Resolution 2005-29
RESOLUTION NO. 2005-29
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF GILROY ADOPTING THE CITY OF
GILROY HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN AND ENDORSING THE ABAG
REPORT "TAMING NATURAL DISASTERS," OF WIDCH THE GILROY
HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN IS CONTAINED WITHIN
WHEREAS, the Bay Area is subject to various earthquake-related hazards such as
ground shaking, liquefaction, land sliding, fault surface rupture, and tsunamis;
WHEREAS, the Bay Area is subject to various weather-related hazards including
wildfires, floods, and landslides;
WHEREAS, the City of Gilroy recognizes that disasters do not recognize city, county or
special district boundaries;
WHEREAS, the City of Gilroy seeks to maintain and enhance both a disaster-resistant
community and region by reducing the potential loss of life, property damage, and environmental
degradation from natural disasters, while accelerating economic recovery from those disasters;
WHEREAS, the City of Gilroy is committed to increasing the disaster resistance of the
infrastructure, health, housing, economy, government services, education, environment, and land
use systems in the community, as well as in the Bay Area as a whole;
i~
WHEREAS, the federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 requires all cities, counties, and
special districts to have adopted a Local Hazard Mitigation Plan to receive disaster mitigation
funding from FEMA;
WHEREAS, ABAG has approved and adopted the ABAG report Taming Natural
Disasters as the multi-jurisdictional Local Hazard Mitigation Plan for the San Francisco Bay
Area;
WHEREAS, pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act, the City has
determined that the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan is Categorically Exempt pursuant to Section
15306, Information Collection;
WHEREAS, the City Council held a duly noticed public hearing on April 18, 2005, at
which time the City Council considered the public testimony, the staff report, on all other
documentation related to the plan; and
WHEREAS, the location and custodian of the documents or other materials which
constitute the record of the proceedings upon which the plan approval is based is the office of the
City Clerk.
RESOLUTION NO. 2005-29
-1-
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOL YED that the City of Gilroy adopts, and adapts with
its local annex, this multi-jurisdictional plan as its Local Hazard Mitigation Plan.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOL YED that the City of Gilroy commits to
continuing to take those actions and initiating further actions, as appropriate, as identified in the
City of Gilroy Annex of that multi-jurisdictional Local Hazard Mitigation Plan.
PASSED AND ADOPTED this 18th day of April, 2005 by the following vote:
AYES:
COUNCILMEMBERS: CORREA, DILLON, MORALES,
VALIQUETTE, VELASCO, and GARTMAN
COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE
NOES:
ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: PINHEIRO
ATTEST:
~~CJA~2 ~ Lc",'
Rhonda Pellin, City Clerk
RESOLUTION NO. 2005-29
-2-
Taming Natural
Disasters
Multi - Jurisdictional
Local Government
Hazard Mitigation Plan
for the San Francisco
Bay Area
Adopted by ABAG Executive Board - March 17, 2005
ASSOCIATION OF BAY AREA GOVERNMENTS
,/-) t/ /1 (/5 /YJ p /j/ d
BACKGROUND
The purpose of this Local Hazard Mitigation Plan document is to serve as a catalyst for
a dialog on public policies needed to mitigate the natural hazards that affect the San
Francisco Bay Area.
The overall strategy is to use this multi-jurisdictional effort to not only maintain and
enhance the disaster resistance of our region, but also to fulfill the requirements of the
Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 for all local governments to develop and adopt this type
of plan.
For purposes ofthis plan, local governments include not only the cities and counties of
our region, but also special districts with elected boards.
For information complete information on ABAG's Local Hazard Mitigation Planning
Effort, including interactive hazard mapping and risk assessment, see our Internet site
at: http://quake.abag.ca.gov/mitigation
ABAG Publication Number: P05001EQK
Taming Natural Disasters
ii
March 17,2005
Table of Contents
page
Background ...... ........ ............... ......... ............................................... ..;. ........ .................... ............. 11
Credits....... ........... .......... ............ ........... ..................... ........................... ... ..... ....... ............. ............ iv
Goals..... ...................................... .............. ........................................... ................ ....... ............ .........1
Our Challenge ...................................................................... .......... ................. ........ ............1
Overall Goal.,.................................................................................................................. .....1
Commitments ................................................................................................. .....................2
Implementation Strategies ...... ............ ............................................... ......... ......... ........ ................3
Background on Implementation Strategy Organization .....................................................3
Strategies and Priorities ....................................................... ............. ........ ..........................4
1. Infrastructure (INFR) .. ................ ........ ...... .......... .'............ ........... ........ ......... ...................5
2. Health (HEAL) ............................................... ............... '" ............. ....... ...........................10
3. Housing (HSNG) .......................................... .......... .......... ...... ........... ........ ................ ...11
4. Economy (ECON) ...................................................................................... .................. .18
5. Government Services (GOVT) ............................................ ...................................... ...24
6. Education (EDUC) ............................................................................ ........ ....... ............ .27
7. Environment (ENVI) ............................................................................................. ...... .28
8. Land Use (LAND) ....................................................................................................... .30
Appendices
A - The Planning Process .. ............................... ....... .......................... ............ ........... ............ ........ 32
B - The Plan Maintenance and Update Process ........................................................................... 39
C - Natural Hazards Risk Assessment...........................................................................................41
D - Disaster History............................................................... ........................ .... ............................ 74
E - Record of Plan Participation ................................................................................................... 86
Annexes
Annexes for ABAG and other local governments in the Bay Area are appended to this Local
Hazard Mitigation Plan.
Taming Natural Disasters
Hi
March 17,2005
Cred its
Principal Project Manager:
Jeanne B. Perkins - Earthquake Program Manager, Association of Bay Area Govenunents
ABAG Staff Support:
Brian Kirking - Senior Planner and Data Analyst
Jennifer Shanks - Planning and GIS Assistant
Kearey Smith - GIS Manager (through September 2004)
Michael Smith - Planner (through September 2004) and GIS Manager (starting in October 2004)
ABAG Management:
Henry Gardner - Executive Director
Janet McBride - Planning Director
The writing and production of this report was funded by Grant No. PDM-03 PL04 from the Department of
Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) through the California Governor's Office
of Emergency Services, as well as by the Association of Bay Area Governments and, through in-kind services, the
local governments of the Bay Area.
Taming Natural Disasters
iv
March 17,2005
Goals
Our Challenge
The San Francisco Bay Area is in a spectacular region with valleys and ridges, views and access
to rivers, the ocean, and the Bay, and a mild climate. It is also home to 7 million people and has
a $400 billion economyl .
But many of those ridges and valleys have been formed by active earthquake faults that can
generate devastating shaking and ground failures. The typically mild climate is subject to
occasional winter storms leading to landslides in the hills and flooding of the valleys. During the
fire season, typically from May through November, the region is subject to periods of Diablo
Winds bringing high temperatures, gusting winds, and low humidity. Tinder-dry trees, brush,
and grasslands are subject to fires that can become catastrophic on the edges of urban
development. Given an increasingly mobile population, our citizens and crops are subject to
disease epidemics. Natural disasters can lead to secondary events that are disasters in
themselves, including hazmat releases and dam failures. During the period from 1950 - 2000, all
or part ofthe Bay Area was subjected to 56 disasters, or about a third of the 181 occurring in the
entire State of California during that time2.
These hazards are not new, and neither are the risks to lives, property, the environment, and our
economy. Bay Area local governments, together with private utilities and the state, have created
programs and regulations that are as creative and comprehensive as any region in the world.
Overall Goal
To maintain and enhance a disaster-resistant region by reducing the potential loss of life,
property damage, and environmental degradation from natural disasters, while accelerating
economic recovery from those disasters.
We need to continue to work to reduce and avoid risks from natural hazards to protect lives,
property, the environment, and our economy.
This natural hazard mitigation plan is a joint effort by the cities, counties, and special districts in
the Bay Area to build a more disaster-resistant region. We recognize that disasters do not respect
the boundaries between our individual jurisdictions and have worked together to identify our
hazards, assess our risks, and develop this goal, eight commitments, and a comprehensive list of
strategies (or actions) to mitigate the identified risks.
We view this plan as a shared mental model of our overall goal, commitments, and mitigation
actions. We can no longer afford random acts of preparedness and mitigation.
I Fassinger and others, 2003 -ABAG's Projections 2003. Economy is based on annual Gross Regional Product
(GRP).
2 California Governor's Office of Emergency Services database of disasters and major states of emergencies,
Taming Natural Disasters
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March 17,2005
Commitments
The overall goal is being addressed by asking all local governments in the Bay Area to adopt
formal resolutions in support of the following eight commitments areas. These commitments
are not organized by hazard, but by the types of services supplied either directly, or indirectly, by
local governments. With this organization, each of the Bay Area's cities and counties should
find ways to address these major commitments by reducing identified risks. In addition, the Bay
Area's special districts can address many of these commitments, depending on the role and
responsibilities of that district. Together, we are committed to increasing the disaster
resistance of the infrastructure, health, housing, economy, government services, education,
environment, and land use systems in the Bay Area.
1. Infrastructure
Bay Area transportation and utility facilities and networks are vital lifelines during and following
disasters, as well as in the functioning of our region and its economy ~
2. Health
Bay Area facilities, networks, and systems providing care of sick and those with special needs
need to be resilient after disasters for these systems will need to care for additional injured at the
same time as those currently cared for are stressed.
3. Housing
Bay Area residents need to have safe and disaster-resistant housing that is architecturally diverse
and serves a variety of household sizes and incomes.
4. Economy
Safe, disaster-resilient, and architecturally diverse downtown commercial areas, business and
industrial complexes, and office buildings are essential to the overall economy of the Bay Area.
5. Government Services
Bay Area city and county governments, as well as community services agencies, provide
essential services during and immediately following disasters, as well as critical functions during
recovery, that need to be resistant to disasters.
6. Education
Safe and disaster-resistant school, education, and childcare-related facilities are critical to the
safety of our children, as well as to the quality of life of Bay Area families.
