Bill Text: CA SB571 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Fire safety: ingress and egress route recommendations: report.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-08-07 - August 7 set for first hearing. Placed on suspense file. [SB571 Detail]

Download: California-2023-SB571-Introduced.html

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CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 571

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Introduced by Senator Allen

February 15, 2023

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An act to add Chapter 4.95 (commencing with Section 65999) to Division 1 of Title 7 of the Government Code, relating to land use.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 571, as introduced, Allen. Development projects: emergency preparedness.

Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, requires the legislative body of a city or county to adopt a comprehensive general plan that includes various elements, including among others, a land use element and a safety element. Existing law requires the safety element to be revised at a specified time period, or as necessary to address the risk of fire for land classified as state responsibility areas and land classified as very high fire hazard severity zones. Existing law requires the safety element to include, among other things, a set of goals, policies, and objectives for the protection of the community from the unreasonable risk of wildfire and a set of feasible implementation measures designed to carry out those goals, policies, and objectives.

This bill would require a proponent of a new development within a state responsibility area or local responsibility area that is within a high or very high fire hazard severity zone to include an evacuation plan with its application submitted to the local government for the development. The bill would subject the evacuation plan to the independent approval of the local government, as defined, the respective law enforcement and fire agencies that have jurisdictional response authority over the relevant area, and the California Highway Patrol if the proposed evacuation routing utilizes state or federal highways. The bill would require the evacuation plan to consist of specified information, including a wildfire behavior study, a traffic engineering study, and the best available routes for evacuation egress by populations within the development when threatened by wildfire. By imposing new duties on local governments in reviewing and approving developments in high and very high fire hazard severity zones, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

This bill would require all data elements of the evacuation plan to be preserved and maintained by the respective city or county and consolidated in a countywide evacuation database for local fire, law, and emergency service agencies to execute efficient evacuations and mass notifications, as specified. The bill would require the applicable county to, among other things, review and update evacuation plan information in its system on an annual basis and as new information becomes available. By imposing new duties on counties in maintaining and updating evacuation plans, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YES  

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Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

 Chapter 4.95 (commencing with Section 65999) is added to Division 1 of Title 7 of the Government Code, to read:

CHAPTER  4.95. Evacuation Planning in High and Very High Fire Severity Zones

65999.

 For purposes of this chapter:

(a) “High or very high fire hazard severity zone” means a zone identified pursuant to Section 51178 or locally adopted equivalent.

(b) “Local government” means a city, a county, or a city and county.

(c) “Local responsibility area” means an area designated by a local government upon the recommendation of the Director of the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection pursuant to Section 51178 of the Government Code that is not a state responsibility area and where a local government or district is responsible for fire protection.

(d) “Evacuation plan” means a plan for a new development that meets the requirements of Section 65999.2.

(e) “State responsibility area” means the same as defined in Section 4102 of the Public Resources Code.

(f) “Temporary refuge area” means a designated location for civilian populations in the event escape routes are lost due to unsafe conditions.

(g) “Qualified area” means a state responsibility area or local responsibility area that is within a high or very high fire hazard severity zone.

65999.1.

 (a) The proponent of a new development in a qualified area shall, when submitting an application to the relevant local government, include an evacuation plan. The evacuation plan shall meet the minimum requirements described in Section 65999.2.

(b) An evacuation plan shall be subject to the independent approval of all of the following:

(1) The local government that reviews the development project.

(2) The respective law agency enforcement that has jurisdictional response authority over the relevant area.

(3) The respective fire agency that has jurisdictional response authority over the relevant area.

(4) The Department of the California Highway Patrol, if the proposed evacuation routing utilizes state or federal highways or other routes where the California Highway Patrol is the primary traffic law enforcement authority.

(c) An evacuation plan shall be consistent with any applicable county emergency plan adopted pursuant to the California Emergency Services Act (Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 8550) of Division 1 of Title 2).

65999.2.

