15 - A Comparative Review of Hazard-Prone Housing Acquisition Laws, Policies, and Programs in the United States and Aotearoa New Zealand: Opportunities to Improve Practice

Summary

This chapter provides a comparative review of the laws, policies, and programs guiding hazard-prone housing acquisition programs in United States and Aotearoa New Zealand. The two nations were selected because they both possess mature disaster management programs with somewhat similar yet sufficiently different governance structures. They also experience significant exposure to different natural hazard types and take varied approaches to address the many challenges associated with the acquisition of hazard-prone housing. First, we provide a general overview of the hazard-prone housing acquisition process followed by a description of the laws, policies, and programs found in the United States and Aotearoa New Zealand. A comparative review of laws and policies in both countries are described next, that contain varied program elements. These include pre-event planning, funding strategies, open space management rules, climate change adaptation requirements, building code compliance, and equity concerns. The chapter concludes with a series of policy recommendations intended to address identified opportunities for improvement, including cross-cultural lesson-drawing which will also be useful for other countries implementing buyout programs.