The American Planning Association Hazards Planning Center
The American Planning Association (APA) Hazards Planning Center offers written guides and webinars on hazard mitigation and recovery planning. Notable resources include written guides on integrating hazard mitigation into local planning, planning for wildfires, drought mitigation, and planning for disaster recovery.
- Integrating Hazard Mitigation into Local Planning
- Planning for Wildfires
- Drought Mitigation
- Planning for Disaster Recovery
Beyond the Basics: Best Practices in Local Mitigation Planning
Beyond the Basics is based on FEMA’s Local Mitigation Planning Handbook and includes additional resources on hazard mitigation best practices. Beyond the Basics helps local communities to prepare or update their hazard mitigation plan. It was developed by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Planning for Community Resilience
The Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center at Texas A&M University developed this handbook on the community resilience planning process, including methods for conducting local risk analysis, engaging with communities around risk reduction, and planning tools for nonstructural hazard mitigation and adaptation. It is available at a cost at the Island Press website.
The U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit
The Climate Resilience Toolkit outlines a 5-step process for building resilience, tools for analyzing climate risk, and resources for taking action in local communities. Developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Climate Explorer toolkit is an interactive site within the Toolkit that allows users to visualize current and historical data for risk analysis.
FEMA Hazard Mitigation Planning Resources
FEMA provides a variety of general resources for those engaged in hazard mitigation planning, including a series focused on integrating mitigation with related planning objectives. One such resource is Integrating Hazard Mitigation into Local Planning: Case Studies and Tools for Community Officials which provides practical guidance on how to incorporate risk reduction strategies into existing local plans, policies, codes, and programs.
Community Resilience Planning Guide for Buildings and Infrastructure Systems
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) developed this guide to provide a practical and flexible approach to help communities integrate resilience plans into their economic development, zoning, mitigation, and other local planning activities that impact buildings, public utilities and other infrastructure systems. The first version of the Guide was released in October 2015 and may be updated periodically as new best practices and research results become available.
No Adverse Impact Toolkit How-To Guides
The Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) developed this series of how-to guides that identify tools for incorporating higher standards for floodplain management into local regulations, policies and programs. The guides are broken down by subject matter into compact, usable information communities can apply.
Community Wildfire Safety Through Regulation – A best practices guide for planners and regulators
Developed by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), this resource offers planners and public officials technical and legal justifications for adopting wildfire regulations. It also provides communities with tips on choosing the right planning tools and includes best practices used around the country.
General Plan Technical Advice Series: Fire Hazard Planning
A technical advisory published in 2015 by the State of California offers land use guidance on wildfire hazard planning requirements and planning mitigation tools. Much of this guidance could be considered best practice for others. This effort was completed by the California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research.