CC SR 20260317 03 - MJHMP Approval
CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: 03/17/2026
AGENDA REPORT AGENDA HEADING: Regular Business
AGENDA TITLE:
Consider adopting the City’s 2026 Palos Verdes Peninsula Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard
Mitigation Plan
RECOMMENDED COUNCIL ACTION:
(1) Adopt Resolution No. 2026-___, thereby adopting the 2026 Palos Verdes
Peninsula Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan Volume No. 1 and the
Rancho Palos Verdes portion of Volume No. 2; and,
(2) Authorize Staff to submit the 2026 Palos Verdes Peninsula Multi-Jurisdictional
Hazard Mitigation Plan to the California Office of Emergency Services (CalOES)
for approval by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
FISCAL IMPACT: There is no additional fiscal impact to adopt the 2026 Palos Verdes
Peninsula Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan and submit the
same to CalOES and FEMA for final approval. Separately, a prior
City Council action was taken on February 18, 2025, to fund the
City’s share of a federal grant match for $37,600 to hire a consultant
to oversee the development of the MJHMP. These costs are included
in the Fiscal Year 2025-26 General Fund Budget under Emergency
Preparedness. VR
Amount Budgeted: $71,500
Additional Appropriation: N/A
Account Number(s): 101-400-1430-5101
(General Fund – Emergency Preparedness – Prof/Tech) VR
ORIGINATED BY: Lubna Mohammad, Emergency Management Coordinator
REVIEWED BY: Catherine Jun, Deputy City Manager CJ
APPROVED BY: Ara Mihranian, AICP, City Manager
ATTACHED SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS:
A. Resolution No. 2026 to adopt 2026 Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan
(page A-1)
B. 2026 MJHMP Volume No. 1 (Linked)
C. 2026 MJHMP Volume No. 2 – Rancho Palos Verdes’ Portion (Linked, Starting on
Pages 3-42 thru 3-50)
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BACKGROUND:
State and local government agencies are required to prepare comprehensive disaster
mitigation plans per the Federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA 2000) and to be
eligible for federal Hazard Mitigation Grant funding. A Hazard Mitigation Plan must contain
information about the type of hazards a community faces and actions that can be taken
to reduce its vulnerability.
Hazard Mitigation Plans are designed to have the following benefits:
• Reduce loss of life and property, environmental harm, economic disruption, and
disaster costs.
• Prioritize hazard mitigation at the local level with increased emphasis on planning
and public involvement, assessing risks, implementing loss reduction measures,
and ensuring critical facilities/services survive a disaster.
• Promote education and economic incentives to form community -based
partnerships and leverage non-federal resources to commit to and implement long-
term hazard mitigation activities.
Hazard Mitigation Plans are long-term strategies to reduce hazard vulnerabilities and
disaster losses, breaking the cycle of disaster damage, reconstruction, and repeated
damage. Mitigation can also protect critical community facilities, reduce exposure to
liability, and minimize post-disaster community disruption.
Hazard Mitigation Plans are reviewed annually and updated every five years, which
include formal approval by the local governing body (City/Special District), along with
state and federal governing bodies.
Over the last several Hazard Mitigation Plan Update cycles, the cities of Rolling Hills
Estates and Rancho Palos Verdes have partnered to develop and maintain a Multi -
jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan. The last update to that Plan was approved in 2020.
2026 Hazard Mitigation Plan Update
In 2024, the four Peninsula cities (Rancho Palos Verdes, Palos Verdes Estates, Rolling
Hills Estates and Rolling Hills) agreed to collaborate on the next Hazard Mitigation Plan
update recognizing that natural disasters and hazards do not have jurisdictional
boundaries. The City of Rolling Hills Estates, acting as the lead agency, applied for and
received a Cal OES/FEMA reimbursable grant award of $349,298 for the development of
a Palos Verdes Peninsula Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan (MJHMP) through
an emergency planning consultant. There is a local match of 25% of the total approved
project cost that would be shared by the Peninsula cities.
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In January 2025, Black and Veatch was selected as the emergency consulting firm that
best met the needs and expectations of this project, with the project team’s familiarity with
Geologic Hazard Abatement Districts (GHADs), specific Palos Verdes-region hazards
(i.e. landslides), and extensive experience in collaborating with Cal OES and FEMA.
