To: Sonoma County Board of Supervisors
Department or Agency Name(s): Permit Sonoma
Staff Name and Phone Number: Misha Bailey, (707) 565-1143
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Title:
Title
Sonoma County Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Wildfire Mitigation Project Phase II Submittal and California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Compliance
End
Recommended Action:
Recommended action
Adopt a Resolution to do the following:
A) Make findings pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for the Wildfire Resilient Sonoma County (WRSC) Project (otherwise known as “the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) project”), Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project, Wildfire Adapted Sonoma County Part 1 Project, and Wildfire Adapted Sonoma County Part 2 Project, which together, for purposes of CEQA, are defined as the Sonoma County FEMA Wildfire Mitigation Project (“Project”); adopt the Project-Specific Analysis (PSA) and addendum under the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection’s California Vegetation Treatment Program (CalVTP) Program Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) for the Project; adopt a Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program for the Project; adopt a Statement of Overriding Considerations for the Project; and
B) Authorize the Director of Permit Sonoma, or their designee, to submit materials for Phase II funds from FEMA and California Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) for each grant within the Project.
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Executive Summary:
From 2018-2022, Permit Sonoma applied for and was awarded several grants from FEMA for wildfire mitigation, including the WRSC Project, Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project, Wildfire Adapted Sonoma County Part 1 Project, and Wildfire Adapted Sonoma County Part 2 Project, collectively known as the Sonoma County FEMA Wildfire Mitigation Project. Each of these grants are split into two phases. The department is currently completing Phase I for each grant, which requires planning activities, defensible space and wildfire home hardening assessments, outreach and education, the development of recommendations for potential future action, and completion of environmental review under CEQA in order to apply for Phase II funding. The department recommends adopting a resolution to make the required CEQA findings based on the environmental review that has been conducted, and authorizing the Director of Permit Sonoma, or their designee, to submit materials for Phase II implementation funds for these grants.
Discussion:
Permit Sonoma oversees and administers a wildfire resiliency grant program consisting of four awarded grants funded by FEMA and Sonoma County (County) and administered by CalOES. The four awarded grants are (1) Wildfire Resilient Sonoma County: Nature-Based Mitigation to Adapt in an Era of Megafire (WRSC), (2) Sonoma County Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project (Hazardous Fuels), (3) Wildfire Adapted Sonoma County Part 1 (WA1), and (4) Wildfire Adapted Sonoma County Part 2 (WA2) (WA1 and WA2 comprise the SoCo Adapts Program). These grants are collectively defined as the Sonoma County FEMA Wildfire Mitigation Project (“Project”) and considered one project for purposes of CEQA due to their overlapping objectives, funding, activities, and geographic coverage.
FEMA awarded each grant as a “Phased Project” with two phases: “Phase I” is the planning and assessment phase that is currently in-process for each, and “Phase II” is the implementation phase that has not yet begun and will extend into multiple years for each. Phase I grants were exempt from CEQA review as feasibility and planning studies for possible future action. FEMA has set aside the funding for Phase II of each project and approved the eligibility of Phase II activities. Upon successful completion of Phase I and submission of materials to the FEMA programs for Phase II, FEMA and CalOES can obligate Phase II funding. Pending adoption of this item from your Board, Permit Sonoma expects to submit materials to CalOES and FEMA for Phase II of the Hazardous Fuels, WA1, and WA2 grants during FY24/25, and for the WRSC project during FY26/27. FEMA does not provide estimates as to how long it will take them to release Phase II funds after receipt of these materials, although a minimum of 6-12 months is expected. Implementation of Phase II will begin immediately upon receipt of the funds for each grant. These grants, especially WRSC, WA1, and WA2 are among the “first of their kind” nationally. Because of their unprecedented nature for FEMA, CalOES, and the County, Phase II awards are expected to occur no sooner than FY25/26 for Hazardous Fuels, WA1, and WA2, and FY27/28 for WRSC. County must comply with CEQA for the activities that will be done in Phase II and this environmental review must be provided to FEMA as a part of the completion of Phase I for FEMA to obligate Phase II funds.
Individual Grant Descriptions:
Permit Sonoma proposes to implement voluntary wildfire mitigation activities on private and public lands including vegetation management, defensible space, and structure hardening through these four grants. There are 33 individual project locations, with some overlap between grants, encompassing 16,948 parcels and 11,561 primary structures across 106,687 acres of Sonoma County and 14 acres of Napa County. Final treatment areas for each grant would be limited by Federal and County funding and voluntary landowner participation.
A. WRSC Phase II grant:
Permit Sonoma proposes to implement vegetation management and Near-home Wildfire Mitigation treatments on privately and publicly owned parcels in three pre-identified project areas. WRSC treatments may include the following:
1. Strategic vegetation management to reduce wildfire risk, outside of the defensible space of structures. Treatment locations will be finalized in coordination with local and state fire protection agencies, landowners, technical experts, and community groups.
2. Defensible Space treatments within 100 feet of primary structures and/or within 30 feet of identified roadway and/or driveway edges on developed or undeveloped parcels.
3. Zone Zero treatments within five feet of primary structures and their features and outbuildings.
4. Structure Hardening treatments on primary structures and their features and outbuildings.
B. Hazardous Fuels Phase II grant:
Permit Sonoma proposes to reduce wildfire risk by managing vegetation along strategic roadsides and ridgetops or around critical infrastructure in pre-selected project areas. Permit Sonoma identified 16 sites for potential treatment on private and public properties in coordination with local and state fire protection agencies and community groups.
