The United States Resiliency Council through its support behind California’s AB 2681, a bill now in the appropriations committee that would assist cities in identifying the most seismically vulnerable structures.
The bill would provide funding and tools for cities to identify dangers to their communities and infrastructure. According to the council, the benefits of the bill include:
— Protection for affordable housing: Many vulnerable buildings are older structures that make up much of the state’s more affordable housing stock.
— Shielding communities from chaos: Projected loss of housing would leave hundreds of thousands of people homeless and in desperate need of refuge.
— Informing the public about personal risks: People have a right to make decisions about the buildings in which they live and work based on the best available information. Identifying and evaluating potentially vulnerable buildings is the first step toward engaging stakeholders about the importance of creating more resilient cities.
— Promoting social justice: Most of those impacted by a major quake will be lower-income residents whose lives and livelihoods will be disproportionately impacted due to their economic and social status.
— Protecting public health: Many older buildings contain asbestos and lead, which, when released into the air and groundwater from crumbled rubble will pose a public health problem of potentially overwhelming impacts.
Related Stories
| Mar 5, 2014
San Francisco board seeks remedies to code enforcement complaints
Two supervisors charged that a lack of adequate code enforcement has led to blight from dilapidated or unfinished buildings.
| Mar 5, 2014
Obama proposes $1 billion for climate change risk mitigation
President Barack Obama would spend $1 billion to “better understand the projected impacts of climate change,” encourage local action to reduce future risk, and fund technology and infrastructure that will be more resilient to climate change.
| Mar 5, 2014
Southern Forest Products Assn. revamps pressure-treated pine specifications
It provides information to assist with the proper specification and use of pressure-treated Southern Pine materials.
| Mar 5, 2014
UL, PRI Construction Materials Technologies reach product certification agreement
Underwriters Laboratories (UL) Inc. reached an agreement with PRI Construction Materials Technologies LLC (PRI) through which PRI will participate in UL's "Data Acceptance Program," enabling the acceptance of data generated at PRI toward UL product certification.
| Mar 5, 2014
Quebec's building code doesn't meet needs of its aging population
The issue was raised in the wake of a tragic fire at a seniors' residence in L'Isle-Verte.
| Mar 4, 2014
Massachusetts Congressional delegation asks FEMA to slow flood zone map requirements
After a recent successful challenge of the scientific methodology used to redraw the coastal high-hazard zones, the Massachusetts congressional delegation is asking federal officials to put the brakes on new flood zone maps for the Bay State.
| Mar 3, 2014
Injury-liability law responsible for higher construction insurance cost in New York
Construction contractors and developers in New York state face $3 billion more in costs and 667 more accidents per year because of a state law that holds builders solely liable for such accidents, according to a study commissioned by the New York Civil Justice Institute.
| Feb 28, 2014
GBI issues guide to help federal agencies meet sustainability mandates
The Green Building Initiative has released “The Guiding Principles Compliance for New Construction,” for federal buildings to help federal agencies meet sustainability mandates in the construction of new buildings.
| Feb 28, 2014
Steel Joist Institute standards open for review
The 2015 draft of the Steel Joist Institute’s “Single Joist Standard Specification for K-, LH-, and DLH-Series and Joist Girders” will be available for public review until May 31, 2014.
| Feb 28, 2014
Metcalf Construction wins key reversal from federal appeals court in Hawaii on military contract
Metcalf spent more than $76 million on a military construction project and sued to recoup costs.