Community Wildfire Protection Plans

Lead

Varies - Fire department/district/council, CAL FIRE unit, emergency department, or planning department

Required Consultation, Review, and Approval

• Consultation: USDA Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and Bureau of Indian Affairs
• Review:  N/A
• Approval: Cal FIRE; Local fire department(s); the city council, county commissioners, or board of supervisors

Enabling Statutes

Federal Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (H.R. 1904 or HFRA)

Required Components

The minimum requirements for a CWPP, as described in the HFRA, include the following:

• Collaboration: A CWPP must be collaboratively developed. Local and state officials must meaningfully involve federal agencies and other interested parties, particularly nongovernmental stakeholders that manage land in the vicinity of the community. 
• Prioritized Fuel Reduction: A CWPP must identify and prioritize areas for hazardous fuel reduction treatments on both federal and non-federal land and recommend the types and methods of treatment that, if completed, would reduce the risk to the community.
• Treatment of Structural Ignitability: A CWPP must recommend measures that homeowners and communities can take to reduce the ignitability of structures throughout the area addressed by the plan. 

If a community already has a plan that meets the requirements, the community need not develop an additional plan for the purposes of the HFRA.

Some communities are required by law to address risks associated with specific wildfire hazards in their Safety Elements, pursuant to SB 1241 (Gov. Code §§ 65302(g) and 65302.5); however, all California communities subject to fire hazards may benefit from wildfire hazard planning.

• OPR Fire Hazard Planning Technical Advisory

• FEMA 2020 Guide Creating a Community Wildfire Protection Plan

• Preparing a Community Wildfire Protection Plan (2004)

• Community Guide to Preparing and Implementing a Community Wildfire Protection Plan (2008)

• Fire Adapted Communities

• FireWise Communities

• In addition to the risk of direct wildfire damage to infrastructure, natural resources, and people, consider the impacts of smoke and air quality and the post-fire effects of flooding, debris flows, and landslides.

• Review the OPR “Fire Hazard Planning Technical Advisory” to ensure the CWPP process is consistent with other local wildfire planning requirements,

• Help refine State WUI designations by providing local data and knowledge developed through a CWPP process.

• Address fuel treatments and education in wildfire strategies, as well as policy recommendations and infrastructure retrofits. Ensure specific fuels reduction projects are identified in the new/updated plan, and include an action plan for each discrete vulnerable community to help create more Fire Adapted Communities or FireWise Communities.

• Use plan updates to reflect on new development, including new information from the most recent Housing Element update, and impacts on wildfire vulnerability, including any information from the most recent Safety Element or LHMP update.

• Describe how wildfire and other hazards may be incorporated into General Plans, especially the Housing and Safety Element, Local Coastal Program Plans, transportation plans, capital improvement plans, codes, and other regulations to streamline implementation.

• Consider whether the adoption of a CWPP by a public agency would constitute a CEQA project. Agencies should consider whether the adoption is a discretionary action that could result in a direct physical change or a reasonably foreseeable indirect change in the environment (PRC § 21065). 

• Align General Plans, LHMPs, CWPPs, Local Coastal Program Plans, Adaptation Plans, etc. with the California Vegetation Treatment Program (Cal VTP) Environmental Impact Report (Program EIR) to streamline CEQA analyses and implementation where required. CalVTP EIR provides a powerful CEQA streamlining tool to expedite the implementation of vegetation treatments to reduce wildfire risk while conserving natural resources for jurisdictions in state responsibility areas.

• To develop the required fuel reduction and structural protection priorities, the Federal Forests and Rangelands Program recommends developing the following components to evaluate wildfire risk:
  • A Community Base Map that identifies inhabited areas at risk and areas with critical human infrastructure; a local WUI designation; and vulnerable communities.
  • A Community Risk Assessment that evaluates fuel hazards; the risk of wildfire occurrence; homes, businesses, and essential infrastructure at risk; other community values at risk; and local preparedness and firefighting capability.

• The Community Risk Assessment from a CWPP process can be combined with the wildfire and climate change risk and vulnerability assessments for other plans, particularly the LHMP, General Plan Safety Element, and Climate Adaptation Plans. 