C. WA1 Phase II and WA2 Phase II grants:
Permit Sonoma proposes to implement Near-home Wildfire Mitigation treatments on privately-owned properties in fourteen pre-identified project areas. WA1 and WA2 treatments may include the following:
1. Defensible Space treatments within 100 feet of primary structures and/or within 30 feet of identified roadway and/or driveway edges on developed or undeveloped parcels.
2. Zone Zero treatments within five feet of primary structures and their features and outbuildings.
3. Structure Hardening treatments on primary structures and their features and outbuildings.
Environmental Review:
A portion of the Phase I scope of work for each of these grants is for environmental review of the activities that will occur in Phase II. Federal funding obligations require compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). NEPA compliance is being coordinated with FEMA and CalOES. CEQA compliance is being achieved through use of the CalVTP PEIR. The CalVTP PEIR can be reviewed in full at this page: https://bof.fire.ca.gov/projects-and-programs/calvtp-homepage-and-storymap/
The CalVTP PEIR can be used for CEQA compliance by any state or local public agency with a discretionary action (e.g., funding, staffing, permitting, implementing) for a proposed wildfire mitigation project. State or local public agencies can prepare a PSA that is similar to the CEQA checklist to determine if the project falls within the scope of the PEIR. The CalVTP studies three treatment types: WUI fuel reduction, fuel breaks (shaded and un-shaded), and ecological restoration, within the State Responsibility Area (SRA). The vegetation treatment activities proposed to implement each of these treatment types are prescribed burning, manual treatment, mechanical treatment, prescribed herbivory, and targeted ground application of herbicides.
The PSA is a site-specific analysis of whether the activities and impacts of a proposed vegetation treatment project are within the scope of those analyzed in the PEIR. Permit Sonoma staff have prepared a PSA that analyzes all four grants as a single Project, with an addendum to address treatment activities that occur outside of the CalVTP treatable landscape (i.e. within the local responsibility area), as well as Near-home Wildfire Mitigation treatments which are not analyzed in the PEIR. The PSA includes a programmatic analysis of the projects that could be funded by the FEMA grants, evaluating potential treatment types and locations. However, completion of any or all of the treatments will be limited by funding and landowner participation. Based on the amount of Phase II funding, and where landowners opt-in to eligible treatment activities, site-specific analysis and surveying (such as biological assessments and cultural resource surveys) will be completed according to the protocol set forward in the Standard Project Requirements (SPRs) and Mitigation Measures (MMs) in the PSA and the Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program. In accordance with Section 15164 of the CEQA guidelines, the PSA and addendum found that none of the conditions described in Section 15162 of the CEQA guidelines calling for the preparation of a subsequent EIR or negative declaration have occurred.
Vegetation management activities conducted under the WRSC and Hazardous Fuels grants will use the SPRs and MMs outlined in the PEIR. Near-home Wildfire Mitigation treatments conducted under WA1, WA2, and WRSC will use methods that provide similar protective and administrative measures as the applicable CalVTP SPRs and MMs, but for activities and treatment locations that are not covered in the scope of the PEIR. The SPRs and MMs outlined in the PEIR and PSA and addendum will be incorporated into each grant’s implementation activities as conditions for implementing treatment activities.
Strategic Plan:
This item directly supports the County’s Five-year Strategic Plan and is aligned with the following pillar, goal, and objective.
Pillar: Climate Action and Resiliency
Goal: Goal 1: Continue to invest in wildfire preparedness and resiliency strategies
Objective: Objective 2: Expand outreach and education on vegetation management and provide additional resources to landowners to help mitigate fire risk.
Racial Equity:
Was this item identified as an opportunity to apply the Racial Equity Toolkit?
No
Prior Board Actions:
4/3/2018 - Informational Update from Office of Resiliency and Recovery
9/11/2018 - Informational Update from Office of Resiliency and Recovery
4/21/2020 - Acceptance of Grant Awards from FEMA HMGP for Wildfire Adapted Part 1
5/12/2020 - Department Allocation Resolution for FEMA Grants
12/14/2021 - Acceptance of Grant Awards from FEMA HMGP for Hazardous Fuels Reduction Grant Project
5/3/2022 - Acceptance of Grant Awards from FEMA HMGP for Wildfire Adapted Part 2, and Department Allocation Resolution for FEMA Grants
9/13/2022 - Structure Hardening Assessor Contract for Wildfire Adapted Part 1 and Wildfire Adapted Part 2
4/18/2023 - Acceptance of Grant Awards from FEMA BRIC Program for Wildfire Resilient Sonoma County Project
Fiscal Summary
Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
There are no fiscal impacts with the Recommended Actions in this Board Item. Upon approval of this item Permit Sonoma will submit materials to FEMA and CalOES for up to $52.9 million in Phase II funds. Once FEMA and CalOES obligate Phase II funds for each grant individually, Permit Sonoma will return to your Board for approval to accept the funds for each grant. The local match for Phase II of each grant has already been set aside by the Board in the prior Board actions and is available in the Resiliency Fund and the Reserved Purposes Fund within Non-Departmental.
Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
Not Applicable
Attachments:
Att 1 Sonoma County FEMA Wildfire Mitigation Project Resolution
Att 2 Sonoma County FEMA Wildfire Mitigation Project’s Project-Specific Analysis (PSA) + PSA Attachments
Att 3 FEMA Wildfire Grants Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program
Att 4 Findings and Statement of Overriding Considerations
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
Not Applicable