Resolution No. 4814 - Laserfiche WebLink

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of risk from one or more hazards may be unacceptably high and then to find cost effective ways to reduce such risk. Mitigation planning strikes a pragmatic middle ground between unwisely ignoring the potential for major hazard events on one hand and unnecessarily overreacting to the potential for disasters on the other hand. Furthermore, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) now requires each local government entity to adopt a multi-hazard mitigation plan to remain eligible for future pre- or post-disaster FEMA mitigation funding. Thus, an important objective in developing this plan is to maintain eligibility for FEMA funding and to enhance the Eugene/Springfield Metro Area's ability to attract future FEMA mitigation funding. The Plan is specifically designed to help the Eugene/Springfield Metro Area gather the data necessary to compete successfully for future FEMA funding of mitigation projects. FEMA requires that all FEMA-funded hazard mitigation projects must be "cost-effective" (i.e., the benefits of a project must exceed the costs). Benefit-cost analysis is thus an important component of mitigation planning, not only to meet FEMA requirements, but also to help evaluate and prioritize potential hazard mitigation projects in the Eugene/Springfield Metro Area, regardless of whether funding is from FEMA, state or local government or from private sources. 1.3 The Eugene/Springfield Metro Area Mitigation Plan This Eugene/Springfield Metro Area Mitigation Plan is built is upon a quantitative assessment of each of the major hazards that may significantly affect the Eugene/Springfield Metro Area, including their frequency, severity, and geographic areas most likely to be affected. The hazards addressed include: floods, severe winter storms, wildland/urban interface fires, landslides, dam failures, earthquakes and others. The Eugene/Springfield Metro Area Mitigation Plan covers the cities of Eugene and Springfield and immediate surrounding areas. The geographic areas covered by available hazard data often do not correspond exactly to political boundaries. Thus, the plan covers approximately, but not exactly, the areas encompassed by the Urban Growth Boundary and the Eugene/Springfield Metro Planning Area Boundary. The Eugene/Springfield Metro Area Mitigation plan also includes a quantitative assessment of the vulnerability of buildings, infrastructure, and people to each of these hazards. That is, the plan includes an evaluation of the likely magnitude of the effects of future disasters on the Eugene/Springfield Metro Area. These reviews of the hazards and the vulnerability of the Eugene/Springfield Metro Area to these hazards are the foundation of the mitigation plan. From these assessments, specific locations where buildings, infrastructure, and/or people may be at high risk are identified. These high risk situations then become priorities for future mitigation actions to reduce the negative consequences of future disasters on the Eugene/Springfield Metro Area. The Eugene/Springfield Metro Area Mitigation Plan deals with hazards realistically and rationally and also strikes a balance between suggested physical mitigation measures to eliminate or reduce the negative consequences of future of disasters and planning Public Review Draft August 6, 2004 1-2