Each planning agency shall prepare and the legislative body of each county and city shall adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for the physical development of the county or city, and of any land outside its boundaries which in the planning agency’s judgment bears relation to its planning. Chartered cities shall adopt general plans which contain the mandatory elements specified in Section 65302.

climate change including, but not limited to, higher average temperatures, decreased air and water quality, the spread of infectious and vectorborne diseases, other public health impacts, extreme weather events, sea level rise, flooding, heat waves, wildfires, and drought.

The Legislature finds that the diversity of the state’s communities and their residents requires planning agencies and legislative bodies to implement this article in ways that accommodate local conditions and circumstances, while meeting its minimum requirements.

The Legislature recognizes that the capacity of California cities and counties to respond to state planning laws varies due to the legal differences between cities and counties, both charter and general law, and to differences among them in physical size and characteristics, population size and density, fiscal and administrative capabilities, land use and development issues, and human needs. It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this chapter to provide an opportunity for each city and county to coordinate its local budget planning and local planning for federal and state program activities, such as community development, with the local land use planning process, recognizing that each city and county is required to establish its own appropriate balance in the context of the local situation when allocating resources to meet these purposes.

The requirements of this section shall apply to charter cities.

The adoption of the general plan or any part or element thereof or the adoption of any amendment to such plan or any part or element thereof is a legislative act which shall be reviewable pursuant to Section 1085 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

The general plan shall consist of a statement of development policies and shall include a diagram or diagrams and text setting forth objectives, principles, standards, and plan proposals. The plan shall include the following elements:

consider the identification of land and natural resources pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (d). The land use element shall include a statement of the standards of population density and building intensity recommended for the various districts and other territory covered by the plan. The land use element shall identify and annually review those areas covered by the plan that are subject to flooding identified by flood plain mapping prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) or the Department of Water Resources. The land use element shall also do both of the following:

the impact of new growth on military readiness activities carried out on military bases, installations, and operating and training areas, when proposing zoning ordinances or designating land uses covered by the general plan for land, or other territory adjacent to military facilities, or underlying designated military aviation routes and airspace.

(I) Training, support, and operations that

prepare the members of the military for combat.

(II) Operation, maintenance, and security of any military installation.

(III) Testing of military equipment, vehicles, weapons, and sensors for proper operation or suitability for combat use.

(ii) “Military installation” means a base, camp, post, station, yard, center, homeport facility for any ship, or other activity under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Defense as defined in paragraph (1) of subsection (g) of Section 2687 of Title 10 of the United States Code.

public utilities and facilities, all correlated with the land use element of the plan.

serious injuries for all road users through a holistic view of the roadway system, including provisions that account for human error, recognize vulnerable road users, and promote redundant and proactive safety measures.

(ii) Develop bicycle plans, pedestrian plans, and traffic calming plans based on the policies and goals in the circulation element that shall address all of the following for any urbanized area within the scope of the general plan:

(I) Identify safety corridors and any land or facility that generates high concentrations of bicyclists or pedestrians.

(II) Use evidence-based strategies, including strategies identified in the United States Department of Transportation’s Strategic Highway Safety Plan to develop safety measures specific to those areas that are intended to eliminate traffic fatalities, with

an emphasis on fatalities of bicyclists, pedestrians, and users of any other form of micromobility device in the areas identified in subclause (I).

(III) Set goals for initiation and completion of all actions identified in the plans within 25 years of the date of adoption of the modified circulation element based upon projected development activities within urbanized areas within the scope of the general plan and projected availability of revenues.

(C) (i) A county or city shall begin implementation of the modified circulation element plan specified in subparagraph (B) within two years of the date of adoption of the plan.

(ii) A county or city shall regularly review the progress towards and identify impediments to completing implementation of the plan for a multimodal transportation network,

including all bicycle plans, pedestrian plans, and traffic calming plans iterated in the modified circulation element, and the construction of any related infrastructure.

(iii) A county or city shall consider revising the circulation element if, following the review under clause (ii), the county or city determines it will not reach the goals of the bicycle, pedestrian, or traffic calming plans within 25 years of the date of adoption of the modified circulation element.

(D) For the purposes of this paragraph, the following definitions shall apply:

(ii) “Land facilities that generate high concentrations of bicyclists or pedestrians” has the same

meaning as described in Section 22358.7 of the Vehicle Code.

(iii) “Micromobility device” means a bicycle, electric bicycle, or motorized scooter as those terms are defined and described in Division 1 (commencing with Section 100) of the Vehicle Code.

(iv) “Safety corridor” has the same meaning as defined in Section 22358.7 of the Vehicle Code.

