Hazard Mitigation Plan

The Town of Acton kicked off the Hazard Mitigation Plan process earlier this winter!

This plan assesses Acton’s natural disaster risks and vulnerabilities and identifies proactive mitigation goals and actions to be taken over the next five years. The updated plan will allow Acton to continue to be eligible for FEMA funding and hazard mitigation grants.

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DPW Director Corey York and Sustainability Director Andrea Becerra speak at the HMP Working Group Kickoff meeting

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Community members provide feedback at the Hazard Mitigation Plan Open House event

A Final Version of the Hazard Mitigation Plan is Now Available!

The Hazard Mitigation Plan update was led by the Acton Local Hazard Mitigation Planning Team (LHMPT), composed of Acton Town staff and officials, Acton Water District representatives, and community members from Green Acton. 

Public participation is important for improving awareness of the potential impacts of natural hazards and to build support for the actions the Town takes to mitigate them. The Town’s LHMPT invited the community to two public engagement events to solicit input for the draft: an open house at Town Hall on May 15, 2024, a booth at the Acton Climate Festival on June 8, 2024, a webinar in August.

The draft updated Hazard Mitigation Plan and Appendices was made available for public comment through September of 2024. The final version submitted to MEMA for review can be viewed below. The redlined version includes the edits that were made to the plan based on feedback from the community. The input received from the public, both written and spoken during the webinar is captured in the appendices. The Town is currently finalizing the updated plan which will be available to the public soon.

- Hazard Mitigation Plan, 2024 Update (12/12/2024)

- Hazard Mitigation Plan, 2024 Update (Redlined) (12/12/2024)

- Hazard Mitigation Plan Appendices, 2024 Update (12/12/2024)

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Boards display drafted HMP goals and actions at the Acton Climate Resilience Festival

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A map of Acton featuring feedback collected at the Acton Climate Resilience Festival

The last HMP was published in 2018

The current iteration of the Hazard Mitigation Plan (2018) can be found here. The updated plan will address the mitigation of multiple natural hazards that may affect the community, including flood hazards, winter storm hazards, wildfire hazards, and geologic hazards.

HMP—not to be confused with MVP

The Town has also launched the Municipal Vulnerability Plan (MVP) update process. While there is some overlap with the HMP, the MVP is less focused on hard data on physical structures in Town and is more focused on strategies and actions that help build community resilience to climate change. There will be more updates on this soon. In the meantime, to learn more about the MVP process, click here.

Do you have questions regarding Acton's Hazard Mitigation Plan Update? Please reach out to the Sustainability Office at sustainability@actonma.gov.