7. Environment
Disaster resistance needs to further environmental sustainability, reduce pollution, strengthen
agriculture resiliency, and avoid hazardous material releases in the Bay Area.
8. Land Use
Land use change needs to be accompanied by a respect for hazardous areas and facilities, as well
as recognize the interconnected nature of the Bay Area.
Taming Natural Disasters
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March 17,2005
Implementation Strategies
Background on Implementation Strategy Organization
The implementation strategies, or action items, are listed under the eight major commitments
identified on the previous page, rather than by hazard. As stated in the previous section, with
this organization, each of the Bay Area's cities and counties should find ways to address these
major commitments by reducing identified risks. In addition, the Bay Area's special districts can
address many of these commitments, depending on the role and responsibilities of that district.
Any scheme to identify a comprehensive list of potential strategies is bound to have some
overlaps. This list is no exception. Because those ideas listed under housing and economy have
at their core the relationship between government and the people who live and work in their
jurisdictions, there is overlap. City and counties, as well as special districts handling lifelines
and schools, have buildings that are critical to their functioning, so there is duplication in the
discussion of these issues.
Most of the strategies listed are clearly within the definition of "hazard mitigation," that is,
"any action taken to reduce or eliminate the long-term risk to human life and property from
natural hazards. ,,3 The strategies address all of the hazards identified when performing the risk
assessment work described in Appendix C. In addition, there are four notable areas where we
have "pushed" this definition.
. The first is in the area of public education. Author Stephen Flynn notes in his 2004 book4 in a plea for
greater public education following 9/11 that federal "security officials often act as though members of the
American public are either potential recruits for an easily panicked mob or a passive part of a haystack
that must constantly be sifted through to find terrorist needles." The Bay Area learned this lesson twelve
years earlier in 1989 as a result of the Lorna Prieta earthquake. People who live and work in our region
also need to understand our hazards so that they can take appropriate mitigation measures in their homes,
schools, and work places.
. Second, we have included under Government Services several ideas to "Maintain and Enhance Local
Government's Emergency Response and Recovery Capacity." These ideas have been included because
we believe that many go well beyond the traditional response activities of city and county police and fire
servIces.
. Several strategies are drafted so that they apply to natural- and security - hazards, such as the mitigation
of disasters resulting from weapons of mass destruction. Hazmat releases and dam failures due to
flooding, earthquakes, or terrorism have some similar impacts and therefore some similar mitigation
strategies, Some methods of combating "common" crime and violence may deter major terrorist actions.
. Finally, the strategies dealing with health, both under the Health commitment, as wen as sprinkled
elsewhere in this document, have traditionally been funded by the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), rather than FEMA. They also may involve the use of the National Disaster Medical
System under U.S. Health and Human Services (including both uniformed and non-uniformed medical
personnel under the U.S. Surgeon General). We view this Local Hazard Mitigation Plan, while a
requirement of the Disaster Mitigation Act of2000 being administered by FEMA, as an opportunity to
build administrative bridges in the public health field. For example, local government actions to deal
with managing "natural" deadly pathogens such as SARS, AIDS, West Nile, and mad cow disease in an
increasingly mobile world can also assist in the response to bioterrorism.
3 Stafford Act (44 CFR 206:401)
4 Flynn, Stephen, 2004, America the Vulnerable: How Our Government Is Failing to Protect Us from Terrorism.
HarperColIins Publishers, New York, page 160.
Taming Natural Disasters
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March 17,2005
Status and Priorities
For each ofthe following potential mitigation strategies, local governments have been asked to
choose their own priority for this strategy. The priorities in each of these local government
Annexes were selected based on:
. the level of hazards identified in Appendix C,
. the Bay Area preliminary risk assessment conducted and described in Appendix C,
. supplementary hazard and risk assessment information developed by ABAG for each
local government on the interactive internet site http://quake.abag.ca.gov/mitigation, and
. any specific studies conducted by the local government and included in that local
government's Annex to this plan.
The priorities for each local government participating in this multi-jurisdictional plan are in that
local government's Annex to this plan.
[ ] Existing program
Responsible agency or department
Provide ordinance or resolution number, if applicable
] Very High priority - to be adopted by local government immediately
Responsible agency or department
] High priority - to be adopted by local government as soon as funding and resources allow
Agency responsible for seeking and administering funding
Sources of potential funding
Estimated amount of funding needed
] Moderate priority - will be adopted by local government as funding and resources allow
] Under study
Responsible agency or department
Provide estimated date of completion
] Not applicable, not appropriate, or not cost effective
] Not yet considered
This list is a "work in progress." It will expand and change over time, hopefully becoming as
dynamic as the restless earth whose hazards demand our attention. It is not meant to discourage
local experimentation with alternative strategies. Rather, it is meant to be a list of both common
and innovative practices. In addition, local governments choosing to reword specific strategies
to meet their local needs, or to be more specific in their strategies, are encouraged to do so.
Some of the strategies will not be appropriate for some jurisdictions, but all jurisdictions should
be able to address the general commitments with identifiable actions. Valid risk management
requires a careful weighing of the advantages and disadvantages of action. Thus, while some
strategies may be appropriate for some jurisdictions, those same strategies may not be
appropriate or may not be cost effective for others. Over time, we are committed to developing
better hazard and risk information to use in making those trade-offs. We are not trying to create
Taming Natural Disasters
4
March 17,2005
a disaster-proofregion, but a disaster-resistant one. Finally, the cost of strategies varies greatly.
Some of the most cost-effective relate to building and maintaining partnerships, not buildings.
Following approval of this plan by FEMA, ABAG will include the comprehensive strategies
identified by all of these local governments Annexes as an interactive searchable database on
that same internet site at http://quake.abag.ca.gov/mitigation.This interactive capability should
begin to assist the California Office of Emergency Services in its efforts to monitor the
effectiveness of this Local Hazard Mitigation Plan. For example, since this listof strategies has
been conceived as a comprehensive list of "best practices," strategies given relatively lower
priorities by most local governments might be viewed as a multi-jurisdictional weakness, while
those utilized and given a relatively high priority by most local governments might be viewed as
a multi-jurisdictional strength.
Decisions on those strategies utilized and given a relatively high priority have been based on a
variety of criteria, not simply on an economic cost-benefit analysis. These criteria include being
technically and administratively feasible, politically acceptable, socially appropriate, legal,
economically sound, and not harmful to the environment or our heritage.
Scope of Mitigation Strategies - New and Existing Development
Not only are the mitigation strategies have been designed to cover all of the hazards identified
during the development of the natural hazard risk assessment for the plan as described in
Appendix C, but the strategies also are designed to apply to existing development, new
development, and even land use planning. For example, many of the strategies in infrastructure,
housing, and economy focus on existing buildings, while many of those in land use focus on new
development and general land use planning.
1. Infrastructure (INFR)
Bay Area transportation and utility facilities and networks are vital lifelines during and following
disasters, as well as in the functioning of our region and its economy.
INFR-a. Multi-hazard
1) Assess the vulnerability of critical facilities designated by lifeline operators5 to
damage in natural disasters or security threats, including facilities owned outside
of the Bay Area that can impact service delivery within the region.
2) Comply with State of California and federal requirements to assess the
vulnerability of dams to damage from earthquakes, seiches, landslides,
liquefaction, or security threats.
3) Encourage the cooperation of utility system providers and cities, counties, and
other special districts to develop strong and effective mitigation strategies for
infrastructure systems and facilities.
4) Retrofit or replace critical lifeline facilities and/or their backup facilities that are
shown to be vulnerable to damage in natural disasters.
5 Lifeline agencies, departments, and districts are those that operate transportation and utility facilities and networks.
Taming Natural Disasters
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March 17, 2005
5) Support and encourage efforts of other (lifeline) agencies as they plan for and
arrange financing for seismic retrofits and other disaster mitigation strategies.
(For example, a city might pass a resolution in support of a transit agency's
retrofit program.)
6) Plan for speeding the repair and functional restoration of lifeline systems through
stockpiling of shoring materials, temporary pumps, surface pipelines, portable
hydrants, and other supplies, such as those available through the Water Agency
Response Network (WARN).
7) Engage in, support, and/or encourage research by others on measures to further
strengthen transportation, water, sewer, and power systems so that they are less
vulnerable to damage in disasters.
8) Pre-position emergency power generation capacity (or have rental/lease
agreements for these generators) in critical buildings of cities, counties, and
special districts to maintain continuity of government and services.
9) Have back-up emergency power available for critical intersection traffic lights.
10) Develop unused or new pedestrian rights-of-way as walkways to serve as
additional evacuation routes (such as fire roads in park lands).
11) Coordinate with PG&E and others to investigate ways of minimizing the
likelihood that power interruptions will adversely impact vulnerable communities,
such as the disabled and the elderly.
12) Encourage replacing aboveground electric and phone wires and other structures
with underground facilities, and use the planning-approval process to ensure that
all new phone and electrical utility lines are installed underground.
13) Coordinate with the State Division of Safety of Dams to ensure an adequate
timeline for the maintenance and inspection of dams, as required of dam owners
by State law.
14) Encourage communication between State DES, FEMA, and utilities related to
emergencies occurring outside of the Bay Area that can affect service delivery in
the region.
15) Ensure that transit operators, private ambulance companies, cities, and/or counties
have mechanisms in place for medical transport during and after disasters that
take into consideration the potential for reduced capabilities of roads following
these same disasters.
16) Effectively utilize the Transportation Management Center (TMC), the staffing of
which is provided by Caltrans, the CHP and MTC. The TMC is designed to
maximize safety and efficiency throughout the highway system. It includes the
Emergency Resource Center (ERC) which was created specifically for primary
planning and procedural disaster management.
INFR-b. Earthquakes
1) Expedite the funding and retrofit of seismically-deficient city- and county-owned
bridges and road structures by working with Caltrans and other appropriate
governmental agencies.
2) Establish a higher priority for funding seismic retrofit of existing transportation
and infrastructure systems (such as BART) than for expansion of those systems.
