Benefit Cost Analysis Guidance Document

Project summary:

A benefit-cost analysis (BCA) remains the most common measure used to estimate the cost-effectiveness of a proposed flood mitigation project and affects whether, and in what priority, projects are funded. As the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) states, BCA is a method for determining the potential positive effects of a mitigation measure and comparing them to the cost of the measure. The primary purpose of this project is to develop a Benefit Cost Analysis (BCA) Guidance document that identifies scalable approaches to BCA and a range of new damage/benefit tables to support communities and professionals in developing more reasonable, and comprehensive, benefit to cost ratios (BCR) for different levels of analysis. This includes detailed BCAs for specific, identified projects that are seeking financial assistance as well as broader BCAs for general planning purposes.

Project deliverable(s):

A guidance document for communities on best practices and improvements for completing a BCA.

Contractor (and Principal Investigator, if appropriate):

AECOM

Contract amount:

Approximately $225,000

Project lead:

Jenna Rao

Project timeline:

July 2022 - August 2024