DATE:
October 8, 2024
CATEGORY:
Consent
DEPT.:
Fire
TITLE: 2023 Santa Clara County Operational
Area Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard
Mitigation Plan
RECOMMENDATION
Adopt a Resolution of the City Council of the City of Mountain View Adopting Volume I and Mountain View’s Annex within Volume II of the 2023 Santa Clara County Operational Area Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan, to be read in title only, further reading waived (Attachment 1 to the Council report).
BACKGROUND
In November 2022, a coalition of Santa Clara County cities and special districts embarked on a planning process to prepare for and lessen the impacts of specified natural hazards by updating the Santa Clara County Operational Area Multi -Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan (MJHMP or Plan). The MJHMP is the blueprint for reducing the Operational Area’s vulnerability to disasters and hazards. Responding to federal mandates in the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-390), the partnership was formed to pool resources and to create a uniform hazard mitigation strategy that can be consistently applied to the defined planning area and used to ensure eligibility for specified grant funding.
This effort represents the fourth comprehensive update to the initial hazard mitigation plan, approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in November 2005 and developed in partnership with the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), as well as a return to a truly regional effort following the 2010 planning process. The 18-member coalition of partners involved in this program includes unincorporated Santa Clara County, 14 city and town governments, the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, the Santa Clara Valley Water District, and the Santa Clara County Fire District. The planning area for the hazard mitigation plan was defined as the Santa Clara County Operational Area. The result of the organizational effort will be a FEMA- and California Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) -approved multi - jurisdictional, multi-hazard mitigation plan.
2023 Santa Clara County Operational Area Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan October 8, 2024
The Plan presents the accumulated information in a unified framework to ensure a comprehensive and coordinated plan covering the entire Santa Clara County Operational Area planning area. Each jurisdiction has been responsible for the review and approval of their individual sections of the Plan. Additionally, the Plan has been aligned with the goals, objectives, and priorities of the state’s multi-hazard mitigation plan.
ANALYSIS
The goal of the MJHMP is to learn about the hazards that can affect the community and develop strategies for long -term reduction of hazard vulnerability. An effective MJHMP will potentially reduce the enormous cost of disasters to property owners and all levels of government. The MJHMP can also protect critical community facilities, reduce exposure to liability, and minimize postdisaster community disruption. The hazard identification and profiling in the MJHMP addresses the following hazards of concern within Santa Clara County: climate change, dam and levee failure, drought, earthquake, flood, inclement weather, landslide, tsunami, and wildfire.
Except for dam and levee failure, this Plan does not provide a full risk assessment of human - caused hazards. However, brief, qualitative discussions of the following hazards of interest are included: terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, active threat, cyber thre ats, technological hazards, epidemic/pandemic, and fog.
The MJHMP consists of a Base Plan (Volume I) which covers the Santa Clara County Operational Area as a whole and a City of Mountain View Annex (Chapter 7 of Volume II), which is specific to Mountain View. Volume I and Volume II are included in this report as Attachments 1 and 2 respectively.
MJHMP Volume I Base Plan
The contents of the MJHMP Base Plan include:
1 Introduction to Hazard Mitigation Planning 10 Drought 2 Plan Update: What Has Changed 11 Climate Change
3 Planning for Climate Change and Equitable
Outcomes
12 Dam and Levee Failure
4 Plan Update Approach 13 Flood
5 Santa Clara County Operational Area
Profile
14 Landslide/Mass Movement
6 Identified Hazards of Concern and Risk
Assessment
15 Tsunami
7 Earthquake 16 Other Hazards of Interest
8 Wildfire 17 Mitigation Strategy
9 Inclement Weather
2023 Santa Clara County Operational Area Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan October 8, 2024
MJHMP Volume II, Chapter 7: Mountain View Annex
The contents of the MJHMP Volume II Mountain View Annex include:
1.1 Hazard Mitigation Plan Points of Contact 1.6 Jurisdiction-Specific Natural Hazard Event History
1.2 Jurisdiction Profile 1.7 Jurisdiction-Specific Vulnerabilities
1.3 Development Trends 1.8 Hazard Risk Index
1.4 Capability Assessment 1.9 Future Needs to Better Understand Risk/Vulnerability
1.5 Integration with Other Planning
Initiatives
1.10 Status of Previous Plan Actions
By adopting Volume I and Mountain View’s Annex within Volume II (Chapter 7 of Volume II) of the Santa Clara County Operational Area MJHMP, the City of Mountain View will be eligible to apply for and receive grant funding from FEMA to reduce the vulnerability of residents within the community (Attachment 4). The MJHMP is considered a living document such that, as awareness of additional hazards develop and new strategies and projects are conceived to offset or prevent losses due to natural disasters, the MJHMP will be evaluated and revised on a continual five-year time frame.
Authorized under Section 404 of the Stafford Act, the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) administered by FEMA provides grants to states and local governments to implement long-term hazard mitigation measures after a major disaster declaration. The program’s purpose is to reduce the loss of life and property due to natural disasters and to enable mitigation measures to be implemented during the immediate recovery from a disaster.
FISCAL IMPACT
Upon adoption of Volume I and Mountain View’s Annex within Volume II of the Santa Clara County Operational Area MJHMP update, the City of Mountain View will be eligible to apply for specified FEMA grants. These grants can be used to implement the long-term hazard mitigation measures specified within the City’s annex of the MJHMP before and after a major disaster declaration.
ALTERNATIVES
1. Do not approve Mountain View’s annex within the 2023 Santa Clara County Operational Area Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan.
2. Provide other direction.
2023 Santa Clara County Operational Area Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan October 8, 2024
PUBLIC NOTICING—Agenda posting.
Prepared by:
Robert Maitland
Office of Emergency Services Coordinator
Approved by:
Juan F. Diaz
Fire Chief
Audrey Seymour Ramberg
Assistant City Manager
RM/6/CAM
122-10-08-24CR
204493
Attachments: 1. Resolution Adopting Volume I and II of the Multi -Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan
2. MJHMP Volume I
3. MJHMP Volume II (Mountain View’s Annex)
4. FEMA Approval Pending Adoption Letter