BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 379
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Date of Hearing: July 1, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Brian Maienschein, Chair
SB
379 (Jackson) - As Amended June 22, 2015
SENATE VOTE: 23-16
SUBJECT: Land use: general plan: safety element.
SUMMARY: Requires cities and counties to update their safety
elements to address climate adaptation and resiliency
strategies. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires a city or county to review and update the safety
element as necessary to address climate adaptation and
resiliency strategies applicable to that city or county,
either upon the next revision of a local hazard mitigation
plan, on or after January 1, 2017, adopted in accordance with
the federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000, or if a local
jurisdiction has not adopted a local hazard mitigation plan,
beginning on or before January 1, 2022.
2)Requires the review to consider advice provided in the Office
of Planning and Research's (OPR) General Plan Guidelines, and
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to include all of the following:
a) A vulnerability assessment that identifies the risks
that climate change poses to the local jurisdiction and the
geographic areas at risk from climate change impacts,
including, but not limited to, an assessment of how climate
change may affect the risks addressed, pursuant to
provisions in the safety element that require a city or
county to identify flood hazards and fire hazards;
i) Information that may be available from federal,
state, regional, and local agencies that will assist in
developing the vulnerability assessment and the
adaptation policies and strategies required pursuant to
b), below, including, but not limited to, all of the
following:
(1) Information from the Internet-based Cal-Adapt
tool;
(2) Information from the most recent version of
the California Adaptation Planning Guide;
(3) Information from local agencies on the types
of assets, resources, and populations that will be
sensitive to various climate change exposures;
(4) Information from local agencies on their
current ability to deal with the impacts of climate
change;
(5) Historical data on natural events and hazards,
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including locally prepared maps of areas subject to
previous risk, areas that are vulnerable, and sites
that have been repeatedly damaged;
(6) Existing and planned development in identified
at-risk areas, including structures, roads, utilities,
and essential public facilities; and,
(7) Federal, state, regional, and local agencies
with responsibility for the protection of public
health and safety and the environment, including
special districts and local offices of emergency
services;
b) A set of adaptation and resilience goals, policies, and
objectives based on the information specified in a), above,
for the protection of the community.
c) A set of feasible implementation measures designed to
carry out the goals, policies, and objectives identified
pursuant to b), above, including, but not limited to, all
of the following:
i) Feasible methods to avoid or minimize climate change
impacts associated with new uses of land;
ii) The location, when feasible, of new essential public
facilities outside of at-risk areas, including, but not
limited to, hospitals and health care facilities,
emergency shelters, emergency command centers, and
emergency communications facilities, or identifying
construction methods or other methods to minimize damage
if these facilities are located in at-risk areas;
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iii) The designation of adequate and feasible
infrastructure in an at-risk area;
iv) Guidelines for working cooperatively with relevant
local, regional, state, and federal agencies; and,
v) The identification of natural infrastructure that
may be used in adaptation projects, where feasible.
Where feasible, the plan shall use existing natural
features and ecosystem processes, or the restoration of
natural features and ecosystem processes, when developing
alternatives for consideration. Defines "natural
infrastructure" to mean the preservation or restoration
of ecological processes, to increase resiliency to
climate change, manage other environmental hazards, or
both. States that this may include, but is not limited
to, floodplain and wetlands restoration or preservation,
combining levees with restored natural systems to reduce
flood risk, and urban tree planting to mitigate high heat
days.
d) If a city or county has adopted a local hazard
mitigation plan, or other climate adaptation plan or
document that fulfills commensurate goals and objectives
and contains the information required pursuant to the
bill's provisions, separate from the general plan, an
attachment of, or reference to, the local hazard mitigation
plan or other climate adaption plan or document.
3)Requires, after the initial revision of the safety element
pursuant to the bill's provisions, the planning agency to
review, and if necessary, revise the safety element to
identify new information that was not available during the
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previous revision of the safety element, upon each subsequent
revision of the housing element.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires every city and county to adopt a general plan with
seven mandatory elements: land use, circulation, housing,
conservation, open space, noise and safety.
2)Requires the general plan to include a safety element for the
protection of the community from any unreasonable risks
associated with the effects of seismically induced surface
rupture, ground shaking, ground failure, tsunami, seiche, and
dam failure, slope instability leading to mudslides and
landslides, subsidence, liquefaction, and other seismic
hazards as specified, and other geologic hazards known to the
legislative body, flooding, and wildland and urban fires.
Requires the safety element to include mapping of known
seismic and other geologic hazards and to address evacuation
routes, military installations, peakload water supply
requirements, and minimum road widths and clearances around
structures, as those items related to identified fire and
geologic hazards.
3)Requires the safety element, upon the next revision of the
housing element on or after January 1, 2009, to do the
following:
a) Identify information regarding flood hazards, as
specified;
b) Establish a set of comprehensive goals, policies, and
objectives based on information identified pursuant to 3a),
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above; and,
c) Establish a set of feasible implementation measures
designed to carry out the goals, policies and objectives
established pursuant to 3c), above.
