Background
H-GAC, the Texas Division of Emergency Management (DEM), and 85 local governments developed a regional plan during 2004, 2005 and 2006. The comprehensive plan identifies regional hazards and vulnerabilities, and includes over 300 mitigation projects that could be implemented within our region. This plan is important because the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 makes the development of a hazard mitigation plan a specific eligibility requirement for any local government applying for federal mitigation grant funding, including the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) and the Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) Program.
Current Status
H-GAC received formal approval of the plan on April 28, 2006 and worked with the local partners to adopt the plan for every participating community. A copy of the plan is available for download on this page. Specific mitigation projects are included in Appendix A. Types of projects include acquiring floodplain property, buying out flood prone homes, increasing culvert capacity, improving regional drainage, building tornado shelters, and shoreline protection. The plan is set to expire during April 2011 and a 5-year update is needed to maintain eligibility for participants. In September 2010, DEM awarded a grant to H-GAC to complete the required 5-year update of the Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan. H-GAC worked in partnership with county emergency management coordinators to revise the plan and identify new mitigation projects under an aggressive timeline, and submitted the Draft 2011 Update to DEM on April 15, 2011. H-GAC received three sets of comments from DEM and sent a third revised version back to DEM on March 27, 2012. DEM approved the third version and forwarded the plan to FEMA for review in April 2012.
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Draft 2011 Hazard Mitigation Plan Update
The H-GAC Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan covers seven counties (Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Liberty, Montgomery, Walker and Waller) and the majority of cities therein. The Texas Division of Emergency Management (DEM) and the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) approved the original plan in April 2006. The Draft 2011 Update includes the following revisions:
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Analysis of recent repetitive-loss data associated with flooding;
Additional consideration of storm surge impacts;
Expansion of wildfire vulnerability assessment;
Inclusion of available 2010 Census data;
Updated local jurisdiction capability assessments; and,
Addition of more than 300 new mitigation projects.
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Solicitation for Public Comment
H-GAC held a public hearing for review of the 2011 Plan Update. The hearing took place during a 15-day public comment period from January 25 through February 8, 2012.
Materials from Public Hearing:
Public Hearing Presentation (PDF) 665K
Public Hearing and Comment QA (PDF) 79K
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Next Steps - 2011 Update
DEM will coordinate with FEMA and provide comments to H-GAC regarding the Draft 2011 Update. H-GAC will respond to comments received from DEM and FEMA and post a revised draft for public comment. Following the public comment period, H-GAC will submit the revised draft to DEM and to FEMA for a final review and approval. Please visit this website on a regular basis for updates. Any comments or questions regarding the Draft 2011 Update can be directed to:
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Chuck Wemple
(713) 993-4514
chuck.wemple@h-gac.com
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Amy Boyers
(713) 993-2441
amy.boyers@h-gac.com
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