The Government Accountability Office calls for a national assessment to improve earthquake resistance

The National Earthquake Risk Reduction Program (NEHRP) contains objectives set out in the latest Fiscal Years (FY) 2009-2013 Strategic Plan to improve earthquake resilience in communities nationwide. However, officials from the National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) review of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said that a national risk assessment had not been conducted to identify improvements and remaining gaps in resilience.

The Government Accountability Office found that FEMA has initiated some efforts to identify improvements by tracking building code approval status; Develop the use of logic models to better understand public awareness of earthquake risk reduction; and assessing the resilience of societies to natural disasters.

However, a representative from one tribal association and eight of nine northern California tribal officials told the Government Accountability Office that there was little communication from FEMA to inform them about how to enhance earthquake resistance. For example, tribal officials said they were not informed of the guidelines and provisions for improving the resilience of new and existing buildings and lifelines. Tribal officials added that when they need information on guidelines or other seismic risk reduction measures, they sometimes rely on information obtained from Internet searches. In addition, a representative of the tribal association told us that due to the lack of communication from FEMA, they contacted the FEMA regional office in September 2021 to inquire about the NEHRP program and whether tribal governments are eligible for the NEHRP Earthquake Assistance Grant.

FEMA said one of its regions conducted outreach with tribes in 2021 to help them understand earthquake risks, along with other major risks, and measures they can take to mitigate the risks. For example, through a risk mitigation planning process and community meetings, FEMA regional staff met with the Pacific Northwest tribes to help them understand earthquake and tsunami risks and vulnerabilities. A grant of $2.8 million to build an evacuation tower.

The NEHRP agencies are currently working on an update of the Strategic Plan for FY 2022-2029. According to National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) officials, the new plan will have four long-term goals: enhancing understanding of earthquake processes and their consequences; Enhance and develop existing information, tools and practices to protect the nation from the consequences of an earthquake; Promote the dissemination of knowledge and the implementation of tools, practices and policies that enhance earthquake resilience, response and recovery strategies; and learning from post-earthquake investigations to enhance the effectiveness of the information, tools, practices and policies available to improve earthquake resilience.

However, 19 selected stakeholders reported to GAO that they were not involved in the process of identifying updates on research priorities for the Strategic Plan. Some said it would be useful to prioritize research for the social sciences to better support their task areas. For example, officials from a state emergency office told the Government Accountability Office that they would like to see priority social science research so that more information is available to educate residents in high-seismic areas about ways to prepare for disaster events so that they are not afraid of what will inevitably happen. Another stakeholder from the state’s Geological Survey told the Government Accountability Office that it would be useful to see more research on unspecified faults to help them understand the extent of fault locations in the state. Thirteen of the 19 stakeholders (three state emergency management agencies, one US regional emergency management agency, and nine tribal governments) are located in areas identified as high earthquake risk.

The Government Accountability Office says that by conducting a national risk assessment, the NEHRP will gain greater awareness of earthquake resilience improvements and be better positioned to plan long-term goals and objectives toward closing remaining gaps. The government watchdog also notes that involving stakeholders in strategic planning would help ensure that mission, goals and strategies are targeted as a top priority.

The GAO report makes seven recommendations:

The director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), in collaboration with FEMA, NSF, and USGS and in coordination with federal, state, local, regional, and tribal governments, should conduct a national risk assessment to determine the progress communities have made to enhance earthquake resilience since 2015, and remaining gaps in resilience. The FEMA Director should develop and implement a plan to raise awareness among tribes about seismic risk reduction initiatives. The Director of NIST, in collaboration with FEMA, NSF, and USGS, shall assess and determine whether additional actions are needed to solicit input from state, local, regional, and tribal governments and stakeholders on research priorities that align with community and stakeholder needs. The NSF Director, in collaboration with NIST, should develop strategies to better communicate NEHRP’s priorities to research entities. The NEHRP Director, in collaboration with FEMA, NIST, NSF, and USGS, shall follow leading practices for developing performance measures associated with priority research outcomes, and track and monitor research to ensure research priorities are met. The NEHRP Director, in collaboration with FEMA, NIST, NSF, and USGS, shall follow leading practices to identify and utilize program resources needed to achieve priority research outcomes. The NIST Director, in collaboration with the NSF, shall document and implement a comprehensive plan to ensure that all state, local, regional, and tribal governments and stakeholders are aware of the mechanisms and practices that NSF and NIST use to disseminate research.

Each agency agreed with the applicable recommendation(s). For example, FEMA’s FIMA Planning and Safety Division, as well as FIMA’s Earthquake and Wind Programs Branch, will collaborate with FEMA’s National Tribal Affairs Advisor to develop culturally sensitive and relevant products for effective earthquake risk reporting. . The Department of Homeland Security stated that, once completed, the Strategic Communications Plan will also support the distribution of these products.

Read the full report at GAO

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