4)Requires, upon the next revision of the housing element on or
after January 1, 2014, the safety element to be reviewed and
updated as necessary to address the risk of fire for land
classified as state responsibility areas, and land classified
as very high fire hazard severity zones.
5)Requires, after the initial revision of the safety element
pursuant to 3) and 4), above, the planning agency to review,
and if necessary, revise the safety element to identify new
information that was not available during the previous
revision of the safety element, upon each revision of the
housing element.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS:
1)Bill Summary. This bill requires cities and counties to
include a vulnerability assessment and climate adaptation and
resilience strategies in the safety elements of their general
plans beginning on January 1, 2017, upon the next revision of
their local hazard mitigation plan adopted per the federal
Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000. If a city or county does not
have an adopted local hazard mitigation plan, the city or
county would be required to update the safety element before
January 1, 2022. The bill requires the climate adaptation
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strategy to include a set of goals, policies and objectives
for the community, and a set of feasible implementation
measures designed to carry out the identified goals, policies,
and objectives.
This bill is an author-sponsored measure.
2)Author's Statement. According to the author, "Except for the
housing element, the Planning and Zoning Law does not require
counties and cities to regularly revise their general plans.
Cities' and counties' major land use decisions - subdivisions,
zoning, public works projects, use permits - must be
consistent with their general plans.
"Climate change may well be the foremost challenge of our time
- and it is already having a significant and measurable impact
on California's environment. An August 2013 report by
California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment
entitled "Indicators of Climate Change in California," tracks
36 indicators of climate change and its effects and shows that
climate change is occurring throughout California, including
impacts to the coast, the Central Valley and the Sierra Nevada
Mountains. These impacts include decreasing spring snowmelt
runoff, rising sea levels, shrinking glaciers, increasing
wildfires, warming lakes and oceans, and the gradual migration
of many plants and animals to higher elevations.
"There are many efforts under way in California by the
administration and state agencies to address climate change.
For example, in July 2014, the California Natural Resources
Agency, in coordination with other state agencies, updated its
2009 California Climate Adaptation Strategy, now called the
"Safeguarding California Plan." This Plan is designed to
provide policy guidance for state decision makers in nine
specific areas. In July 2012, the Governor's Office of
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Emergency Services, the California Natural Resources Agency,
and the Federal Emergency Management Agency released the
"California Adaptation Planning Guide" for use by local
communities to address climate change impacts. Further
examples include the California Coastal Commission's recent
release of its draft Sea Level Rise Policy Guidance and there
is the expectation that the Governor's Office of Planning and
Research will soon release revised General Plan Guidelines
that will include climate adaptation.
"California has become the national leader on efforts to
mitigate the effects of climate change by reducing greenhouse
gas emissions, but much work still needs to be done at the
state, regional, and local levels to adapt to the effects of
climate change impacting California. While some cities and
counties have been proactive in addressing climate change
adaptation in their local planning efforts, many have not.
There is no requirement in current law that they consider
climate adaptation as part of their general plan process as
they plan for the future."
3)Background on Climate Adaptation. The 2012 California Climate
Adaptation Planning Guide, prepared and promoted by the
Natural Resources Agency, the Office of Emergency Services,
and OPR, provides guidance and support to regional and local
bodies in developing vulnerability assessments and adaptation
strategies. The guide consists of an overview document and
three companion documents for use as needed in defining local
and regional impacts, understanding regional characteristics,
and identifying adaptation strategies. The guide is meant to
allow for flexibility across communities in terms of the time,
money, and effort available for adaptation.
The Little Hoover Commission, an independent state oversight
agency with bipartisan membership, released a 2014 report
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titled "Governing California Through Climate Change." This
study reviewed the state's preparedness for the impacts of
climate change, often referred to as "slow-moving emergency,"
through conducting multiple hearings, meetings, and interviews
with experts and stakeholders. One of their five main
recommendations included: "Governments at all levels should
build climate risk assessment and adaptation into general
plans, hazard mitigation plans and all local planning
processes."
4)Local Government Plans. Every county and city must adopt a
general plan with seven mandatory elements: land use,
circulation, housing, conservation, open space, noise, and
safety. Except for housing elements, state law does not
require counties and cities to regularly revise their general
plans. OPR's General Plan Guidelines recommend the
information that local planners should collect, suggest goals,
policies, and objectives that local general plans could adopt,
and list a wide range of feasible implementation measures to
carry out those local goals. OPR is expected to release
updated General Plan Guidelines later in 2015.
The federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 requires local
governments to adopt comprehensive Hazard Mitigation Plans
(HMPs) in order to receive additional federal funding after a
disaster. HMPs must describe the type, location, and extent
of all natural hazards that can affect the jurisdiction;
describe the jurisdiction's vulnerability to these hazards;
include a mitigation strategy that provides the jurisdiction's
blueprint for reducing the potential losses; and, contain a
plan maintenance process. The plan maintenance process must
include a schedule of monitoring, evaluating, and updating the
mitigation plan on a five-year process for local governments
to incorporate the mitigation plan into other planning
mechanisms, and discuss how the community will continue public
participation in the plan maintenance process.