• To be consistent with Safety Element wildfire planning requirements and the State Fire Plan, reference information about wildfire hazard areas from the USGS as well as CAL FIRE’s FHSZ Maps, if your jurisdiction has lands in the state responsibility area or CAL FIRE very high fire hazard severity zones, and local CAL FIRE Unit Plans. In addition, the following resources may also be useful in this analysis: 
  • CAL FIRE’s Wildfire Perimeters Map, WUI Map, and Landcover Map 
  • U.S. Forest Service’s (USFS) Wildfire Hazard Potential Tool and CALVEG (Vegetation) Maps;
  • Cal OES MyHazards Tool;
  • California Public Utilities Commission Fire-Threat Map;
  • State West Wide Regional Assessment Data; and,
  • LANDFIRE Program and Data Distribution Site.

• Consider leveraging CWPP risk assessment and mitigation project information specific to wildfires to inform disaster recovery planning and Local Coastal Program plans.

• Incorporate data from the examples provided in Table 1: Data for Consideration during the fire hazard assessment Process, and Table 4: Data for Consideration when Evaluating Short and Long-Term Risk and Resilience from OPR’s “Wildfire Hazard Planning Technical Advisory” to prepare a wildfire risk assessment consistent with both SB 379 (Gov. Code § 65302(g)(4)) vulnerability assessment requirements and Safety Element SB 1241 (Gov. Code §§ 65302 and 65302.5) fire hazard assessment requirements.

• Consider utilizing USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station (RMRS) wildfire Potential Operational Delineations (PODS) analysis and planning tools in assessing risk and prioritizing treatments.

• Incorporate climate change impacts on wildfire risk by using climate projection tools and data, such as the Cal-Adapt Climate Change Wildfire Risk Map and the California Fourth Climate Change Assessment, to identify local and regional wildfire risk under future climate change scenarios. Specific factors to consider include areas at risk to future wildfire, changing wind and precipitation trends, and drought scenarios. 

• CAL FIRE provides review and direct support for the development and submittal of CWPPs. 

• CWPP’s should be developed in coordination with any nearby CAL FIRE Unit Plans, which identify CAL FIRE district actions in line with the State Fire Plan, and are the foundation for planning, prioritizing, and funding projects within a Unit’s sphere of influence. These plans coordinate CAL FIRE's pre-fire activities with adjacent CAL FIRE Units, National Forests, and local collaborators. 

• A CWPP that is referenced within the Safety Element can be used to meet some of the fire hazard planning requirements such as those within SB 1241 (Gov. Code §§ 65302(g) and 65302.5) , in conjunction with other planning documents such as LHMPs, Emergency Operational Plans, or other local plans.

• Jurisdictions that participate in integrating a CWPP and LHMP and alignment of their timelines maintain eligibility for both National Fire Plan funds and FEMA Hazard Mitigation Assistance grants.

• A community that updates a CWPP while updating the LHMP may be eligible to use a FEMA mitigation planning grant to update significant portions of a CWPP.

• Consider updating every five years to integrate with the LHMP & maintain best available information.

• Consider leveraging any relevant risk assessment information and mitigation project information from CWPPs specific to wildfires to inform Disaster Recovery Frameworks and Plans.

• For jurisdictions in the Coastal Zone, when developing or updating a Local Coastal Program Plan leverage the mapping, vegetation management policies, structure design and siting policies, and defensible space policies from a CWPP to meet the wildfire planning requirements of the Coastal Act (PRC § 30253).

• Multiple integration pathways are possible between a CWPP and LHMP and/or other plans. Possible pathways to integrate the plans include but are not limited to:
  • Incorporate the entire CWPP. Communities can develop a standalone CWPP and include the plan as either a separate volume or chapter in the other plan. 
  • Use sections of the CWPP. The CWPP maps and Risk Assessment may become the basis for the Wildfire Hazard Profile in another plan. The CWPP Priorities and Action Plan could be incorporated into the goals, strategies, and actions of the other plan. 
  • Develop a single, unified plan that meets both plans’ requirements. Chart a project course that meets CWPP and the other plan’s planning process and content requirements.
  • Maintain separate, but aligned, plans between jurisdictions. Jurisdictions with different but overlapping boundaries may find it most useful to maintain separate plans that leverage the same information, resources, and processes when appropriate.

Consider carefully whether your alignment (planning) team or advisory groups should include any of the entities from each of these stakeholder types as applicable to your jurisdiction, and how and when to engage different stakeholders to achieve the most equitable and accurate results.