The Mitigation Strategy: Goals, Actions, Action Plan
The Mitigation Strategy: Goals, Actions, Action Plan
The mitigation strategy is made up of three main required components: mitigation goals, mitigation actions, and an action plan for implementation. These provide the framework to identify, prioritize and implement actions to reduce risk to hazards.
Mitigation goals are general guidelines that explain what the community wants to achieve with the plan (see figure above). They are usually broad policy-type statements that are long-term, and they represent visions for reducing or avoiding losses from the identified hazards.
Example goal: Minimize new development in hazard-prone areas.
Mitigation actions are specific projects and activities that help achieve the goals.
Example action: Amend zoning ordinance to permit only open space land uses within floodplains.
The action plan describes how the mitigation actions will be implemented, including how those actions will be prioritized, administered and incorporated into the community’s existing planning mechanisms. In a multi-jurisdictional plan, each jurisdiction must have an action plan specific to that jurisdiction and its vulnerabilities.
Although not required, some communities choose to develop objectives to help define or organize mitigation actions (see figure above). Objectives are broader than specific actions, but are measurable, unlike goals. Objectives connect goals with the actual mitigation actions.
