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Earthquake Brace + Bolt: Last Five Days To Register For 2019 Seismic Retrofit Grants
(SACRAMENTO) Registration closes Tuesday at midnight for the 2019 Earthquake Brace + Bolt (EBB) program, which offers eligible homeowners grants of up to $3,000 for seismic retrofits to strengthen their older houses and make them more resistant to earthquake damage.
With $3 million in funding from the California Earthquake Authority (CEA) and $3 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), EBB will offer 2,000 retrofit grants in 18 additional high-hazard program areas and 76 additional ZIP Codes in 2019. For the first time, homeowners in cities including Alameda, Sonoma, San Jose, Santa Rosa, Richmond, Burbank and Pomona are eligible to apply for grants.
“More than 1.2 million homes in high-seismic-hazard areas of the state are particularly vulnerable to earthquakes because of their type of construction,” said Janiele Maffei, chief mitigation officer of CEA and executive director of EBB. “This program aims to reduce the number of California homes that will be severely damaged by the next big earthquake—and improve communities’ ability to recover by increasing the probability that these homes remain safe and available for shelter.”
Vulnerable houses that can benefit from a brace-and-bolt retrofit are typically built before 1980, have a raised continuous perimeter concrete foundation and may have wood-framed walls in the crawl space under the house. A brace-and-bolt retrofit typically costs between $3,000 and $7,000 and helps to prevent the house from toppling off its foundation during strong shaking—damage that can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to repair.
Launched in 2013 as a pilot in just two California cities, the demand for EBB has increased each year with a record number of registrants earlier this year for the 2018 program. The not-for-profit CEA, the country’s largest provider of residential earthquake insurance, offers premium discounts of up to 20 percent on CEA earthquake insurance policies for houses with qualifying retrofits.
How to Apply for EBB Grants
Eligible homeowners have five more days—until Nov. 13—to apply for retrofit funding through EBB. To apply and for detailed program information, visit EarthquakeBraceBolt.com. A full list of eligible ZIP Codes and a searchable directory of licensed, FEMA-trained contractors with more than 1,000 trained contractors is available. Once registration closes, participating homeowners will be selected through a random drawing and notified via email in early 2019, if they have been selected to participate or if they are on the wait list.
EBB Program Locations in 2019
EBB retrofit grants will be available in 255 select ZIP Codes within the following 70 program areas.
| Northern California | Southern California | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Alameda Albany Arcata Berkeley Burlingame Coloma Daly City El Cerrito Emeryville Eureka Ferndale Fortuna Foster City Hayward Hillsborough Loleta Los Gatos Menlo Park Millbrae |
Napa Oakland Piedmont Redwood City Richmond San Bruno San Carlos San Francisco San Jose San Leandro San Lorenzo San Mateo San Pablo Santa Rosa Sonoma South San Francisco Watsonville Woodside |
Alhambra Altadena Burbank Claremont Colton Fillmore Glendale Granada Hills Highland La Crescenta La Verne Los Angeles Mission Hills Monrovia Montecito Pasadena Pomona Redlands San Bernardino |
San Fernando San Gabriel San Marino Santa Barbara Santa Monica Santa Paula Sierra Madre South Pasadena Sun Valley Sylmar Tujunga Valley Village West Hollywood Yucaipa |
About Earthquake Brace + Bolt (EBB)
Established by the California Residential Mitigation Program, EBB offers up to $3,000 to help California homeowners retrofit their house to reduce potential damage from earthquakes. Residential seismic retrofits bolt the house to its foundation and add bracing, if required, around the perimeter of the crawl space making it more resistant to earthquake activity. For more information, please visit https://www.EarthquakeBraceBolt.com.
About the California Residential Mitigation Program (CRMP)
CRMP was established in 2011 to help Californians strengthen their homes against damage from earthquakes. CRMP is a joint powers authority created by the California Earthquake Authority and the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. For more information, please visit https://www.californiaresidentialmitigationprogram.com/.