Opinions of federal hazard mitigation officers about mitigation planning and implementation : report of a survey.

"August 1996"

"This working paper is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. CMS-9408322, "Assessing planning and implementation of hazard mitigation under the Stafford Act." Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this working paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the National Science Foundation"

This study is aimed at understanding how hazard mitigation planning at the ten FEMA regional offices is conducted under the Stafford Act. Specifically, this study was conduced to investigate regional capacity to carry out mitigation, the influence of federal laws and FEMA headquarters policy on mitigation within the regions, states' commitment to mitigation, the 409 planning process, the 404 grant review process, and coordination techniques used by regional offices. The study is part of a larger research effort aimed at describing and analyzing the hazard mitigation efforts carried out under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act for three major types of natural hazards: hurricanes and severe coastal storms, earthquakes, and flooding. Other components of this study include: an evaluation of all state 409 plans; an analysis of 404 grant expenditures; and case studies of Hurricane Andrew, the Northridge earthquake, the Midwest floods, and other disasters