A newly released draft federal National Mitigation Investment Strategy stresses the nation must become more resilient through better agency coordination, stricter building codes and development of more natural features such as wetlands. The strategy, released Jan. 11, also emphasizes the importance of mitigation investments from private businesses, nonprofit organizations and local governments. The plan, the first of its kind, was sparked by a Government Accountability Office report that recommended such a strategy be developed following Hurricane Sandy.
In a blog about the strategy, Daniel Kaniewski, acting deputy administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said the current system, with different programs through different agencies, creates “a complicated mix of priorities and pathways,” for pre-disaster mitigation funds. FEMA chairs the Mitigation Framework Leadership Group, a federal group overseeing the plan.