General Plan Safety Elements

Lead

County or city planning department

Required Consultation, Review, and Approval 

• Consultation: California Native American Tribes; Department of Conservation - California Geological Survey; Governor’s Office of Emergency Services; and, if located within the boundaries of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Drainage District, the Central Valley Flood Protection Board
• Review: California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection (if a jurisdiction contains a state fire responsibility area or a very high fire hazard severity zone)
• Approval: County board of supervisors or city council

Applicable Statutes and Rules

Gov. Code, § 65302, subd. (g)

Required Components

• SB 379 (2015) (Gov. Code, § 65302, subd. (g)(4)) requires a safety element update to include a climate change vulnerability assessment (including flood and fire risk), measures to address vulnerabilities, and a comprehensive hazard mitigation and emergency response strategy. This may be met by updating the LHMP, climate adaptation plan, or other similar plan and incorporating it into the safety element by reference. This update is triggered by the next LHMP update on or after January 1, 2017, or if there is no LHMP, on or before January 1, 2022.

• SB 1035 (2017) (Gov. Code, § 65302, subd. (g)(6)) requires regular safety element reviews and, if necessary, updates to identify new information relating to flood and fire hazards and climate adaptation and resiliency strategies. This update is triggered upon either the next LHMP update or next housing element update, at the jurisdiction’s discretion, but not less frequently than every eight years.

• SB 99 (2019) (Gov. Code, § subd. 65302(g)(5)) requires jurisdictions to review and update the safety element to include information identifying residential developments in hazard areas that do not have at least two emergency evacuation routes. This update is triggered upon the next revision to the housing element, on or after January 1, 2020.

• AB 747 (2019) and AB 1409 (2021) (Gov. Code, § 65302.15) require jurisdictions to review and update their safety element as necessary to identify evacuation routes and location and evaluate their capacity and safety under a range of emergency scenarios. These bills encourage plan integration by authorizing cities and counties to incorporate relevant information in an already adopted LHMP, Emergency Operations Plan, the housing element, or another document into the safety element. This update is triggered upon the next revision of an LHMP on or after January 1, 2022, or if there is no LHMP, beginning on or before January 1, 2022.

Wildfire

• SB 1241 (Gov. Code §§ 65302 and 65302.5) applies to communities within the very high fire hazard severity zone (FHSZ) or in state responsibility areas. Communities subject to SB 1241 must address specific wildfire analysis requirements and address wildfire hazards through goals, policies, objectives, and programs to reduce wildfire risks. Jurisdictions subject to SB 1241 must share the Draft Safety Element with the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection. The Board is given 90 days to review and provide comments on the draft before the jurisdiction can act. [Learn more about SB 1241 requirements in OPR’s Fire Hazard Planning Technical Advisory.]

• Both Gov. Code § 65302.5 and California Code of Regulations Title 14, Chapter 7, Article 6 (14 CCR § 1265) govern the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection’s role and procedures in reviewing Safety Elements.

Coastal and Flood Hazards

• AB 162 (2007) (Gov. Code, § 65302, subd. (g)(2)) Requires cities and counties to address flooding in their safety element by identifying information regarding flood hazards, such as coastal flooding, establishing a set of comprehensive goals, policies, and objectives for the protection of the community from the unreasonable risks of flooding, and establishing a set of feasible implementation measures designed to carry out the goals, policies, and objectives for flood protection. This update is triggered upon the next housing element update after 2009.

• California Adaptation Planning Guide (2020)

• General Plan Guidelines Chapters 4 & 8 (2017)

• Fire Hazard Planning Technical Advisory

• State of California Sea Level Rise Guidance

• Adaptation Roadmap

• For jurisdictions updating their safety element or other plans for compliance with evacuation route planning requirements mandated by SB 99 (2019) (Gov. Code, § 65302, subd. (g)(5)), AB 747 (2019) and AB 1409 (2021) (Gov. Code, § 65302.15), agencies can consider potential constraints regarding evacuations when updating their Land Use or Housing elements.

