AUBURN, Calif. – The Placer County Board of Supervisors held a regular meeting on Tuesday, May 27, at the County Administrative Center in Auburn, Calif., where the five-member board introduced a Fire Hazard Severity Zones Map and a resolution related to stormwater monitoring in Tahoe.

Fire Hazard Severity Zones

The Placer County Board of Supervisors adopted the 2025 Fire Hazard Severity Zones Map recommended by the State Fire Marshal that designates certain areas in unincorporated Placer County as moderate, high and very high fire hazard zones for Local Responsibility Areas (LRAs). These are areas where the local governments (cities, counties, fire protection districts) are primarily responsible for fire protection.

The adoption is in response to California Governor Gavin Newsom’s Feb. 6 executive order, which fast-tracked the release of these zones in LRAs. The release of these LRA updates is an extension of Fire Hazard Severity Zones maps for State Responsibility Areas (SRAs) that went into effect April 1 of last year.

CAL FIRE/Placer County Fire Assistant Chief Ryan Woessner explained these Fire Hazard Severity Zones evaluate hazards, not risk (which insurance companies look at), based on physical conditions such as fuel loading, topography, ember production zones, local winds, and relevant climate conditions with a 30-50 year outlook. It informs on area designations for California’s defensible space standards and wildland urban interface building codes. These zones can also be a factor in real estate disclosures and local government plans.

In the past, LRA maps have only recognized very high hazard zones. This 2025 map now includes moderate and high, in addition to very high zones.

A majority of Placer County acreage is within State Responsibility Areas at over 350,000 acres. Over 22,000 acres are in Local Responsibility Areas with 4,185 designated Very High, 9,350 High and 8,755 Moderate.

There is a band of Very High area around Lake Tahoe along with smaller bands of High and Moderate zones.

Tahoe Stormwater Compliance Monitoring

The Board also approved a Professional Services Agreement with the Tahoe Resource Conservation District for ongoing Tahoe stormwater compliance monitoring.

Placer County storm water quality discharge permits in the Tahoe Basin require water quality monitoring. The Tahoe RCD has been conducting the monitoring for the last thirteen and a half years on behalf of the county as well as six other participating jurisdictional entities.

Splitting the monitoring efforts between the seven Tahoe Basin jurisdictions allows for greater efficiency, coordination and is more cost effective. Each jurisdiction, including Placer County is funding $172,817 for a three-year contract term starting July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2028.

To view the entire meeting visit http://www.placer.ca.gov/8764/Board-of-Supervisors