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March 17,2005
3) Include "areas subject to high ground shaking, earthquake-induced ground failure,
and surface fault rupture" in the list of criteria used for determining a replacement
schedule for pipelines (along with importance, age, type of construction material,
size, condition, and maintenance or repair history).
4) Install specially-engineered pipelines in areas subject to faulting, liquefaction,
earthquake-induced landsliding, or other earthquake hazard.
5) Replace or retrofit water-retention structures that are determined to be structurally
deficient.
6) Install portable facilities (such as hoses, pumps, emergency generators, or other
equipment) to allow pipelines to bypass failure zones such as fault rupture areas,
areas of liquefaction, and other ground failure areas (using a priority scheme if
funds are not available for installation at all needed locations).
7) Install earthquake-resistant connections when pipes enter and exit bridges.
8) Comply with all applicable building and fire codes, as well as other regulations
(such as state requirements for fault, landslide, and liquefaction investigations in
particular mapped areas) when constructing or significantly remodeling
infrastructure facilities.
9) Clarify to workers in critical facilities and emergency personnel, as well as to
elected officials and the public, the extent to which the facilities are expected to
perform only at a life safety level (allowing for the safe evacuation of personnel)
or are expected to remain functional following an earthquake.
10) Examine the feasibility of developing a water-borne transportation "system" -
comprised mainly of relatively inexpensive barges - across the Bay for use in the
event of major earthquakes. Implementation of such a system could prove
extremely useful in the event of structural failure of either the road-bridge systems
or BART and might serve as an adjunct to existing transportation system elements
in the movement oflarge numbers of people and/or goods.
INFR-c.
1)
Wildfire
Ensure a reliable source of water for fire suppression (meeting acceptable
standards for minimum volume and duration of flow) for existing and new
development.
2) Develop a coordinated approach between fire jurisdictions and water supply
agencies to identify needed improvements to the water distribution system,
initially focusing on areas of highest wildfire hazard.
3) Develop a defensible space vegetation program that includes the clearing or
thinning of (a) non-fire resistive vegetation within 30 feet of access and
evacuation roads and routes to critical facilities, or (b) all non-native species (such
as eucalyptus and pine, but not necessarily oaks) within 30 feet of access and
evacuation roads and routes to critical facilities.
4) Ensure all dead-end segments of public roads in high hazard areas have at least a
"T" intersection turn-around sufficient for typical wildland fire equipment.
5) Enforce minimum road width of 20 feet with an additional I O-foot clearance on
each shoulder on all driveways and road segments greater than 50 feet in length in
wildfire hazard areas.
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March 17,2005
6) Require that development in high fire hazard areas provide adequate access roads
(with width and vertical clearance that meet the minimum standards of the Fire
Code or relevant local ordinance), onsite fire protection systems, evacuation
signage, and fire breaks.
7) Ensure adequate fire equipment road or fire road access to developed and open
space areas.
8) Maintain fire roads and/or public right-of-way roads and keep them passable at all
times.
INFR-d. Flooding
1) Conduct a watershed analysis of runoff and drainage systems to predict areas of
insufficient capacity in the storm drain and natural creek system.
2) Develop procedures for performing a watershed analysis to look at the impact of
development on flooding potential downstream, including communities outside of
the jurisdiction of proposed projects.
3) Conduct a watershed analysis at least once every three years.
4) Assist, support, and/or encourage the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, various
Flood Control and Water Conservation Districts, and other responsible agencies
to locate and maintain funding for the development of flood control projects that
have high cost-benefit ratios (such as through the writing ofletters of support
and/or passing resolutions in support of these efforts).
5) Pursue funding for the design and construction of storm drainage projects to
protect vulnerable properties, including property acquisitions, upstream storage
such as detention basins, and channel widening with the associated right-of-way
acquisitions, relocations, and environmental mitigations.
6) Continue to repair and make structural improvements to storm drains, pipelines,
and/or channels to enable them to perform to their design capacity in handling
water flows as part of regular maintenance activities.
7) Continue maintenance efforts to keep storm drains and creeks free of obstructions,
while retaining vegetation in the channel (as appropriate), to allow for the free
flow of water.
8) Enforce provisions under creek protection, stormwater management, and
discharge control ordinances designed to keep watercourses free of obstructions
and to protect drainage facilities to confirm with the Regional Water Quality
Control Board's Best Management Practices.
9) Develop an approach and locations for various watercourse bank protection
strategies, including for example, (1) an assessment of banks to inventory areas
that appear prone to failure, (2) bank stabilization, including installation of rip
rap, (3) stream bed depth management using dredging, and (4) removal of out-of-
date coffer dams in rivers and tributary streams.
10) Use reservoir sediment removal as one way to increase storage for both flood
control and water supply.
11) Elevate critical bridges affected by flooding to increase stream flow and maintain
critical access and egress routes.
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March 17,2005
12) Provide a mechanism to expedite the repair or replacement of levees that are
vulnerable to collapse from earthquake-induced shaking or liquefaction, rodents,
and other concerns, particularly those protecting critical infrastructure.
13) Ensure that utility systems in new developments are constructed in ways that
reduce or eliminate flood damage.
14) Determine whether or not wastewater treatment plants are protected from floods,
and if not, investigate the use of flood-control berms to not only protect from
stream or river flooding, but also increasing plant security.
15) Work cooperatively with water agencies, flood control districts, Caltrans, and
local transportation agencies to determine appropriate performance criteria for
watershed analysis.
16) Work for better cooperation among the patchwork of agencies managing flood
control issues.
17) Work cooperatively with upstream communities to monitor creek and watercourse
flows to predict potential for flooding downstream.
INFR-e. Landslides
1) Include "areas subject to ground failure" in the list of criteria used for determining
a replacement schedule (along with importance, age, type of construction
material, size, condition, and maintenance or repair history) for pipelines.
2) Establish requirements in zoning ordinances to address hillside development
constraints in areas of steep slopes that are likely to lead to excessive road
maintenance or where roads will be difficult to maintain during winter storms due
to landsliding.
INFR-f.
1)
Building Reoccupancy
Ensure that critical buildings owned or leased by special districts or private utility
companies participate in a program similar to San Francisco's Building
Occupancy Resumption Program (BORP). The BORP program permits owners
of buildings to hire qualified structural engineers6 to create facility-specific post-
disaster inspection plans and allows these engineers to become automatically
deputized as City/County inspectors for these buildings in the event of an
earthquake or other disaster. This program allows rapid reoccupancy of the
buildings.
INFR-g. Public Education
1) Provide materials to the public related to planning for power outages.
2) Provide materials to the public related to family and personal planning for delays
due to traffic or road closures.
3) Provide materials to the public related to coping with reductions in water supply
or contamination of that supply.
4) Provide materials to the public related to coping with disrupted storm drains,
sewage lines, and wastewater treatment.
6 A qualified structural engineer is a California licensed structural engineer with relevant experience.
Taming Natural Disasters
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March 17, 2005
5) Facilitate and/or coordinate the distribution of materials that are prepared by
others, such as by placing materials in city or utility newsletters, or on community
access channels, as appropriate.
2. Health (HEAL)
Bay Area facilities, networks, and systems providing care of sick and those with special needs
need to be resilient after disasters for these systems will need to care for additional injured at the
same time as those currently cared for are stressed.
HEAL-a. Hospitals and Other Critical Health Care Facilities7
I) Work with critical health care facilities operators to ensure that critical facilities
are structurally sound and have non structural systems designed to remain
functional following disasters (as required for acute-care hospitals for earthquakes
by State law).
2) Encourage hospitals to work with the California Office of Statewide Health
Planning and Development (OSHPD) to formalize arrangements with structural
engineers to report to the hospital, assess damage, and determine if the buildings
can be reoccupied. The program should be similar to San Francisco's Building
Occupancy Resumption Program (BORP) that permits owners of buildings to hire
qualified structural engineers to create building-specific post-disaster inspection
plans and allows these engineers to become automatically deputized as inspectors
for these buildings in the event of an earthquake or other disaster. OSHPD, rather
than city/county building departments, has the authority and responsibility for the
structural integrity of hospital structures.
3) Ensure health care facilities are adequately prepared to care for victims with
respiratory problems related to smoke and/or particulate matter inhalation.
4) Ensure these health care facilities have the capacity to shut off outside air and be
self-contained.
5) Ensure that hospitals and other major health care facilities have auxiliary water
and power sources.
6) Work with health care facilities to institute isolation capacity should a need for
them arise following a communicable disease epidemic.
7) Develop printed materials, utilize existing materials (such as developed by FEMA
and the American Red Cross), conduct workshops, and/or provide outreach
encouraging employees of these critical health care facilities to have family
disaster plans and conduct mitigation activities in their own homes.
7 Critical care facilities include hospitals, long-term care, primary care, or specialty clinics (such as dialysis clinics),
home health agencies, or hospices.
Taming Natural Disasters
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March 17, 2005
HEAL-b. Ancillary Health-Related Facilitiel
I) Work with State of California licensing agencies to identify these ancillary
facilities in your community.
2) Encourage ancillary facility operators to develop disaster mitigation plans.
3) Encourage ancillary facility operators to create, maintain, and/or continue
partnerships with local governments to develop response and recovery plans.
HEAL-c. Environmental Health
1) Create and/or participate in discussion forums for food and health personnel,
including, for example, medical professionals, veterinarians, plant pathologists,
and city/county environmental health officers to develop safety, security, and
response strategies for food supply contamination.
HEAL-d. Interface with National and State Health Care Initiatives
I) Designate locations for the distribution of antibiotics to large numbers of people
should the need arise, as required to be included in each county's Strategic
National Stockpile Plan.
2) Train appropriate personnel to understand that the Metropolitan Medical
Response System (MMRS) cities in your area. For example, Oakland and
Fremont are the MMRS cities in Alameda County. MMRS cities are those cities
that are provided with additional federal funds for organizing, equipping, and
training groups of local fire, rescue, medical, and other emergency management
personnel.
