City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: February 13, 2024
Agenda Item: 5.C
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Wolfgang Knabe, Interim Fire Chief, Fire Department Subject: Approval of Agreement with Los Angeles Fire Department for Automatic Mutual Aid
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Adopt a finding of no possibility of significant effect pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) (Common Sense Exemption) of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines.
2. Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute an agreement with the City of Los Angeles Fire Department for automatic mutual aid for the Santa Monica Fire Department.
Discussion
Staff recommends City Council approve the Memorandum of Agreement (Attachment A) between the Santa Monica Fire Department (SMFD) and the City of Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) to streamline the initial mutual aid response to an emergency incident. SMFD routinely assists neighboring jurisdictions, and across the state, when called upon to suppress fires and render other emergency assistance. SMFD has had an agreement for automatic and mutual aid with LAFD since 1980, with updates in 1995 and 1998 (Attachment B – amendments only). The proposed Memorandum of Agreement continues the automatic and mutual aid agreement through December 31, 2028 and provides updated procedures for incident command, use of resources, requests for aid, communication, training, and reimbursement, among other things, so that each department’s responsibilities and expectations are more clearly defined. 2 of 3
The intent of the agreement is to enable SMFD and LAFD to more efficiently and effectively respond to an emergency incident. The agreement details the requests for aid, communication, incident response and command, deployment of resources, training, and reimbursement. The resources listed in the agreement are to be utilized until the jurisdictional agency (the location of the emergency incident) can relieve the assisting agency with their own resources. The agreement provides a mechanism for reimbursement to the department rendering assistance in the event the provision of mutual aid exceeds the duration limitations set forth in the agreement.
Environmental Review
The resolution to approve the Memorandum of Agreement is exempt from CEQA pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the CEQA Guidelines, which states that CEQA does not apply “where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment.” The MOA between SMFD and LAFD for automatic and mutual aid for an emergency incident would not result in adverse physical impacts on the environment, and as such, is exempt from CEQA.
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
There is no immediate financial impact or budget action necessary as a result of the recommended action. Staff will return to Council if specific budget actions are required in the future.
Prepared By: Tom Clemo, Deputy Fire Chief
Approved Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. Attachment A. LFD-SMA MOA Draft
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B. Attachment B. 1995 and 1998 Updates to 1980 Agreement