The costs for this federal disaster  assistance have grown significantly since the late 1980s. However, during the  following 12-year period ending in 2001, as the number of large, costly  disasters has grown and the activities eligible for federal assistance have  increased, expenditures from the disaster relief fund increased nearly  fivefold to over $39 billion (in fiscal year 2001 dollars). According to FEMA’s  projections, disaster assistance expenditures from the disaster relief fund  in fiscal year 2002 will total more than $4 billion. In fact, FEMA has made disaster mitigation a primary goal  in its efforts to reduce the long-term cost of disasters. The administration has  proposed a substantial change to FEMA’s multihazard mitigation programs. The  HMGP, FEMA’s oldest and largest multihazard mitigation program, is a  postdisaster program that has provided the bulk of mitigation assistance  provided to states and communities. FEMA has used its more recent and smaller predisaster Project  Impact program to provide mitigation assistance directly to communities in  every state, regardless of whether the state had recently experienced a  disaster. State and local  officials also said that Project Impact has been successful in increasing  awareness of and community support for mitigation efforts due to its  funding of these types of activities. State Officials Believe that HMGP Successfully Takes Advantage of Mitigation Opportunities in a Postdisaster Environment

Hazard mitigation officials from the 24 states we contacted said that the  HMGP has been effective in stimulating action to mitigate the impacts of  natural hazards, primarily because it takes advantage of a “window of  opportunity” that exists in the postdisaster environment. Under the proposed new program, mitigation grants  would be awarded on a nationally competitive basis—instead of the  current formula-based awards—to better ensure that funding goes to the  most cost-beneficial projects. The first responder grant program would  provide funding to states and local governments to prepare for terrorist  events, and a portion of this preparedness may involve activities that could  be viewed as mitigation. The proposed inclusion of FEMA in DHS and, in the broader context, the  heightened concern over terrorism raises more fundamental issues about  hazard mitigation efforts, such as (1) how natural hazard mitigation  activities would fare in the new department that focuses on terrorism, (2)  whether planning and program efforts in the mitigation and preparedness  area should remain separate and distinct, and (3) how the HMGP—and the  legislation authorizing it—address the role and rationale for mitigation  after a terrorism-caused disaster. What are the issues resulting from the increased federal focus on  homeland security on conducting hazard mitigation efforts?
What GAO Found

Over the past 12 years, federal disaster assistance costs have totaled more than $39 billion (in fiscal year 2001 dollars)--a nearly fivefold increase over the previous 12-year period--as a result of a series of unusually large and frequent disasters and an increasing federal role in assisting communities and individuals affected by disasters. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the lead agency for providing federal disaster relief, has provided the bulk of the assistance to help those in need respond to and recover from disasters. As the costs for disaster assistance have risen, FEMA has made disaster mitigation a primary goal in its efforts to reduce the long-term cost of disasters and has developed mitigation programs designed to minimize risk to property or individuals from natural or man-made hazards. FEMA's multihazard mitigation programs differ substantially in how they have sought to reduce the risks from hazards but each has features that the state emergency management community believes has been successful for mitigation. The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP), FEMA's oldest multihazard mitigation programs, is a post disaster program that has provided the bulk of mitigation assistance to states and communities. State mitigation officials view the HMGP as a highly successful means for achieving mitigation because commitment to undertake mitigation efforts is greatest in the aftermath of a disaster, and the HMGP takes advantage of this "window of opportunity." FEMA has used its more recent and smaller predisaster Project Impact program to provide funding directly to communities in every state, regardless of whether the state had recently experienced a disaster. State and local officials said that Project Impact has been successful in increasing awareness of and community support for mitigation efforts due to its funding of these types of activities. The proposed new mitigation program would fundamentally change FEMA's approach by eliminating the postdisaster HMGP and by funding mitigation activities on a nationally competitive basis. The administration believes that the new program will ensure that mitigation funding remains stable from year to year and that the most cost-beneficial projects receive funding. The heightened focus on homeland security has raised several issues related to the conduct of hazard mitigation activities. Foremost among these issues is whether the increased emphasis on preventing and preparing for terrorist events will result in less focus on natural hazard mitigation concerns.