ABSTRACT
Introduction As recently as 2007, the U.S. government Accountability Oce stated that a comprehensive Natural Hazards Risk Management (NHRM) Policy Framework did not exist in the United States, nor were programs and policies guided by a widely recognized philosophy or doctrine (Government Accountability Oce 2077; see also Mileti 1999). Since that time, a National Mitigation Framework has been developed in an eort to rectify this problem. Yet the means used to reduce the risks associated with natural hazards are still most accurately characterized as a collection of disjointed policies directed by various federal and state government agencies, private sector stakeholder investments, nonprot assistance strategies, and community-level choices without a coordinative mechanism to guide collective action. Among those federal policies that are most germane to this discussion include the Staord Act, National Response Framework, National Mitigation Framework, Presidential Policy Directive-8, the Disaster Mitigation Act (DMA) of 2000, and the National Disaster Recovery Framework. e need to include climate change-related eects in this policy discourse and a heretofore emergent national adaptation strategy adds both complexity and opportunities for collaboration through an expanded network of stakeholders.*
Climate change adaptation Community Rating System Contingent policies Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance Flood Insurance Act of 1968 Flood insurance rate map Four phases of emergency management Losses avoided study Multi-Hazard Mitigation Council National Flood Insurance Program National Mitigation Framework Natural Hazards Risk Management Policy Framework No Adverse Impact Plan quality principles Project Impact Risk governance Robust policies Scenario planning Whole of Community
ese policies will be discussed next including their potential to assist local communities become more disaster resilient in an era of climate change. As noted in Chapter 9, resilience provides a powerful means to expand on the denition of hazard risk management to include learning from past events and building an enhanced adaptive capacity. e chapter will conclude with a proposed NHRM policy framework and a series of recommendations to improve the nation’s commitment to taking action in a more comprehensive and systemic manner based on a sound understanding of hazard vulnerability including that exacerbated or caused by a changing climate.
