4.1 The Use of this Standard Guide—This guide addresses issues related solely to adaptation strategies and development of a plan to address extreme weather and related physical changes. This guide does not include specific guidance on risk assessment, however references are provided in Appendix X3. The matrix approach does reflect general risks for certain regions of the country, based upon the frequency of extreme weather and/or conditions such as fires, floods, storms, drought, and extreme temperatures. Adaptation strategies and planning may consist of a wide variety of actions by an individual, community, or organization to prepare for, or respond to, the impacts of extreme weather.
4.1.1 This guide does not address causes of extreme weather.
4.1.2 This guide addresses adjustment strategies and planning that a group of people or ecosystems make to limit negative effects of extreme weather. It also addresses taking advantage of opportunities that long term extreme weather patterns may present.
4.2 Example Users:
4.2.1 Small businesses or enterprises;
4.2.2 Service industries;
4.2.3 Federal, state or municipal facilities and regulators, including departments of health and fire departments;
4.2.4 Financial and insurance institutions;
4.2.5 Public works staff, including water system, stormwater system, wastewater system, solid waste, and other utilities (electrical, telephone, gas, et al) and other waste managers, including liquid and solid waste haulers, treatment, recycling, disposal and transfer;
4.2.6 Consultants, auditors, state, municipal and private inspectors and compliance assistance personnel;
4.2.7 Educational facilities;
4.2.8 Property, buildings and grounds management, including landscaping;
4.2.9 Non-regulatory government agencies, such as the military;
4.2.10 Wildlife management entities including government, tribal and NGOs.
4.3 This guide is a first step in crafting simplified goals for managing and communicating risks. The framework describes a process by which the user may categorize current climate risks and a priority approach to manage those risks. The technique classifies common responses for both mitigation and adaptation. The guide groups responses and examples into regions based on experience in responding to risks. The regional classifications found in this guide reflect the general structures of State, Federal and local response programs. These authorities generally classify groups of similar responses according to the timely availability and cost effectiveness of responses.
4.3.1 Adaptation strategies and planning may include actions by individuals and communities, for example, from reduced tree clearing for an individual lot, to a farmer planting more drought-resistant crops, or to a municipality protecting riparian and floodplain standards and buffers or ensuring that new coastal infrastructure can accommodate future sea level rise. However, building resilience across communities will require action at all levels; individual, business, town, county, state, and federal.
4.3.2 Some municipalities, for example Boston, Miami Beach, and Baltimore, corporate entities, and organizations have already begun taking action toward defining adaptation strategies and planning for extreme weather.
4.3.3 In an increasingly interdependent world, negative effects of extreme weather on one population or economic sector may have repercussions around the world. These effects have repercussions on populations and settlements in neighboring areas, within countries, or across the globe. They include economic disruption to productivity and the supply-chain, impacts to energy production and cascading impacts to users.
4.3.4 Many ecosystems will also be affected by extreme weather challenges and opportunities. Some species may be able to migrate or change their behavior to accommodate changes in the weather. Other species may decline or become extinct. Some species may increase in numbers. Managers of natural resources may anticipate some of the impacts of extreme weather on ecosystems. This offers one avenue in beginning to develop management programs that may help ecosystems adapt.
4.3.5 There are limits to the ability of human systems to adapt. For example, the relocation of cities and various communities or infrastructure may not be feasible in many locations, especially in a short period of time. Implementation timeframes could take 20, 50 and 100 years or longer.
4.3.6 Those communities or sections of communities that are most vulnerable, such as locations where the poor, disengaged, elderly or those in ill health live, are at greatest risk. Extreme weather may exacerbate existing issues. Addressing underlying issues that make communities or systems vulnerable will increase their resilience and support adaptation efforts.
4.3.7 The user should consider the most effective scale of adaptation, for example, site, town, catchment, watershed, City, State, or regional level. The scale will impact the relative direct and indirect costs and benefits of a solution. The guide may help users understand the most effective scale of adaptation and the appropriate level of action.
4.4 This guide defines good commercial and customary practice in the U.S. for conducting baseline assessment and reasonable mitigation/adaptation strategic options on a voluntary basis. The following principles apply to this priority system:
4.4.1 Ability to set specific goals for activities. This includes adopting a contingency plan for protection from weather related events using engineering changes while maintaining current operations. This includes “flood-proofing” “fire-proofing,” back-up energy generation, vegetation management around power lines and other measures to cope with extreme weather.
4.4.2 Marketing environmental awareness and sensitivity;
4.4.3 Assessing risks from future weather related events and extreme conditions. A compendium of applicable risk assessment tools that users may find useful are in Appendix X1.
4.4.4 Risk management, underwriting; loss control and history; premiums and claims;
4.4.5 Liability assessment and qualifications for loans;
4.4.6 Standardization, consistency and certification of facility specific evaluations;
4.4.7 Educating employees, clients and customers;
4.4.8 Generating multi media and cross medium information;
4.4.9 Evaluating vendors;
4.4.10 Reducing costs and preventing pollution.
4.5 Users may consider various benefits of assessment and response.
4.5.1 This guide is a basic primer on climate impacts and may serve to introduce the subject for organizations unfamiliar with the principles.
4.5.2 Some government agencies, fiduciaries and business organizations publish strategies for climate resiliency. The public has systematic ability to access or estimate information on individual businesses. Therefore, businesses need guidance on how to assess the nature and potential risks of climate risks, and a programmatic approach for reducing or eliminating those risks through protection, accommodation, retreat, and other proactive management systems.
4.5.3 Reduced operation, insurance and maintenance costs may be realized through a tiered evaluation of weather related response opportunities.
4.5.4 Responses may be streamlined and simplified so that all levels in an organization may participate.
4.5.5 Some enterprises may be more competitive in the marketplace with improved climate-related response programs.
4.5.6 Setting priorities can allow planning and evaluation of new adaptation and response requirements.
4.5.7 Different stakeholders, such as industries or governments, will have different interests and responsibilities for taking action. For example, retreat and relocation of populations will fall under the government scope rather than industry.
4.6 Institutional Risks—Some of the risks posed by weather related events include damage to residences, businesses, infrastructure and agriculture from fires, floods, drought, extreme temperature, storms, hail, winds, tidal surge and sea level rise. Early, voluntary actions, including the use of this guide, may also help organizations prepare for and reduce the impacts of future government regulations. Some of the possible government programs that may be used to address climate are described below.
4.6.1 Flood Insurance Maps;
4.6.2 Water conservation requirements;
4.6.4 Emergency response;
4.6.5 Zoning regulations;
4.6.7 Wetlands and stream buffer regulations;
4.6.8 Stormwater standards and regulations for floodplains and floodways, planning, development requirements, and infrastructure design (MS4, flood control systems, floodplains and floodways);
4.6.9 Public Works Projects;
4.6.10 Hazard Mitigation Planning.
4.7 Managing Risk Uncertainty:
4.7.1 It appears that weather extremes will continue to present risks and uncertainty as to the effects they will have in different regions. The ability to predict future weather related risks has improved, but efforts to understand the complete impact of those risks on society and analyze mitigation and adaptation strategies are still relatively immature.
4.7.2 The tiered analysis in this guide will help support decision-making, studying regional impacts, and communicating with wider group of stakeholders in the face of uncertainty.
4.7.3 The insurance industry has always played a role in risk management by insuring weather related risks, promoting stronger building codes, and better land-use decision-making.