3) Train appropriate personnel to know if any National Disaster Medical System
(NDMS) uniformed or non-uniformed personnel are within one-to-four hours of
your community. These federal resources include veterinary, mortuary, and
medical personnel.
4) Train appropriate personnel to know to utilize the State of California Department
of Health Services laboratory in Richmond for confirmation of biological agents
and Department of Defense laboratories in Berkeley (Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory) or Livermore (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Sandia)
for confirmation of radiological agents.
3. Housing (HSNG)
Bay Area residents need to have safe and disaster-resistant housing that is architecturally diverse
and serves a variety of household sizes and incomes.
HSNG-a. Multi-Hazard
I) Be aware of past problems of inadequate hazard disclosure and work with real
estate agents to improve enforcement of real estate disclosure requirements for
those hazards covered by this plan, for example, by making those agents and the
8 Ancillary health care facilities include phannacies, private offices of health care providers (such as doctors,
dentists, ophthalmologists, psychologists, and alternative medical care givers), retail sales offices for health care
devices (such as optometric, auditory, or prosthetic devices), laboratories, and offices of the private non-profit
agencies services clients.
Taming Natural Disasters
11
March 17, 2005
disclosure firms aware of the hazard maps incorporated in this plan and available
on the ABAG web site at http://quake.abag.ca.gov/mitigation, as well as locally
developed maps.
2) Create incentives for owners of historic or architecturally significant buildings to
undertake mitigation to levels that will minimize the likelihood that these
buildings will need to be demolished after a disast~r, particularly if those
alterations conform to the federal Secretary of the Interior's Guidelinesfor
Rehabilitation.
HSNG-b. Single-Family Homes Vulnerable to Earthquakes
I) Utilize or recommend adoption of a retrofit standard that includes standard plan
sets and construction details for voluntary bolting of homes to their foundations
and bracing of outside walls of crawl spaces ("cripple" walls), such as that being
developed by a committee representing the East Bay-Peninsula-Monterey
Chapters of the International Code Council (ICC), California Building Officials
(CALBO), the Structural Engineers Association of Northern California
(SEAONC), the Northern California Chapter of the Earthquake Engineering
Research Institute (EERI-NC), and ABAG's Earthquake Program.
2) Require engineered plan sets for retrofitting of heavy two-story homes with living
areas over garages, as well as for split level homes, until standard plan sets and
construction details become available.
3) Require engineered plan sets for retrofitting of homes on steep hillsides.
4) Encourage local government building inspectors to take classes on a periodic
basis (such as the FEMA-developed training classes offered by ABAG) on
retrofitting of single-family homes.
5) Encourage private retrofit contractors and home inspectors doing work in your
area to take retrofit classes on a periodic basis (such as the FEMA-developed
training classes offered by ABAG) on retrofitting of single-family homes.
6) Conduct demonstration projects on common existing housing types demonstrating
structural and nonstructural mitigation techniques as community models for
earthquake mitigation.
7) Provide retrofit classes or workshops for homeowners. .
8) Establish tool-lending libraries with common tools needed for retrofitting for use
by homeowners with appropriate training.
9) Provide financial incentives to owners of applicable homes to retrofit.
HSNG-c. Sojt-Stor/ Multifamily Residential Structures Vulnerable to Earthquakes
I) Require engineered plan sets for voluntary or mandatory soft-story retrofits until a
standard plan set and construction details become available.
9 A condition in which the building has far less stiffness in its lowest story than in upper stories, often due to
multiple garage openings at the ground floor or large open windows for commercial space, increasing the likelihood
of excessive sidesway or even collapse, Many of these buildings collapsed in the 1971 San Fernando, 1989 Lorna
Prieta, and 1994 Northridge earthquakes. An engineering definition is "a condition in which the stiffness of the
seismic-foree-resisting system in any story is less than 70 percent of the stiffness in the story above" (modified from
the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE 31).
Taming Natural Disasters
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March 17,2005
2) Adopt the 2003 International Existing Building Code, the 1997 UBC, or the latest
applicable code standard for the design of voluntary or mandatory soft-story
building retrofits.
3) Work to educate condominium and apartment owners, local government staff,
engineers, and contractors on soft-story retrofit procedures and incentives using
materials such as those developed by ABAG (see http://quake.abag.ca.gov/fixit)
and the City of San Jose.
4) Conduct an inventory of existing or suspected soft-story residential structures.
5) Use the soft-story inventory to require owners to inform all existing tenants that
they live in this type of building and the standard to which it may have been
retrofitted, as well as require owners to inform tenants that they wi1llive in this
type of building prior to signing a lease.
6) Use the soft-story inventory to require owners to inform all existing tenants that
they should be prepared to live elsewhere following an earthquake if the building
has not been retrofitted.
7) Investigate and adopt appropriate financial, procedural, and land use incentives
for owners of soft-story buildings to facilitate retrofit such as those developed by
ABAG (see http://quake.abag.ca.gov/fixit).
8) Explore development of local ordinances or State regulations to require or
encourage owners of soft-story structures to strengthen them.
9) Provide technical assistance in seismically strengthening soft-story structures.
HSNG-d. Unreinforced Masonry Housing Stock
1) Continue to actively implement existing State law that requires cities and counties
to maintain lists of the addresses of unreinforced masonry buildings and inform
property owners that they own this type of hazardous structure.
2) Accelerate retrofitting of unrein forced masonry structures that have not been
retrofitted, for example, by (a) actively working with owners to obtain structural
analyses of their buildings, (b) helping owners obtain retrofit funding, (c)
adopting a mandatory versus voluntary, retrofit program, and/or (d) applying
penalties to owners who show inadequate efforts to upgrade these buildings.
3) Require owners to inform all existing tenants that they live in this type of building
and the standard to which it may have been retrofitted, as well as require owners
to inform tenants that they will live in this type of building prior to signing a
lease.
4) Require owners to inform all existing tenants that they should be prepared to live
elsewhere following an earthquake even if the building has been retrofitted, for it
has probably been retrofitted to a life-safety standard, not to a standard that will
allow occupancy following major earthquakes.
HSNG-e. Other Privately Owned Structural-Suspicious Residential Buildings and
Earthquakes
I) Identify and work toward tying down mobile homes used as year-round
permanent residences using an appropriate cost-sharing basis (for example, 75%
grant, 25% owner).
Taming Natural Disasters
13
March 17,2005
2) Inventory non-ductile concrete, tilt-'up concrete, and other privately-owned
structurally suspicious residential buildings.
3) Adopt the 2003 International Existing Building Code, the 1997 UBC, or the latest
applicable code standard for the design of voluntary or mandatory retrofit of
seismically vulnerable buildings.
4) Adopt one or more ofthe following strategies as incentives to encourage
retrofitting of privately-owned structurally deficient residential buildings: (a)
waivers or reductions of permit fees, (b) below-market loans, (c) local tax breaks,
(d) grants to cover the cost of retrofitting or of a structural analysis, (e) land use
and procedural incentives, or (t) technical assistance.
HSNG-f.
1)
New Construction and Earthquakes
Continue to require that all new housing be constructed in compliance with
structural requirements of the most recently adopted version of the California
Building Code.
2) Conduct appropriate employee training and support continued education to ensure
enforcement of building codes and construction standards, as well as
identification of typical design inadequacies of housing and recommended
improvements.
HSNG-g. Wildfire and Structural Fires
1) Increase efforts to reduce hazards in existing development in high wildfire hazard
areas (identified as wildland-urban-interface fire-threatened communities or in
areas exposed to high-to-extreme fire threat) through improving engineering
design and vegetation management for mitigation, appropriate code enforcement,
and public education on defensible space mitigation strategies.
2) Tie public education on defensible space and a comprehensive defensible space
ordinance to a field program of enforcement.
3) Require that new homes in wildland-urban-interface fire-threatened communities
or in areas exposed to high-to-extreme fire threat be constructed of fire-resistant
building materials (including roofing and exterior walls) and incorporate fire-
resistant design features (such as minimal use of eaves, internal comers, and open
first floors) to increase structural survivability and reduce ignitabilitylO.
4) Develop financial incentives for homeowners to be "model" defensible space
homes in neighborhoods that are wildland-urban- interface fire-threatened
communities or in areas exposed to high-to-extreme fire threat.
5) Consider fire safety, evacuation, and emergency vehicle access when reviewing
proposals to add secondary units or additional residential units in wildland-urban-
interface fire-threatened communities or in areas exposed to high-to-extreme fire
threat.
6) Adopt and/or amend, as needed, updated versions ofthe California Building and
Fire Codes so that optimal fire-protection standards are used in construction and
renovation projects.
10 See Structural Fire Prevention Field Guide for Mitigation of Wildfires at
http://osfm.fire.ca.20v/structural.h tml.
Taming Natural Disasters
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March 17,2005
7) Create a mechanism to enforce provisions of the California Building and Fire
Codes and local housing codes that require the installation of smoke detectors
and/or fire-extinguishing systems by making installation a condition of (a)
finalizing a permit for any work on existing properties valued at over a fixed
amount, such as $500 or $1000, and/or (b) a condition for the transfer of property
if these changes are determined cost-effective strategies.
8) Work to ensure a reliable source of water for fire suppression in rural-residential
areas through the cooperative efforts of water districts, fire districts, and residents.
9) Expand vegetation management programs in wildland-urban- interface fire-
threatened communities or in areas exposed to high-to-extreme fire threat to more
effectively manage the fuel load through roadside collection and chipping,
mechanical fuel reduction equipment, selected harvesting, use of goats or other
organic methods of fuel reduction, and selected use of controlled burning.
10) Promote the installation of early warning fire alarm systems in homes wildland-
urban-interface fire-threatened communities or in areas exposed to high-to-
extreme fire threat connected to fire department communication systems.
11) Establish a Fire Hazard Abatement District to fund reduction in fire risk of
existing properties through vegetation management that includes reduction of fuel
loads, use of defensible space, and fuel breaks.
12) Work with residents in rural-residential areas to ensure adequate access and
evacuation in wildland-urban- interface fire-threatened communities or in areas
exposed to high-to-extreme fire threat.