• When possible, update the Housing Element, Safety Element, and/or Local Hazard Mitigation Plan concurrently or sequentially to synchronize long-term integration and meet meet SB 1035 (2017) (Gov. Code, § 65302, subd. (g)(6)) requirements. Updating both elements concurrently may trigger an SB 1000 (2016) (Gov. Code, § 65302, subd. (h)) environmental justice element update. See the graphics on each Guide landing page (scroll down below the plans) for additional ideas on how to align multiple updates.

• Review the California Adaptation Planning Guide and General Plan Guidelines, especially the Required Elements and Climate Change chapters, which include both mandates and best practices for incorporating climate change into the Safety Element.

Wildfire

• Regularly check CAL FIRE FHSZ maps for recent updates, which may require your jurisdiction to comply with SB 1241 (Gov. Code §§ 65302 and 65302.5) Safety Element requirements.

Coastal Hazards

• Consider incorporating sea level rise adaptation strategies when reviewing and updating strategies in the safety element to meet the flooding and climate adaptation requirements of Gov. Code, § 65302, subd. (g)(2), (4), and (6).  Evaluate how sea level rise and other associated hazards such as rising groundwater and storm surge may impact overall flood risk, and related mandated goals, policies, objectives, and feasible implementation measures that address the following:
• Avoid and minimize flood risks for new development.
• Evaluate whether new developments should be located in flood hazard zones and possible appropriate mitigation actions.
• Maintain the integrity of essential public facilities.
• Locate, when feasible, new essential public facilities outside of flood hazard zones, including hospitals and health care facilities, emergency shelters, fire stations, emergency command centers, and emergency communications facilities, or identifying mitigation actions.
• Establishing cooperative working relationships among public agencies with responsibility for flood protection.

• Jurisdictions may incorporate a climate vulnerability assessment directly, or by reference to another document, such as an LHMP or adaptation plan. The specific vulnerability assessment requirements for SB 379 (Gov. Code, § 65302, subd. (g)(4)) compliance include at minimum the following:
  • An assessment of how climate change may affect flood and fire risks,
  • Information from Cal-Adapt and the “California Adaptation Planning Guide,”
  • Local agency information on assets, resources, and populations sensitive to climate exposures, and the agencies’ current ability to manage climate impacts,
  • Historical data on natural events and hazards including locally prepared maps of areas subject to previous risk, areas that are vulnerable, and sites that have been repeatedly damaged,
  • Information on existing and planned development in identified at-risk areas, including structures, roads, utilities, and essential public facilities, and
  • 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. 

Wildfire

• Include the following information in the Safety Element to meet SB 1241 (Gov. Code §§ 65302 and 65302.5)  fire hazard assessment requirements (see OPR’s “Fire Hazard Planning Technical Advisory” for additional information and data sources that may also be helpful): for additional information and data sources that may also be helpful):
  • CAL FIRE FHSZ maps,
  • Historical wildfire data,
  • U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) wildfire hazard area information,
  • The general location and distribution of existing and planned uses of land in very high fire hazard severity zones and in state responsibility areas, including structures, roads, utilities, and essential public facilities, and
  • Local, state, and federal agencies with responsibility for fire protection, including special districts and local offices of emergency services.

Flood-After-Fire

• Evaluate risk in flooding areas and landslide and debris-flow susceptibility within the Safety Element. Include information on risks associated with slope instability, as well as other areas prone to flooding, landslide, and debris flow.

• Include historical data on landslides and debris flow and identify areas that are landslide-prone by using landslide feature maps, seismic hazard zone maps, and geology maps produced by the California Department of Conservation. 