 An evacuation plan required under Section 65999.1 shall also include, at a minimum, all of the following:

(a) A wildfire behavior study that meets the requirements of Section 65999.3.

(b) A traffic engineering study that meets the requirements of Section 65999.4.

(c) (1) The best available routes for evacuation egress by populations within the development when threatened by wildfire, and concurrent routing for emergency vehicle access.

(2) Mitigations to new development traffic impacts shall be engineered as required to maintain or improve the existing regional travel capacity of identified evacuation routes.

(3) The routes included in the evacuation plan shall include the entirety of the route, regardless of whether the route is located within the qualified area.

(d) (1) Temporary refuge areas for civilian populations in the event escape routes are lost due to unsafe conditions.

(2) Temporary refuge areas shall include the exact location and the capacity for accommodation of civilian populations who are trapped within a development by wildfire movement and unable to safely access or use designated evacuation routes.

(3) Temporary refuge area locations shall offer immediate access within the development, off-road parking, and access, and be of sufficient size and capacity for avoidance to life-threatening wildfire exposure, including smoke and radiant heat.

(4) Temporary refuge areas may include commercial, private, or institutional locations constructed of fire-resistive materials meeting or exceeding the requirements established by Chapter 7A of Part 2 of Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations, developed parks, large parking lots, or similar sites.

(e) Strategies for addressing the needs of vulnerable populations both in evacuation inclusion and public education.

(f) A detailed discussion, for the benefit of the public and interested agencies, of the exact roles of the fire protection and law enforcement jurisdictions in ordering, supervising, and conducting emergency evacuations, with consideration of the availability of staffing during multiple wildfire events in or impacting the region.

(g) Information regarding adjoining properties on all sides of the development, which shall include, to the extent that information is known, all of the following:

(1) Current land uses.

(2) Existing structures and densities.

(3) Planned construction.

(4) Natural vegetation.

(5) Environmental restoration plans.

(6) Roads.

(7) Parks.

65999.3.

 (a) An evacuation plan shall include a wildfire behavior study. The wildfire behavior study shall do all of the following:

(1) Identify proposed evacuation routes and temporary refuge area locations.

(2) Include a study of potential wildfire behavior, fire modeling, and determination of potential wildfire impacts affecting evacuation routes and temporary refuge area locations.

(3) Determine locations where evacuation may be obstructed or where road users may be entrapped by fire trajectory, speed, or movement.

(4) Validate safety of proposed temporary refuge area locations.

(5) Consider both diurnal and episodic foehn wind conditions, juxtaposition to native and ornamental fuels, adjacent topography, and historic wildfire behavior, including likely points of origin, for the specific site and region.

(6) Propose mitigations, as necessary, such as fuel modification or other treatments, to reduce wildfire impacts.

(7) Determine and recommend evacuation window timing for designated evacuation routes, the period that the routes are likely available for safe travel, and under what conditions evacuation by those routes should be discontinued for safety reasons and populations redirected to temporary refuge area locations.

(b) A wildfire behavior study shall be subject to the approval of the responsible fire authority.

65999.4.

 (a) An evacuation plan shall include a traffic engineering study conducted by a certified traffic engineer. The traffic engineering study shall do all of the following:

(1) Include a determination of both daily and peak travel capacity for designated evacuation routes and consider needs for concurrent emergency vehicle access.

(2) Ensure that new development access is sufficient to accommodate travel by the entire development’s population to a point of safety within one hour of notification.

(3) Consider existing and prior use of designated routes by regional populations and identify any potential reductions of travel capacity posed by the new development.

(4) Identify evacuation routing from the point of evacuation origin to locations of safety, where wildfire impacts to evacuees may be avoided, and recommend traffic improvements and mitigations as necessary to facilitate effective road travel.

(5) (A) Include a minimum of two designated routes of emergency access and egress that meet municipal traffic engineering standards for the local government. These routes shall not be obstructed by locked gates or other means, and shall be available for immediate access by civilian populations without third-party intervention. The routes shall also offer immediate access to emergency responders simultaneous to civilian evacuation, with access lanes of sufficient width to facilitate emergency vehicle movement.

