Local Adoption of the Plan

Adoption by the local governing body demonstrates the community’s commitment to implementing the mitigation strategy and authorizes responsible agencies to execute their actions. The final plan will not be approved until the community adopts the plan and FEMA receives documentation of formal adoption by the governing body of the jurisdiction(s) requesting approval. The governing bodies are typically the Town Board, City Council, County Commission, and/ or Board of Selectmen. While plan adoption usually occurs through a formal resolution, council minutes, consent agendas, or other forms of adoption are acceptable if allowed by local law. See Worksheet 8.1 for an example of a local adoption resolution.

Each jurisdiction must submit documentation of adoption to the State, which is responsible for forwarding this on to the FEMA Regional Office. If you choose to use the APA (Approval Pending Adoption) process, adoption must take place within 1 year of receipt of FEMA’s APA notification.

Multi-Jurisdictional Adoption

Each jurisdiction seeking plan approval must adopt the plan. If you choose to use the APA process, it is important to coordinate the adoptions of all the jurisdictions as soon as the plan receives APA status. The governing bodies may have different meeting schedules, which would prevent all the jurisdictions from adopting at the same time. If possible, coordinate the adoptions and submit documentation to the state at the same time.

At least one of the participating jurisdictions must adopt the plan within 1 year of FEMA’s APA notice. FEMA will issue an official approval letter stating which jurisdictions have adopted the plan and are eligible for FEMA hazard mitigation assistance programs. The plan will expire 5 years from the date of FEMA’s approval letter for the mitigation plan. The approval letter and date are generated with the first jurisdiction adopting the plan. The plan approval date remains the same regardless of when other participating jurisdictions adopt the plan. It is important to coordinate the adoption process to ensure that all participants are covered by the plan for the full 5 years. Plan updates follow the same adoption process.