Survey to Assess Community Use of the NIST Community Resilience Planning Guide for Builders and Infrastructure Systems

Project Title: Assessment of Community Use of the NIST Community Resilience Planning Guide for Buildings and Infrastructure Systems 

Survey Modules for Traditional Users of the NIST Guide

V.2.0 (date: 10-24-17)

Introductory Script

OMB Control #0693-0078

Expiration date: 07/31/2019

This information collection is focused on communities that have used or are currently using the NIST Community Resilience Planning Guide for Buildings and Infrastructure Systems. We are collecting information from representatives of these communities in order to 1) inform the next generation of guidance on community resilience planning including Version 2.0 of the NIST Community Resilience Planning Guide and accompanying tool development, 2) better understand the process of resilience planning, and 3) identify additional resources that communities need for resilience planning.

This collection of information contains Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) requirements approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Notwithstanding any other provisions of the law, no person is required to respond to, nor shall any person be subject to a penalty for failure to comply with, a collection of information subject to the requirements of the PRA unless that collection of information displays a currently valid OMB control number. Public reporting burden for this collection is estimated to be 15 minutes per survey, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Attn: Jennifer Helgeson, Economist, NIST, 100 Bureau Drive, MS 8603, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-1710, telephone 301-975-6133, or via email to [email protected].

Background on Representative and Community (General Survey Module C)

Pre-screen question:

1. Please enter your uniquely assigned ID Code.

[REQUIRE ANSWER - This question requires an answer. If you do not know your ID Code, please contact [email protected] for assistance.]

[VALIDATE ANSWER - The ID Code you entered is in an invalid format.]

We are aware that your community has used or is using the NIST Community Resilience Planning Guide for Buildings and Infrastructure Systems for resilience planning. In order to better understand your community’s use, we would like to first ask a general set of questions about you and the community you represent.

1. At what scale of community is the NIST Community Resilience Planning Guide being implemented?

   1. state

   2. region

   3. county

   4. city

   5. town

   6. municipality

   7. Other __________

2. Do you live in the community where you are participating in resilience planning?

   1. Yes

   2. No

3. If yes, how long have you lived in this community?

   1. __________ years __________months

   2. other __________

4. What is your current position in the community where you are participating in resilience planning (e.g., elected leader, educator, business owner)?

5. How long have you been in this role?

   1. __________ years __________ months

6. What is your role in the NIST Community Resilience Planning Guide implementation process?

7. What is motivating your community to use the NIST Community Resilience Planning Guide?

8. If your motivation is the experience of a recent disaster, will this process be used to inform use of resources received post-disaster (e.g. federal disaster assistance for individuals and businesses, public assistance, and hazard mitigation assistance)?

   1. Yes

   2. No

   3. Not sure

9. What, if any, technical assistance has NIST provided to your community (e.g., presentations to your collaborative planning team, meeting facilitation, teleconference check ins, participation in process, technical advice)?

10. Were there financial resources available for the implementation of the NIST Guide?

    1. Yes

    2. No

11. If yes, please identify each source and indicate the amount received from each source.

Source	Amount

12. What types of hazards/disasters has your community experienced at any point in the past, to the best of your knowledge? Select all that apply:

    1. earthquake

    2. flooding

    3. hurricane

    4. severe storms

    5. terrorism

    6. tornado

    7. Other __________

    8. Other __________

    9. Other __________

13. What other types of stressors is your community currently experiencing? Select all that apply:

    1. crime

    2. food insecurity

    3. income inequality

    4. homelessness

    5. lack of affordable housing

    6. low high school graduation rates

    7. poor health status

    8. unemployment

    9. unreliable public transportation

    10. Other __________

    11. Other __________

    12. Other __________

14. What other types of plans does your community have in place? Select all that apply:

    1. comprehensive plan

    2. economic development plan

    3. hazard mitigation plan

    4. public health plan

    5. public safety plan

    6. recovery plan

    7. urban development plan

    8. transportation plan

    9. sustainability plan

    10. energy efficiency plan

    11. Other __________

    12. Other __________

    13. Other __________

15. In your community, is there is an agreed upon outcome for the resilience planning process?

    1. Yes

    2. No

    3. Maybe

16. If yes or maybe, please describe that outcome.

Step 1 “Form a Collaborative Planning Team” Survey Module

Pre-screen question:

1. Please enter your uniquely assigned ID Code.

[REQUIRE ANSWER - This question requires an answer. If you do not know your ID Code, please contact [email protected] for assistance.]

