INSTITUTE FOR BUSINESS AND HOME SAFETY (IBHS)

INSTITUTE FOR BUSINESS AND HOME SAFETY (IBHS)

The Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS) is a national non-profit corporation whose mission is to reduce injuries, deaths, property damage, economic losses and human suffering caused by natural disasters. The Institute is supported by the insurance industry and others committed to accomplishing this mission. IBHS engages in communication, education, engineering and research.

• 
  Building codes
  
• 
  Business protection
  
• 
  Home protection
  
• 
  Flood risk education alliance
  
• 
  Public safety strategies
  
• 
  Showcase states
  
• 
  Annual conference
  

The IBHS Information Center has a vast collection of books, periodicals, videos, slides and other resources that are available on loan to its members, associate members, and the general public. The Information Center can also research questions concerning all of these areas and provide information via email, phone, fax, or mail. Publications on property protection include information for earthquake, flood, freezing weather, hail, hurricane, tornado, water and mold, and wildfire.

“Fortified…for safer Living”

The “Fortified…for safer Living” Program conducted by IBHS specifies construction, design and landscaping guidances to increase a new home’s resistance to natural disasters from the ground up. The “Fortified” program adds protection to windows and doors, provides better connections between the roof, walls, and foundation, and the roof is thicker, stronger and designed to stay drier.

Showcase States

IBHS created Showcase States: Partnerships for Disaster Resistance and Resilience to demonstrate the benefits of taking specific, creative steps statewide to reduce deaths, injuries, property damage, economic losses and human suffering caused by natural disasters. The objectives of Showcase State programs are to help states and their citizens to help themselves by reducing their vulnerability to natural disasters, and to learn what works and does not work to reduce the emotional and financial devastation caused by natural disasters.
Governor Easley designated North Carolina as a Showcase State in 2002 with Executive Order No. 25: North Carolina Showcase State Partnership for Natural Disaster Resistance and Resilience. The North Carolina Showcase State initiative is implemented through the collaboration of Blue Sky Foundation and the NC Division of Emergency Management. (For more information on Executive Order 25, see discussion of Blue Sky Foundation in this section of the Capability Assessment.)

NORTH CAROLINA CHAPTER OF THE AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION (NCAPA)

The purposes of the North Carolina Chapter of the American Planning Association (NCAPA) are, among others, to provide leadership in the development of sound planning policies and practices; provide continuing planning education; and to increase awareness of the planning process, the planning profession, and the benefits planning can bring to the citizens of North Carolina. A representative of the NCAPA serves on the State Hazard Mitigation Advisory Group.

The NCAPA has made smart growth one of its major foci, recognizing that all of our communities, regardless of size, face issues with growth and development. Some are straining to maintain adequate public services, environmental quality, and community character in the face of rapid growth. Others are struggling to provide economic opportunity or recover from devastating natural disasters. NCAPA works to encourage the use of Smart Growth techniques to help our communities maximize their resources and provide the highest possible quality of life for all of their citizens.
The NCAPA Smart Growth outreach program includes presentations about many aspects of Smart Growth, including the need to mitigate against the impacts of natural hazards. The presentation emphasizes that building disaster-resilient communities is a key element of sustainability, and incorporates the idea of building out of harm’s way to avoid flooding disasters such as that experienced during Hurricane Floyd. The presentation also makes the point that preserving natural areas as open space, greenways and corridors can serve to reduce flood hazards in many communities. It is through the widespread dissemination of information regarding hazards by organizations such as the NCAPA that the idea of hazard mitigation and sustainability as mutually supporting goals will become ingrained in our citizenry.

NORTH CAROLINA RURAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CENTER

The Rural Center was established in 1987 as a private, non-profit organization to advance rural economic development in North Carolina. The Center operates a multi-faceted program that includes conducting research and demonstration projects in rural issues, advocating for policy and program innovations, training and information dissemination, and building the productive capacity of rural leaders, entrepreneurs and community organizations. The Center serves the state’s 85 rural counties, with a special focus on individuals with low to moderate incomes and communities with limited resources.

The Rural Center is funded by both private and public sources and is led by a 50-member board of directors. In addition to appropriations from the North Carolina General Assembly, the Rural Center has received funding from the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation, the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco.
In 1996 the Rural Center provided leadership in the development of the State’s long-term disaster recovery plan following Hurricane Floyd. The President of the Rural Center served on the Hazard Mitigation and Long-Term Recovery Advisory Group, and his perspective was instrumental in formulating many of the Group’s recommendations as they affected the rural counties and the State as a whole. In 1999 the Rural Center’s President was again relied upon to manage the Hurricane Floyd Redevelopment Center, and the Redevelopment Center was housed in the Rural Center’s facilities. Currently, a staff member of the Rural Center serves on the State Hazard Mitigation Advisory Group, and has assisted in preparing the State Hazard Mitigation Plan.
The Rural Economic Development Center carries out several programs and initiatives to perform its role, some of which are described below.

Agricultural Advancement Consortium

Agriculture remains a vital sector of North Carolina’s economy. The State’s farming community, however, continues to be challenged by a number of powerful forces, including natural hazards that damage crops, farm structures and equipment, livestock and farm homesteads. In response to the recommendation of the Rural Prosperity Task Force, the North Carolina General Assembly authorized the establishment of the Agricultural Advancement Consortium during its 2000 session.

