ASSEMBLYMEMBER LONI HANCOCK
14TH ASSEMBLY DISTRICT
Contact: Hans Hemann
Phone: (916) 319-2014

Assemblywoman Hancock Proposes Legislative Package to Improve Seismic Safety Standards

Proposals would provide money for schools to upgrade its facilities and would allow local government to adopt higher seismic safety standards

Sacramento, C.A. – On the eve the Centennial Anniversary of the most devastating earthquake to hit California, the State is focused on remembering the past and planning for the future. The anniversary of the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 should serve as a reminder why the California Legislature needs to find ways to minimize injury and damage in the next earthquake. An earthquake with the same magnitude as the 1906 San Francisco earthquake could cause enormous devastation and cost California billions of dollars if we do not work to improve our seismic safety standards.

To ensure Californians will be safer in the next earthquake, Assemblywoman Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley) has introduced a legislative package to improve the State’s seismic safety standards. The key bills are:

AB 1934 will require the State Allocation Board to adopt regulations to establish grants for seismic safety upgrades for school facilities. California has numerous public schools located near earthquake faults and need seismic safety upgrades.

Assemblywoman Hancock states, "To better protect our children, we have to upgrade our schools’ earthquake safety standards to reflect existing knowledge and research on earthquake motions and structural effects. Providing our schools with the necessary resources will ensure our children are in the safest environment." Seismic safety upgrades are also important for our schools since many are designated as emergency shelters and their structure integrity must be sound.

AB 2140 will allow local city and county governments to adopt as the safety element local risk reduction and disaster mitigation plans specified in the federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000. Besides adopting a high seismic safety standard for its community, a local government will also be eligible for federal funding to improve infrastructures within its boundaries.

According to Hancock, "Anything we can do as a State to encourage seismic upgrades of our buildings to will reduce potential risk from private and public facilities and, most importantly, loss of life."

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