Project Overview

San Mateo County is updating the Safety Element, and a draft is now available for review: Safety Element Public Review Draft June 2026. We are asking for comments on the draft by July 31, 2026, and then we will update the draft to incorporate public feedback. Comments and questions can be submitted by email.

The Safety Element is a required component of the county’s General Plan, and is an update to the current Natural Hazards Chapter. The purpose of this project is to comply with recent changes to state law that require updating information and policies related to flooding, fires, evacuations, and climate adaptation and resilience.  

The Safety Element identifies potential natural hazards in the unincorporated county and provides policies and implementation actions to protect people, property, and ecosystems from those hazards. The hazards identified in the draft Safety Element update are seismic and geologic hazards, flooding and sea level rise, ocean acidification, severe weather, fire hazards, extreme heat, drought, and infectious and vector-borne diseases. The Safety Element also includes a discussion of emergency preparedness and response processes in San Mateo County.

The county’s Safety Element update is part of the Peninsula Resilience Planning Project (PREP), which is a collaborative effort between the county and eight local towns/cities (Atherton, Belmont, Brisbane, Burlingame, East Palo Alto, Half Moon Bay, Pacifica, and San Bruno). Please visit the PREP website for more information.

Documents

Resources

Community Engagement

The draft Safety Element was created using community input, and a summary of engagement activities can be found in the Community Input Report.

For information on past community engagement events, please visit the PREP website. Future engagement opportunities will be posted here.

Contact Us

For questions about this project, please contact: