Risk Analysis / Management Planning

Risk Analysis Reports and Management Planning for Natural Hazards

VIE provides risk analysis and management planning reports for natural hazards, including FEMA hazard mitigation plans, as well as owner-specific hazard mitigation plans. 

VIE Engineers’ personnel have been responsible for natural hazard analyses for hundreds of facilities throughout the United States over the past 40 years. This experience is augmented by the fact that first-hand disaster investigations have been conducted by VIE personnel for eight major natural disasters since 1987. This firsthand knowledge is very useful in performing realistic risk assessments.  

Hazard Mitigation Planning Concepts

Risk analysis determines the hazard mitigation required for earthquakes. Implementing hazard mitigation plans in advance attenuate vulnerabilities and often provide a large benefit-cost ratio compared to trying to repair damaged facilities after an earthquake.

Useful, successful plans constitute clearly and thoroughly vetted natural hazards, such as seismic, wind load, snow load, soil instability, and more. They identify the potential effects such hazards can have on life safety, loss of facility use, and economic loss. They identify high benefit projects which are consistent with local government priorities and provide realistic methods in order to achieve such objectives with directly relevant information. 

These BCAs include the probability of a risk event actually occurring. They must assist districts in prioritizing district facility rehabilitation and replacement plans. 

Plans Unrelated To FEMA Funding

For plans unrelated to FEMA funding, methodologies must be aligned with the district’s current master planning process. Local governments may self-fund to expedite timing. This process includes:

1. Determine planning area and resources.
2. Build the planning team.
3. Create an outreach strategy.
4. Review community capabilities. 
5. Conduct an assessment.
6. Develop a mitigation strategy.
7. Keep the plan current.
8. Review and adopt the plan
9. Create a safe and resilient community.
10. Renew plan every 5 years or it expires.

Plans To Obtain FEMA Funding

For plans to obtain FEMA funding, they must comply with all federal laws, including historical preservation and environmental protection. This process can take 4-12 months to write the plan. FEMA approved plans require the following scope:

1. Determine planning areas and resources.
2. Build the planning team.
3. Create an outreach strategy.
4. Review community capability.
5. Conduct an assessment.
6. Develop a mitigation strategy.
7. Keep the plan current.
8. Review and adopt the plan.
9. Create a safe and resilient community. 

FEMA is awarded funding for local plan development annually. In previous years, FEMA funded approximately 50 plans a year, with budgets from $25,000 to $200,000. Upon plan approval, a district can submit requests for project funding, which can be up to $3.0 million per year per project. 

Awards Received For Risk Analysis And Management Planning

VIE’s personnel have been recognized in several prestigious awards, including:

• Outstanding Seismic Project (Mitigation Category) in the United States, at the US Earthquake Engineering Conference,  or the Metropolitan Water District of  Salt Lake and Sandy- Seismic Analysis and Design Criteria Development.
• Outstanding Seismic Project (Planning) in the Western United States by the Western Council of Earthquake Engineering, for Development of Seismic Risk Assessment and Retrofit Standards for the Salt Lake City School District.

Improving Life Safety Performance Objectives

VIE has been able to achieve required life safety performance objectives through the use of innovative retrofit methods, often consisting of “first use” technologies. Examples include the first use of carbon fiber column encasement in Utah, and the first use of vertical wall coring in an historical retrofit in Utah. 

Components of risk analysis and natural hazard planning provided by VIE include:  

• Probable Maximum Loss Studies 
• Property Condition Assessments 
• Seismic Risk Evaluations Using Current Approved Assessment Methods in ASCE 7 and ASCE 41 Standards
• Engineering Studies to Determine Seismic Retrofit Options
• Risk Analyses for Other Natural Hazards (Fire, Flood, Wind)

Hazard Mitigation For Government Entities

VIE has developed complete hazard mitigation plans, and, when required, obtained approval of hazard mitigation plans from governmental entities. For example, VIE has prepared and obtained approval of FEMA hazard mitigation plans for:

• The Weber Basin Water Conservancy District
• The Murray School District
• The City of Saratoga Springs, Utah
• The Utah Fire Authority
• And others. 

VIE plans do not just fulfill a governmental requirement. Our plans are written in such a way as to successfully enable future mitigation projects funded. 

For example, the Weber Basin Water Plan has been successfully used to get eleven separate projects funded to date. Similarly, the Murray School District Plan has resulted in funding of all four schools that the District had identified as needing seismic retrofit construction. The State of Utah has highlighted the Murray School District as a model for successful planning to date. 

VIE works directly with clients in order to assess seismic risk and develop and implement mitigation strategies for structures in areas with high seismicity. This reduces threats to life safety and business loss while protecting assets’ value.