City of Rancho Palos Verdes Continues to Work with County and State Partners on Recovery Efforts

On February 20, 2024, the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council requested the Governor consider proclaiming a State of Emergency to suspend and waive state permitting requirements to allow the City to immediately begin work on landslide stabilization measures. The City Council’s request included requesting the President declare a federal disaster to deploy FEMA resources.

The recent storms in Los Angeles County have brought widespread impacts countywide, in particular to the land movement occurring in Rancho Palos Verdes. The City, County and State have been maintaining a close watch with safety being the top priority. Ensuring coordination and collaboration at all levels of government is vital to the response and recovery efforts after any disaster and all community members across L.A. County should have the confidence that all levels of government and non-governmental partners are working together collectively.

Identifying the necessary response and recovery activities is a critical step in setting a solid roadmap for how our community members, jurisdictions and County get back to normal after any disaster. On February 4, 2024, prior to the start of the February rainstorms, the Governor proclaimed a State of Emergency, and the County proclaimed a local emergency. These proclamations are applicable to portions of the County that may have experienced loss or damage from mudslides, flooding, land movement or debris flows.

For weeks, the Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management (OEM) has been working closely with partners from all levels of government to collect critical data to support the need for state and federal assistance to local jurisdictions. These efforts will continue as we work through the established processes that apply to all disasters.

While both the City of Rancho Palos Verdes and County work through response and recovery processes, the California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) has determined that the City is able to utilize the current February 4 State of Emergency to implement immediate emergency measures to help reduce further damage to the landslide area, including:

• The installation of additional drainage systems and wells to extract groundwater and
• Other measures that would prevent surface water from adding to the saturation.

The road to recovery is not always fast or easy. However, impacted community members should feel secure in knowing all agencies are continually working together to advocate for the necessary assistance communities need to get the critical support and resources available.

What does this mean for the City and the Portuguese Bend Landslide Remediation Project?

Now that the City has received clarity from the state, Staff is determining what immediate emergency measures can be implemented, with the goal of starting work by the end of March or early April. This involves meeting with government agencies such as L.A. County OEM, Cal OES, the California Coastal Commission, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, to name a few, regarding next steps, including how permitting and environmental review requirements can be bypassed under the existing state of emergency. Those conversations are ongoing, and updates will be provided in the coming weeks. If the Governor requests a federal disaster be declared in response to February’s storms, federal assistance and funding could become available as part of the City’s response and recovery, including stabilizing the landslide.

City staff continues to work toward completion of the long-term Portuguese Bend Landslide Remediation Project’s Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR), which is expected to go before the City Council this spring. Staff will provide an update on the Final EIR at the next regular City Council meeting on March 19, when the City’s local emergency declaration will be considered for extension. Stay tuned for meeting information.

Media Inquiries

If you have a media inquiry related to land movement in the City of Rancho Palos Verdes, please contact the City's communications partner, Tripepi Smith, with your questions, at RPVMedia@TripepiSmith.com. They will also add you to our media list so you receive our listserv updates, press releases and media advisories.