Climate action plans are another local government planning
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tool, although voluntary in nature. Climate action plans
provide one way for an agency to outline the specific
activities that the agency is planning to undertake to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). In general, information is
gathered by the city or county to produce a GHG inventory, and
then the climate action plan builds upon that information to
focus on those activities that can achieve the greatest
emission reductions in the most cost effective manner.
OPR recommends that climate action plans, or other similar
local government policies or programs to address GHG
emissions, should be developed in conjunction with a general
plan update whenever possible (usually affecting the land use
and circulation elements in a general plan). Other types of
planning instruments related to GHG emissions reductions
include the adoption of policies in the General Plan, adoption
of an optional climate change or global warming element in the
General Plan, Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plans, Sustainability
Plans, and ordinances, which can all serve a purpose similar
to that of a climate action plan.
Based on OPR's Annual Planning Survey Results from 2012 (based
on 2011 responses), of the 482 cities, 83 cities had already
adopted some sort of climate action plan or policy, 170 cities
were "in process" of doing so, and 85 cities had a climate
action plan or program or policy "planned" for the future. Of
the 58 counties, 12 counties had already adopted some sort of
climate action plan or policy, 25 counties were "in the
process" of doing so, and eight counties had a climate action
plan or program "planned" for the future.
5)Policy Considerations. The Committee may wish to consider the
following:
a) Right Element? This bill requires updating of the safety
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element to address climate adaptation, however, there are
other elements of the General Plan that might also be
appropriate for such information. The Committee may wish to
consider whether addressing the issues of climate change
resilience and adaptation should be incorporated into other
general plan elements, and whether local agencies should
retain the discretion of where to place such information, as
long as it is included in the general plan.
b) Coordinated Approach. HMPs are required to be updated and
adopted every five years under federal law, in order to
qualify for federal disaster funding. In general, HMPs are
reviewed and updated by emergency services staff, rather
than planning staff. City and county planners generally
review and update elements of the General Plan. The
Committee may wish to consider how to better coordinate the
updating of HMPs and the safety element, since there are
different city or county staff (and sometimes outside
consultants) involved in each, in order to adequately
address climate adaptation and resiliency strategies.
c) Local Plans. There are multiple planning documents that a
city or county could use to address climate change,
including optional climate change or global warming
elements, hazard mitigation plans, Greenhouse Gas Reduction
Plans, Sustainability Plans, or other ordinances, or even in
other areas of the General Plan. Should a city or county
already have an adopted plan in place that meets some or all
of the requirements of the bill, the Committee may wish to
consider whether the city or county could fulfill some or
all of the requirements of the bill by updating the safety
element to include a reference to that plan or document.
The Committee may wish to consider adding in the following
underlined language to the bill on page 10:
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(D) If a city or county has adopted the local hazard
mitigation plan, or other climate adaptation plan or
document that fulfills commensurate goals and objectives and
contains the information required pursuant to this
paragraph, separate from the general plan, an attachment of,
or reference to, the local hazard mitigation plan or other
climate adaptation plan or document. Cities or counties
that have an adopted hazard mitigation plan, or other
climate adaptation plan or document that substantially
complies with this section, or have substantially equivalent
provisions to this subdivision in their general plans, may
use that information in the safety element to comply with
this subdivision, and shall summarize and incorporate by
reference into the safety element the other general plan
provisions, climate adaptation plan or document,
specifically showing how each requirement of this
subdivision has been met.
d) Funding. This bill specifies that no reimbursement is
necessary because local agencies have the authority to levy
service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for
the program or level of service mandated by the bill's
provision. The Committee may wish to consider, when a city
or county is revising its safety element, who that city or
county can charge fees to. The League of California Cities,
in their "opposition" letter, writes that this bill should
be amended to "provide funding to implement the bill's
stipulation, the fulfilling of which would require most
communities to seek outside expertise at great expense."
6)Arguments in Support. Supporters argue that there is no
requirement in law that cities and counties consider climate
adaptation as part of their general plan process in planning
for the future, and that this bill fills that gap by requiring
them to prepare, as part of their safety elements, a
vulnerability assessment that identifies what risks climate
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change poses to the local jurisdiction, adaptation and
resiliency policies and objectives, and feasible
implementation measures to achieve them.
7)Arguments in Opposition. The League of California Cities
believes that the bill should be amended to provide a
definition of "climate adaptation and resiliency," provide
funding for the new duties under the bill, not limit
climate-change planning to the safety element, and clarify
that cities may fulfill the measure's requirements either by
incorporating climate change adaptation into their General
Plans, or by adopting a separate planning document, among
other suggested amendments.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
American Planning Association, California Chapter (if amended)
Audubon California
California Fire Chiefs Association
California League of Conservation Voters
California ReLeaf
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California Urban Forests
Center for Climate Change & Health
City and County of San Francisco
Climate Resolve
Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation
Environment California
Environmental Action Committee of West Marin
Little Hoover Commission
Local Government Commission
San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission
Sierra Club California
The Nature Conservancy
TreePeople
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West Marin Environmental Action Committee
Opposition
League of California Cities
Analysis Prepared by:Debbie Michel / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958