Although earthquakes are an inevitable hazard, they are not
inevitable disasters. Experiences in recent years have shown
consistently that lifelines properly designed to resist earthquakes
perform well in spite of severe earthquakes; those not so designed
are subject to failure. Assessments of earthquake hazards indicate
that one or more severe earthquakes can be expected to strike U.S.
metropolitan areas in the next decade. Until actions are taken to
improve the design and construction of lifelines, failures can be
expected to result in substantial losses--estimated at billions of
dollars and many lives for a single severe earthquake. The plan
described in this document defines a process that, if activated,
will begin the development of seismic design guidelines and
standards for both new and existing lifelines. Lifelines are the
public works and utility systems that support most human
activities: individual, family, economic, political, and cultural.
The various lifelines can be classified under the following five
systems: electric power, gas and liquid fuels, telecommunications,
transportation, and water supply and sewers. This plan for
developing and adopting seismic design and construction guidelines
and standards for lifelines has been prepared in response to Public
Law 101-614, the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program
(NEHRP) Reauthorization Act. The act requires the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA), in consultation with the National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), to develop "a plan,
including precise timetables and budget estimates, for developing
and adopting, in consultation with appropriate private sector
organizations, design and construction standards for lifelines" and
"recommendations of ways Federal regulatory authority could be used
to expedite the implementation of such standards." The Plan focuses
on developing recommendations, encouraging and supporting the
approval of these recommendations by the standards and professional
organizations serving the lifeline community, and working with the
lifeline community to achieve their effective implementation.
Design guidelines lay out a set of principles, which for lifelines
may include performance criteria, materials characteristics, and
testing procedures for design, construction, maintenance, repair,
and retrofitting of both existing and proposed systems. Guidelines
provide a basis for making judgments or determining a course of
action; they may evolve into recommendations for standards. A
standard, according to the National Standards Policy Advisory
Committee, is "a prescribed set of rules, conditions, or
requirements concerning definitions of terms; classification of
components; specification of materials, performance, or operation;
delineation of procedures; or measurement of quantity and quality
in describing materials, products, systems, services, or
practices." Properly developed and effectively implemented lifeline
seismic guidelines and standards will significantly reduce the
vulnerability of both existing and proposed lifeline systems to
future earthquakes. Guidelines and standards should (1) establish
performance criteria for the construction, maintenance, and
operation of existing and proposed lifeline systems, equipment, and
materials for selected levels of seismic risk; (2) provide a basis
for technical specifications for use by buyers and sellers of
lifeline products and services to reduce the vulnerability of
lifeline systems to earthquakes; and (3) provide a reliable basis
for regulations to protect the public health, safety, and welfare.
General
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