Provide intergenerational equity and durability

The economy, environment, and social well-being should be managed for the equal benefit of present and future generations. A sustainable community does not deplete its resources, destroy natural systems, or pass along unnecessary hazards to future generations.  We should incorporate disaster resilience and mitigation into our decisions and actions. A community is resilient in the face of inevitable natural disasters like tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, and drought if it takes steps to ensure that such events cause as little damage as possible, that productivity is only minimally interrupted, and that quality of life remains at (or quickly returns to) high levels. A disaster-resilient community further takes responsibility for the risks it faces and, to the extent possible, is self reliant. That is, it does not anticipate that outside entities (such as federal or state government) can or will mitigate its hazards or pay for its disasters.

PRINCIPLES