CITY OF LA PALMA LOCAL HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN OCTOBER 2019 This page intentionally left blank. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1 – Introduction .......................................................................................... 1-1 Chapter 2 – Community Profile ............................................................................. 2-1 Chapter 3 – Risk Assessment .................................................................................. 3-1 Chapter 4 – Threat and Vulnerability Assessments .................................. 4-1 Chapter 5 – Hazard Mitigation Strategy ........................................................... 5-1 Chapter 6 – Plan Maintenance ................................................................................ 6-1 Appendices – ............................................................................................................................ Appendix A – Meeting Materials ........................................................................................................................... A-1 Appendix B – Community Outreach Materials .............................................................................................. B-1 Appendix C – Adoption Resolution ..................................................................................................................... C-1 Appendix D – Critical Facilities Inventory ...................................................................................................... D-1 Appendix E – Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Implementation Workbook ....................................... E-1 iii This page intentionally left blank. iv City of La Palma 1. CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION PLAN PURPOSE AND AUTHORITY Hazard events can lead to injuries or death, affect overall health and safety of a community, damage or destroy public and private property, harm ecosystems, and disrupt key services. Although the hazard event itself often gets the most attention, it is only one part of a larger emergency management cycle. Emergency planners and responders can take steps during the response, recovery, mitigation, and preparedness phases of the cycle to minimize the harm caused by a disaster. This Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP) focuses on optimizing the mitigation phase of the cycle. Mitigation involves making a community more resilient to disasters so that when hazard events do ultimately occur, the community suffers less damage and is able to recover more effectively. It differs from preparedness, which involves advanced planning for how best to respond when a disaster occurs or is imminent. For example, a policy to make homes structurally stronger so they suffer less damage during an earthquake is a mitigation action, while fully equipping shelters to accommodate people who lose their homes in an earthquake is a preparedness action. Some activities may qualify as both. La Palma, like all other communities, could potentially suffer severe harm from hazard events, and although large disasters may cause widespread devastation, even smaller disasters can have substantial effects. La Palma cannot make itself completely immune to hazard events, but this LHMP KEY TERMS can help make the community a safer place to live, work, and visit. This Hazard event: An LHMP provides a comprehensive assessment of the threats that La Palma emergency as a faces from natural and human-caused hazard events and a coordinated result of a natural strategy to reduce these threats. It identifies resources and information or human-caused that can help community members, City staff, and local officials event that has the understand local threats and make informed decisions. The LHMP can potential to cause also support increased coordination and collaboration between the City, harm. other public agencies, local employers, service providers, community members, and other key stakeholders. 1-1 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan | Public Review Draft City of La Palma FEDERAL AUTHORITY La Palma is not required to prepare an LHMP, but state and federal regulations encourage it. The federal Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and KEY TERMS Emergency Act, amended by the Disaster Management Act of 2000, creates a federal framework for local hazard mitigation planning. It states Mitigation: that jurisdictions that wish to be eligible for federal hazard mitigation grant Actions that funding must prepare a hazard mitigation plan that meets a certain set of increase guidelines and submit this plan to the Federal Emergency Management resiliency and reduce the Agency (FEMA) for review and approval. These guidelines are outlined in harmful effects the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 44, Part 201, and discussed in of a hazard. greater detail in FEMA’s Local Mitigation Plan Review Tool. Resilient: Better STATE AUTHORITY able to avoid or California Government Code Sections 8685.9 and 65302.6 lessen the California Government Code Section 8685.9 (also known as Assembly Bill harmful effects 2140) limits the State of California’s share of disaster relief funds paid out of a hazard. to local governments to 75 percent of the funds not paid for by federal disaster relief efforts, unless the jurisdiction has adopted a valid hazard mitigation plan consistent with the Disaster Management Act of 2000 and has incorporated the hazard mitigation plan into the jurisdiction’s general plan. In these cases, the State may cover more than 75 percent of the remaining disaster relief costs. All cities and counties in California must prepare a general plan, which must include a safety element that addresses various hazard conditions and other public safety issues. The safety element may be a stand- alone chapter or incorporated into another section, as the community wishes. California Government Code Section 65302.6 indicates that a community may adopt an LHMP into its safety element as long as the LHMP meets applicable state requirements. This allows communities to use the LHMP to satisfy state requirements for safety elements. As the General Plan is an overarching long-term plan for community growth and development, incorporating the LHMP into it creates a stronger mechanism for implementing the LHMP. California Government Code Section 65302 (g)(4) California Government Code Section 65302 (g)(4), also known as Senate Bill (SB) 379, requires that the safety element of a community’s general plan address the hazards created or exacerbated by climate change. The safety element must identify how climate change is expected to affect hazard conditions in the community and include measures to adapt and be more resilient to these anticipated changes. Because the LHMP can be incorporated into the safety element, including these items in the LHMP can satisfy the state requirement. SB 379 requires that climate change must be addressed in the safety element when the LHMP is updated after January 1, 2017, for communities that already have an LHMP, or by January 1, 2022, for communities without an LHMP. 1-2 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan | Public Review Draft City of La Palma This LHMP is consistent with current standards and regulations, as outlined by the California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) and FEMA. It uses the best available science, and its mitigation measures reflect best practices and community values. It meets the requirements of current state and federal guidelines and makes La Palma eligible for all appropriate benefits under state and federal law and practices. Note that while FEMA is responsible for reviewing and certifying this LHMP, and Cal OES is responsible for conducting a preliminary review, it does not grant FEMA or Cal OES any increased role in the governance of La Palma or authorize either agency to take any specific action in the community. PLAN ORGANIZATION AND USE The La Palma LHMP is both a reference document and an action plan. It has information and resources to educate readers and decision makers about hazard events and related issues, and a comprehensive strategy that the City and community members can follow up to improve resiliency in La Palma. It is divided into the following FEMA’s Local Mitigation Planning Handbook, last updated in 2013, is one of the key guidance documents chapters: for local communities in preparing hazard mitigation plans. • Chapter 1: Introduction. This chapter describes the background of the Plan, its goals and objectives, and the process used in its development. • Chapter 2: Community Profile. This chapter discusses the history of La Palma, its physical setting and land uses, its demographics, and other important community characteristics. • Chapter 3: Hazard Assessment. This chapter identifies and describes the hazards that pose a threat to La Palma and discusses past and future events as well as the effects of climate change. • Chapter 4: Vulnerability Assessment. This chapter describes the threat of each hazard on La Palma’s critical facilities and community members, including socially vulnerable individuals. • Chapter 5: Mitigation Strategy. This chapter lists the mitigation actions to reduce La Palma’s vulnerability to hazard events, as well as provides an overview of the community’s existing capabilities to improve hazard resiliency. • Chapter 6: Plan Maintenance. This chapter summarizes the process for implementing, monitoring, and updating the LHMP, as well as opportunities for continued public involvement. 1-3 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan | Public Review Draft City of La Palma • Chapter 7: References. This chapter lists all the databases,