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2021 Multijurisdictional Local Hazard Mitigation Plan related concern in built-out areas is the relative density of vegetative fuels that can serve as sites for new spot fires within the urban core and spread to adjacent structures. The model refines the zones to characterize fire exposure mechanisms that cause ignitions to structures. Significant land-use changes need to be accounted for through periodic model updates. Detailed discussions of the zones and how they are developed are available on the CAL FIRE website. Wildfire Protection Responsibility Areas Hundreds of agencies have fire protection responsibility for wildland and wildland-urban interface (WUI) fires in California. Local, state, tribal, and federal organizations have primary legal (and financial) responsibility fo r wildfire protection. In many instances, two fire organizations have dual primary responsibility on the same parcel of land —one for wildfire protection, and the other for structural or “improvement” fire protection. According to the 2013 California State Hazard Mitigation Plan, this layering of responsibility and resulting dual policies, rules, practices, and legal ordinances can cause conflict or confusion. To address wildfire jurisdictional responsibilities, the California state legislature in 1981 adopted Public Resource Code Section 4291.5 and Health and Safety Code Section 13108.5 establishing the following responsibility areas:  Federal Responsibility Areas (FRAs)—FRAs are fire-prone wildland areas that are owned or managed by a federal agency such as the U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, or U.S. Department of Defense. Primary financial and rule- making jurisdictional authority rests with the federal land agency. In many instances, FRAs are interspersed with private land ownership or leases. Fire protection for developed private property is usually not the responsibility of the federal land management agency; structural protection responsibility is that of a local government agency.  State Responsibility Areas (SRAs)—SRAs are lands in California where CAL FIRE has legal and financial responsibility for wildfire protection and where CAL FIRE administers fire hazard classifications and building standard regulations. SRAs are defined as lands that meet the following criteria:  Are county unincorporated areas  Are not federally owned  Have wildland vegetation cover rather than agricultural or ornamental plants  Have watershed or range/forage value  Have housing densities not exceeding three units per acre.  Where SRAs contain built environment or development, the responsibility for fire protection of those improvements (non-wildland) is that of a local government agency.  Local Responsibility Areas (LRAs)—LRAs include land in cities, cultivated agriculture lands, and non-flammable areas in unincorporated areas, and lands that do not meet the criteria for SRA or FRA. LRA fire protection is typically provided by city fire departments, fire protection districts, and counties, or by CAL FIRE under contract to local governments. LRAs may include flammable vegetation and WUI areas where the financial and jurisdictional responsibility for improvement and wildfire protection is that of a local government agency. 16.1.2 State Codes and Policies for Mitigating the Fire Hazard Urbanization tends to alter the natural fire regime and can lead to expansion of urbanized areas into wildland areas. State and local policies and regulations require landowners to carry out activities such as maintaining 16-2