History of the California Residential Mitigation Program

Formed in August 2011, the California Residential Mitigation Program (CRMP) was established to help California homeowners strengthen their houses—with the help of seismic retrofit grants offered via the Earthquake Brace + Bolt program and other types of assistance and incentive programs—in order to create more resilient communities that are able to recover from the next damaging earthquake.

The first of these programs Earthquake Brace + Bolt: Funds To Strengthen Your Foundation, was launched in September 2013. Earthquake Brace + Bolt (EBB) was developed to help homeowners lessen the potential for earthquake damage to their house by offering incentive grants of up to $3,000 for a residential seismic retrofit. An EBB seismic retrofit involves bolting a house to its foundation and, when necessary, bracing the cripple walls with plywood, to help prevent the home from collapsing or sliding off its foundation. To date, EBB has helped thousands of homeowners seismically retrofit their house using EBB grants.

CRMP is a joint-powers-authority entity formed by its members, the California Earthquake Authority (CEA), a public instrumentality of the State of California, and the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES). CRMP is a legally separate entity from its members. Earthquake Brace + Bolt: Funds To Strengthen Your Foundation is the first incentive program offered by CRMP.

Oversight is provided by the governing board, consisting of two members appointed by the CEA and two members appointed by Cal OES. Program management is headed by CRMP’s executive director, with program and administrative support provided by CEA employees and contracted staff.