One of the goals of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) is to encourage design and building practices that address the earthquake hazard and minimize the resulting risk of damage and injury. Publication of the 2009 edition of the NEHRP Recommended Seismic Provisions for New Buildings and Other Structures (FEMA P-750) reaffirms FEMA's ongoing support of efforts to achieve this goal. First published in 1985, the 2009 edition of the Provisions marks the seventh in a series of updates to the document and several complementary publications. FEMA is proud to have sponsored this project conducted by the Building Seismic Safety Council (BSSC) of National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) and continues to encourage the widespread dissemination and voluntary use of this state-of-art consensus resource document. In contrast to the earlier editions of the Provisions which resulted from three-year update projects, the 2009 edition is the first resulting from a five-year update effort that allowed the BSSC's Provisions Update Committee (PUC) to make some major changes in both the substance and the format of the Provisions document. The most significant change involves the adoption by reference of the national consensus design loads standard, ASCE/SEI 7-05, Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures, including the related consensus standards referenced therein and Supplements 1 and 2. Part 1 of this document includes consensus-approved modifications of the seismic requirements in the standard. Among these modifications is the adoption of new seismic design maps based on seismic hazard maps issued in 2008 by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) along with some design-related adjustments. Another major change has been made to the accompanying Commentary, previously issued as a separate volume but now included as Part 2 of the 2009 Provisions. The content of the Commentary has been completely rewritten to provide users with an up-to-date, user friendly explanation of how to design using the Provisions and the reference standard. Part 3 of the 2009 Provisions consists of a series of resource papers intended to clarify aspects of the Provisions, stimulate consideration of and feedback from the design community on new seismic design concepts and procedures, and/or encourage the development and adoption of new requirements in ASCE/SEI 7 and the standards referenced therein. Thus, the 2009 Provisions serves as a national resource intended for use by both design professionals and the standards- and codes-development community in fostering development of a built environment designed and constructed to protect building occupants from loss of life and serious injury and to reduce the total losses from future earthquakes.