Residential Structural Retrofit Program – A Collaborative Opportunity –

California Earthquake AuthorityJuly 2010

Challenge1

California is home to 65% of the nation’s earthquake risk

The majority of Californians live within 20 miles of a major fault

USGS is forecasting a 99% chance for a major earthquake (M6.7) within next 30 years

About 1.5 million houses were built in California before 1960 when (some) jurisdictions began to require adequately braced walls and bolted foundations

Local efforts to-date...2

Few jurisdictions have succeeded in positioning residential structural retrofit programs in their building departments

Building codes that cover residential structural retrofitting (where available) differ across active programs

Local programs are not positioned to succeed statewide

Solution3

The CEA is a publicly managed, yet privately funded statewide organization that provides residential earthquake insurance and mitigation programs

By law, the CEA sets aside 5 percent of its annual investment income up to $5 million for mitigation

Total CEA funds available for statewide mitigation currently exceed $20 million

The high number of houses built before 1960, combined with the leveraged value of post-disaster benefits from each mitigation dollar, has led the CEA recently to tighten its focus on residential structural retrofitting

Hosting scoping sessions4

Collected input in Sacramento (discussion facilitated by former FEMA Director James Lee Witt), Los Angeles and Oakland

Requested guidance in defining, advancing and sustaining a common sense approach to a first-ever statewide residential structural retrofitting program

Heard from structural engineers; building officials; residential retrofitting contractors; earth scientists; trade associations; as well as local, state and federal government officials

Scoping session input…5

Provide financial incentives to help offset consumers’ structural retrofitting costs

Align programming with (local) building codes and standardized plan sets

Emphasize contractor training

Implement effective marketing to engage consumer participation

Be sustainable into the future

Incorporating State Hazard Mitigation Plan6

CEA mitigation programming successfully incorporated into 2010 State Hazard Mitigation Plan (SHMP)

SHMP is official statement of state’s hazard identification, vulnerability analysis and hazard mitigation strategy

SHMP is the result of a collaborative, multi-agency planning process with multiple opportunities for public participation

CEA incorporation in the SHMP likely will qualify its residential structural retrofitting program for additional federal assistance funds

Adopting statewide building code7

Without a statewide building code for residential structural retrofitting, just a few jurisdictions in California previously inspected and approved these projects

Statewide standardized plan set not feasible due to variations in regional requirements

CEA strategized with state departments / commissions to address challenges CEA garnered a gubernatorial Finding of Emergency to fast-track adoption of

first-ever California Building Code for residential structural retrofitting California Department of Housing and Community Development is managing

code-adoption process California Seismic Safety Commission co-funded the code-adoption process California Building Standards Commission will adopt code on August 16, 2010

Issuing industry partner RFQ8

Seeking a program partner to co-administer financial incentives and contractor training; released RFQ July 1, 2010

Future partner currently must: Oversee and existing home-building constituency Be savvy on related building codes Operate within statewide infrastructure Demonstrate awareness for residential structural

retrofitting needs Have experiences with consumer incentives and

contractor training

Forming Joint Powers Authority9

Working with the California Emergency Management Agency (CalEMA) to form a Joint Powers Authority (JPA) to oversee a “California Earthquake Loss Mitigation Authority”

JPA designed to manage residential structural retrofitting program and related activities• Creates legal entity separate from its members• Separates JPA’S debts, liabilities, obligations from members• Allows contracting with private-sector firms to do JPA’s work

Seeking CEA Governing Board approval on August 26, 2010

Delivering sustainable funding10

Funding currently available ($20 million) would enable the CEA to offer ($1,000) financial incentives to seismically retrofit 20,000 of the approximately 1.5 million houses especially vulnerable to structural earthquake damage – reaching just over 1 percent of the houses built before sufficient (local) building codes were in place

The CEA’s $20 million pre-disaster investment to help finance the “bracing and bolting” of single-family houses (averaging $3,000 to $5,000 per house) will generate an estimated $60 million to $100 million in near-term economic activity

The CEA’s $20 million investment in pre-disaster dollars will leverage a minimum of $80 million in post-disaster benefits

Under existing law, the CEA Governing Board will continue to set aside up to $5 million of the CEA’s investment income annually – enough to structurally retrofit an additional 5,000 single-family houses

How the National Mitigation Collaborative Alliance can help

11

Guide the CEA’s mitigation programming results into a national repository• Vulnerable housing inventories• Residential building code challenges / opportunities

Educate the CEA about related programs• Consumer incentives and contractor training• Building inspectors• Federal assistance