Guam Hazard Mitigation Plan - Western States Seismic Policy Council

Appendix CDefinitions100-hundred year floodplain. Also referred to as the Base Flood Elevation (BFE) and SpecialFlood Hazard Area. An area within a floodplain having a 1 percent or greater chance of floodoccurrence in any given year.Acquisition of hazard-prone structures. Local governments can acquire lands in high hazardareas through conservation easements, purchase of development rights, or outright purchase ofproperty.Actions. Specific actions that help achieve goals and objectives. Multiple mitigation actions maybe defined to feed into an evaluation of the alternative actions.Arson. The act of willfully and maliciously burning of property, especially with criminal orfraudulent intent.Asset. Any natural or human-made feature that has value, including, but not limited to people;buildings; infrastructure like bridges, roads, and sewer and water systems; lifelines likeelectricity and communication resources; or environmental, cultural, or recreational features likeparks, dunes, wetlands, or landmarks.Base Flood Elevation (BFE). Elevation of the base flood in relation to a specified datum, suchas the National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929. The BFE is used as a standard for the NationalFlood Insurance Program (NFIP).Benefit-cost analysis. Benefit-cost analysis is a systematic, quantitative method of comparingthe projected benefits to projected costs of a project or policy. It is used as a measure of costeffectiveness.Best Management Practices. Appropriate, site-specific management techniques that maximizethe benefits of land and natural resource management actions, while minimizing impacts.Biological hazards. A hazard caused by the presence of any microorganism, virus, infectioussubstance, or biological product that may be engineered as a result of biotechnology or anynaturally occurring microorganism, virus, infectious substance, or biological product, capable ofcausing death, disease, or other biological malfunction.Bond. A debt obligation issued by states, cities, counties, and other governmental entities to raisemoney to pay for public projects, such as government facilities and infrastructure.Building. A structure that is walled and roofed, principally above ground and permanentlyaffixed to a site. The term includes a manufactured home on a permanent foundation on whichthe wheels and axles carry no weight.Building codes. Regulations that set forth standards and requirements for the construction,maintenance, operation, occupancy, use, or appearance of buildings, premises, and dwellingunits. Building codes can include standards for structures to withstand natural hazards.Building/structure collapse. The failure and downfall of a structure. The collapse may resultfrom a variety of natural causes such as hurricanes/typhoons, earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, orfrom manmade circumstances such as construction deficiencies, neglect, aging infrastructure, oracts of terrorism.Capability assessment. An assessment that provides an inventory and analysis of a communityor state’s current capacity to address the threats associated with hazards. The capabilityassessment attempts to identify and evaluate existing policies, regulations, programs, andC-1