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

C H A P T E R   4 :   R E Q U I R E D   E L E M E N T S
   |   150
4
Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience 
Requirement Description: 
In accordance with the requirements of 
SB 379
, codified at 
Government Code section 65302(g)(4)
, climate change adaptation 
and resilience must be addressed in the safety element of all general plans in California. Specifically, “upon the next revision of 
a local hazard mitigation plan, adopted in accordance with the federal 
Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000
 (Public Law 106-390), 
on or after January 1, 2017, or, if a local jurisdiction has not adopted a LHMP, beginning on or before January 1, 2022, the safety 
element shall be reviewed and updated as necessary to address climate adaptation and resiliency strategies applicable to the city 
or county.  This review shall consider advice provided in the Office of Planning and Research’s General Plan Guidelines…” 
(
Gov. Code § 65302(g)(4)
). This section provides advice to support a jurisdiction’s compliance with the requirements of 
Government Code section 65302(g)(4)
. 
Government Code 65302(g):
(4)  Upon the next revision of a local hazard mitigation plan, adopted in accordance with the federal Disaster Mitigation 
Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-390), on or after January 1, 2017, or, if a local jurisdiction has not adopted a local hazard 
mitigation plan, beginning on or before January 1, 2022, the safety element shall be reviewed and updated as necessary 
to address climate adaptation and resiliency strategies applicable to the city or county. This review shall consider advice 
provided in the Office of Planning and Research’s General Plan Guidelines and shall include all of the following:
(A) 
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, including, but not limited to, an assessment of how 
climate change may affect the risks addressed pursuant to paragraphs (2) and (3).
Subsidence: The gradual, local settling or sinking of the earth’s surface with little or no horizontal motion (subsidence 
is usually the result of gas, oil, or water extraction, hydrocompaction, or peat oxidation, and not the result of a landslide 
or slope failure).
Seismically Induced Surface Rupture:
 
A break in the ground’s surface and associated deformation resulting from the 
movement of a fault.
Tsunami: A wave, commonly called a tidal wave, caused by an underwater seismic disturbance, such as sudden faulting, 
landslide, or volcanic activity.
Wildland Fire: A fire occurring in a suburban or rural area that contains uncultivated lands, timber, range, watershed, brush, 
or grasslands. This includes areas where there is a mingling of developed and undeveloped lands.
(i) 
  

---

C H A P T E R   4 :   R E Q U I R E D   E L E M E N T S
   |   151
4
(ii) Information that may be available from federal, state, regional, and local agencies that will assist in developing 
the vulnerability assessment and the adaptation policies and strategies required pursuant to subparagraph (B), 
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.
(B)  A set of adaptation and resilience goals, policies, and objectives based on the information specified in subparagraph (A) 
for the protection of the community.
(C)  A set of feasible implementation measures designed to carry out the goals, policies, and objectives identified pursuant to 
subparagraph (B) 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 restoration 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 

---