13) Require fire sprinklers in new homes located more than 1.5 miles or a 5-minute
response time from a fire station or in an identified high hazard wildland-urban-
interface wildfire area.
14) Require fire sprinklers in all new or substantially remodeled multifamily housing,
regardless of distance from a fire station.
15) Require sprinklers in all mixed use development to protect residential uses from
fires started in non-residential areas.
16) Compile a list of high-rise and high-occupancy buildings which are deemed, due
to their age or construction materials, to be particularly susceptible to fire hazards,
and determine an expeditious time line for the fire-safety inspection of all such
structures.
17) Conduct periodic fire-safety inspections of all multi-family buildings, as required
by State law.
18) Ensure that fire-preventive vegetation-management techniques and practices for
creek sides and high-slope areas do not contribute to the landslide and erosion
hazard.
19) Create a mechanism to require the bracing of water heaters and flexible couplings
on gas appliances, and/or (as specified under "a. Single-family homes vulnerable
to earthquakes" above) the bolting of homes to their foundations and
strengthening of cripple walls to reduce fire ignitions due to earthquakes.
20) Work with the State Fire Marshall, the California Seismic Safety, PEER, and
other experts to identify and manage gas-related fire risks of soft-story residential
or mixed use buildings that are prone to collapse and occupant entrapment
Taming Natural Disasters
15
March 17,2005
consistent with the natural gas safety recommendations of Seismic Safety
Commission Report SSC-02-03.11
HSNG-h. Flooding
1) To reduce flood risk, and thereby reduce the cost of flood insurance to property
owners, work to qualify for the highest-feasible rating under the Community
Rating System of the National Flood Insurance Program.
2) Balance the housing needs of residents against the risk from potential flood-
related hazards.
3) Ensure that new development pays its fair share of improvements to the storm
drainage system necessary to accommodate increased flows from the
development.
4) Provide sandbags and plastic sheeting to residents in anticipation of rainstorms,
and deliver those materials to the disabled and elderly upon request.
5) Provide public information on locations for obtaining sandbags and/or deliver
those sandbags to those various locations throughout a city and/or county prior to
and/or during the rainy season.
6) Apply floodplain management regulations for development in the floodplain and
floodway.
7) Ensure that new subdivisions are designed to reduce or eliminate flood damage by
requiring lots and rights-of-way are laid out for the provision of approved sewer
and drainage facilities, providing on-site detention facilities whenever practicable.
8) Encourage home and apartment owners to participate in home elevation
programs.
9) As funding opportunities become available, encourage home and apartment
owners to participate in acquisition and relocation programs for areas within
floodways.
10) Encourage owners of properties in a floodplain to consider purchasing flood
insurance. For example, point out that most homeowners' insurance policies do
not cover a property for flood damage.
HSN G-i.
1)
Landslides and Erosion
Increase efforts to reduce landslides and erosion in existing and future
development by improving appropriate code enforcement and use of applicable
standards, such as those appearing in the California Building Code, California
Geological Survey Special Report 117 - Guidelines for Evaluating and Mitigating
Seismic Hazards in California12, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
report Recommended Procedures for Implementation of DMG Special Publication
117: Guidelines for Analyzing and Mitigating Landslide Hazards in California13,
and the California Board for Geologists and Geophysicists Guidelines for
Engineering Geologic Reportsl4. Such standards should cover excavation, fill
II See htto://www.seismic.ca.govipub/CSSC 2002-03 Natural%20Gas%20Safetv,pdf. Note: any values that are
installed may need to have both excess flow and seismic triggers ("hybrid" valves).
12 See htto:!/gmw,consrv,ca,gov/shmlJ/SHMPsp 117 .asp,
13 See http://v-.r\vw,scec,orgiresourcesicatalog/Lands! i deProcedures]une02, pdf.
14 See http://\vww.geology,ca. gov/publications/engineering. pdf.
Taming Natural Disasters
16
March 17,2005
placement, cut-fill transitions, slope stability, drainage and erosion control, slope
setbacks, expansive soils, collapsible soils, environmental issues, geological and
geotechnical investigations, grading plans and specifications, protection of
adjacent properties, and review and permit issuance.
2) Increase efforts to reduce landslides and erosion in existing and future
development through continuing education of design professionals on mitigation
strategies.
HSNG-j. Building Reoccupancy
1) Develop and enforce an ordinance for disaster -damaged structures. to ensure that
residential buildings are repaired in an appropriate and timely manner and
retrofitted concurrently to avoid a recurrence.
HSNG-k. Public Education
1) Provide information to residents of your community on the availability of
interactive hazard maps showing your community on ABAG's web site.
2) Develop printed materials, utilize existing materials (such as developed by FEMA
and the American Red Cross), conduct workshops, and/or provide outreach
encouraging residents to have family disaster plans that include drop-cover-hold
earthquake drills, fire and storm evacuation procedures, and shelter-in-place
emergency guidelines.
3) Better inform residents of comprehensive mitigation activities, including
elevation of appliances above expected flood levels, use of fire-resistant roofing
and defensible space in high wildfire threat and wildfire-urban-interface areas,
structural retrofitting techniques for older homes, and use of intelligent grading
practices through workshops, publications, and media announcements and events.
4) Develop a public education campaign on the cost, risk, and benefits of
earthquake, flood, and other hazard insurance.
5) Use disaster anniversaries, such as April (Earthquake Month and the 1906
earthquake), September (9/11), and October (Lorna Prieta earthquake and
Oakland Hills fire), to remind the public on safety and security mitigation
activities.
6) Sponsor the formation and training of Community Emergency Response Teams
(CERT) training. [Note - these programs go by a variety of names in various
cities and areas.]
7) Include flood fighting technique session based on California Department of Water
Resources training to the list of available public training classes offered by CERT.
8) Institute the neighborhood watch block captain and team programs outlined in the
Citizen Corps program guide.
9) Assist residents in the development of defensible space through the use of, for
example, "tool libraries" for weed abatement tools, roadside collection and/or
chipping services (for brush, weeds, and tree branches) in wildland-urban-
interface fire-threatened communities or in areas exposed to high-to-extreme fire
threat.
10) Train homeowners to locate and shut off gas valves if they smell or hear gas
leaking.
Taming Natural Disasters
17
March 17,2005
11) Distribute NOAA weather radios to high-risk, limited-income families living in
flood hazard areas.
12) Develop a program to provide at-cost NOAA weather radios to residents of flood
hazard areas.
13) Make use of the materials on the ABAG web site at htto://quake.abag.ca.gov/fixit
and other web sites to increase residential mitigation activities related to
earthquakes. (ABAG plans to continue to improve the quality of those materials
over time.)
14) Develop a "Maintain-a-Drain" campaign, similar to that of the City of Oakland,
encouraging businesses and residents to keep storm drains in their neighborhood
free of debris.
15) Encourage the formation of a community- and neighborhood-based approach to
wildfire education and action through local Fire Safe Councils and the Fire Wise
Program.
16) Inform shoreline-property owners of the possible long-term economic threat
posed by rising sea levels.
17) Develop and distribute culturally appropriate materials related to disaster
mitigation and preparedness, such as those on the htto://www.oreoarenow.org
website.
4. Economy (ECON)
Safe, disaster-resilient, and architecturally diverse downtown commercial areas, business and
industrial complexes, and office buildings are essential to the overall economy of the Bay Area.
ECON-a. Multi-Hazard
1) Be aware of past problems of inadequate hazard disclosure and work with real
estate agents to improve enforcement of real estate disclosure requirements for
those hazards covered by this plan, for example, by making those agents and the
disclosure firms aware of the hazard maps incorporated in this plan and available
on the ABAG web site at http://quake.abag.ca.~ov/mitigation, as well as locally
developed maps.
2) Create incentives for owners of historic or architecturally significant buildings to
undertake mitigation to levels that will minimize the likelihood that these
buildings will need to be demolished after a disaster, particularly if those
alterations conform to the federal Secretary ofthe Interior's Guidelines for
Rehabilitation.
Taming Natural Disasters
18
March 17, 2005
ECON-b. Soft-Story15 Commercial Buildings Vulnerable to Earthquakes
1) Require engineered plan sets for voluntary or mandatory soft-story retrofits until a
standard plan set and construction details become available.
2) Adopt the 2003 International Existing Building Code, the 1997 UBC, or the latest
applicable code standard for the design of voluntary or mandatory soft-story
building retrofits.
3) Work to educate building owners, local government staff, engineers, and
contractors on soft-story retrofit procedures and incentives using materials such as
those developed by ABAG (see htto://quake.abag.ca.gov/fixit) and the City of San
Jose.
4) Conduct an inventory of existing or suspected soft-story commercial and
industrial structures.
5) Use the soft-story inventory to require owners to inform all existing tenants that
they work in this type of building and the standard to which it may have been
retrofitted, as well as require owners to inform tenants that they will work in this
type of building prior to signing a lease.
6) Use the soft-story inventory to require owners to inform all existing tenants that
they should be prepared to work elsewhere following an earthquake if the
building has not been retrofitted.
7) Investigate and adopt appropriate financial, procedural, and land use incentives
for owners of soft-story buildings to facilitate retrofit.
8) Explore development oflocal ordinances or State regulations to require or
encourage owners of soft-story structures to strengthen them.
9) Provide technical assistance in seismically strengthening soft-story structures.
ECON-c. Unreinforced Masonry Buildings in Older Downtown Areas
1) Continue to actively implement existing State law that requires cities and counties
to maintain lists of the addresses of unreinforced masonry buildings and inform
property owners that they own this type of hazardous structure.
2) Accelerate retrofitting of unrein forced masonry structures that have not been
retrofitted, for example, by (a) actively working with owners to obtain structural
analyses of their buildings, (b) helping owners obtain retrofit funding, (c)
adopting a mandatory versus voluntary, retrofit program, and/or (d) applying
penalties to owners who show inadequate efforts to upgrade these buildings.