(B) Additional routes may be required by any party reviewing the evacuation plan to accommodate evacuation traffic for larger developments. If the traffic engineering study determines that more than the two evacuation routes required under subparagraph (A) are needed to meet the one-hour evacuation standard under paragraph (2), then additional routes may be required for the development. For very small residential projects, a traffic study may find that one evacuation route sufficiently meets the requirements of this paragraph. In either finding, the local government may modify the required minimum of two designated emergency access routes in concurrence with evacuation study recommendations and concurrence of fire and law enforcement officials.

(6) Ensure that designated emergency routes included in the traffic engineering study shall include all of the following:

(A) At least one permanent traffic lane in each direction of travel. Additional, temporary lanes may also be included to meet peak travel demand as may be required.

(B) Municipal road traffic safety features such as lane controls and guard railing, and traffic calming features shall be minimized on those routes.

(C) Fuel modification or other fire risk mitigations for evacuation routes as necessary to mitigate fire entrapment risks for civilian evacuees.

(D) The use of contraflow, or conversion of use of both inbound and outbound traffic lanes for initial evacuation purposes, shall not be part of the planned usage on the routes when direction or control of the use relies on immediate availability of local law enforcement or emergency services.

(E) In addition to minimum required travel lanes, temporary lanes for achieving peak travel capacity may be included in the study, such as median lanes, passing lanes, or wide shoulders, as may be directed by law enforcement to achieve peak travel capacity.

(7) (A) Ensure that routing over unimproved roads traversing mountainous terrain, presenting unreasonable or unsafe wildfire exposure, presenting significant traffic safety or movement concerns, or over routes not meeting city or county municipal road development standards are not used as evacuation routes for any new development.

(B) Limited, short-duration use of unimproved roads may be considered if a project can demonstrate that the use complies with subparagraph (C). Where these roads are designated for evacuation, they shall be maintained as readily accessible in perpetuity by the development.

(C) A project proponent that considers limited, short-duration use of unimproved roads under subparagraph (B) shall demonstrate that the unimproved roads do all of the following:

(i) Provide adequate emergency travel times.

(ii) Provide mitigated traffic safety risks.

(iii) Avoid significant wildfire effects.

(iv) Meet municipal standards and no other routes are adequate.

(b) The traffic engineering study shall be developed by the project proponent and be incorporated into any initial study, negative declaration, mitigation negative declaration, or environmental impact report for the development, as may be required by the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code).

(c) The traffic engineering study shall be submitted for review by law enforcement and fire officials and be subject to final approval by the local government.

65999.5.

 (a) An evacuation plan may utilize existing roads or sites for potential temporary safe refuge outside of, but adjacent to, the development when those sites offer best practical use and reasonable, rapid access.

(b) All ingress and egress access shall be part of the normal traffic circulation flow without controls that require special knowledge or assistance.

65999.6.

 (a) Before a development subject to this chapter may be occupied, all data elements of the evacuation plan shall be preserved and maintained by the respective local government and consolidated in a countywide evacuation database for local fire, law, and emergency service agencies to execute efficient evacuations and mass notifications.

(b) The county shall do all of the following with regard to an evacuation plan preserved pursuant to subdivision (a):

(1) Review the evacuation plan and determine its effects on regional evacuation infrastructure.

(2) Review and update evacuation plan information in the system on an annual basis and as new information becomes available.

(3) Publish and communicate actionable evacuation plans to the public in an electronic format compatible with, and accessible to, the local planning and emergency response systems.

(4) Provide hard copies of evacuation plans to the public, as a reference, but the hard copies shall not be directly actionable in the event of an emergency.

65999.7.

 The Legislature finds and declares that this chapter addresses a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair as that term is used in Section 5 of Article XI of the California Constitution. Therefore, this chapter applies to all cities, including charter cities.

SEC. 2.

 No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution for certain costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district because a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code.

However, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains other costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.