Valleywide : FEMA Funds Sought to Meet Seismic Rules

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday approved a motion introduced by Councilman Richard Alarcon that is designed to act as a salve for commercial building owners stung by high costs associated with new earthquake safety standards and regulations imposed by the city.

“The idea is to create incentives for business owners to comply with the new rules,” Alarcon said Tuesday. “There will be a variety of models we can use to do that,” he said, including expediting new permits required by the city, reducing fees, and helping building owners obtain loans and meet the costs of high disaster insurance premiums.

The council on Tuesday approved Alarcon’s request that the city apply to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for funds to finance the pilot program.

If the application is approved, money would be used to provide incentives ranging from earthquake and fire insurance premium reductions, property tax exclusions for seismic rehabilitation work, income tax credits, special loans for rehabilitation, reduced utility bills and permit and plan check fees.

After the January, 1994, Northridge earthquake, building owners were faced with meeting the high costs of complying with a myriad of new earthquake ordinances adopted after the quake.

New regulations range from installing automatic gas shut-off valves and conducting inspections of steel-frame buildings and concrete parking garages to anchoring walls and masonry chimneys that received damage during the quake.

The city has already submitted an application to FEMA requesting financing for a similar program to help residential homeowners meet the costs of making seismic improvements.

If the commercial assistance application is approved, it would benefit building owners, insurance companies and government, Alarcon said.