identifies near-term needs that have been identified by the ALA project team.