Earthquake Brace + Bolt: Napa EBB Offers $3,000 Grants to Strengthen Napa Homes Against Earthquakes

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (February 22, 2016) – The California Residential Mitigation Program (CRMP) today announced that Napa homeowners can apply for incentive payments of up to $3,000 to help them strengthen their homes to better survive the next major earthquake. Registration for the incentive payments, funded in part by a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is open today through March 22.

The new Napa Earthquake Brace + Bolt Program (Napa EBB) helps pay for seismic retrofits to houses that are most vulnerable to catastrophic damage: pre-1979 houses that aren’t bolted to their foundations, include a crawl space and have unbraced “cripple walls” (low walls between the foundation and first floor). In a strong earthquake, the crawl space is vulnerable to collapse, causing the home to slide off its foundation.

“We encourage Napa homeowners to take advantage of this opportunity to make their homes stronger and safer,” said Janiele Maffei, executive director of CRMP and chief mitigation officer of the California Earthquake Authority. “After the Napa earthquake, I saw quite a few houses that slid off their foundation. A brace and bolt retrofit beforehand could have made the difference."

The magnitude-6.0 earthquake that struck Napa in August 2014 damaged more than 1,500 homes and caused an estimated $362 million in damage to private homes and commercial properties, according to Napa County and the City of Napa. In evaluating the damage, the California Earthquake Authority noted an example of a house with retrofits that survived with little damage next door to a similarly-built but non-retrofitted home that suffered severe damage.

Typical retrofits cost between $2,000 and $10,000 and involve bolting a house to its foundation and adding bracing around the perimeter of the crawl space.
Napa EBB registration is now open for homes in 94558 and 94559 ZIP Codes. Homeowners can apply for the incentives between February 22 and March 22 by going to NapaBraceBolt.com.

CRMP recently closed the application period for $4.8 million in grants available in 18 cities in Northern and Southern California, under its Earthquake Brace + Bolt Program (EBB), which was funded by the State of California and the California Earthquake Authority.

While similar to the existing EBB program, the new Napa EBB program has different rules on eligibility and the application process due to FEMA’s involvement. For example, the work must be done only by contractors who have successfully completed the free FEMA seismic retrofit training and are listed in the Contractor Directory. A complete set of rules is available at NapaBraceBolt.com.

For homeowners, the Napa EBB grants are tax-free on both the state and federal levels. The FEMA funds for the Napa EBB program were obtained through a grant application by the California Earthquake Authority.