Title
Authorize the Office of Emergency Services to submit a Hazard Mitigation Grant Program application to FEMA in the amount of $40 million for the Monterey County Community Wildfire Resilience Project
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors authorize the Office of Emergency Services (OES), to submit a Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) application to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the amount of $40 million for the Community Wildfire Resilience Project that will provide funding for defensible space and home hardening.
SUMMARY:
Monterey County Office of Emergency Services (OES) recommends that the Board of Supervisors approve the submittal of a grant application for the Community Wildfire Resilience Project, a $40 million HMGP project that directly assists Monterey County property owners and residents to reduce the threat to life and property in the County's high risk wildfire areas. This program will offer FEMA cost share incentives to property owners to implement defensible space and home hardening projects to ensure that windborne embers do not ignite flammable materials on or near homes and start a chain of fires within a community.
DISCUSSION:
Following every federally declared disaster, FEMA allocates post-disaster hazard mitigation funds directly to impacted communities to reduce the risk posed by any natural disaster. As a result of the 2020 wildfires that impacted Monterey County, the County is eligible for HMGP grant funding. Monterey County OES recommends that the Board of Supervisors approve the submittal of a grant application for the Community Wildfire Resilience Project, a $40 million HMGP project that directly assists property owners and residents to reduce wildfire impacts in high-risk areas.
In a recent study, the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety found that as many as 90% of homes damaged or destroyed by wildfire were first ignited by embers or other fires set by embe...
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