(1) Mitigation activities provide a critical foundation across the incident management spectrum from prevention through response and recovery. Examples of key mitigation activities include the following: (a) Ongoing public education and outreach activities designed to reduce loss of life and destruction of property; (b) Structural retrofitting to deter or lessen the impact of incidents and reduce loss of life, destruction of property, and impact on the environment; (c) Code enforcement through such activities as zoning regulation, land management, and building codes; and (d) Flood insurance and the buy-out of properties subjected to frequent flooding, etc (DHS, National Response Plan (Draft #1), February 25, 2004, p. 16). (2) Activities designed to reduce or eliminate risks to persons or property or to lessen the actual or potential effects or consequences of an incident. Mitigation measures may be implemented prior to, during, or after an incident. Mitigation measures are often developed in accordance with lessons learned from prior incidents. Mitigation involves ongoing actions to reduce exposure to, probability of, or potential loss from hazards. Measures may include zoning and building codes, floodplain buyouts, and analysis of hazard-related data to determine where it is safe to build or locate temporary facilities. Mitigation can include efforts to educate governments, businesses, and the public on measures they can take to reduce loss and injury. (DHS, NIPP, 2006, p. 104). (3) "...mitigation is the social attempt to reduce the occurrence of a disaster, to reduce the vulnerability of certain populations, and to more equitably distribute the costs within the society". (Dynes 1993, 179). (4) Those activities designed to alleviate the effects of a major disaster or emergency or long-term activities to minimize the potentially adverse effects of future disaster in affected areas. (FEMA, Definitions of Terms, 1990; DHS, National Response Plan (Draft #1), Feb 25, 2004, 77). (5) Mitigation actions involve lasting, often permanent, reduction of exposure to, probability of, or potential loss from hazard events. They tend to focus on where and how to build. Examples include: zoning and building code requirements for rebuilding in high-hazard areas; floodplain buyouts; and analyses of floodplain and other hazard-related data to determine where it is safe to build in normal times, to open shelters in emergencies, or to locate temporary housing in the aftermath of a disaster. Mitigation also can involve educating businesses and the public on simple measures they can take to reduce loss and injury, like fastening bookshelves, water heaters, and file cabinets to walls to keep them from falling during earthquakes. (FEMA, Guide for All Hazards Emergency Operations Planning (SLG 101), September 1996, p. 1-3). (6) All steps necessary to minimize the potentially adverse effects of the proposed action and to restore, preserve, and enhance natural values of wetlands; or long-term activities to minimize the potentially adverse effects of future disaster in affected areas. (FEMA, Guide SLG 101, 1996)