Developing coastal relocation policy: lessons learned from the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program

Abstract

Relocation is increasingly being considered a viable adaptation strategy in some coastal locations. Even though recent coastal disasters and a higher awareness of sea level rise have accentuated the importance of relocation, this is not a new strategy and has been applied as an effective hazard mitigation measure over the last three decades. The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the acquisition and relocation projects funded between 1989 and 2016 as a part of the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) and determine how the allocations for these projects evolved over time. A trend analysis was applied to assess how the number and the dollar amount of approved acquisition/relocation projects differ between coastal and inland counties, and within these categories, between rural and urban districts. Our findings show that inland counties had a significantly higher number of projects in any given year; however, average cost per coastal project has been continually increasing while that of inland projects decreased over the study period. Further, there is no marked difference between the number of and total amount spent on inland rural versus urban projects, while those in the coastal zone significantly differ in all categories between rural and urban counties.