The Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA) requires local governments to adopt a federally-approved Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP) in order to receive pre- and post-disaster mitigation funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. Ventura County’s HMP was adopted in 2016, but requires updating every five years for the County to maintain eligibility for funding opportunities. Follow the progress of the current Plan Update on the timeline below.
Update Timeline
Spring 2021
Phase 1: Organize Resources & Build the Planning Team
- Assembly of the core planning team.
- Collection of relevant studies, plans, and reports.
- Assembly of a steering committee consisting of municipal representatives, and local and regional stakeholders that will help guide the process.
- Assembly of communications resources that allow the public to be involved throughout the planning process.
June 2021
Phase 2: Risk Assessment
- Identification of the location and geographic extent of the hazards that can affect the County’s resources and communities.
- Collection and evaluation of scientific and historical evidence of past hazard events.
- Assessment of the hazard impacts and future probability of occurrence.
- Ranking of hazards from highest threat to lowest threat.
Phase 3: Capabilities Assessment
- Assessment of local capabilities through emergency management, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), planning and regulatory authorities, administrative, technical, financial, and political capacities
Phase 4: Development of the Mitigation Strategy
- Evaluation and revision by the planning team of goals, objectives, and past mitigation actions.
- Identification of appropriate new mitigation techniques, and prioritization of mitigation actions and projects in the revised mitigation strategy.
- Describe how mitigation actions will be implemented and administered.
Phase 5: Development of a Maintenance Plan
- Preparation of a schedule for monitoring, evaluating, and updating the plan throughout its five-year cycle.
Spring 2022
Phase 6: Obtain Plan Approval and Adopt and Implement the Plan
- Circulate the draft plan for public comment.
- Adoption of the plan by the County Board of Supervisors.
- Submit the plan to the State Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) and FEMA for review and approval.
- Adoption of the final, approved plan by the County Board of Supervisors.
- Adoption of the approved plan by the governing bodies of the jurisdictions (cities and special districts) that are partners to the plan.
- Implementation of the plan by all the planning partners.