1. Overview: U.S. Disaster Management
Policy Trends – 911, Katrina, Sandy
Kenneth C. Topping, FAICP
3ICUDR U.S. Field Study
Workshop
Boulder, CO
July 12, 2013
Wildland Fire
Communities at Risk
Source: USDA Forest Service and DOI

2. U.S. Disaster Management Policy –
Piecemeal, Multi-level, Evolving
• U.S. is large and decentralized
• Federal legislative, judicial, executive systems are
interdependent with those of 50 states
• States, in turn, rely on actions on 88,000 local
governments (cities, counties, special districts, etc.)
• Disaster management operates both top-down
(e.g., NIMS) and bottom-up (e.g., federal disaster
declarations)
• Policy is determined by law and administrative practice
at multiple levels
• All federal, state, local government actions subject to
same test: compliance with U.S. Constitution

3. Evolution of Primary Disaster Laws
(Directly address emergencies)
• Federal Disaster Relief Act, 1950
• National Flood Insurance Act, 1968
• Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act
(EPCRA), 1986
• Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency
Assistance Act (Stafford Act), 1988
• National Flood Insurance Reform Act, 1994
• Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA 2000)
• Homeland Security Act of 2002
• Post-Katrina Emergency Reform Act (PKEMRA), 2006
• Biggert-Waters Act, 2012

4. National Flood Insurance Act (1968)
• Established National Flood
Insurance Program (NFIP)
providing:
– Private flood insurance backed by
federal government
– 100-year and 500-year floodplain
mapping
– Community Rating System rewards
better performing communities with
lower flood insurance rates
• Amended to provide:
– Flood hazard mitigation plans
– Flood mitigation assistance grants

5. Stafford Act (1988) – Main Provisions
• Bottom-up emergency response/preparedness system:
– Mutual aid  governor’s emergency proclamation 
Presidential disaster declaration
• Individual and Household Assistance Program:
– Basic disaster relief (up to $28,800 for 4-person household)
• Public Assistance Program
– Provides post-disaster infrastructure restoration grants
• Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP)
– Provides post-disaster hazard mitigation grants to prevent
repetitive losses

6. Evolution of Secondary Disaster Laws
(Indirectly address emergencies)
• Small Business Administration Act (SBA), 1953
• Flood Control & Coastal Emergency Act (FCEE), 1955
• Federal-Aid Highway Act, Section 125, 1956
• Housing and Community Development Act, 1974
• Public Works Act (PWA), 1976
• Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), 1986
• National Dam Safety Act, 2006

7. Disaster Management Policy Shifts
• 1990s – Stafford Act, NFIP implementation
• 2001 – 9/11 shifted policy to anti-terrorism
• 2005 – Katrina renewed interest in natural disasters
• 2006 – PKEMRA: led to National Disaster Recovery
Framework
• 2011 – Tohoku-Oki Earthquake and Tsunami: triggered
reevaluation of nuclear, tsunami policies
• 2012 – Biggert-Waters Act tightened down on flood
insurance subsidies
• 2012 – SuperStorm Sandy raised visibility of sea level
rise, climate adaptation needs

8. Four Phases of Emergency Management

9. Primary U.S. Emergency Management Laws and Systems
Law/System Mitigation Preparedness Response Recovery
National Flood
Insurance Act, 1968:
established National
Flood Insurance
Program (NFIP)
Created national
mapping system
showing 100 and
500 year
floodplains
Provides private flood
insurance backed by
federal government;
insurance rates based on
Community Rating System
(CRS)
Robert T. Stafford
Disaster Relief and
Emergency Assistance
Act, 1988
Established
Hazard Mitigation
Grant Program
(HMGP)
Formalizes bottom-
up emergency
management
procedures (state
proclamations, feder
al declarations)
Established:
1) Individual and
Household Assistance
Program (relief)
2) Public Assistance
Program (restoration)
Disaster Mitigation Act
of 2000
Required state
and local hazard
mitigation plans to
qualify for HMGP;
Added Pre-
Disaster Mitigation
(PDM) grants
National Incident
Management System
(NIMS), 2004
Established
national ICS
standard; Requires
state and local ICS
to comply with
NIMS
National Response
Framework (NRF), 2007
Updates federal
preparedness
requirements
Expands federal recovery
guidelines (ESF # 14)

10. New Disaster Management
Administrative Systems
• National Response Framework, 2004
(founded on National Response Plan, 1992)
• National Incident Management System (NIMS), 2004 –
standardized ICS protocol
• Presidential Policy Directive – 8, 2011 – new
overarching administrative system
• National Disaster Recovery Framework (NDRF), 2011
• Threat and Hazard Information Risk Assessment
(THIRA), 2011 – new annual exercise tool
• National Mitigation Framework, 2013

11. Emerging Disaster Management
Policy Challenges
• Congress reluctant to amend disaster laws
• Shifts emphasis to new administrative systems
• Strong counter-terrorism emphasis in administrative
policies  tends to overshadow attention to coordinated
hazard mitigation and disaster recovery action
• Differences in authority exist between statutory vs.
administrative policies
• Statutory and policy overlaps or gaps yield confusion
• New administrative systems do not guarantee integration
• Question: how clearly develop and implement effective
mitigation-recovery policies for the future?

12. Some Questions
• U. S. disaster policy trends which we should consider?
• How are these influenced by recent catastrophic disaster
events in the U.S. and elsewhere?
• How might such trends affect transferability of disaster
recovery lessons between countries?
• What do these trends mean for long-term adaptation to
climate change?