Local Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan in Oregon:

Natural hazard mitigation plans assist communities in reducing risk and preventing loss from natural hazards by documenting mitigation goals, recommending activities to minimize losses, and offering technical information and resources to implement activities. This document describes an evaluation process which provides guidance on evaluating hazard mitigation plans and a synthesis of standards and approaches developed by state and federal agencies and organizations to assist communities in achieving risk reduction.

This document works in tandem with the Department of Land Conservation and Development’s Planning for Natural Hazards: Oregon Technical Resource Guide, a technical resource for land use planning approaches relating to natural hazards affecting Oregon communities. There are many other regional, state, and federal planning tools that assist communities in mitigation planning, including the Oregon State Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan. FEMA recently published a ‘how -to- guide’
for state and local mitigation planning: Understanding Your Risks – Identifying Hazards and Estimating Loss. These documents provide technical and resource assistance for planning and implementing natural hazard mitigation projects.

Oregon Emergency Management (OEM) has developed an Evaluation Criteria Checklist for Local Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan Review to evaluate whether or not mitigation plans meet state guidelines and federal requirements, including Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000, and FEMA programs, including the National Flood Insurance Program’s Community Rating System, Flood Mitigation Assistance Program, and the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.

This evaluation process explains OEM’s Evaluation Criteria Checklist for Local Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan Review and provides a step-by-step process to evaluate community mitigation plans. Each step of this evaluation process includes a series of questions and guidelines intended to help define OEM’s criteria. Cities and counties can use this process to determine if they meet state and federal mitigation planning requirements.

OEM’s Evaluation Criteria Checklist for Local Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan Review is provided in Appendix A and parallels the information described throughout this step-by-step process. For more information on mitigation planning, programs, and available resources, or consultation, contact OEM at (503) 378-2911 and ask for the State Hazard Mitigation Officer.

Oregon Natural Hazards Workgroup at the University of Oregon's  Community Service Center, with Showcase State Partners, a subgroup of the  Interagency Hazard Mitigation Team, and the Oregon Emergency Management developed this evaluation criteria for community and regional natural hazards mitigation plans, and community planning guidelines. This project was supported by the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Flood Mitigation Assistance Program, which provides assistance to States and communities for activities that will reduce the risk of flood damage to structures insurable under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Printing was funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program. Grant funds were administered by Oregon Emergency Management. Additional funding support provided by the Public Entity Risk Institute.

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^{The materials contained in this Web site are copyrighted by the Oregon Natural Hazards Workgroup at the University of Oregon. Use of any of the project material must include attribution to the Oregon Natural Hazards Workgroup, Community Service Center at the University of Oregon.}