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
| Oct 18, 2012
EPA commercial building lead paint rule pushed back to 2015
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's inclusion of commercial buildings in a residential lead paint rule is being delayed until 2015.
| Oct 18, 2012
Chicago pushing green roofs to reduce heat island effect
The city of Chicago has mandated that all new buildings that require any public funds must be LEED certified, usually with a green roof.
| Oct 11, 2012
OSHA launches pilot program for alternative dispute resolution on whistleblower complaints
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is launching an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) pilot program for complaints filed with OSHA's Whistleblower Protection Program.
| Oct 11, 2012
Bill promotes investment in commercial, multifamily retrofits
The Commercial Building Modernization Act recently introduced in the Senate would extend and streamline a current tax deduction to encourage commercial and multifamily residential building owners to perform comprehensive energy-efficient retrofits.
| Oct 11, 2012
Morristown, N.Y., settles code violation dispute with Amish
The town of Morristown, N.Y., has dropped charges of building code violations against local Amish communities to settle a First Amendment complaint.
| Oct 11, 2012
Mesquite, Nev., rebels against state-mandated energy code
The city council of Mesquite, Nev., voted against adopting a new energy efficiency code adopted by the state.
| Oct 11, 2012
Bloomingdale, N.J., restricts ground solar and wind energy installations
The borough of Bloomingdale, N.J., recently adopted regulations for solar-energy and wind energy systems.
| Oct 3, 2012
Bill introduced to extend home energy efficiency tax credit
A bill to extend the expired residential energy efficiency tax credit for installing qualified furnaces, boilers, central air conditioners, and heat pumps was recently filed in the U.S. House of Representatives.
