The foot-thick blueprint offers state and local communities a playbook for getting ready for disasters and finding ways to lower risks, Gov. Gary Locke said Wednesday.
``If we're going to respond quickly, whether to a flood or an act of terrorism, you have to have good coordination and established protocols.''
The Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 requires state and tribal governments to plan for potential hazards. Locke and the top Federal Emergency Management Agency representative in the region said it's no surprise that Washington became the first to secure federal approval.
After all, the state has been rocked by earthquakes, wildfires, the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980 and floods that devastate low-lying communities and farmland nearly every year.
Many states are expected to submit a bare-bones plan by the Nov. 1 deadline. By gaining approval of a much more elaborate plan, one that fills two six-inch binders, the state becomes eligible for a more generous federal match for hazard mitigation projects after a disaster - up to 20 percent of the total cost, versus 7.5 percent for other states.
FEMA regional chief John Pennington said approval of the state plan is ``a wonderful and remarkable achievement.'' The state has always aggressively protected its people and property, he said.
The backdrop for their news conference was the state Capitol, where crews are at work on earthquake repairs, seismic retrofitting and remodeling of one of state's most recognizable landmarks. The federal government is helping with the cost.
The state was credited with taking steps toward reducing the impact of disasters by moving homes in flood-prone lowlands in Skagit County, retrofitting the Seattle firehouse that houses the city's Emergency Operations Center, and repairing and retrofitting a Lakewood child care center.
Locke also praised efforts to improve land use plans for flood plains and shorelines, develop a coastal radio warning system for tidal waves, and educate communities that are in wildfire-prone areas.
The new plan extends the state's eligibility for federal aid for repairs to public facilities, such as water systems, fire stations and schools, that are damaged in floods, quakes or other disasters.
The proposal dovetails with a new anti-terrorism plan released in January.
