A city (or county) is not an accident but the result of coherent visions and aims

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Statutory Citation
Brief Description of Requirement
Gov. Code § 65302(g)(3)
Wildland and Urban Fires
Identification of, and policies for, the protection of the community from, any unreasonable risks associated with 
wildland and urban fires.
State Responsibility Areas and Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones
Consider advice in OPR’s Fire Hazard Technical Advisory
Identify
     • CALFire Fire Hazard Severity Zone Maps
     • Historical data on wildfires
     • USGS wildfire hazard areas
     • Existing and planned development within these areas
     • Agencies with responsibility for fire protection in these areas
Mandatory Goals, Policies and Objectives
     • Protect the community from unreasonable risks
     • See mitigation measures below.
Feasible Mitigation
     • Avoid and minimize fire risks for new development.
     • Should new development be located in fire hazard zones?  If so, what are appropriate mitigation measures?
     • Maintain the integrity of essential public facilities.
     • Locate, when feasible, new essential public facilities outside of fire hazard zones, including hospitals
        and health care facilities, emergency shelters, fire stations, emergency command centers, and emergency
        communications facilities, 
     • If essential facilities are located in high fire zones, identify mitigation measures, such as safe access for     
        emergency response vehicles, visible street signs, and water supplies for structural fire suppression.
     • Establishing cooperative working relationships among public agencies with responsibility for fire protection.
Gov. Code § 65302(g)(4)
Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience
Address climate change adaptation and resiliency strategies by using the process in the Adaptation Planning 
Guide and reflected in referenced tools such as Cal-Adapt. 
Vulnerability Assessment (Gov. Code § 65302(g)(4)(A))
Create 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, the following:
• Information that may be available from federal, state, regional, and local agencies that will assist in develop-
ing the vulnerability assessment and the adaptation policies and strategies, including, but not limited to, all 
of the following:
   (I)      Information from the Internet based Cal-Adapt tool.
   (II)     Information from the most recent version of the California Adaptation Planning Guide.
   (III)    Information from local agencies on the types of assets, resources, and populations that will be  
sensitive to various climate change exposures.
   (IV)    Information from local agencies on their current ability to deal with the impacts of climate change.
   (V)     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.
   (VI)    Existing and planned development in identified at-risk areas, including structures, roads, utilities, 
and essential public facilities.
   (VII)   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.
Mandatory Goals, Policies and Objectives (Gov. Code § 65302(g)(4)(B))
• Create a set of adaptation and resilience goals, policies, and objectives based on the information above for 
the protection of the community.

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Statutory Citation
Brief Description of Requirement
Gov. Code § 65302(g)(4)
CONTINUED
Feasible Mitigation (Gov. Code § 65302(g)(4)(C))
• Create a set of feasible implementation measures designed to carry out the goals, policies, and objectives 
identified 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.
   (iii)  The designation of adequate and feasible infrastructure located in an at-risk area. 
   (iv)  Guidelines for working cooperatively with relevant local, regional, state, and federal agencies.
   (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 resto-
ration of natural features and ecosystem processes, when developing alternatives for consideration. 
For the purposes of this clause, “natural infrastructure” means the preservation or restoration of 
ecological systems, or utilization of engineered systems that use ecological processes, to increase 
resiliency to climate change, manage other environmental hazards, or both. 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.
Other documents (Gov. Code §§ 65302(g)(4)(D)(i), 65302(g)(4)(D)(ii):
• If a city or county has adopted the local hazard mitigation plan, or other climate adaptation plan or docu-
ment 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 docu-
ment that substantially complies with this section, or have substantially equivalent provisions to this subdi-
vision 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.
Gov. Code 65302(g)(5) – (g)
(8)
Other Considerations:
• Cities and counties that have flood plain management ordinances that have been approved by FEMA that 
substantially comply 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 or 
the flood plain ordinance, specifically showing how each requirement of this subdivision has been met.
• Prior to the periodic review of its general plan and prior to preparing or revising its safety element, each 
city and county shall consult the California Geological Survey of the Department of Conservation, the 
Central Valley Flood Protection Board, if the city or county is located within the boundaries of the Sacra-
mento and San Joaquin Drainage District, as set forth in Section 8501 of the Water Code, and the Office 
of Emergency Services for the purpose of including information known by and available to the department, 
the agency, and the board required by this subdivision.
• To the extent that a county’s safety element is sufficiently detailed and contains appropriate policies and 
programs for adoption by a city, a city may adopt that portion of the county’s safety element that pertains 
to the city’s planning area in satisfaction of the requirement imposed by this subdivision
• Review the safety element for fire and flood impacts upon each Housing Element update, 
• Review the safety element for climate change at each update to the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan, Juris-
diction may also choose to do a comprehensive review of the safety element upon each housing element 
update to streamline review.
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n 
Identified in statute     
n 
Closely related to statutory requirements
 
Land Use
Circulation
Housing
Conservation
Open Space
Noise
Air Quality
EJ
Safety
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n
n
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