• Include the following flood hazard risk assessment information to meet Safety Element flood risk planning requirements, where applicable:
  • FEMA Flood hazard zones, National Flood Insurance Program maps, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers flood hazard information, 
  • Central Valley Flood Protection Board Designated floodway maps,
  • Dam failure inundation maps from CalOES,
  • DWR-approved Awareness Floodplain Mapping Program maps and 200-year flood plain maps,
  • Levee protection zone maps,
  • Areas subject to inundation in the event of the failure of project or non-project levees or floodwalls,
  • Historical data on flooding, including locally prepared maps of areas that are subject to flooding, areas that are vulnerable to flooding after wildfires, and sites that have been repeatedly damaged by flooding,
  • Existing and planned development in flood hazard zones, including structures, roads, utilities, and essential public facilities, and
  • Local, state, and federal agencies with responsibility for flood protection, including special districts and local offices of emergency services.

Coastal Hazards

• Consider the effects of sea level rise on fluvial/riverine flooding, shallow groundwater rise, and shoreline erosion/slope instability as well as subsidence and storm surge potential when updating the flood risk information in safety elements. Additionally, consider sea level rise impacts to maritime and waterfront facilities (e.g., wharfs, piers) in the vulnerability analysis.

• Incorporate sea level rise information and refer to the most up to date version of the State of California sea level Rise Guidance when reviewing and updating the mandated safety element flood hazard and risk assessment information, where applicable (See Gov. Code, § 65302, subd. (g)(2)).

• Incorporate the LHMP into the Safety Element when updating the General Plan. AB 2140 (Gov. Code, §§ 8685.9 and 65302.6) enables jurisdictions to be eligible for consideration for state funding to cover the local match (6.25%) of FEMA PA costs for recovery activities after hazard events. Incorporation of the LHMP is also one option of compliance for meeting SB 379 (Gov. Code, § 65302, subd. (g)(4)) and SB 1035 (Gov. Code, § 65302, subd. (g)(6)) adaptation requirements.

• Synchronize LHMP and Housing Element updates with Safety Element updates, when possible, to leverage the process and reduce redundancy across all three efforts, especially when communities have an LHMP update due proximal to their next Housing Element update. Recently updated LHMPs can be used as a resource for a subsequent Safety Element review or update.

• Inform the Disaster Recovery Plan with climate information (greenhouse gas mitigation, adaptation, and resiliency strategies and actions) included in the General Plan Safety Element or local Climate Adaptation Plan. The Safety Element also includes residential vulnerability and evacuation route information that should be evaluated during recovery planning (see SB 99 (2019), AB 747 (2019) and AB 1409 (2021), codified at Gov. Code, §§ 65302, subd. (g)(5), 65302.15).

• Where transportation infrastructure functions as part of emergency evacuation routes, local governments should coordinate with transportation asset managers and emergency response planners to ensure consistency between LCPs, LHMPs, emergency operations plans, transportation and mobility plans, and safety element evacuation planning requirements (see SB 99 (2019), AB 747 (2019) and AB 1409 (2021), codified at Gov. Code, §§ 65302, subd. (g)(5) and 65302.15). This could involve developing contingency plans and alternative routes to utilize when infrastructure is inoperable due to coastal flooding and/or erosion.

Wildfire

• If a city or county has adopted a fire safety plan (i.e., a Community Wildfire Protection Plan) or other document, the document can be attached, integrated, or incorporated by reference in the Safety Element to meet SB 1241 (Gov. Code §§ 65302 and 65302.5) fire hazard planning requirements. If taking this approach, the document that is attached or incorporated by reference must contain information required pursuant to SB 1241 (Gov. Code §§ 65302 and 65302.5), include commensurate goals and objectives, and be consistent with the rest of the General Plan.

• 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 the Safety Element to meet the wildfire planning requirements of the Coastal Act (PRC § 30253).

• Multiple integration pathways are possible between a CWPP and General Plan 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 General Plan. 
  • Use sections of the CWPP. The CWPP maps and Risk Assessment may become a Wildfire Hazard Profile in a General Plan Safety Element. The CWPP Priorities and Action Plan could be incorporated into the goals, strategies, and actions of the Safety Element or another element. 
  • Develop a single, unified plan that meets both plans’ requirements. Chart a project course that meets CWPP and General Plan 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 entity types, as applicable to your jurisdiction, and how and when to engage different entities to achieve the most equitable and accurate results.