Planning Information Exchange

Project Overview

With a new award agreement granted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the successful Planning Information Exchange (PIE) webinar series has been extended for two additional years, starting October 1, 2022. APA will continue to act as the lead in an agreement with FEMA, with the Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) as a partner. The quarterly webinars will continue to revolve around four central themes:

• The information exchange focuses on all hazards.
• The information exchange focuses primarily on mitigation planning but also its connections with recovery planning and preparedness.
• APA and ASFPM act as co-conveners of all planning exchange webinars. This means that both organizations will use their respective web-based meeting platforms to set up, register, drive, facilitate, record, and provide technical support for all webinar meetings.
• Planning exchange hosts select topics and commit to moderating, presenting, and leading the planning exchange webinars.

Upcoming Webinars

National Risk Index Applications in Hazard Mitigation Planning: Practitioner Case Studies

May 15, 2024, 1:00 PM CDT

CM | 1.5

Register

FEMA's National Risk Index (NRI) data and interactive website are just coming into broad use and are showing potential to provide a powerful and much-needed link between hazard science and practice. The NRI models risk for every county in the United States using a consistent methodology for 18 natural hazards, including flood, drought, severe weather, and more. These results can be downloaded and directly integrated into state and regional hazard mitigation plans risk assessments, providing the ability to do comparative analysis and understand large-scale risk trends. Besides being readily available, one of the benefits of the NRI in state hazard mitigation plan updates is the ability to analyze comparative flood risk using a consistent methodology, including rural areas that often do not have flood maps. Another benefit is the ability to readily access social vulnerability data and resiliency indices.

This presentation will provide an overview of how the NRI can be leveraged for planning, based on case studies including state hazard mitigation plans for Utah, South Dakota, and New Mexico, in addition to a large-scale regional planning effort in Montana. The NRI proved useful in most cases, though some aspects have been limiting in these contexts. Strengths and limitations are discussed, in addition to a comparative analysis of various social vulnerability indices. The presentation concludes with opportunities for enhancement to further leverage this budding resource.

Learning Outcomes

• Understand how the NRI functions and the value it can provide in hazard mitigation plans.
• Discover ways in which the NRI has been implemented in state and regional contexts through case studies.
• Learn about the strengths and limitations of this tool, particularly as it pertains to social vulnerability data.

Jeff Brislawn is a hazard mitigation and emergency management consultant with WSP. Brian Neff is a Hazard Mitigation and Resilience Specialist at WSP. Kevin Currie is a training coordinator at the Association of State Floodplain Managers.

Meet the Presenters

Presenter

Jeff Brislawn

Jeff Brislawn is a hazard mitigation and emergency management consultant with WSP USA Environment & Infrastructure Solutions, Inc., and has over 30 years of related experience for state and local governments. Jeff has been the project manager on more than 65 local and state hazard mitigation planning projects, including the Utah State Hazard Mitigation Plan in 2023-2024, and has been a contributor to numerous others. Jeff's background includes 12 years of public sector experience including work for the Colorado Office of Emergency Management and FEMA. Jeff has assisted numerous state, local, and federal clients with hazard risk assessment and related resiliency planning including multi-hazard mitigation plans, drought mitigation and response plans, dam failure evacuation plans, and local emergency operations plans. Jeff has an M.S. in Geology from Colorado State University and a B.S. in Geology from Ohio University and is a Certified Floodplain Manager.

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Presenter

Brian Neff

As a Hazard Mitigation and Resilience Specialist, Dr. Neff works to integrate science into hazard planning in innovative ways. Dr. Neff's research extends to both physical and social sciences, including his doctoral studies on the transformation of water policy and a Randy Boggess Award as co-author of the paper of the year published in the Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA). Expertise includes a variety of approaches to hazard resilience, hydrology, water supply and wastewater, and hazard planning. A passion for applying science to improve society recently led Dr. Neff to WSP USA, where he spends most of his time working with communities to develop hazard mitigation plans.

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moderator

Kevin Currie

Kevin Currie, ASFPM's training coordinator since July 2018, works with staff, volunteer leadership, members, and chapters to identify training needs. He is responsible for managing, developing, and deploying ASFPM's comprehensive training program. This is his second term of employment with ASFPM, having previously worked for the association from 2012 to 2015 as our membership coordinator. He received his BA in political science from the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire in 2010.

View Past Webinars

View Presentations from Past Webinars

Previous webinars are available to be viewed anytime and anyplace shortly after their debut.

• Cross-Agency Coordination for Effective Hazard Mitigation and Recovery (December 15, 2023) CM | 1.5
• The Only Constant is Change: Hazard Mitigation Updates (May 18, 2023) CM | 1.5
• Foresight and Scenario Planning for Hazard Mitigation and Climate Adaptation (October 31, 2022) CM | 1
• Lost In Planning: Interdependent Vulnerabilities And Compounding Climate Threats (September 27, 2022) CM | 1
• Equitable Hazard Mitigation: Practice-Informed Recommendations for Change (July 25, 2022) CM | 1
• New Research on State Resilience Planning Practices (May 26, 2022) CM | 1
• The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act: A Primer for Planners and Floodplain Managers (December 15, 2021) CM | 1
• Addressing Urban Heat at Regional and Local Scales (October 15, 2021) CM | 1
• The Law's the Limit: Sea Level Rise Adaptation and Local Government (September 3, 2021) CM | 1.5
• Linking Conservation and the FEMA Community Rating System: Tools to Protect Habitat, Enhance Coastal Resilience and Reduce Flood (April 15, 2021)
• USACE Inundation Mapping (December 18, 2020)
• Planning for Wildfire: From Assessing Risk to Long-Term Mitigation (November 20, 2020)
• Visualization and Datasets for Flood Loss Reduction (October 27, 2020)
• Increasing Our Resiliency to Urban Flooding (November 21, 2019)
• Planning for Drought and Cascading Hazards (August 15, 2019)
• Go Green with GASB62! (April 25, 2019)
• Flood Economics (February 13, 2019)
• Current Research Topics in Disasters, Hazard Mitigation, and Resilience (October 9, 2018)
• Flood Risk Reduction: Putting Planning Into Practice (July 18, 2018)
• The Fire/Flood Dynamic: Linkages, Tools, and Actions (May 15, 2018)
• Flood Hazard Mitigation in Historic Districts (January 31, 2018)
• Planning Integration for Resilience Scorecard (October 4, 2017)
• Naturally Resilient Communities (May 30, 2017)
• Post-Disaster Temporary Housing: Urban Planning Considerations (March 23, 2017)
• Subdivision Design and Flood Hazard Areas (December 2, 2016)
• State Resiliency Initiatives: From Issue to Action! (September 22, 2016)
• Combining Climate Adaptation and Hazard Mitigation Plans (July 7, 2016)
• Know Your Dam Risk! (May 6, 2016)
• Adapting Urban Vacant Land to Mitigate Hazards (February 26, 2016)
• Hazard Mitigation Implementation (December 10, 2015)
• Hazards Planning and Resilience: The Elected Official's Perspective (October 19, 2015)
• Climate Change Adaptation & Resilience (June 30, 2015)
• The Role of Hazard Mitigation in Post-Disaster Recovery (May 6, 2015)