General Information
What is Hazard Mitigation?
Natural hazards have the potential to cause property loss, loss of life, economic hardship, and threats to public health and safety. While an important aspect of emergency management deals with disaster recovery those actions that a community must take to repair damages and make itself whole in the wake of a natural disaster an equally important aspect of emergency management involves hazard mitigation.
Hazard mitigation measures are efforts taken before a disaster happens to lessen the impact that future disasters of that type will have on people and property in the community. They are things you do today to be more protected in the future. Hazard mitigation actions taken in advance of a hazard event are essential to breaking the typical disaster cycle of damage, reconstruction, and repeated damage. With careful selection, hazard mitigation actions can be long-term, cost-effective means of reducing the risk of loss and help create a more disaster-resistant and sustainable community.
What is a Hazard Mitigation Plan?
A Hazard Mitigation Plan is a well-organized and well-documented evaluation of the hazards that a jurisdiction is susceptible to, and the extent to which these events will occur. Hazard Mitigation Plans identify an area's vulnerability to the effects of the natural hazards typically present in a certain area, as well as the goals, objectives, and actions required for minimizing future loss of life and property damage as a result of hazard events. The primary purpose of mitigation planning is to systematically identify policies, actions, and tools that can be used to implement those actions.
Purpose and Need for the Plan
Hazard mitigation plans are developed before a disaster strikes. The plans identify community policies, actions, and tools for long-term implementation to reduce risk and potential for future losses. Adopted, implemented and maintained on an ongoing basis, these plans will gradually, but steadily, lessen the impacts associated with hazard events in Atlantic County.
The Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA 2000), passed by the President in October of 2000, mandates that all states and local governments must have hazard mitigation plans in place in order to be eligible to apply for certain types of federal disaster mitigation project funding (under such programs as the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program and the Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program, for example).
Atlantic County initiated the process for development of its initial Hazard Mitigation Plan in 2008. The County and 19 of its 23 jurisdictions participated. This plan was later approved by FEMA in 2010 for all participating jurisdictions. Hazard mitigation plans must be updated and re-approved by FEMA on a five-year cycle. The first plan update was approved in 2016, with the County and all 23 jurisdictions participating. The second plan update process was initiated in April 2021. All 23 jurisdictions are again being invited to participate with the County in this multi-jurisdictional plan.
Participation
Jurisdictions located within Atlantic County who wish to be recognized by FEMA as being compliant with DMA 2000 must either: (a) participate with the County in the multi-jurisdictional plan development process and formally adopt the final plan, or (b) prepare their own hazard mitigation plan.
Elected and appointed government officials, business leaders, volunteers of non-profit organizations, citizens, and other stakeholders have been invited to participate in our multi-jurisdictional plan development process as part of our Atlantic County Natural Hazard Mitigation Planning Committee (the "Planning Committee").
Citizens of Atlantic County will have the opportunity to participate by attendance at the various public meetings. The dates of these meeting will be posted on the Atlantic County web-site.
Active participation in the process is the only way a jurisdiction can be seen in FEMA's eyes as a 'participating jurisdiction' that has met the requirements of DMA 2000 and is therefore eligible to apply.
Process Overview
The Multi-Jurisdictional Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan for Atlantic County was initially prepared between 2008 and 2010 to meet the requirements of the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA 2000). Passed by the President in October of 2000, this Act mandates that all states and local governments must have hazard mitigation plans in place in order to be eligible to apply for certain types of federal disaster mitigation project funding (under such programs as the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program and the Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program, for example). At that time, Atlantic County and 19 of its 23 jurisdictions successfully participated in the process; the County and those 19 jurisdictions subsequently adopted the plan by formal resolution and were therefore recognized by FEMA as involve issues best dealt with on a larger scale.
After a plan is initially approved by FEMA, each of its participating jurisdictions must work to implement the hazard mitigation actions that they outlined in their respective mitigation strategies and participate in a process to update the plan every five years. This marks the second of the plan’s formal updates since its inception. Atlantic County has once again obtained FEMA grant funding ‘multi-jurisdictional’ approach, inviting all of the municipalities within the County to continue to participate in this important endeavor to become more sustainable and disaster resilient. Participation will again involve attending meetings, providing feedback, and reaching out to the public and other key stakeholders in the community.
Update Process
During the plan update process, every section of the 2016 version of the Plan will be reviewed and comprehensively updated as needed to maintain compliance with FEMA mitigation planning requirements outlined DMA2000, Title 44 Code of Federal Regulations 9CFR) Part 201.6, the Local Mitigation Plan Review Guide (2011), and Local Mitigation Planning Handbook (2013), and to reflect the current priorities of the County and each of its participating jurisdictions.
The updated plan will also summarize hazard events that have occurred in the County since the last plan was prepared, as well as new data or requirements that may be included in the 2019 version of the New Jersey State Hazard Mitigation Plan. It will more fully address each jurisdiction’s participation in the FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and continued compliance therein.
The second update of the Atlantic County Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan began in April 2021. A draft of the updated document is targeted for completion in Fall 2021. All 23 communities are expected to continue their participation in this multi-jurisdictional plan update.
While natural disasters cannot be prevented from occurring, the continued implementation of our hazard mitigation plan over the long-term will gradually, but steadily, lessen the impacts associated with hazard events in our county.