(E) For purposes of this paragraph, “users of streets, roads, and highways” mean bicyclists, children, persons with disabilities, motorists, movers of commercial goods, pedestrians, users of public transportation, and seniors.

provided in Article 10.6 (commencing with Section 65580).

agencies that have developed, served, controlled, managed, or conserved water of any type for any purpose in the county or city for which the plan is prepared. Coordination shall include the discussion and evaluation of any water supply and demand information described in Section 65352.5, if that information has been submitted by the water agency to the city or county.

control, and correction of the erosion of soils, beaches, and shores.

the jurisdiction, as those terms are defined in Section 158 of the Streets and Highways Code.

(ii) For the purposes of this subparagraph, “wildlife” has the same meaning

as defined in Section 89.5 of the Fish and Game Code.

for consultation, the department, tribe, or district may, in its sole discretion, accept or refuse to consult, based on the priority of natural resources impacted or other factors.

as defined by subdivision (a) of Section 1851 of the Fish and Game Code, and in regional habitat connectivity assessments.

(ii) Wildlife corridors, such as migration corridors identified by global positioning system collar studies.

(iii) Wildlife movement barriers, such as connectivity areas, as defined by subdivision (a) of Section 158 of the Street and Highways Code, and barriers identified by the Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Restoring California’s Wildlife Connectivity report.

(iv) Other connectivity considerations, such as those outlined in the State Wildlife Action Plan, habitat conservation plans approved pursuant to Section 1539 of Title 16 of the United States Code, natural community conservation plans approved pursuant to Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 2800) of Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code,

regional conservation investment strategies approved pursuant to Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 1850) of Division 2 of the Fish and Game Code, and other relevant plans, policies, and ordinances adopted by neighboring jurisdictions.

(A) Highways and freeways.

(B) Primary arterials and major local streets.

(C) Passenger and freight online railroad operations and ground rapid transit systems.

(D) Commercial, general aviation, heliport, helistop, and military airport operations, aircraft overflights, jet engine test stands, and all other ground facilities and maintenance functions related to airport operation.

(E) Local

industrial plants, including, but not limited to, railroad classification yards.

(F) Other ground stationary noise sources, including, but not limited to, military installations, identified by local agencies as contributing to the community noise environment.

noise.

geologic hazards. It shall also address evacuation routes, military installations, peakload water supply requirements, and minimum road widths and clearances around structures, as those items relate to identified fire and geologic hazards.

permitted within flood hazard zones will be free from flooding or flood damage.

(ii) National Flood Insurance Program maps published by FEMA.

(iii) Information about flood hazards that is available from the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

(iv) Designated floodway maps that are available from the Central Valley Flood Protection Board.

(vi) Awareness Floodplain Mapping Program maps and 200-year flood plain maps that are or may be available from, or accepted by, the Department of Water Resources.

(vii) Maps of levee protection zones.

(viii) Areas subject to inundation in the event of the failure of project or nonproject levees or floodwalls.

(ix) Historical data on flooding, including locally prepared maps of areas that are subject to flooding, areas that are vulnerable to flooding after wildfires, and sites that have been repeatedly damaged by flooding.

(xi) Local, state, and federal agencies with responsibility for flood protection, including special districts and local offices of emergency services.

(B) Establish a set of comprehensive goals, policies, and objectives based on the information identified pursuant to subparagraph (A), for the protection of the community from the unreasonable risks of flooding, including, but not limited to:

(ii) Evaluating whether new development should be located in flood hazard zones, and identifying construction methods or other methods to minimize damage if new development is located in flood hazard zones.

(iii) Maintaining the structural and operational integrity of essential public facilities during flooding.

(iv) Locating, when feasible, new essential public facilities outside of flood hazard zones, including hospitals and health

care facilities, emergency shelters, fire stations, emergency command centers, and emergency communications facilities or identifying construction methods or other methods to minimize damage if these facilities are located in flood hazard zones.

(C) Establish a set of feasible implementation measures designed to carry out the goals, policies, and objectives established pursuant to subparagraph (B).

fire hazard severity zones, as defined in Section 51177. This review shall consider the advice included in the Office of Planning and Research’s most recent publication of “Fire Hazard Planning, General Plan Technical Advice Series” and shall also include all of the following:

(ii) Any historical data on wildfires available from local agencies or a reference to where the data can be found.

(iii) Information about wildfire hazard areas that may be available from the United States Geological Survey.

(iv) General

location and distribution of existing and planned uses of land in very high fire hazard severity zones and in state responsibility areas, including structures, roads, utilities, and essential public facilities. The location and distribution of planned uses of land shall not require defensible space compliance measures required by state law or local ordinance to occur on publicly owned lands or open-space designations of homeowner associations.

