Local Hazard Mitigation Plan

The City of Laguna Niguel received Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant funding to prepare a Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP). The LHMP serves as the City's long-term roadmap for community resiliency, and presents strategies for reducing the City’s vulnerability to the impacts of identified hazards in the community.

What is a Local Hazard Mitigation Plan?

Local Hazard Mitigation planning is the process of assessing vulnerabilities, measuring risk, identifying strategies for risk reduction, and assigning responsible parties to carry out appropriate action. This initiative involves a comprehensive study of multiple hazards that could impact a given municipality including natural, human-caused, and technological hazards. The planning process requires a number of stakeholders, including members of the public, coming together in a collaborative effort to attain a common objective of managing disaster-related risk.

A Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP) is the output of this planning process and serves as a local municipality’s long-term roadmap for community resiliency. Local municipalities are responsible to prepare, adopt, maintain, and update, a LHMP, once it has been reviewed by the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) and approved by FEMA. Additionally, the Federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 requires a community to have an approved LHMP in order to be eligible to apply for and receive FEMA hazard mitigation funds. Once a LHMP is adopted, FEMA requires that the LHMP be updated every five years.

Why is a LHMP important?

A comprehensive update of the City’s LHMP not only ensures that the City is eligible to receive FEMA hazard mitigation funds, but also guides the City towards building a safer, more sustainable community. The City’s LHMP promotes sound public policy designed to protect residents, critical facilities, infrastructure, private property, and the environment from various hazards. As outlined in the LHMP, this is achieved by increasing public awareness, documenting the resources for risk reduction and loss prevention, and identifying activities that will further improve the community’s resiliency.

How was the City's LHMP prepared?

The City assembled a Hazard Mitigation Planning Committee (HMPC), which included representatives from various City departments and was supported by key stakeholders and technical consultants. Together, these participants formed the project team responsible for guiding the overall development of the City's LHMP. The City's LHMP was adopted by City Council adoption in early 2023, but it may be later depending on how long the State and Federal review process takes.