CEQA glossary
Local Responsibility Area (LRA)
An LRA is land where local government has fire-protection responsibility and locally designates FHSZs after state recommendations.
A Local Responsibility Area, or LRA, is land where local government has responsibility for fire protection. The State Fire Marshal recommends fire hazard severity zones for LRA, and the local agency designates zones by ordinance under Government Code section 51179.
Why it matters
The State Fire Marshal released the 2025 LRA recommendations in four phases from February 10 through March 24. Government Code section 51179 directs the local agency to designate Moderate, High, and Very High zones by ordinance within 120 days after receiving the recommendations. The state recommendation and local designation belong together in an LRA project record.
What it does not establish
A state LRA recommendation does not, by itself, establish the locally adopted designation. State-hosted materials may not supply the adopted local polygon or ordinance needed for a project record. That gap does not show that a particular jurisdiction failed to adopt zones, because local agencies publish their records differently. If the local source has not been verified, record local designation not verified or not determinable from the queried sources.
An LRA designation also does not answer Appendix G’s project-specific wildfire questions.
Primary source
The Office of the State Fire Marshal publishes the LRA recommendations and release record. Government Code section 51179 governs local designation by ordinance, timing, and the limits on changes to recommended severity levels.
Related terms
- Fire hazard severity zone (FHSZ)
- State Responsibility Area (SRA)
- Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone (VHFHSZ)
Published 2026-09-10 · Last materially reviewed 2026-09-10