3) Require owners to inform all existing tenants that they work in this type of
building and the standard to which it may have been retrofitted, as well as require
owners to inform tenants that they will work in this type of building prior to
signing a lease.
4) Require owners to inform all existing tenants that they should be prepared to work
elsewhere following an earthquake even if the building has been retrofitted, for it
15 A condition in which the building has far less stiffness in its lowest story than in upper stories, often due to
multiple garage openings at the ground floor or large open windows for commercial space, increasing the likelihood
of excessive sidesway or even collapse. Many of these buildings collapsed in the 1971 San Fernando, 1989 Lorna
Prieta, and 1994 Northridge earthquakes. An engineering definition is "a condition in which the stiffness of the
seismic-foree-resisting system in any story is less than 70 percent of the stiffness in the story above" (modified from
the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE 31).t
Taming Natural Disasters
19
March 17, 2005
has probably been retrofitted to a life-safety standard, not to a standard that will
allow occupancy following major earthquakes.
ECON-d. Other Privately-Owned Structurally Suspicious Buildings
1) Inventory non-ductile concrete, tilt-up concrete, and other privately-owned
structurally suspicious buildings.
2) Adopt the 2003 International Existing Building Code, the 1997 UBC, or the latest
applicable code standard for the design of voluntary or mandatory retrofit of
seismically vulnerable buildings.
3) Adopt one or more of the following strategies as incentives to encourage
retrofitting of privately-owned structurally suspicious commercial and industrial
buildings: (a) waivers or reductions of permit fees, (b) below-market loans, (c)
local tax breaks, (d) grants to cover the cost of retrofitting or of a structural
analysis, (e) land use and procedural incentives, or (f) technical assistance.
ECON-e. Wildfire and Structural Fires
1) Increase efforts to reduce fire in existing development through improving
engineering design and vegetation management for mitigation, appropriate code
enforcement, and public education on mitigation strategies.
2) Require that new business and office buildings in high fire hazard areas be
constructed of fire-resistant building materials and incorporate fire-resistant
design features (such as minimal use of eaves, internal comers, and open first
floors) to increase structural survivability and reduce ignitability.
3) Adopt and amend as needed updated versions of the California Building and Fire
Codes so that optimal fire-protection standards are used in construction and
renovation projects.
4) Create a mechanism to enforce provisions of the California Building and Fire
Codes and other local codes that require the installation of smoke detectors and
fire-extinguishing systems by making installation a condition of (a) finalizing a
permit for any work on existing properties valued at over a fixed amount, such as
$500 or $1000, and/or (b) on any building over 75 feet in height, and/or (b) as a
condition for the transfer of property.
5) Expand existing vegetation management programs in commercial and/or
industrial areas.
6) Establish a Fire Hazard Abatement District to fund reduction in fire risk of
existing properties through vegetation management that includes reduction of fuel
loads, use of defensible space, and fuel breaks.
7) Establish a Fire Hazard Abatement District to fund fire-safety inspections of
private properties, roving firefighter patrols on high fire-hazard days, and public
education efforts.
. 8) Compile a list of high-rise and high-occupancy buildings that are deemed, due to
their age or construction materials, to be particularly susceptible to fire hazards,
and determine an expeditious time line for the fire-safety inspection of all such
structures.
9) Conduct periodic fire-safety insp~ctions of all commercial and institutional
buildings.
Taming Natural Disasters
20
March 17, 2005
10) Work with the State Fire Marshall, the California Seismic Safety, PEER, and
other experts to identify and manage gas-related fire risks of soft-story mixed use
buildings that are prone to collapse and occupant entrapment consistent with the
natural gas safety recommendations of Seismic Safety Commission Report SSC-
02_03.16
11) Ensure that fire-preventive vegetation-management techniques and practices for
creek sides and high-slope areas do not contribute to the landslide and erosion
hazard.
12) Work with insurance companies to create a public/private partnership to give a
discount on fire insurance premiums to "Forester Certified" Fire Wise
landscaping and fire-resistant building materials.
ECON-f. Flooding
1) To reduce flood risk, thereby reducing the cost of flood insurance, to property
owners, work to qualify for the highest-feasible rating under the Community
Rating System of the National Flood Insurance Program.
2) Balance the needs for commercial and industrial development against the risk
from potential flood-related hazards.
3) Ensure that new development pays its fair share of improvements to the storm
drainage system necessary to accommodate increased flows from the
development, or does not increase runoffby draining water to pervious areas or
detention facilities.
4) Provide sandbags and plastic sheeting to businesses in anticipation ofrainstorms,
and deliver those materials to the disabled and elderly upon request.
5) Provide public information on locations for obtaining sandbags and deliver those
sandbags to those various locations throughout a city and/or county.
6) Apply floodplain management regulations for development in the floodplain and
floodway.
7) Encourage business owners to participate in building elevation programs.
8) Encourage business owners to participate in acquisition and relocation programs
for areas within floodways.
9) Require an annual inspection of approved flood-proofed buildings to ensure that
(a) all flood-proofing components will operate properly under flood conditions
and (b) all responsible personnel are aware of their duties and responsibilities as
described in their building's Flood Emergency Operation Plan and Inspection &
Maintenance Plan.
ECON-g. Landslides and Erosion
1) Increase efforts to reduce landslides and erosion in existing and future
development by improving appropriate code enforcement and use of applicable
standards, such as those appearing in the California Building Code, California
Geological Survey Special Report 117 - Guidelines for Evaluating and Mitigating
Seismic Hazards in California17, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
16 See http://,,.ww.seismic.ca,gov/pub/CSSC 2002-03 Natural%20Gas%20Safety,pdf. Note: any values that are
installed may need to have both excess flow and seismic triggers ("hybrid" valves).
17 See http://gmw,consrv,ca,gov/shmp/SHMPsp] 17.asp.
Taming Natural Disasters
21
March 17,2005
report Recommended Procedures for Implementation of DMG Special Publication
117: Guidelines for Analyzing and Mitigating Landslide Hazards in California/B,
and the California Board for Geologists and Geophysicists Guidelines for
Engineering Geologic Reports19. Such standards should cover excavation, fill
placement, cut-fill transitions, slope stability, drainage and erosion control, slope
setbacks, expansive soils, collapsible soils, environmental issues, geological and
geotechnical investigations, grading plans and specifications, protection of
adjacent properties, and review and permit issuance.
2) Increase efforts to reduce landslides and erosion in existing and future
development through continuing education of design professionals on mitigation
strategies.
ECON-h. Construction
1) Continue to require that all new commercial and industrial buildings be
constructed in compliance with structural requirements of the most recently
adopted version of the California Building Code.
2) Conduct appropriate employee training and support continued education to ensure
enforcement of construction standards.
3) Recognize that many strategies that increase earthquake resistance also decrease
damage in an explosion. In addition, recognize that ventilation systems can be
designed to contain airborne biological agents.
ECON-i. Building Reoccupancy
1) Institute an aggressive program similar to San Francisco's Building Occupancy
Resumption Program (BaRP). This program permits owners of private buildings
to hire qualified structural engineers to create building-specific post-disaster
inspection plans and allows these engineers to become automatically deputized as
City/County inspectors for these buildings in the event of an earthquake or other
disaster.
2) Actively notify owners of historic or architecturally significant buildings of the
availability of the local BaRP-type program and encourage them to participate to
ensure that appropriately qualified structural engineers are inspecting their
buildings, thus reducing the likelihood that the buildings will be inappropriately
evaluated following a disaster.
3) Actively notify owners of educational facility buildings of the availability of the
local BaRP-type program and encourage them to participate to ensure that
appropriately qualified structural engineers are inspecting their buildings, thus
reducing the likelihood that the buildings will be inappropriately evaluated
following a disaster.
4) Allow owners to participate in a BORP-type program as described above, but not
actively encourage them to do so.
5) Develop and enforce an ordinance for disaster-damaged structures to ensure that
damaged buildings are repaired in an appropriate and timely manner.
18 See h ttv:!!w'."w. scec, org/resources/ catalog/Lands Ii deProceduresJune02. pdf.
19 See http://VO/'NW . geologv .ca. goy/publications/engineering, pdf.
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6) Establish preservation-sensitive measures for the repair and reoccupancy of
historically significant structures, including requirements for temporary shoring or
stabilization where needed, arrangements for consulting with preservationists, and
expedited permit procedures for suitable repair or rebuilding of historically or
architecturally valuable structures.
ECON-j. Public Education
1) Provide information to business owners and employees on the availability of
interactive hazard maps on ABAG's web site.
2) Develop printed materials, utilize existing materials (such as developed by FEMA
and the American Red Cross), conduct workshops, and/or provide outreach
encouraging businesses' employees to have family disaster plans that include
drop-cover-hold earthquake drills, fire and storm evacuation procedures, and
shelter-in-place emergency guidelines.
3) Develop printed materials, conduct workshops, and provide outreach to Bay Area
businesses focusing on business continuity planning.
4) Better inform Bay Area business owners of mitigation activities, including
elevation of appliances above expected flood levels, use of fire-resistant roofing
and defensible space in wildland-urban- interface fire-threatened communities or
in areas exposed to high-to-extreme fire threat, structural retrofitting techniques
for older buildings, and use of intelligent grading practices through workshops,
publications, and media announcements and events.
5) Sponsor the formation and training of Community Emergency Response Teams
(CERT) training through partnerships with local businesses. [Note - these
programs go by a variety of names in various cities and areas.]
6) Assist businesses in the development of defensible space through the use of, for
example, "tool libraries" for weed abatement tools, roadside collection and/or
chipping services (for brush, weeds, and tree branches) in wildland-urban-
interface fire-threatened communities or in areas exposed to high-to-extreme fire
threat.
7) Make use of the materials developed by others (such as found on ABAG's web
site at http://quake.abag.ca.20v/business) to increase mitigation activities related
to earthquakes. ABAG plans to continue to improve the quality of those materials
over time.
8) Develop a "Maintain-a-Drain" campaign, similar to that of the City of Oakland,
encouraging businesses and residents to keep storm drains in their neighborhood
free of debris.
