Plan for Gas Shut-Off Valves Delayed : Safety: City Council considered such devices for protection during quakes. But questions about effectiveness and leniency of state standards prompts reconsideration.

A proposal to require all new buildings in the city to have gas valves that automatically shut off during a quake suffered a serious setback Tuesday when the City Council sent it back to a committee for further study.

The most serious blow came when fire and building and safety officials told the council that state standards regulating the shut-off devices are too lenient, and could result in devices that are overly sensitive to motion to be installed citywide.

“We feel it’s moving a little too fast,” Fire Marshal Davis R. Parsons told the council.

The council’s 9-3 vote to send the proposal to the Public Safety Committee for further study angered Councilman Hal Bernson, who has been pushing the plan for seven years.

Although the proposal technically is still alive, Bernson said he fears it will not survive the delay.

Earlier in the same meeting, Bernson introduced a proposal to require the owners of about 400 steel-frame buildings in the San Fernando Valley and Westside to have the frames inspected for quake damage. That proposal will be considered later this month.

The idea of installing quake-sensitive gas valves in seismically active areas has been discussed by quake experts and legislators for years in Southern California. In Japan, the devices are mandatory. All federal buildings in quake-prone areas already have the valves.

Bernson’s proposal would require that the valves be installed on all new buildings, all buildings undergoing significant remodeling, all mobile home parks and multifamily residential buildings. If the plan is approved, the city would be the first local jurisdiction to require the devices.

But several council members, real estate leaders and gas company officials said they would prefer that the valve installation program were voluntary.

Some critics of the proposal said they fear that the devices could be triggered by small aftershocks or by the vibrations of passing trucks. This could create headaches when turning the gas back on and reigniting pilot lights.

“For all these reasons, I think the prudent thing to do is to slow down,” said Councilwoman Laura Chick, who suggested the idea be studied further and returned to the council in 30 days.

Parsons and a representative of the city’s Building and Safety Department said the standards set by the state for the devices are so lenient that the gas shut-off valves may close because of vandalism, accidents, or small aftershocks.

The devices, which cost $100 to $200 for most homes, fit on a pipe between the gas meter and the house. A significant quake triggers a mechanism that shuts off the gas flow, preventing dangerous gas leaks inside the house.

After ensuring the absence of gas leaks, the property owner can restart the gas flow by pulling on a small metal lever on the device. The shut-off valves are now sold at many hardware stores.

The Southern California Gas Co. does not recommend such devices because they will close in a quake regardless of whether there is a gas leak. Of the 150,000 customers who were without gas service after the Northridge quake, only about 10% actually had gas pipeline breaks. Most turned off the gas as a precaution, then had difficulty getting it turned back on.