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Local Hazard Mitigation Plan
2025 Rancho Santa Margarita Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Update
The City received final approval of the 2025 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP) Update from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The City Council approved the document on July 9, 2025, and FEMA certified it on August 15, 2025. Please click the link below to access the document, or if you prefer, a hard copy is available for review at the Planning Counter at City Hall.
Please email Principal Planner Wendy Starks at wstarks@cityofrsm.org with comments or questions.
The City of Rancho Santa Margarita received Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant funding to update the 2019 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP). The LHMP identifies hazards and vulnerabilities associated with natural and human-induced disasters and develops long-term strategies for protecting people and property from future hazard events such as earthquakes, drought, and wildfire.
The current 2019 LHMP can be viewed here:
Here is some additional information about the LHMP and how you can get involved:
Background
What is a Hazard Mitigation Plan?
A Hazard Mitigation Plan is a framework that guides our community in making decisions and developing policies to reduce or eliminate risk to life and property. The plan identifies the types of hazards that threaten our community, evaluates our vulnerability to those threats, and outlines a strategy to reduce or eliminate the risk posed by those threats and avoid repeated destruction by natural hazard events.
Why is the plan important?
The Federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA 2000) requires that a community have an approved hazard mitigation plan to be eligible to apply for and receive certain types of FEMA hazard mitigation funds. Receipt of these funds can be critical to implementation of identified hazard mitigation programs. The Hazard Mitigation Plan is required to be updated every five years to maintain funding eligibility.
What goes into a Hazard Mitigation Plan?
A hazard mitigation plan assesses the community’s risks and vulnerabilities to natural hazard events such as earthquakes, drought, and wildfire. The plan includes a set of goals related to the overall goal of hazard mitigation planning and mitigation actions that will serve to advance the plan goals.
How can the public become involved in the hazard mitigation planning process?
Public participation in the process is important because it helps raise awareness of the hazards we face in Rancho Santa Margarita, identifies our community’s vulnerabilities associated with the hazards, and helps to identify the actions needed to mitigate or reduce those vulnerabilities. By participating in the process you will be taking time to consider the hazards in our community, the vulnerabilities and impacts of those hazards on life and property, actions that need to be taken to reduce the vulnerabilities and impacts, and the priority of these actions.
The LHMP Planning Team will consider all input from the public and integrate it into the plan update where appropriate. Opportunities for the community to provide input, ask questions, and review/comment on draft documents will be provided throughout the planning process. Your comments, questions, ideas, and concerns will have a significant role in the plan’s update.
Contact the City with questions and comments:
Email: Hazardmitigationplan@cityofrsm.org
Phone: (949) 635-1807