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Home My WebLink About10 - HazMit Plan UpdatesQ SEW FpRr CITY OF I EW P l.. 1 RT REACH Cott' Council Staff Report Agenda Item No. 10 March 13, 2012 TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL FRONT: Municipal Operations Department Mark Harmon, Municipal Operations Department Director 949- 644 -3055, mharmon @newportbeachca.gov PREPARED BY: Raymund Reyes, Management Assistant APPROVED: TITLE: ORANGE COUNTY WATER AND WASTEWATER MULTI- HAZARD MITIGATION (HAZMIT) PLAN UPDATE ABSTRACT: Every five years, FEMA requires agencies to update their Multi- Hazard Mitigation Plans. Municipal Operations Staff has been working with the Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC) as well as 19 other water and wastewater agencies to complete this update. Staff is asking Council to approve the draft plan. RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends the Council approve the draft 2012 Orange County Regional Water and Wastewater Multi- Hazard Mitigation Plan Update, subject to incorporation of comments, if any, by the California Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) upon completion of their review. FUNDING REQUIREMENTS: A. No Fiscal Impact There is no fiscal impact related to this item. DISCUSSION: A Hazard Mitigation Plan is a pre- disaster strategic plan written to guide how an agency can lower its risk and exposure to disasters. Agencies participating in the Orange County Water and Wastewater Multi- Hazard Mitigation Plan are dedicated to ensuring service to their customers and to safeguarding those services when disaster strikes. An approved Hazard Mitigation Plan helps meet that goal. In addition, participating agencies become eligible to receive FEMA grants, which ease the financial impacts of emergency preparedness planning and the response measures developed before and Orange County Water and wastewater Multi- Hazard Mitigation (Hazmit) Plan UPDATE March 13, 2012 Page 2 after natural and manmade disasters. Municipal Operations staff has been working with MWDOC staff and 19 other water and wastewater agencies in the County to complete the update to the 2007 Orange County Regional Water and Wastewater Multi - Hazard Mitigation Plan. Agencies who did not participate in this process were either already covered by an existing Hazard Mitigation Plan or elected not to prepare a plan. The participants in the plan include: Participating Water and Wastewater Service Providers Regional Service Providers Municipal Water District of Orange County Orange County Water District Orange County Sanitation District South Orange County Wastewater Authority Retail Agencies City of Buena Park El Toro Water District City of Garden Grove Laguna Beach County Water District City of La Habra Mesa Water District Moulton Niguel Water District City of Newport Beach City of Orange Santa Margarita Water District Serrano Water District South Coast Water District Trabuco Canyon Water District City of Tustin City of Westminster Yorba Linda Water District Beginning in 2004, FEMA began restricting grant applications for pre - and post- disaster hazard mitigation funds for any agencies not covered by an approved Hazard Mitigation Plan. These FEMA funds are available for the purpose of mitigating damage to public facilities due to natural disasters. For example, a structural retrofit of a water treatment plant to protect against earthquakes would be eligible, but only if a Hazard Mitigation Plan has been previously prepared that identifies the need for the retrofit. The plans are extensive documents that require a significant amount of staff time to prepare and update. The benefits of updating a plan include: • Qualifies agencies to submit for Hazard Mitigation Implementation Grants. FEMA allocates funding every year for these types of grants. • During disaster recovery efforts, Hazard Mitigation elements can be added into the recovery work and can be submitted for funding by FEMA. Without the plan, disaster recovery is limited to what was already there. • Going through the process of reviewing the water and wastewater system operations and impacts from natural hazards is good business and allows an agency to anticipate what might happen in the future to be better prepared. Orange County Water and wastewater Multi- Hazard Mitigation (Hazmit) Plan UPDATE March 13, 2012 Page 3 The basic steps in the plan preparation process are to assess the risks and the risk profile within the community to the water and wastewater facilities in Orange County and develop plans to mitigate those risks. The culmination of the process is a list of goals and actions that can be carried out to reduce the risk of water or wastewater systems being out of service. Although all agencies attempt to prepare for such hazards, mitigation against all service issues following a disaster is not possible. The need for the public to be self sufficient for the first 3 to 5 days following a major event until the local and regional utilities can get their systems back at partial or full operating capacity, is crucial. A full plan was prepared in 2007 and now requires updates every five (5) years. The Plan update requires a thorough review of the original plan with special attention to whether the risks have changed and how goals and actions may have changed or been achieved. For this plan, staff focused on enhancing the goals and actions to better meet the needs of each agency for mitigation planning. The final list of hazards profiled for Orange County included: Tsunamis Floods /Coastal Storms Contamination High winds /Santa Ana Winds (resulting in power outages) Dam Failure Landslide /mudslide Drought/Extreme Heat Land Subsidence Earthquake TornadoNVater Spout Liquefaction Wildfire /Urban Fire Expansive soils Human caused hazards Part of the Plan Preparation Process required by FEMA is to hold public workshops to receive input into the process before the final plan is completed. Two meetings, one in south Orange County and one in north Orange County, were held in January to provide an opportunity for public input and review of the process. Agencies notified the public that they could provide input directly to MWDOC in addition to attending the meetings. Agencies submitted their remaining edits to the Plan on January 20, which MWDOC compiled and made available in Final Draft form on February 1st 2012. The plan was made available on the Water Emergency Response Organization of Orange County (WEROC) web page and links to the site were posted on the City's web site for public viewing. The goal is to complete the approval and adoption process for the plan by March 2012. This will require specific consideration by each of the 20 participating Boards or City Councils. The Hazard Mitigation Plan is not binding on any agency, but adoption of the plan by the local jurisdictions essentially clears the way for the mitigation projects to move forward when and if specifically approved and funded by the local jurisdiction. Implementation of some projects many not be possible without outside Orange County Water and wastewater Multi- Hazard Mitigation (Hazmit) Plan UPDATE March 13, 2012 Page 4 funding. The Orange County Regional Water and Wastewater Multi- Hazard Mitigation Plan will be submitted to FEMA and the California Emergency Services Agency for approval once consideration has been completed by all of the local entities. The Plan will require updating every five years. MWDOC will act as the regional facilitator for monitoring and updating this plan. Historically, the Newport Beach water and wastewater facilities have been part of the MWDOC regional plan, however it is anticipated that our sections of this plan will be rolled into the City's Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan that will be updated in 2014. The City's plan was last approved by FEMA in 2009. The Orange County Regional Water and Wastewater Multi- Hazard Mitigation Plan is very large in size as it contains information from multiple agencies. The plan is not attached to this staff report in an effort to save printing costs, but can be provided upon request. The plan can be viewed at the below web site address. The plan is available on the web at: http: / /www.mwdoc.com /weroc /Hazard -Miti , aq tion ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW: Staff recommends the City Council find this action is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act ( "CEQX) pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) (the activity will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment) and 15060(c)(3) (the activity is not a project as defined in Section 15378) of the CEQA Guidelines, California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 3, because it has no potential for resulting in physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly. NOTICING: The agenda item has been noticed according to the Brown Act (72 hours in advance of the meeting at which the City Council considers the item). Mark Harmon Municipal Operations Director