News: Earthquakes
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A record number of Californians are getting earthquake insurance, and more and more cities throughout the state are passing laws to make buildings safer in a quake.
In 2016, the number of people signing up for an earthquake policy jumped more than seven-fold compared to previous years, the California Earthquake Authority just reported.
A lawmaker’s second attempt at providing tax credits for earthquake retrofits advanced Tuesday from the Assembly floor.
AB 2392 by Assemblyman Adrin Nazarian, D-Sherman Oaks, would help landlords and other property owners pay for seismic upgrades.
The Assembly approved the legislation on a 79-0 vote with one abstention. It now moves to the Senate.
The bill would allow a tax credit equal to 30 percent of the qualified costs paid or incurred by a taxpayer for any seismic retrofit on a qualified building.
Last year, the same proposal, carried as AB 428, passed both houses of the Legislature before being … Read More
Tagged: EarthquakesLegislation
The Los Angeles City Council this week endorsed a plan to have property owners and tenants split the costs of earthquake retrofitting.
On Wednesday, the council tentatively approved the proposal on a unanimous vote. The arrangement calls on owners and tenants to share costs of retrofitting equally, which the city attorney’s office will now spell out in an ordinance subject to public comment and approval by the council.
The city this past fall put rules in place to seismically retrofit thousands of buildings throughout the city.
“This is a deal that’s been a year in the making. And it’s the… Read More
Tagged: Earthquakes Los Angeles
Every year, California experiences thousands upon thousands of small earthquakes – hundreds each day.
Ninety-nine percent are so small we never feel them. Once in a while, though, we get a large tremor — like the 5.1 quake in Orange County this past spring — that reminds us to prepare for the Big One that seismologists keep talking about.
When it comes to the rental housing industry, California lawmakers have authorized local governments to establish seismic-retrofit standards for particular types of buildings they consider to be hazardous during an earthquake.
These would include certain unreinforced-masonry buildings, specified wood-frame, soft-story, and… Read More