REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Approval of the Santa Clara County Multi-Jurisdictional Program for Public Information 2015 Related to Floodplain Management
Report
BACKGROUND
As a benefit to the community, the City of Sunnyvale is a voluntary participant in the National Floodplain Insurance Program (NFIP) Community Rating System (CRS) program which is administered from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). As a participant in the CRS program, the City of Sunnyvale provides floodplain management activities above and beyond the minimum requirements of the NFIP. The goals are to support the strategies of reducing susceptibility to flood damage, impact of flooding, and flood occurrences. Each of these floodplain management activities is awarded points, and a corresponding classification within the CRS program. Sunnyvale's efforts have resulted in a CRS classification rating of 7, which translates into a 15% discount on flood insurance for those properties which are located within a special flood hazard area (commonly referred to as "flood zone"), and 5% discount for other areas of the City.
FEMA produces the CRS Coordinator's Manual which outlines how points are awarded for each floodplain management activity performed. FEMA updates the manual on average every five years; the newest version is dated 2013. Each agency in the CRS program is visited by the NFIP insurance specialist every five years for cycle verification. At this visit, the specialist reviews all activities performed in support of the program, assigns points, and makes a recommendation for the agency's classification rating. Sunnyvale's last visit was in 2012; the next visit will be in 2017. In between cycle verification visits, information is sent to the specialist annually to document that activities receiving points at the last cycle visit are being maintained.
A map of the flood zones within Sunnyvale's jurisdiction is included as Attachment 1.
EXISTING POLICY
Sunnyvale Municipal Code, Chapter 16.62, "Prevention of Flood Damage", states the reasons for adopting floodplain management regulations:
"It is the purpose of this chapter to promote the public health, safety and general welfare, and to minimize public and private losses due to flood conditions in specific areas by provisions designed:
(a) To protect human life and health;
(b) To minimize expenditure of public money for costly flood control projects;
(c) To minimize the need for rescue and relief efforts associated with flooding and generally undertaken at the expense of the general public;
(d) To minimize prolonged business interruptions;
(e) To minimize damage to public facilities and utilities such as water and gas mains, electric, telephone and sewer lines, streets and bridges located in areas of special flood hazard;
(f) To help maintain a stable tax base by providing for the sound use and development of areas of special flood hazard so as to minimize future flood blight areas;
(g) To insure that potential buyers are notified that property is in an area of special flood hazard; and
(h) To insure that those who occupy the areas of special flood hazard assume responsibility for their actions."
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This item is not considered a project under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) therefore environmental review is not required.
DISCUSSION
At the 2017 cycle verification visit, Sunnyvale's points will be awarded based upon activities credited within the 2013 Coordinator's Manual. At the previous 2012 cycle verification visit, Sunnyvale's points were credited utilizing the 2007 Coordinator's Manual. The 2013 manual has made many changes in allocation of points. Therefore, an agency making the transition from the 2007 manual to the 2013 manual may not receive the same amount of points utilizing their existing practices and strategies for floodplain management, and could be in jeopardy of losing a classification rating (and subsequent flood insurance discount).
At the last cycle verification visit, Sunnyvale scored 1,504 points, with 1,500 being the minimum amount to have a CRS classification rating of 7. Staff has been looking ahead to the 2017 cycle verification visit and strategizing ways to achieve more points under the new manual to ensure that Sunnyvale remains a CRS 7 classification, Sunnyvale's participation in the creation and adoption of the Multi-Jurisdictional Program for Public Information document is an opportunity to capture additional points for the City's CRS program.
Within Activity 330 (Outreach Projects) of the 2013 Coordinator's Manual, there is an opportunity to obtain "extra credit points". These points are awarded pending an approved Multi-Jurisdictional Program for Public Information (PPI). Participation within a PPI is voluntary. Within this process, a local agency or group of agencies work together to decide what flood risk reductions messages are most important to the community and design a program to deliver these messages. The PPI extra credit points are a 40% multiplier applied to outreach activity that the agency is already performing.
With the goal of working together to maintain or increase the flood insurance discounts for their respective communities via their respective outreach and PPI, the ten Santa Clara County communities (Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Altos, Milpitas, Morgan Hill, Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Jose, Santa Clara, and Sunnyvale) which participate in CRS plus the County of Santa Clara and the Santa Clara Valley Water District have worked together over the past 18 months to develop the PPI document, included as Attachment 2. The process in which the committee members followed to develop this program and the messages developed for dissemination to the communities are discussed within the PPI document.
Each agency is required to have their respective governing body approve the document. The PPI committee will continue its collaborative efforts to fulfill the ongoing requirements of the PPI: 1) the PPI committee must reconvene annually to evaluate and adjust the PPI as needed; 2) an annual report to FEMA must be submitted describing the PPI implementation; and 3) every five years, the governing bodies of all participating communities must reapprove the plan in order to continue receiving CRS credit.
The Santa Clara Valley Water District Board approved the PPI on April 14, 2015. All other agencies participating within the PPI have plans to have their respective governing bodies approve the document within the next few months.
FISCAL IMPACT
None; staff time to attend meetings is charged to program 310 - Land Development - Engineering Services. No additional fiscal impacts are associated with approval of the PPI.
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.
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Approve the Santa Clara County Multi-Jurisdictional Program for Public Information 2015, related to flood plain management.
Staff
Prepared by: Jennifer Ng, Assistant City Engineer
Reviewed by: Manuel Pineda, Director, Public Works
Reviewed by: Robert A. Walker, Assistant City Manager
Approved by: Deanna J. Santana, City Manager
ATTACHMENTS
1. City of Sunnyvale - Flood Zones Map
2. Santa Clara County Multi-Jurisdictional Program for Public Information 2015