9) Encourage the formation of a community-based approach to wildfire education
and action through local Fire Safe Councils and the Fire Wise Program.
1 0) Encourage businesses and laboratories handling hazardous materials or pathogens '
increase security to a level high enough to create a deterrent to crime and
terrorism, including active implementation of "cradle-to-grave" tracking systems.
11) Encourage joint meetings of security and operations personnel at major employers
to develop innovative ways for these personnel to work together to increase safety
and security.
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March 17,2005
12) Inform shoreline-property owners of the possible long-term economic threat
posed by rising sea levels.
13) Develop and distribute culturally appropriate materials related to disaster
mitigation and preparedness, such as those on the http://www.oreparenow.org
website.
5. Government Services (GOVT)
Bay Area city and county governments, as well as community services agencies, provide
essential services during and immediately following disasters, as well as critical functions during
recovery, that need to be resistant to disasters.
GOVT -a. Focus on Critical Facilities
1) Assess the vulnerability of critical facilities (such as city halls, fire stations,
community service centers, seaports, and airports) to damage in natural disasters
and make recommendations for appropriate mitigation.
2) Retrofit or replace critical facilities that are shown to be vulnerable to damage in
natural disasters.
3) Clarify to workers in critical facilities and emergency personnel, as well as to
elected officials and the public, the extent to which the facilities are expected to
perform only at a life safety level (allowing for the safe evacuation of personnel)
or are expected to remain functional following an earthquake.
4) Conduct comprehensive programs to identify and mitigate problems with facility
contents, architectural components, and equipment that will prevent critical
buildings from being functional after major natural disasters.
5) Encourage joint meetings of security and operations personnel at critical facilities
to develop innovative ways for these personnel to work together to increase safety
and security.
6) Install micro and/or surveillance cameras around critical public assets tied to web-
based software, and develop a surveillance protocol to monitor these cameras.
7) Identify and undertake cost-effective retrofit measures on critical facilities (such
as moving and redesigning air intake vents and installing blast-resistant features)
when these buildings undergo major renovations.
8) Coordinate with the State Division of Safety of Dams to ensure that cities and
counties are aware of the timeline for the maintenance and inspection of dams
whose failure would impact their jurisdiction.
9) As a secondary focus, assess the vulnerability of non-critical facilities to damage
in natural disasters based on occupancy and structural type, make
recommendations on priorities for structural improvements or occupancy
reductions, and identify potential funding mechanisms.
10) Ensure that government-owned facilities are subject to the same or more stringent
regulations as imposed on privately-owned development.
11) Comply with all applicable building and fire codes, as well as other regulations
(such as state requirements for fault, landslide, and liquefaction investigations in
particular mapped areas) when constructing or significantly remodeling
government-owned facilities.
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March 17, 2005
12) Prior to acquisition of property to be used as a critical facility, conduct a study to
ensure the absence of significant hazards.
GOVT -b. Maintain and Enhance Local Government's Emergency Response and
Recovery Capacity
1) Establish a framework and process for pre-event planning for post-event recovery
that specifies roles, priorities, and responsibilities of various departments within
the local government organization, and that outlines a structure and process for
policy-making involving elected officials and appointed advisory committees.
2) Prepare a basic Recovery Plan that outlines the major issues and tasks that are
likely to be the key elements of community recovery, as well as integrate this
planning into response planning.
3) Establish a goal for the resumption oflocal government services that may vary
from function to function.
4) Develop a plan for short-term and intermediate-term sheltering of impacted
residents.
5) Periodically assess the need for new or relocated fire or police stations and other
emergency facilities, changes in staffing levels, and additional or updated
supplies, equipment, technologies, and in-service training classes.
6) Ensure that fire and police department personnel have adequate radios, breathing
apparatuses, protective gear, and other equipment to respond to a major disaster.
7) Develop and maintain a system of interoperable communications for first
responders from cities, counties, special districts, state, and federal agencies.
8) Harden emergency response communications, including, for example, building
redundant capacity into public safety alerting and/or answering points, replacing
or hardening microwave and simulcast systems, adding digital encryption for
programmable radios, and ensuring a plug-and-play capability for amateur radio.
9) Purchase command vehicles for use as mobile command/EOC vehicles if current
vehicles are unsuitable or inadequate.
10) Maintain the local government's emergency operations center in a fully functional
state of readiness.
11) Expand or participate in expanding traditional disaster exercises involving city
and county emergency personnel to include airport and port personnel, transit and
infrastructure providers, hospitals, schools, park districts, and major employers.
12) Maintain and update as necessary the local government's Standardized
Emergency Management System Plan.
13) Continue to participate not only in general mutual-aid agreements, but also in
agreements with adjoining jurisdictions for cooperative response to fires, floods,
earthquakes, and other disasters.
14) Install an alert and warning system with outdoor sirens, coordinating them, to the
extent possible, with those of neighboring jurisdictions.
15) Conduct periodic tests of the alerting and warning system's outdoor sirens no less
frequently than once per month.
16) Regulate and enforce the location and design of street-address numbers on
buildings and minimize the naming of short streets (that are actually driveways) to
single homes.
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March 17,2005
17) Monitor weather during times of high fire risk using, for example, weather
stations tied into police and fire dispatch centers.
18) Establish regional protocols on how to respond to the NOAA Monterey weather
forecasts, such as the identifying types of closures, limits on work that could
cause ignitions, and prepositioning of suppression forces. A multi-agency
coordination of response also helps provide unified messages to the public about
how they should respond to these periods of increased fire danger.
19) Increase local patrolling during periods of high fire weather.
20) Create and maintain an automated system of rain and flood gauges that is web
enabled and publicly accessible.
21) Place remote sensors in strategic locations for early warning of hazmat releases or
use of weapons of mass destruction.
22) Investigate the use of phone-based warning systems for selected geographic areas.
23) Review and update, as necessary, procedures pursuant to the State Dam Safety Act
for the emergency evacuation of areas located below major water-storage
facilities.
24) Develop procedures for the emergency evacuation of areas identified on tsunami
evacuation maps as these maps become available.
25) Develop a business continuity plan that includes back-up storage of vital records,
such as essential medical records and financial information.
GOVT-c. Participate in National, State, Multi-Jurisdictional and Professional Society
Efforts to Identify and Mitigate Hazards
1) Promote information sharing among overlapping and neighboring local
governments, including cities, counties, and special districts, as well as utilities.
2) Recognize that emergency services is more than the coordination of police and
fire response, for it also includes planning activities with providers of water, food,
energy, transportation, financial, information, and public health services.
3) Recognize that a multi-agency approach is needed to mitigate flooding by having
flood control districts, cities, counties, and utilities meet at least annually to
jointly discuss their a capital improvement programs for most effectively reducing
the threat of storm-induced flooding.
4) As new flood-control projects are completed, request that FEMA revise its flood-
insurance rate maps and digital geographic information system data to reflect
flood risks as accurately as possible.
5) Participate in FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program.
6) Participate in multi-agency efforts to mitigate fire threat, such as the Hills
Emergency Forum (in the east Bay), various FireSafe Council programs, and city-
utility task forces.
7) Work with major employers and agencies that handle hazardous materials to
coordinate mitigation efforts for the possible release of these materials due to a
natural disaster such as an earthquake, flood, fire, or landslide.
8) Encourage staff to participate in efforts by professional organizations to mitigate
earthquake and landslide disaster losses, such as the efforts of the Northern
California' Chapter of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, the East
Bay-Peninsula Chapter of the International Code Council, the Structural
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March 17,2005
Engineers Association of Northern California, and the American Society of
Grading Officials.
9) Conduct and/or promote attendance at local or regional hazard conferences and
workshops for elected officials to educate the officials on the critical need for
programs in mitigating earthquake, wildfire, flood, and landslide hazards.
10) Cooperate with researchers working on government-funded projects to refine
information on hazards, for example, by expediting the permit and approval
process for installation of seismic arrays, gravity survey instruments, borehole
drilling, fault trenching, landslide mapping, flood modeling, and/or damage data
collection.
6. Education (EDUC)
Safe and disaster-resistant school, education, and childcare-related facilities are critical to the
safety of our children, as well as to the quality of life of Bay Area families.
EDUC-a. Focus on Critical Facilities
1) Assess the vulnerability of critical education facilities to damage in natural
disasters and make recommendations for appropriate mitigation.
2) Retrofit or replace critical education facilities that are shown to be vulnerable to
damage in natural disasters.
3) Conduct comprehensive programs to identify and mitigate problems with facility
contents, architectural components, and equipment that will prevent critical
buildings from being functional after major disasters.
4) As a secondary focus, assess the vulnerability of non-critical educational facilities
to damage in natural disasters based on occupancy and structural type, make
recommendations on priorities for structural improvements or occupancy
reductions, and identify potential funding mechanisms.
5) Participate in or facilitate adoption of a program to formalize arrangements with
structural engineers to report to the district, assess damage, and determine if the
buildings can be reoccupied. The program should be similar to San Francisco's
Building Occupancy Resumption Program (BORP) that permits owners of
buildings to hire qualified structural engineers to create building-specific post-
disaster inspection plans and allows these engineers to become automatically
deputized as inspectors for these buildings in the event of an earthquake or other
disaster. Unlike the buildings of most special districts, however, these plans
should be developed with the review and guidance of the Division of the State
Architect because this agency has the authority and responsibility for the
structural integrity of these structures.
EDUC-b. Use of Educational Facilities as Emergency Shelters
1) Work cooperatively with the American Red Cross and others to set up
memoranda of understanding for use of education facilities as emergency shelters
following disasters.
2) Work cooperatively to ensure that school district personnel and relevant staff
understand and are trained that being designated by the American Red Cross or
others as a potential emergency shelter does not mean that the school has had a
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March 17, 2005
hazard or structural evaluation to ensure that it can be used as a shelter following
any specific disaster.
3) Work cooperatively to ensure that school district personnel understand and are
trained that they are designated as disaster service workers and must remain at the
school until released.
