Los Altos Hills County Fire District
Announcement
I-280 Project deemed a Governor’s Emergency Proclamation Priority Project
for Wildfire Risk Reduction
August 6, 2025
The Los Altos Hills County Fire District (LAHCFD) is pleased to announce the State of California approval on July 31, 2025, of the Secretarial CEQA Suspension Authorization of State Statutes and Regulations for the LAHCFD I-280 Shaded Fuel Break Project (Project) for wildfire risk reduction.
The Governor’s Emergency Proclamation on March 1, 2025, 2025-3-1.-Forest-Management-Proc.ATTESTED.pdf, provided the process for the application, review, interviews and selection of high priority and impactful wildfire prevention projects in the State of California. The provisions serve to accelerate the CEQA environmental and planning processes while still mandating that projects conform to environmental protections.
Emergency Proclamation Impacts on Project Implementation
Approval by the Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency and the Undersecretary of the California Natural Resources Agency, provides recognition and expertise that the LAHCFD I-280 Shaded Fuel Break is a valid and urgent project in wildfire fuel reduction for the State of California. These efforts are to avoid catastrophic wildfire incidents like those that have occurred in Los Angeles and other cities and towns in California. Approval of the LAHCFD I-280 Shaded Fuel Break Project is the first Secretarial Suspension project approved in Santa Clara County. The Governor’s Emergency Proclamation provisions and approval will also apply to the LAHCFD’s maintenance cycles for mitigating hazardous vegetation in future years along the I-280 Project corridor.
For a list of Approved Projects: Approved Projects Dashboard | Request to Suspend State Statutes and Regulations Application and Dashboard
Project Summary
Interstate 280 (I-280) is a vital and heavily traveled major freeway connecting San Francisco to the South Bay and Silicon Valley including the cities of Palo Alto, Los Altos, and Cupertino. This interstate section has accumulated years of brush, damaged trees and roadside hazardous vegetation creating high fire risks in event of vehicle accidents sparking flames or fires from other sources. The Project will remove hazardous vegetation along east and west bound roadsides and the center divider. The treatment creates a continuous shaded fuel break that connects to the existing network of regional shaded fuel breaks and evacuation routes. This extensive vegetation management and debris removal are urgently needed along the I-280 corridor within the heart of California’s business and tech industries.
Resources and infrastructure that benefit from the I-280 Project wildfire risk reduction efforts include:
- Stanford University Campus and Stanford preserve/research lands and Foothill Community College Campus
- Water utilities infrastructure: California Water Services, Purissima Hills Water District
- El Monte Fire Station, Palo Alto Fire Station 8 and related infrastructure
- Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District: Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve
- Hidden Villa Land Trust of 1,600 acres of wildland urban interface (WUI) land that provides educational nature classes and agricultural demonstration gardens to a diverse population of children and adults
- Homes, schools, business, and properties adjacent to the interstate and surrounding neighborhoods, cities, and towns.
Project Impact
I-280 Hazardous Vegetation Mitigation Project: Quick View by the numbers
- 18.6 miles of proposed treatment by LAHCFD along I-280 for hazardous fuel reduction that is adjacent to the LAH Wildland Urban Interface (WUI)
- 250 acres of proposed shaded fuel break treatment along I-280
- 101,000 daily traffic users on I-280 Los Altos Hills-El Monte exchange
- $13,262,680,824 Residential Basic Property Value, FY23-24
- 11,000 LAHCFD population (Use CWPP Annex 4 population)
- 1.9 million Santa Clara County population (2020 Census)
- 34 miles of Open Space trails
Timeline: 3–9-month planning acceleration with Project implementation to begin no later than October 15, 2026.
Projected completion date 18 months depending on various factors including weather.
Fiscal: project savings of up to $100,000 in planning process, fast-tracked by the State of California for expedient implementation and reduced costs.
Contact Eugenia Woods, Programs, Planning and Grants Manager, LAHCFD
[email protected]
Full Media Release to follow.
