HAWAII HAZARD MITIGATION PROJECT PROPOSAL

The Statewide Hazard Mitigation Forum is assisting the State and County governments in the development of hazard mitigation plans required under the Disaster Management Act of 2000. These plans must be based on risk and vulnerability assessments that are currently being completed.

State and county mitigation plans must identify projects aimed at reducing future disaster losses. Projects should focus primarily on protecting critical infrastructure, reducing the risk to vulnerable populations and environmental resources, and insuring the long-term well being of the people of Hawaii.

Pre-disaster Mitigation Grant Program funds will be made available by FEMA beginning in FY 2003 for implementing mitigation projects. Hazard Mitigation Grant funds will be made available for project implementation after the next Federally declared disaster. And, State Civil Defense and the Mitigation Forum will also work with state and county agencies to seek funding from other sources for implementation.

State Civil Defense (SCD) and the UH Social Science Research Institute (SSRI) have designed a mitigation project identification form for use by state and county agencies. SCD and SSRI are suggesting that each county solicit preliminary proposals for mitigation projects using this form and develop a process for ranking projects in terms of their importance in protecting life and safety and the well being of residents. Projects can include measures to reduce the risk of damage or loss to county owned assets, state owned assets, federally owned assets or privately owned assets. In the past, FEMA grant funds have been used to insure the availability assets from private businesses if they are essential to protect life and safety and support disaster recovery.

Each of the counties should rank projects in terms of their responsibilities to protect life and safety and insure the long-term well being of their residents no matter who owns the asset. The Statewide Hazard Mitigation Forum will also be soliciting pre-proposals from State agencies and the Forum will review and rank all proposals and make recommendations to State Civil Defense on funding priorities and the ranking of projects in the State Hazard Mitigation Plan.

County governments should complete their mitigation project identification and prioritization process by April 30, 2003 for projects to be considered in the FEMA FY 2003 funding cycle. More extensive proposals will be required by FEMA but the format for those proposals is not yet available. County governments can add projects for future consideration until June 30, 2003 for inclusion in their county hazard mitigation plans which must be completed by July 15, 2003.