Automatic Gas Shut-Off Valve Plan Stalls : Seismic safety: Critics of Bernson’s proposal say the devices are too sensitive to smaller quakes.

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 Los Angeles City Council refused to approve it, instead sending it to a council committee for further study.

The most serious blow to the proposal came when fire and building and safety officials told the council that state standards regulating the shut-off devices are too lenient, making the devices too sensitive to motion.

“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 gas shut-off valve plan for seven years.

Although the proposal is technically still alive, Bernson said he fears it will not survive the delay. He said he may not have enough support on the council to get it approved. “Unless the council has more courage to act, this is dead,” he said after the vote.

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 lawmakers for years in Southern California. In Japan, the devices are mandatory. All federal buildings in quake-prone areas already have the valves.

Under Bernson’s proposal, about 900,000 residential, commercial and industrial buildings would be required to install the devices. If 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 if the shut-off valve installation program were voluntary, not mandatory.

Some critics of the proposal also said they fear that the devices would be triggered by small aftershocks or large trucks driving by, creating headaches when it comes time to turn the gas back on and ignite 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.

But Bernson and representatives of firms that sell the valves shrugged off such concerns, saying the city should take a lead role in improving the standards so that the devices work properly.

“What is more important: economics or the safety of this city?” Bernson asked the council. “We need to move forward on this.”

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

After ensuring that no gas leaks exist, the property owner can reopen 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 the devices 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 again.

Bernson’s proposal would require the valves be installed on all new buildings, all buildings undergoing significant remodeling, all mobile home parks and multifamily residential buildings.