The Agricultural Advancement Consortium is an initiative of the Rural Center, and is the program most directly involved in natural hazards and their impacts on farmers and rural communities. The consortium is a 25-member board, composed of North Carolina’s foremost leadership in agriculture, business, and public policy. Its purpose is to develop a shared vision for farming in North Carolina and to coordinate prudent actions to improve farming’s long-term vitality. The Consortium’s primary goals are to advocate for legislation at the state and national levels that will positively affect North Carolina’s farm communities, and to coordinate and promote practical agricultural research and demonstration efforts.

The Agricultural Advancement Consortium assisted in the disbursement of farmer’s assistance funds following Hurricane Floyd, and recently received $300,000 to conduct policy work on the Hurricane Isabel recovery for agriculture.

Water and Sewer Initiative

The Rural Center joined forces with the State of North Carolina and the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1994 to launch the North Carolina Water and Sewer Initiative to address concerns that North Carolina had no effective strategy for determining where water and sewer systems were located, what condition they were in, what the needs were for the future, or how to develop and focus financial resources to repair and build needed facilities.
The Water and Sewer Initiative has been conducted in two phases. The purpose of Phase I was to provide the State with its first comprehensive database on water and sewer systems—so that state and local leaders would have complete, accurate information to use in shaping plans for the future. Toward this end, the Rural Center, in partnership with local officials and state engineering firms, began in 1995 to collect data on local systems. The initial data was completed in 1997, producing an in-depth inventory of 659 water and sewer systems in 75 North Carolina counties.
Overall, the assessment showed that North Carolina has a disproportionate number of very small water systems; a significant problem with aged, deteriorating, leaking pipes; major infiltration and inflow problems in sewer systems; and a general lack of water and sewer capacity necessary for growth. The study also pointed to the limited fiscal capacity of most rural governments to pay for needed improvements. In large part due to this extensive study, in 1998, the Clean Water and Natural Gas Critical Needs Bond Act was passed by the North Carolina voters and provided $800 million in much-needed grant and loan monies—the largest bond issued to date in the State’s history.
As part of the Clean Water Bond Act, the Rural Center received funding to expand its water and sewer grants programs. These programs include the Supplemental Grants Program, which enables local governments and qualified nonprofit corporations to improve local water and sewer systems, and the Capacity Building Grants Program, which provides funds for local governments to undertake preliminary planning work for a water or wastewater project. The bond act also included funds for an Un-sewered Communities Grants Program to support the planning and construction of new central, publicly owned sewer systems.
In Phase II of the Water and Sewer Initiative, the rural Center provides research and staff support to the North Carolina Infrastructure Council, created by the General Assembly as part of the Clean Water Bond Act. The Council is charged with developing a long-term capital improvement plan along with alternative funding mechanisms for achieving the plan.
The Rural Center is also addressing the emerging crisis of aquifer depletion in rural North Carolina. The Center works with the General Assembly and the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources to develop alternatives for providing clean water in the affected areas. In addition, the Rural Center will address the drought crisis, which has resulted in dwindling water supplies for domestic and industrial consumption in West Central North Carolina. Affected communities may apply for funding of water interconnections and the identification of alternative water sources.
All projects funded by the Rural Center must obtain the appropriate permits and go through the required environmental assessment process required by state law. All grantees work through the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the State Clearinghouse to obtain permits and Environmental Assessment review for their projects.
Regarding review of construction projects by the Rural Center, the legislation that enables its programs does not allow the Center to preclude funding in high hazard areas, although the staff does evaluate the location of construction projects during the funding review process as an element of good stewardship of state moneys. A brief review of the funding history of the Center shows that most local governments are now very aware of the dangers of construction in high hazard areas. The Center receives many grant requests for assistance with relocating water and sewer plants out of the floodplain.
The Center also funds projects that extend water and sewer lines to communities that have contaminated wells (due to failing septic tank systems) or failing septic tank systems (due to unsuitable soil types or lot sizes that do not permit repairs). The Center’s enabling legislation does require the Center to ensure that the grant funds do not promote mass residential development, and this is an issue that staff screens very carefully when funding this type of project. If applicants want to extend infrastructure to new developments as a part of a Rural Center-funded project, they must use their own funds to do so.
While the Rural Center does not have a formal component to its review process that prevents funding projects in high hazard areas (and legally may not do so), the Center relies on the environmental review process of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and its own screening of residential development to address these issues.

e-NC (Rural Internet Access Authority)

In its 2000 session, the General Assembly approved the creation of the Rural Internet Access Authority to oversee efforts to provide rural areas with high-speed broadband Internet access. In 2003, the e-NC Authority was created to continue the work of the RIAA. The Authority is established within the State Department of Commerce, with the Rural Center providing administrative and professional staff support for the Authority. The Authority is governed by a 15-member commission, which includes members of state government, business, and education leaders, and representatives from the State’s telecommunications companies.

Directory: div
div -> 9th May 1950 the schuman declaration
div -> Supplemental demographic information
div -> Introduction A. Purpose & Authority
div -> This section includes changes made during the 2013 update
div -> General occupational safety and health rules subdivision z toxic and hazardous substances
div -> Computer Basics What is a computer
div -> Mobile county, alabama regular board meeting
div -> Privacy: Campus Living & Technology

Download 1 Mb.

Share with your friends: