REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Adopt by Resolution Volume I and Sunnyvale’s Annex Within Volume II of the 2017 Santa Clara County Operational Area Hazard Mitigation Plan
Report
BACKGROUND
In July of 2016, 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 Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP). The HMP 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 success.
This effort represents the third comprehensive update to the initial hazard mitigation plan, approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in November of 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 16-member coalition of partners involved in this program includes unincorporated Santa Clara County, 14 city and town governments 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. Climate change is incorporated as a summary assessment of current and anticipated impacts for each identified hazard of concern.
The hazard identification and profiling in the HMP addresses the following hazards of concern within Santa Clara County: dam failure, drought, earthquake, flood, landslide, severe weather, tsunami, and wildfire. Except for dam 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, cyber threats, hazardous materials release, pipeline and tank failure, and airline incidents.
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.
EXISTING POLICY
The City is mandated by regulations to have an Emergency Plan, both by its own ordinance (Sunnyvale Municipal Code section 2.16.050) and Government Code section 8568.
Although not covered in City Policy, the adoption of a FEMA approved hazard mitigation plan allows jurisdictional partners to collectively and individually become eligible to apply for hazard mitigation project funding. The 2017 Santa Clara County Local Hazard Mitigation Plan has been approved by FEMA and CalOES.
DISCUSSION
The Santa Clara County HMP was created through a collaborative planning process and serves as Santa Clara County’s HMP (Attachment 2) pursuant to the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000. The goal of the HMP, along with the Sunnyvale Annex to the HMP (Attachment 3), is to learn about the hazards that can affect the community and develop strategies for long-term reduction of hazard vulnerability. An effective HMP will potentially reduce the enormous cost of disasters to property owners and all levels of government. The HMP can also protect critical community facilities, reduce exposure to liability, and minimize post-disaster community disruption.
By adopting Volume I and Sunnyvale’s Annex within Volume II (Chapter 16 of Volume II) of the Santa Clara County Operational Area HMP, the City of Sunnyvale will be eligible to apply for and receive grant funding from FEMA to reduce the vulnerability of residents within the community. The following grant funding sources will become available to the City:
• Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMPG)
• Pre-disaster Mitigation-competitive program (PDM-C)
• Flood Mitigation Assistance Program (FMA)
The PDM competitive grant program provides funds to State, Tribal, and local governments for pre-disaster mitigation planning and projects primarily addressing natural hazards. Cost-effective pre-disaster mitigation activities reduce risk to life and property from natural hazard events before a natural disaster strikes, thus reducing overall risks to the population and structures, while also reducing reliance on funding from actual disaster declarations. Funds will be awarded on a competitive basis for mitigation planning and project applications intended to make local governments more resistant to the impacts of future natural disasters (For more details on this program see Attachment 1).
Authorized under Section 404 of the Stafford Act, the HMGP administered by FEMA provides grants to States and local governments to implement long-term hazard mitigation measures after a major disaster declaration. The purpose of the program 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 (For more details on this program see Attachment 1).
FISCAL IMPACT
Upon adoption of Volume I and Sunnyvale’s Annex within Volume II of the Santa Clara County Operational Area HMP update, the City of Sunnyvale 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 HMP before and after a major disaster declaration. The HMP 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 HMP will be evaluated and revised on a continual 5-year time frame.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The action being considered does not constitute a “project” with the meaning of the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15378(b)(5) in that it is a governmental organizational or administrative activity that will not result in direct or indirect changes in the environment.
PUBLIC CONTACT
Public contact was made by posting the Council agenda on the City's official-notice bulletin board outside City Hall, at the Sunnyvale Senior Center, Community Center and Department of Public Safety; and by making the agenda and report available at the Sunnyvale Public Library, the Office of the City Clerk and on the City's website.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Adopt by resolution Volume I and Sunnyvale’s Annex within Volume II of the 2017 Santa Clara County Operational Area Hazard Mitigation Plan.
Staff
Prepared by: Ryan Yin, Lieutenant, Department of Public Safety
Reviewed by: Carl Rushmeyer, Deputy Chief, Department of Public Safety
Reviewed by: Phan S. Ngo, Director, Department of Public Safety
Reviewed by: Teri Silva, Interim Assistant City Manager
Approved by: Kent Steffens, Interim City Manager
ATTACHMENTS
1. Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) and Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant Program (PDM) Fact Sheet
2. Santa Clara County Operational Area Hazard Mitigation Plan
3. Santa Clara County Hazard Mitigation Plan, Vol 2, Planning Partner Annexes (Sunnyvale’s Annex is Chapter 16)
4. Resolution of the Sunnyvale City Council Adopting Volume 1 and Sunnyvale’s Annex of Volume II of the 2017 Santa Clara County Operational Area Hazard Mitigation Plan