Res21 16010 final - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

P a g e | 2 This report supports the County and Annex Partners by offering tools, actionable examples, and an overview of when and how to incorporate equity considerations throughout the process of updating the County’s Multijurisdictional Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (MJLHMP) to better address risks to vulnerable populations. Furthermore, this report provides a roadmap to implement the MJLHMP’s equity and community engagement principles, goals and objectives. Recommendations for Addressing Equity in Hazard Mitigation Planning San Mateo County Multijurisdictional Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (MJLHMP) 2021 Update Purpose Statement San Mateo County is in the process of updating the 2016 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan, which is a regional and cross-jurisdictional effort to plan for the reduction of risk from natural and man-made disasters. Hazard mitigation planning seeks to protect life and property, prevent harm to communities and strengthen infrastructure so it can withstand hazards and climate impacts. The more effectively we plan to mitigate hazards now, the more we reduce impacts on our communities as well as our response and recovery time, increasing our resilience. Socially vulnerable communities are hit hardest during disasters and need the most support to recover (Jerolleman 2019). San Mateo County also faces new hazards, as the impacts of climate change place an increasing number of communities at risk and multi-hazard situations are further complicated by the COVID pandemic, requiring new strategies. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is increasingly encouraging jurisdictions to think through inequities in their areas and to support vulnerable communities through more equitable hazard mitigation planning guidance (FEMA 2020). PART 1: Equity in the Context of Hazard Mitigation There are many approaches to defining and evaluating equity, but at its core, equity is about everyone getting what we need to survive and thrive. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), equity is the absence of avoidable or remediable differences among groups of people, whether those groups are defined socially, economically, demographically, or geographically. It is also a process of addressing historic and current inequities to strive for greater equality. There is an extensive field of practice related to equity and planning processes, climate equity and disaster equity. There are increasing efforts focused on Hazard Mitigation and equity including efforts from The Natural Hazards Center at University of Colorado at Boulder, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and the Institute for Diversity and Inclusion in Emergency Management. The Bay Area Climate Adaptation Network (BayCAN) Equity Working Group’s Equitable Adaptation Guide (Salz et al. 2020) states that “Equity ensures fair outcomes, treatment, and opportunities for all people, ensuring everyone gets what they need to enjoy full, healthy lives. It is the process of reducing disparities that are systematically associated with social advantage/disadvantage.” The first step to integrate equity into hazard mitigation is recognizing that disparities in health outcomes, inequities in living conditions, and lack of political power place many low income communities, people of color, people with disabilities, pregnant women, and historically disadvantaged people, among others, at greater risk of hazards and limits their capacity to adapt, respond and recover.