In early Spring of 2025, a Memorandum of Understanding outlining the cost share for the
Peninsula cities and terms for the development of the Plan w ere approved by each
respective City Councils.
DISCUSSION:
The six-member Planning Partnership that completed this MJHMP update process
include: the cities of Rancho Palos Verdes, Palos Verdes Estates, Rolling Hills Estates,
and Rolling Hills, along with the two RPV GHADs - Abalone Cove and Klondike Canyon
Landslide Abatement Districts.
The Planning Partnership assisted in the development of hazard and vulnerability
assessments, utilizing HAZUS modelling and hazard data from local, state, and federal
sources, and the mitigation action strategies for their respective jurisdictions and districts.
The MJHMP presents the accumulated information in a unified framework to ensure a
comprehensive and coordinated plan covering all Planning Partners within the Peninsula.
The MJHMP update process was overseen by a 21-member stakeholder Planning
Committee, composed of representative stakeholders from the four Peninsula cities, as
well as within the planning area (i.e., Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District,
Palos Verdes Peninsula Library District, local public utility companies, local senior
organizations). The MJHMP was also reviewed by the Rancho Palos Verdes Planning
Commission on March 10, 2026, who are being asked to receive and file a report as part
of pending updates to the Safety Element of the General Plan .
Residents were asked to contribute to the MJHMP by sharing local knowledge of their
individual area’s vulnerability to natural hazards based on past occurrences. Public
involvement was solicited via a multi-media campaign that included in-person public
outreach events, web-based information, a community survey, progress updates via
social media, PVPready.gov shared website, and a 2-week public comment period
between February 12 and February 26, 2026.
The MJHMP (Attachment A) was prepared in accordance with the CalOES Local Hazard
Mitigation Plan and FEMA Region 9 preparation guidelines. It includes the hazard
mitigation strategies associated with the following identified and profiled hazards
considered to be significant within the Palos Verdes Peninsula planning area:
• Drought
• Earthquake
• Flood (includes inland flooding and coastal flooding, sea level rise, tsunami, and
coastal erosion)
• Heat Wave
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• Landslide
• Strong Wind
• Wildfire
While MJHMP (Attachment A) does focus primarily on natural hazards, manmade
hazards were also briefly discussed within the plan.
For Rancho Palos Verdes, a total of 105 hazard mitigation strategies and projects were
identified. Some of these mitigation strategies came from previous and active mitigation
work the City has taken to reduce hazard risk, such as maintaining defensible space to
reduce wildfire risk and stormwater drainage improvements to reduce flood risk. Other
strategies are newly developed or began after the last Hazard Mitigation Plan update in
2020, including landslide mitigation work through the deep dewatering wells and the
Voluntary Buyout Program, and the addition of a Public Safety Division within the City to
help address and reduce public safety emergencies and their impacts on the community.
Detailed information can be found in the attached MJHMP (Attachment A).
CalOES and FEMA
The Planning Partnership chose a provision allowed by FEMA for jurisdictions to adopt
the MJHMP prior to CalOES and FEMA approval. This expedite s the process when a
grant is pending that requires an approved plan. Each jurisdiction will need to adopt
Volume 1 and their respective annex by their local governing body, then CalOES and
FEMA will review and approve the MJHMP, establishing eligibility to apply for and receive
funding sources including grants.
Once the MJHMP has been adopted by all jurisdictional partners and approved by Cal
OES and FEMA, the partnership will collectively and individually become eligible to apply
for hazard mitigation project funding from the suite of grant programs under FEMA’s
Hazard Mitigation Assistance program. Grant funds are made available to local
governments and states and can be used to implement the various hazard mitigation
measures specified in the respective annexes. Thus, the City Council is being asked to
authorize staff to submit the MJHMP to Cal OES and FEMA once approved by the
Council. City Council will be apprised of any revisions made to the MJHMP in response
to comments received from Cal OES and FEMA during the agency approval process.