[VALIDATE ANSWER - The ID Code you entered is in an invalid format.]

Thank you for continuing to provide feedback on your community’s experience with the NIST Community Resilience Planning Guide. We would now like to ask you a set of questions about Step 1 “Form a Collaborative Planning Team”.

INSTRUCTIONS: The following questions apply at the completion of the NIST Community Resilience Planning Guide Step 1 in which the community forms a collaborative team.

1. The community resilience planning team got started because of a:

   1. new state requirement

   2. recent disaster experience

   3. request by a specific sector such as business, health

   4. routine planning cycle

   5. other __________

2. How were the members of the community planning team selected?

3. How representative would you say that your team is of the different stakeholders in your community (e.g., local government, public and private developers, owners and operators of buildings and infrastructure systems, business and industry representatives, community organizations, religious and cultural organizations, volunteer groups)?

   1. Absolutely unrepresentative

   2. Unrepresentative

   3. Slightly unrepresentative

   4. Slightly representative

   5. Representative

   6. Absolutely representative

4. Would you say that trying to obtain representativeness across stakeholder groups was:

   1. Very difficult

   2. Difficult

   3. Neutral

   4. Easy

   5. Very easy

SKIP PATTERN: For Q4, If respondent answers either a or b, then proceed to Q5. If respondent answers c, d, or e, then skip to Q8.

5. Please briefly describe the difficulty encountered.

6. Was this difficulty overcome, or did it prevent getting adequate representation? Please explain.

7. How could this difficulty be avoided in the future?

General Process Evaluation Questions (General Survey Module D)

8. Please describe the resource requirements for this step (Forming a Collaborative Planning Team) by estimating the total number of participants and labor hours to the best of your ability.

9. Are there tools and/or support that your planning team needs from NIST or other organizations that would enable you to work more effectively?

1. Yes

2. No

10. Please provide examples or an explanation of these needs.

11. What significant challenges were encountered in this step?

12. What external factors influenced this step? (e.g., limited staff, staff with limited knowledge/skill, not enough money, unfavorable vote by local government)

13. In what ways has the NIST Community Resilience Planning Guide been useful?

14. In what ways would you recommend changing or improving the NIST Community Resilience Planning Guide for communities similar to your own?

15. Is there anything else you would like to tell us about your community’s experience with the resilience planning process at this time?

Step 2 “Understand the Situation” Survey Module

Pre-screen question:

1. Please enter your uniquely assigned ID Code.

[REQUIRE ANSWER - This question requires an answer. If you do not know your ID Code, please contact [email protected] for assistance.]

[VALIDATE ANSWER - The ID Code you entered is in an invalid format.]

Thank you for continuing to provide feedback on your community’s experience with the NIST Community Resilience Planning Guide. We would now like to ask you a set of questions about Step 2 “Understand the Situation”.

1. What processes were used to characterize the population and identify the social institutions?

2. Did the planning team identify dependencies among the social institutions?

   1. Yes

   2. No

3. [IF YES] The level of complexity of the social institution dependencies identified was:

   1. Not at all complex

   2. Slightly complex

   3. Moderately complex

   4. Very complex

   5. Extremely complex

4. What processes were used to characterize the built environment?

5. Did the planning team identify dependencies within the built environment?

6. [IF YES] The level of complexity of the built environment dependencies identified was:

   1. Not at all complex

   2. Slightly complex

   3. Moderately complex

   4. Very complex

   5. Extremely complex

7. Were metrics identified?

   1. Yes

   2. No

8. What processes were used to identify links between social institutions and the built environment?

9. The level of difficulty encountered by the planning team in obtaining information to complete Step 2 was:

   1. Very difficult

   2. Difficult

   3. Neutral

   4. Easy

   5. Very easy

General Process Evaluation Questions (General Survey Module D)

10. Please describe the resource requirements for this step (Understand the Situation) by estimating the total number of participants and labor hours to the best of your ability.

11. Are there tools and/or support that your planning team needs from NIST or other organizations that would enable you to work more effectively?

1. Yes

2. No

12. Please provide examples or an explanation of these needs.

13. What significant challenges were encountered in this step?

14. What external factors influenced this step? (e.g., limited staff, staff with limited knowledge/skill, not enough money, unfavorable vote by local government)

15. In what ways has the NIST Community Resilience Planning Guide been useful?

16. In what ways would you recommend changing or improving the NIST Community Resilience Planning Guide for communities similar to your own?

17. Is there anything else you would like to tell us about your community’s experience with the resilience planning process at this time?

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