Eligible Humboldt County homeowners may now register to apply for grants of up to $3,000
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Press release from Scott Hammond Insurance:
Eligible Humboldt County homeowners may now register to apply for grants of up to $3,000 to help strengthen their homes against future earthquake damage.
The application period for the Earthquake Brace + Bolt (EBB) program is open now through Wednesday, Oct. 1 at EarthquakeBraceBolt.com. For the first time, non-primary residential properties, like rentals and second homes, are eligible for EBB funds, allowing even more qualifying homeowners the opportunity to apply for seismic retrofit grants.
Earthquake Brace + Bolt Program Details & Eligibility
The EBB program is administered by the California Residential Mitigation Program (CRMP) which is a joint powers agreement between the California Earthquake Authority (CEA) and the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES).
EBB funds cannot be used to pay for repairs to homes damaged in previous earthquakes. It can be used to protect eligible properties against damages resulting from future earthquakes.
An EBB retrofit includes bracing short wooden walls, known as cripple walls, of older houses, when present, and bolting houses to their foundation, making them less vulnerable to earthquake damage. Your house may qualify for an EBB grant if it is:
- Built before 1980
- On a raised foundation or has a crawl space underneath
- In an EBB ZIP code
- Built on level ground or a slight slope
- Has wood framed construction
Income-eligible property owners may also qualify for supplemental grants to complete a seismic retrofit. These grants are available for households with an income at or below $89,040 and may be able to provide up to 100% of the funds needed to cover a seismic retrofit as funding permits.
How to Apply
Humboldt County property owners can apply for retrofit funding at EarthquakeBraceBolt.com. At this website, property owners can check if their property is in an EBB eligible ZIP code, review detailed program information and begin searching for a FEMA-trained, California-licensed general contractor. For customer service assistance, please call 877-232-4300.
Once registration closes, qualifying home and property owners will be selected through a random drawing and notified via email if they have been chosen or if they have been placed on the waitlist.
Be Prepared
Northern California is one of the most earthquake-prone spots in the United States.
According to the CEA, more than 1.2 million houses in high hazard ZIP codes are particularly vulnerable to earthquakes because of how they were built. These homes are typically built before 1980, are wood framed with a raised foundation, and may have a cripple wall in the crawl space under the house. If your home fits this description and has not already been retrofitted, the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services encourages you to consider looking into what seismic retrofit options are available to you.
While retrofitting your house will not make it completely earthquake proof, it is an important step to help reduce earthquake damage.
For more information on the Earthquake Brace + Bolt program, please visit EarthquakeBraceBolt.com.
To find more information on earthquake preparedness, please visit humboldtgov.org/earthquake.
About Earthquake Brace + Bolt (EBB)
Established by the California Residential Mitigation Program, EBB offers grants to help California homeowners retrofit their houses to reduce potential damage from earthquakes. For more information, please visit 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 crmp.org.
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So we’re using taxpayer money for freebies to landlords and second home owners?
If you can afford to own rentals or a second home you can afford your own seismic retrofit.
Houses built before 1980 weed out a lot of who you’re talking about. Maybe second home owners should be allowed only one…maybe they are only allowed one. If i wanted to rent I’d rather my landlord get the grant than pass along the expense to me which is what they usually do. Why not advocate for better quality low income housing and better access and some caps on excessive wealth instead of some grant for a very specific set of older homes in an often neglect part of the Country (when it comes to insurance when for example the earthquake struck in Dec 2022).
I know a couple guys born into a winery family. They have a garage of 20+ crazy expensive racing cars and they fly all over the world blowing tons of money on luxurious everything. Get this- They don’t think they have too much money. They have lots of friends who are impressed with their generosity and consider them “awesome bros” and “really cool”. None of these people think they have “excessive wealth”….there is a big problem whenever you say something like “caps on excessive wealth” and I think it might be the only issue where you will find Trump AND Biden united….these people do not want us to even know how much crazy wealth they have- or how much more they are acquiring every day. Take the main guy who owns MoonAlice- the band playing Cannifest tomorrow. He wants to be thought of as a “regular guy”. No. He’s not!! And he will invest his incredible wealth in ways to give himself even more while it diminishes the amount for everybody else….Example? He teamed up w Oaksterdam to “legalize” weed so he could invest safely in the industry along with his rich corporate buddies. We have a problem….and it won’t solve itself
Why not? The public can’t afford the current regulations much less adding layer after layer of more regulation. Why should everyone else be constantly forced to pay ever more for which only the two ends of the spectrum, the rich and the poor, benefit because the government wants to regulate but has no care for the costs except to make the public pay?
See the answer below. You can pay for it indirectly, or directly via higher rent. You pick.
Your comment doesn’t apply at all to second homes — and likely doesn’t apply to most eligible rentals — if the landlord wanted to spend their and/or their tenants money fixing the place up they’d already have done so.