(B) A set of goals, policies, and objectives based on the information identified pursuant to subparagraph (A) for the protection of the community from the unreasonable risk of wildfire.

(C) A set of feasible implementation measures

designed to carry out the goals, policies, and objectives based on the information identified pursuant to subparagraph (B), including, but not limited to, all of the following:

(ii) Locating, when feasible, new essential public facilities outside of high fire risk areas, including, but not limited to, hospitals and health care facilities, emergency shelters, emergency command centers, and emergency communications facilities, or identifying construction methods or other methods to minimize damage if these facilities are located in a state responsibility area or very high fire hazard severity zone.

(iii) Designing adequate infrastructure if a new development is located in a state responsibility area or in a very high fire hazard severity

zone, including safe access for emergency response vehicles, visible street signs, and water supplies for structural fire suppression.

(iv) Working cooperatively with public agencies with responsibility for fire protection.

(D) If a city or county has adopted a fire safety plan or document separate from the general plan, an attachment of, or reference to, a city or county’s adopted fire safety plan or document that fulfills commensurate goals and objectives and contains information required pursuant to this paragraph.

safety element shall be reviewed and updated as necessary to address climate adaptation and resiliency strategies applicable to the city or county. This review shall consider advice provided in the Office of Planning and Research’s General Plan Guidelines and shall include all of the following:

(ii) Information that may be available from federal, state, regional, and local agencies that will assist in developing the vulnerability assessment and the adaptation policies and strategies required pursuant to subparagraph (B), including, but not limited to, all

of the following:

(II) Information from the most recent version of the California Adaptation Planning Guide.

(III) Information from local agencies on the types of assets, resources, and populations that will be sensitive to various climate change exposures.

(IV) Information from local agencies on their current ability to deal with the impacts of climate change.

(VI) Existing and

planned development in identified at-risk areas, including structures, roads, utilities, and essential public facilities.

(VII) Federal, state, regional, and local agencies with responsibility for the protection of public health and safety and the environment, including special districts and local offices of emergency services.

associated with new uses of land.

(ii) The location, when feasible, of new essential public facilities outside of at-risk areas, including, but not limited to, hospitals and health care facilities, emergency shelters, emergency command centers, and emergency communications facilities, or identifying construction methods or other methods to minimize damage if these facilities are located in at-risk areas.

(iii) The designation of adequate and feasible infrastructure located in an at-risk area.

(iv) Guidelines for working cooperatively with relevant local, regional, state, and federal agencies.

features and ecosystem processes, or the restoration of natural features and ecosystem processes, when developing alternatives for consideration. For purposes of this clause, “natural infrastructure” means using natural ecological systems or processes to reduce vulnerability to climate change related hazards, or other related climate change effects, while increasing the long-term adaptive capacity of coastal and inland areas by perpetuating or restoring ecosystem services. This includes, but is not limited to, the conservation, preservation, or sustainable management of any form of aquatic or terrestrial vegetated open space, such as beaches, dunes, tidal marshes, reefs, seagrass, parks, rain gardens, and urban tree canopies. It also includes systems and practices that use or mimic natural processes, such as permeable pavements, bioswales, and other engineered systems, such as levees that are combined with restored natural systems, to provide clean water, conserve ecosystem values and functions, and provide

a wide array of benefits to people and wildlife.

(D) (i) If a city or county has adopted the local hazard mitigation plan, or other climate adaptation plan or document that fulfills commensurate goals and objectives and contains the information required pursuant to this paragraph, separate from the general plan, an attachment of, or reference to, the local hazard mitigation plan or other climate adaptation plan or document.

(ii) Cities or counties that have an adopted hazard mitigation plan, or other climate adaptation plan or document that substantially complies with this section, or have substantially equivalent provisions to this subdivision in their general plans, may use that information in the safety element to comply with this subdivision, and shall summarize and incorporate by reference into the safety element the other general plan provisions,

climate adaptation plan or document, specifically showing how each requirement of this subdivision has been met.

of the safety element.

Drainage District, as set forth in Section 8501 of the Water Code, and the Office of Emergency Services for the purpose of including information known by and available to the department, the agency, and the board required by this subdivision.

environmental justice element, or related environmental justice goals, policies, and objectives integrated in other elements, shall do all of the following:

(A) Identify objectives and policies to reduce the unique or compounded health risks in disadvantaged communities by means that include, but are not limited to, the reduction of pollution exposure, including the improvement of air quality, and the promotion of public facilities, food access, safe and sanitary homes, and physical activity.

