Parcel Risk Report
How we know: every hazard class traces to an official public source
Parcel Risk Report does not invent a proprietary risk number. Every section of a report repeats the official categorical hazard zone or class published by a named federal or California state agency — labeled by how precisely it applies to your parcel — and cites the exact source so any figure can be audited. This page is the full provenance roster. It is educational context, not the statutory disclosure.
The data sources, by agency and honest resolution
Each hazard is read from the authoritative public layer below. We tell you the agency and the true spatial precision of each finding, so a county-level radon zone is never dressed up as a parcel-specific fact. Reviewed against the sources 2026-06-02.
Every classification traces to one of these public sources
Flood (Special Flood Hazard Area / flood zone)
Parcel-precise
FEMA — National Flood Hazard Layer (NFHL)
Parcel-precise (the same digital flood map the statutory §1103.2 flood determinations are read from).
Source: msc.fema.gov →
Wildfire (Fire Hazard Severity Zone, incl. AB-38)
Parcel-precise
CAL FIRE / Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM) — Fire Hazard Severity Zones (Gov. Code §51178; PRC §4202)
Parcel-precise. Current SRA maps effective 2024-04-01; OSFM recommended the current LRA maps 2025-03-24 (local adoption follows).
Source: osfm.fire.ca.gov →
Earthquake fault zone
Parcel-precise
California Geological Survey (CGS) — Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Fault Zones (PRC §2622)
Parcel-precise — a statutory §1103.2 seismic determination.
Source: conservation.ca.gov/cgs →
Seismic hazard zone (liquefaction / landslide)
Parcel-precise
California Geological Survey (CGS) — Seismic Hazard Zones (PRC §2696)
Parcel-precise — a statutory §1103.2 seismic determination.
Source: conservation.ca.gov/cgs →
Dam-failure inundation
Parcel-precise
Cal OES / California DWR — Division of Safety of Dams (DSOD) inundation maps (Gov. Code §8589.5)
Parcel-precise.
Source: water.ca.gov/DSOD →
Earthquake hazard — multi-hazard baseline
Point / area context
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) — earthquake hazard data, and the FEMA National Risk Index earthquake component
Point estimate / area baseline. The USGS Seismic Design Category (ASCE 7) is shown as supplemental engineering context, NOT a §1103.2 determination and NOT a probability.
Source: earthquake.usgs.gov →
Multi-hazard baseline (18 perils)
Census-tract baseline
FEMA — National Risk Index (NRI)
Census tract — a neighborhood baseline, explicitly labeled as such and never presented as a parcel-specific fact.
Source: hazards.fema.gov/nri →
Sea-level rise (coastal)
Coastal segment
NOAA — Office for Coastal Management, Sea Level Rise Viewer
Coastal segment / modeled inundation depth at published scenarios (e.g. +1 ft … +10 ft). Categorical scenarios, not a personalized forecast.
Source: coast.noaa.gov/slr →
Radon
County baseline
EPA — Map of Radon Zones
County (EPA Zone 1/2/3). A county baseline, labeled as such.
Source: epa.gov/radon →
Address → location (geocoding)
Parcel-precise
U.S. Census Bureau — Geocoder (2020 tract vintage)
Parcel / rooftop match where available, with the matched address echoed so you can confirm the right property was located.
Source: geocoding.geo.census.gov →
Categorical classes and return periods — never a personalized score
We report the official FEMA flood zone, the CAL FIRE / OSFM Fire Hazard Severity Zone class (Moderate / High / Very High), the CGS fault- and seismic-hazard-zone status, the FEMA National Risk Index rating, and published return-period scenarios where an agency publishes them. We do not publish a personalized probabilistic risk number — those obscure the underlying official classifications and invite a precision no public map supports. If a source publishes a categorical class, that is what you see; if it publishes a scenario or return period, we cite the scenario, not a single fabricated probability.
Only public-domain, redistributable, auditable data — by design
Every source above is a U.S. federal or California state public-domain layer. We deliberately do not use proprietary climate-score products — there is no First Street "Flood Factor / Fire Factor" and no Cotality (formerly ClimateCheck) score anywhere in a report. That is a feature, not a limitation:
- Auditable. Anyone can open the cited government map and confirm the exact class we reported — there is no closed model in the middle.
- Redistributable. Public-domain government data can be shown to your client and lender without a third-party license restricting it.
- Defensible. The statutory §1103.2 disclosure itself is built on these same agency maps, so an informational report stays anchored to the same authorities a transaction already relies on.
When the major consumer portals removed their proprietary climate/insurance scores, the demand that remained was for the underlying official map — which is exactly what we cite.
Where this sits relative to California's statutory NHD
California's statutory Natural Hazard Disclosure (NHD) is the seller's and agent's disclosure under Civil Code §1103 et seq., delivered on the prescribed §1103.2 Natural Hazard Disclosure Statement, covering six specific mapped zones (two seismic, two fire, two flood). Source: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov.
An informational Parcel Risk Report hazard report is a supplement to that disclosure — one input that helps you read the same official maps in plain English. Under the §1103.4(c) framework, a substituted natural-hazard disclosure prepared by a third-party expert can stand in for the seller's own §1103.2 statement without transferring liability to the buyer or reader. An informational report is not itself the statutory §1103.2 NHD, and reading it does not move any disclosure obligation onto you.
- It is one input, not the statutory determination — and not a substitute for a FEMA flood determination, a fire-agency defensible-space inspection, a professional home inspection, or any insurance underwriting decision.
- Where a report and the statutory NHD overlap, both are built on the same official agency sources — FEMA for flood, CAL FIRE / OSFM for fire, CGS for the seismic determinations, Cal OES / DWR DSOD for dam inundation. The added value is plain-English, parcel-level explanation plus the AB-38 home-hardening walkthrough.
- California does not license or register NHD providers.
Check a specific California address
To see how this works on a real property — the official FEMA flood map and CAL FIRE Fire Hazard Severity Zone class, side by side with the cited sources above — run the free per-address check:
Open the free Beyond-FEMA checker →
What this page is — and is not
- Every source named here is a public-domain U.S. federal or California state government layer, cited to its publishing agency. We assign no proprietary or predictive score, and use no First Street or Cotality (ClimateCheck) data.
- Findings are labeled with their true spatial precision; area-level baselines are never presented as parcel-specific facts.
- This is general educational information — not a Natural Hazard Disclosure Statement, and it does not satisfy California Civil Code §1103.2.
Related checks
Flood-risk gap by county · Wildfire (FHSZ) hazard by county · California FAIR Plan & insurance availability
Get the full picture for this property
This free check shows the flood-gap only. Two paid reports go further — both cover every hazard (flood, wildfire/AB-38, earthquake, dam, fault, seismic, radon & air quality) in plain English, with a shareable PDF:
$19 Parcel Hazard Report — the all-hazards report in plain English, with a quick insurance check. $59 Buyer's Diligence Dossier — everything in the $19, plus the full Insurance Availability Outlook, a forward-looking climate section, and a parcel hazard-overlay map.
Both are informational reports to help you understand this property — not the statutory §1103.2 Natural Hazard Disclosure a seller provides in a sale (that's a separate document professionals prepare — see pricing). One flat price each, no account.