EDUC-c. Use of Schools as Conduits for Information to Families About Emergencies
1) Work on and/or support efforts by schools, local governments, and other agencies
to utilize their unique ability to reach families through educational materials on
hazards, mitigation, and preparedness, particularly after disasters and at the
beginning of the school year. These efforts will not only make the entire
community more disaster-resistant, but speed the return of schools from use as
shelters to use as teaching facilities.
2) Work on and/or support joint efforts of schools and fire jurisdictions to develop
plans for evacuation or sheltering in place of school children during periods of
high fire danger, thereby recognizing that overloading of streets near schools by
parents attempting to pick up their children during these periods can restrict
access by fire personnel and equipment.
3) Offer the 20-hour basic CERT training to teachers and after-school personnel.
4) Offer the 20-hour basic CERT training to middle school and/or high school
students as a part of the basic science or civics curriculum, as an after school club,
or as a way to earn public service hours.
5) Offer the 20-hour basic CERT training course through the Adult School system
and/or through the Community College system.
6) Develop and maintain the capacity for schools to take care of the students for the
first 48 hours after a disaster, and notify parents that this capacity exists.
7) Develop and distribute culturally appropriate materials related to disaster
mitigation and preparedness, such as those on the http://www.preparenow.org
website.
7. Environment (ENVI)
Disaster resistance need to further environmental sustainability, reduce pollution, strengthen
agriculture resiliency, and avoid hazardous material releases in the Bay Area.
ENVI-a. Environmental Sustainability and Pollution Reduction
I) Continue to enforce State-mandated requirements, such as the California
Environmental Quality Act, to ensure that mitigation activities for hazards, such
as vegetation clearance programs for fire threat and seismic retrofits, are
conducted in a way that reduces environmental degradation such as air quality
impacts, noise during construction, and loss of sensitive habitats and species,
while respecting the community value of historic preservation.
2) Encourage regulatory agencies to work collaboratively with safety professionals
to develop creative mitigation strategies that effectively balance environmental
and safety needs, particularly to meet critical wildfire, flood, and earthquake
safety levels.
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3) Continue to enforce and/or comply with State-mandated requirements, such as the
California Environmental Quality Act and environmental regulations to ensure
that urban development is conducted in a way to minimize air pollution. For
example, air pollution levels can lead to global warming, and then to drought,
increased vegetation susceptibility to disease (such as pine bark beetle
infestations), and associated increased fire hazard.
4) Develop and implement a comprehensive program for watershed maintenance,
optimizing forest health with water yield to balance water supply, flooding, fire,
and erosion concerns.
5) Balance the need for the smooth flow of storm waters versus the need to maintain
wildlife habitat by developing and implementing a comprehensive Streambed
Vegetation Management Plan that ensures the efficacy of flood control efforts and
maintains the viability of living rivers.
6) Stay informed of emerging scientific information on the subject of rising sea
levels, especially on additional actions that local governments can take to mitigate
this hazard.
7) Monitor the science associated with global warming to be able to act promptly
when data become available to warrant special design and engineering of
government-owned facilities located in low-lying areas, such as wastewater
treatment plants, ports, and airports.
8) Comply with applicable performance standards of any National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System municipal stormwater permit that seeks to manage
increases in stormwater run-off flows from new development and redevelopment
construction projects.
9) Enforce and/or comply with the grading, erosion, and sedimentation requirements
by prohibiting the discharge of concentrated stormwater flows by other than
approved methods that seek to minimize associated pollution.
10) Explore ways to require that hazardous materials stored in the flood zone be
elevated or otherwise protected from flood waters.
11) Enforce and/or comply with the hazardous materials requirements of the State of
California Certified Unified Program Agency (CUP A).
12) Provide information on hazardous waste disposal and/or drop off locations.
13) Develop and implement a program to control invasive and exotic species that
contribute to fire and flooding hazards (such as eucalyptus, cattails, and
cordgrass).
14) Enforce provisions under creek protection, stormwater management, and
discharge control ordinances designed to keep watercourses free of obstructions
and to protect drainage facilities to conform with the Regional Water Quality
Control Board's Best Management Practices.
ENVI-b. Agricultural and Aquaculture Resilience
1) Maintain a variety of crops in rural areas of the region to increase agricultural
diversity and crop resiliency.
2) Promote and maintain the public-private partnerships dedicated to preventing the
introduction of agricultural pests into regionally-significant crops, such as the
glassy-winged sharpshooter into vineyards.
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March 17,2005
3) Remo.ve septic tanks and o.ther so.urces o.f co.ntaminatio.n adjacent to.
eco.no.mically-significant aquacultural and agricultural reso.urces.
4) Enco.urage livesto.ck o.perato.rs to. develo.p an early-warning system to. detect
animals with co.mmunicable diseases (due to. natural causes Dr bio.terro.rism).
8. land Use (LAND)
Land use change needs to. be acco.mpanied by a respect fo.r hazardo.us areas and facilities, as well
as reco.gnize the interco.nnected nature o.f the Bay Area.
LAND-a. Earthquake Hazard Studies for New Developments
1) Enfo.rce and/o.r co.mply with the State-mandated requirement that site-specific
geo.lo.gic reparts be prepared far develo.pment prapo.sals within Alquist-Prio.lo.
Earthquake Fault Zones, and restrict the placement o.f structures fo.r human
o.ccupancy. (This Act is intended to. deal with the specific hazard o.f active faults
that extend to. the earth's surface, creating a surface rupture hazard.)
2) Require preparatian af site-specific gealagic Dr geo.technical reparts far
develapment and redevelapment propo.sals in areas subject to. earthquake-induced
landslides or liquefactio.n as mandated by the State Seismic Hazard Mapping Act
in selected partians af the Bay Area where these maps have been campleted, and
canditio.n praject appro.val o.n the inco.rporatio.n o.fnecessary mitigatian measures
related to. site remediatio.n, structure and fo.undatio.n design, and/ar avaidance.
3) Recagnizing that same faults may be a hazard for surface rupture, even thaugh
they do. nat meet the strict criteria impased by the Alquist-Prio.lo. Earthquake Fault
Zaning Act, identify and require gealo.gic reparts in areas adjacent to. lacally-
significant faults.
4) Recagnizing that the Califo.rnia Geo.lagical Survey has no.t campleted earthquake-
induced landslide and liquefactio.n mapping for much af the Bay Area, identify
and require gealagic reparts in areas mapped by athers as having significant
liquefactio.n ar landslide hazards.
5) Suppart and/ar facilitate effarts by the Califarnia Gealagical Survey to. camplete
the earthquake-induced landslide and liquefactio.n mapping fo.r the Bay Area.
6) Require that lacal gavernment reviews o.f gealagic and engineering studies are
canducted by apprapriately trained and credentialed perso.nnel.
LAND-b. Wildfire and Structural Fires
I) Review develapment prapo.sals to. ensure that they incarpo.rate required and
apprapriate fire-mitigatian measures, including adequate pro.visians far accupant
evacuatio.n and access by emergency respo.nse perso.nnel and equipment.
2) Develo.p a clear legislative and regulatary framewo.rk at bo.th the state and lacal
levels to. manage the wildland-urban-interface cansistent with Fire Wise and
sustainable cammunity principles.
LAND-c. Flooding
I) Establish and enfarce requirements far new develapment sa that site-specific
designs and saurce-cantral techniques are used to. manage peak starmwater runaff
flaws and impacts fram increased runaffvo.lumes.
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March 17,2005
2) Incorporate FEMA guidelines and suggested activities into local government
plans and procedures for managing flood hazards.
3) Provide an institutional mechanism to ensure that development proposals adjacent
to floodways and in floodplains are referred to flood control districts and
wastewater agencies for review and comment (consistent with the NPDES
program).
4) Establish and enforce regulations concerning new construction (and major
improvements to existing structures) within flood zones in order to be in
compliance with federal requirements and, thus, be a participant in the
Community Rating System of the National Flood Insurance Program.
LAND-d. Landslides and Erosion
1) Establish and enforce provisions (under subdivision ordinances or other means)
that geotechnical and soil-hazard investigations be conducted and filed to prevent
grading from creating unstable slopes, and that any necessary corrective actions
be taken prior to development approval. .
2) Require that local government reviews of these investigations are conducted by
appropriately trained and credentialed personnel.
3) Establish and enforce grading, erosion, and sedimentation ordinances. by
requiring, under certain conditions, grading permits and plans to control erosion
and sedimentation prior to development approval.
4) Establish and enforce provisions under the creek protection, storm water
management, and discharge control ordinances designed to control erosion and
sedimentation.
5) Establish requirements in zoning ordinances to address hillside development
constraints, especially in areas of existing landslides.
LAND-e. Hillside - Multi-Hazard
1) Establish a buffer zone between residential properties and landslide or wildfire
hazard areas.
2) Discourage, add additional mitigation strategies, or prevent construction on slopes
greater than a set percentage, such as 15%, due to landslide or wildfire hazard
concerns.
LAND-f. Smart Growth to Revitalize Urban Areas and Promote Sustainability
1) Prioritize retrofit of infrastructure that serves urban areas over constructing new
infrastructure to serve outlying areas.
2) Work to retrofit homes in older areas to provide safe housing close to job centers.
3) Work to retrofit older doWntown areas to protect architectural diversity and
promote disaster-resistance.
4) Protect as open space areas susceptible to extreme hazards.
5) Provide new buffers and preserve existing buffers between development and
existing users of large amounts of hazardous materials, such as major industry,
due to the potential for catastrophic releases due to an earthquake or terrorism.
(Flooding might also result in release or spread of these materials, however it is
unlikely.)
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March 17,2005
I, RHONDAPELLIN, City Clerk of the City of Gilroy, do hereby certify that the attached
Resolution No. 2005-29 is an original resolution, or true and correct copy of a city resolution,
duly adopted by the Council of the City of Gilroy at a regular meeting of said Council held on the
18th day of April, 2005, at which meeting a quorum was present.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Official Seal of
the City of Gilroy this 25th day of April, 2005.
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City Clerk of the City of Gilroy
(Seal)