HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 14589
City of Palo Alto (ID # 14598)
City Council Staff Report
Meeting Date: 9/12/2022 Report Type: Information Reports
City of Palo Alto Page 1
Title: Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Annual Update
From: City Manager
Lead Department: Office of Emergency Services
Informational Report:
Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Annual Update for Calendar Year 2021
(Presented 2022)
Background
The Federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA) requires all cities, counties, and special
districts to adopt a Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP) as a best practice to identify natural
hazards and develop mitigation strategies to reduce risk to the community. An adopted LHMP
also allows a jurisdiction to receive disaster mitigation funding from the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA). The DMA provides that a local agency may adopt a Local Hazard
Mitigation Plan or participate in the preparation of and adopt a Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard
Mitigation Plan.
Between 2016 and 2017, the City of Palo Alto participated in the Santa Clara County multi-
jurisdictional planning process resulting in a Countywide Local Hazards Mitigation Plan (LHMP).
The County contracted with TetraTech, Inc, a provider of emergency management consulting
services, to facilitate the development of the County-wide plan. This multi-jurisdictional plan
was approved by the State of California and FEMA and the Palo Alto Annex to this plan was
adopted by the City Council on October 16, 2017.
The County Plan may be found here –
Volume 1:
<https://emergencymanagement.sccgov.org/sites/g/files/exjcpb261/files/For%20Partners/Loca
l-Hazard-Mitigation-Plan-LHMP-Vol-1.pdf>
Volume 2:
<https://emergencymanagement.sccgov.org/sites/g/files/exjcpb261/files/For%20Partners/Loca
l-Hazard-Mitigation-Plan-LHMP-Vol-2.pdf>
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The Palo Alto specific plan and planning process may be found at the following weblink:
https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/Departments/Emergency-Services/Plans-and-
Information/Local-Hazard-Mitigation-
Plan#:~:text=The%20Palo%20Alto%20Local%20Hazard,further%20amplified%20by%20climate%
20change.
Prior to this, the City of Palo Alto published Local Hazard Mitigation Plans in conjunction with
the Santa Clara County’s Office of Emergency Management in 2005 and 2012.
The Local Hazard Mitigation Plan is a companion document to the City’s Threats and Hazards
Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA) Plan that describes not only natural hazards but also
Technological and Intentional hazards that pose a risk to our community.
Discussion
One component of the plan maintenance cycle is an annual progress review of each mitigation
project in the LHMP. OES leads this annual review by soliciting updates from each department
that has responsibility for one or more projects and develops the final annual report. OES
maintains project status in a mitigation planning database provided by TetraTech as part of
their contract with the County.
The Palo Alto portion of the Santa Clara County Operational Area Hazard Mitigation Plan has
targeted 38 hazard mitigation actions to be pursued during the 5-year performance period. As
of the reporting period, the following overall progress can be reported:
● 10 out of 38 initiatives (26%) were completed.
● 8 out of 38 initiatives (21%) indicated work is conducted as an ongoing capability.
● 14 out of 38 initiatives (37%) reported progress toward completion.
● 6 out of 38 initiatives (16%) reported no progress.
● 0 initiatives were removed due to elimination of a program.
The LHMP five-year cycle will formally end on December 19, 2022, requiring the City of Palo
Alto to provide a formal update to this plan. The Santa Clara County Office of Emergency
Management has received federal grant funding and approval from the State and FEMA to
conduct a county-wide, multi-jurisdictional plan as they did in 2017. Palo Alto will be a part of
this planning cycle. County staff is currently soliciting vendors through a request for proposal
(RFP) upon which an evaluation team will select the vendor to oversee the compilation of the
new LHMP. This new planning process will likely extend into 2023 given the planning effort
necessary to meet state and federal guidelines.
OES will lead the City’s LHMP planning efforts which will require a “whole of government”
approach as required by FEMA. This will involve an interdepartmental team of City staff
members, participation by selected community stakeholders, and input from the public at
large. As in prior revision cycles, City staff will prepare draft documents, convene stakeholders,
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and subsequently submit the LHMP to the City Council for adoption.