(B) Identify objectives and policies to promote civic engagement in the public decisionmaking process.

(C) Identify objectives and policies that prioritize improvements and programs that address the needs of disadvantaged communities.

and county subject to this subdivision shall adopt or review the environmental justice element, or the environmental justice goals, policies, and objectives in other elements, upon the adoption or next revision of two or more elements concurrently on or after January 1, 2018.

hazards that can lead to negative health effects, exposure, or environmental degradation.

Hazard Mitigation Plan required pursuant to the federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-390) to comply with the requirements of this subdivision.

city shall also maximize use of arterial roads, major thoroughfares, and local roads that predominantly serve commercial, agricultural, or industrial uses when state or interstate highways are not utilized. Truck routes shall comply with the following:

be accessible via arterial roads, major thoroughfares, or local roads that predominantly serve commercial, agricultural, or industrial uses.

on residential communities and enhance transportation efficiency. This is achieved by restricting logistics use developments to roadways that are suited to handle the associated traffic and that predominantly serve commercial, agricultural, or industrial uses.

65351.

section. A city, county, or city and county found by a court to be in violation of this section shall be subject to any of the following:

(A) A civil penalty of up to fifty thousand dollars ($50,000)

every six months, accrued from the date of the violation until the violation is cured.

(B) All costs of investigating and prosecuting this action, including expert fees, reasonable attorney’s fees, and costs.

(C) Other relief deemed appropriate by the court, including equitable and injunctive relief.

hardship.

Upon the adoption, or revision, of a city or county’s general plan, on or after January 1, 1996, the city or county shall utilize as a source document any urban water management plan submitted to the city or county by a water agency.

The text and diagrams in the land use element that address the location and extent of land uses, and the zoning ordinances that implement these provisions, may also express community intentions regarding urban form and design. These expressions may differentiate neighborhoods, districts, and corridors, provide for a mixture of land uses and housing types within each, and provide specific measures for regulating relationships between buildings, and between buildings and outdoor public areas, including streets.

the city or county that the division will not review the safety element. If the division’s findings are not available within those prescribed time limits, the legislative body may take the division’s findings into consideration at the time it considers future amendments to the safety element. Each county and city shall provide the division with a copy of its adopted safety element or amendments. The division may review adopted safety elements or amendments and report its findings. All findings made by the division shall be advisory to the planning agency and legislative body.

(A) The adoption or amendment to the safety element of its general plan for each county that contains state responsibility areas.

(B) The adoption or amendment to the safety element of its general plan for each city or county that contains a very high fire hazard severity zone as defined pursuant to subdivision (i) of Section 51177.

with wild land fires.

Protection or local agency, the board of supervisors or city council shall communicate in writing to the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection or the local agency, its reasons for not accepting the recommendations.

occur no later than 30 days after the board’s request.

tilt-up, and concrete frame buildings.

If a county or city, including a charter city, adopts or amends a mandatory general plan element which operates to limit the number of housing units which may be constructed on an annual basis, such adoption or amendment shall contain findings which justify reducing the housing opportunities of the region. The findings shall include all of the following:

Insurance Rate Map or the Flood Hazard Boundary Map, locations that participate in the National Flood Insurance Program, locations of undetermined risk areas, and locations mapped by a local flood agency or flood district.

Management Agency, or a finding made by a city or county based on a determination of substantial evidence by a local flood agency.

declares that flood protection in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers drainage areas is a matter of statewide concern and not a municipal affair as that term is used in Section 5 of Article XI of the California Constitution.

financially feasible.

zero-emission vehicle fueling infrastructure to meet the needs of the city’s, county’s, or city and county’s current and future visitors, residents, and businesses, including, but not limited to, removal of any barriers to expanding electric vehicle charging and other zero-emission vehicle refueling.

(ii) This subparagraph shall not be construed to require a city, county, or city and county to include in a plan adopted or integrated pursuant to this section any building code requirements to the extent prohibited by state or federal law.

disadvantaged communities, low-income households, and small businesses for equitable and prioritized investments in zero-emission technologies that directly benefit these groups.

population greater than 75,000 residents.

the same meaning as in Section 224.3 of the Public Utilities Code.

information in the safety element to comply with this section and, in that event, shall summarize and incorporate into the safety element that other plan or document.

The general plan may include any other elements or address any other subjects which, in the judgment of the legislative body, relate to the physical development of the county or city.

The Department of Water Resources or the Central Valley Flood Protection Board, as appropriate, and the Department of Fish and Game may develop site design and planning policies to assist local agencies which request help in implementing the general plan guidelines for meeting flood control objectives and other land management needs.