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Flood Risk and Resilience Program<< Back to Key Initiatives

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Hazard Mitigation Plans

Hazard mitigation plans are multi-disciplinary risk reduction plans required by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for states and parishes to receive mitigation grants. These local mitigation plans form the foundation for communities’ comprehensive and long-term strategies to reduce disaster losses. They also create a framework for risk-based decision making to protect health and safety, reduce damage to property, and minimize disruptions to the economy and governmental operations from future disasters.

Below are CPRA’s recommendations for enhancing mitigation plans to better advance risk reduction objectives and to prepare for future changes in flood risk:

Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness:

Further the State Hazard Mitigation Plan’s efforts to incorporate the impacts of climate change by addressing future hazards due to a changing climate and coastal landscape; utilize, to the best extent possible, the projections of sea level rise, subsidence, land loss, and flood risk developed in support of the 2017 Coastal Master Plan; enhance coordination of mitigation planning and nonstructural project implementation across state agencies; offer incentives to improve local hazard mitigation plan quality and utilize recommended best practices to evaluate hazard mitigation plan quality.

Parish and Municipal Governments:

Improve the quality and integration of parish hazard mitigation plans with other state and parish level planning processes including the 2017 Coastal Master Plan, parish comprehensive plans, emergency management plans, transportation plans, Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) action plans, land use plans, and zoning processes; participate in mutual aid emergency response programs, such as the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC)/ Intrastate Mutual Aid Compact (IMAC), to help communities and residents recover more quickly post-disaster.

Academic/NGO Groups:

Develop Louisiana specific best practices for better integration of hazard mitigation plans with other planning processes; conduct an assessment of hazard mitigation plan quality and implementation effectiveness in order to better determine how hazard mitigation plans are making on the ground impacts.