Risk Management Accomplishments

Decision-Support Tools Development

The NOAA Pacific Services Center’s (PSC) coastal hazards specialist oversaw the commencement of three development projects for decision-support tools.

• The Risk Management Measure Assessment Tool (RMMAT). PSC is working in cooperation with the NOAA Coastal Services Center to develop a module of educational and informational materials on risk management measures.
• The Storm Damage Assessment and Reporting Tool (SDART). PSC is supporting preliminary work on the identification of specific building vulnerability factors for American Samoa.
• The Slope Movement Assessment and Reporting Tool (SMART). One part of this project, supported by PSC, involves mapping potential liquefaction hazard zones for coastal Hawai`i and Maui counties.

Environmental Sensitivity Mapping

PSC’s coastal management specialist, on rotation from the NOAA Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R), assisted in creating draft Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps for American Samoa and plans for updating these maps for Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). All maps include geologic information on shoreline types, biological resources in coastal areas, and information from NOAA’s recent coral surveys. The ESI maps will be used during responses to oil and chemical spills and for response planning. Detailed information of this type will help protect valuable resources in the waters of the Pacific Islands.

Hawai`i Contaminated Sites

PSC’s Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) coastal management specialist initiated a partnership among PSC, OR&R, and the State of Hawai`i to help Pacific Island agencies investigate, characterize, remediate, restore, and redevelop contaminated sites, including Formerly Used Defense (FUD) sites, Superfund sites, and brownfields. The partnership works to match OR&R and PSC’s combined technical expertise on contaminated sites with local needs. One of the major action areas the partners identified is the need to enhance the brownfields geographic information system (GIS) database. While plans for this larger effort continue, OR&R is assisting the Hawai`i Department of Health in assessing and improving its contaminated sites database.

Oil Spill Response Training

PSC’s OR&R coastal management specialist coordinated the planning of tropical oil spill response and damage assessment training for American Samoa, Guam, the CNMI, and Yap. This training was held in Guam in March 2004 and helped local decision makers and responders learn about the consequences and response options for spills that could affect coastal resources.

Report on Natural Hazard Risk Management Project Opportunities in the U.S.-Flag Pacific Islands

The PSC coastal hazards specialist completed a report that identifies two strategies to manage risks due to natural hazards:

• Support partnership development, facilitate information sharing, and promote the integration of products and services on a regional level; and
• Support planning efforts at the community and village level through the development and implementation of locally customized, regionally replicable decision-support tools.

The report describes recommended projects in these two priority areas.

Pacific Risk Management `Ohana

A three-day meeting in March 2004 was held to enhance communication, coordination, and collaboration among federal network partners in the Pacific Islands and also cultivate a sense of community and an appreciation for the unique physical and cultural characteristics of the region. Seven working groups, or hui o hana, were formed, and communication continues through mailing lists, e-mail, and meetings. The meeting's proceedings are available online.

Support for Database of Contaminated Sites

An ongoing partnership between NOAA and the State of Hawaii is under way to improve the ability of state and federal agencies to accurately capture the threat contaminated sites pose to Hawaii’s natural resources and public health, and to plan and prioritize cleanup efforts.

In February 2004, an OR&R team worked on-site with the Hawaii Department of Health's Hazard Evaluation and Emergency Response office to examine the paper files, existing database, and current capabilities. The team developed a set of recommendations on how to enhance and modify the function of the HEER contaminated-site database and the data collection approach to meet the priority needs.

NOAA Pacific Services Center provided funding to OR&R to establish an internship to assist with implementing the recommendations. From October 2004 to March 2005, the intern worked with HEER and OR&R to develop a straightforward and spatially linked database for contaminated sites. In addition, the intern write a manual for future database users.

Support to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

The PSC coastal hazards specialist worked to support ongoing efforts to develop local hazard mitigation plans by assisting in the development of and access to inventory information, as well as attending a regional workshop and a series of local coordination meetings.

Support to the U.S. National Weather Service

PSC’s coastal hazards specialist was a member of a National Weather Service (NWS) assessment team that evaluated NWS activities in Guam and other Pacific islands during December 2002’s Typhoon Pongsona. The team’s report included findings and recommendations to improve NWS products and services, as well as an event timeline developed by the PSC team member. In addition to this work, two PSC staff members facilitated a three-day NWS workshop on communications infrastructure and information dissemination in the Pacific Islands. Following two days of presentations and deliberations, the participants endorsed a series of recommendations, including the formation of a working group to oversee the implementation of a series of immediate, short-term, and long-term action items in the areas of technology and content.

Technical Assistance in Hazard Mitigation

A highlight among these ongoing efforts is assistance provided to Maui County, Hawai`i, which is amending its shoreline setback rules. Because concerns have been raised about the effect of these changes on public property rights, the PSC coastal hazards specialist worked with the Maui County planner to develop a series of geographic information system (GIS)–based queries that could be used to determine the impacts of the proposed ordinance prior to its implementation. PSC also provided a technical review of Maui County’s proposed coastal erosion assessment methodology at the county’s request.