The MJHMP is intended to function as a living document and will be reviewed and revised
annually during the five-year plan period as new hazards are identified and additional
mitigation strategies and projects are developed. The MJHMP information can be
integrated and used in conjunction with other emergency and related plans, such as
Emergency Operation Plans.
CONCLUSION:
To complete the hazard mitigation planning process and ensure continuing eligibility for
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Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funding, Staff recommend the City Council adopt the
attached resolution (Attachment A) thereby adopting the 2026 MJHMP and authorizing
its submittal to Cal OES and FEMA.
ALTERNATIVES:
In addition to the Staff recommendation, the following alternative actions are available for
the City Council’s consideration:
1. Identify concerns to the MJHMP and direct staff to return with an updated draft.
2. Do not adopt the 2026 MJHMP. This action will risk eligibility for future FEMA Hazard
Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) funding.
3. Take other action, as deemed appropriate.
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RESOLUTION NO.__
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES,
CALIFORNIA, ADOPTING THE 2026 PALOS
VERDES PENINSULA MULTI-JURISDICTIONAL
HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN VOLUME NO. 1
AND THE RANCHO PALOS VERDES PORTION
OF VOLUME NO. 2
WHEREAS, the City of Rancho Palos Verdes is vulnerable to natural hazards
which may result in loss of life and property, economic hardship, and threats to public
health and safety; and
WHEREAS, Section 322 of the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA 2000)
requires state and local governments to develop and submit for approval a mitigation plan
that outlines processes for identifying their respective natural hazards, risks, and
vulnerabilities; and
WHEREAS, the City of Rancho Palos Verdes acknowledges the requirements of
Section 322 of DMA 2000 to update the 20 20 Hazard Mitigation Plan in order to be eligible
for pre- and post-disaster federal hazard mitigation grant funds; and
WHEREAS, the City of Rancho Palos Verdes developed a Multi-Jurisdictional
Hazard Mitigation Plan with the Cities of Rolling Hills Estates, Rolling Hills, and Palos
Verdes Estates, and the Abalone Cove and Klondike Canyon Landslide Hazard
Abatement Districts as the two state-recognized Geologic Hazard Abatement Districts in
the City; and
WHEREAS, the coalition of Peninsula cities have completed a planning process
that engages the public and pertinent stakeholders, assesses the risk and vulnerability to
the impacts of natural hazards, develops a mitigation strategy consistent with a set of
uniform goals and objectives, and creates a plan for implementing, evaluating, and
revising this strategy; and
WHEREAS, a public involvement process consistent with the requirements of
DMA 2000 was conducted to develop the Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan; and
WHEREAS, the 2026 Palos Verdes Peninsula Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard
Mitigation Plan recommends mitigation activities that will reduce or eliminate long-term
risk to life and property by natural hazards that the City faces; and
NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Rancho Palos Verdes (City) does
hereby resolve as follows:
A-1
Section 1. Adopts in its entirety, Volume I, the Rancho Palos Verdes annex,
and appendices of Volume II of the 2026 Palos Verdes Peninsula Multi -Jurisdictional
Hazard Mitigation Plan.
Section 2: The City will use the adopted and approved portions of the 2026
Palos Verdes Peninsula Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan to guide pre- and
post- disaster mitigation of the hazards identified.
Section 3: The City will coordinate the strategies identified in the 2026 Palos
Verdes Peninsula Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan with other planning
programs and mechanisms under its jurisdictional authority.
Section 4: The City will continue its support of the on-going areawide mitigation
efforts and continue to participate in the Planning Partnership as described by the 2026
Palos Verdes Peninsula Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan.
Section 5: The City will promote and support the mitigation efforts of all Planning
Partners.
PASSED, APPROVED and ADOPTED this 17th day of March 2026.
___________________
Paul Seo, Mayor
Attest:
____________________
Teresa Takaoka, City Clerk
State of California )
County of Los Angeles ) ss
City of Rancho Palos Verdes )
I, Teresa Takaoka, City Clerk of the City of Rancho Palos Verdes, hereby
certify that the above Resolution No. __ was duly and regularly passed and adopted by
the said City Council at a regular meeting thereof held on March 17, 2026.
____________________
A-2
Teresa Takaoka, City Clerk
A-3