San Jose delays earthquake retrofit plans as FEMA cancels grant for CA

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- A rollback in federal funding could impact how much money and resources are put into making apartment buildings or multi-family homes safer from earthquakes.

On Wednesday, California Senator Adam Schiff penned a letter demanding that FEMA reinstate $33 million in recently canceled funding for earthquake retrofits in California.

The Senator wrote, "By eliminating this critical source of federal funding, we are leaving those who can least afford it at the greatest risk of displacement."

That funding loss has the city of San Jose delaying new rules requiring retrofits to certain wood-frame apartment buildings that would be vulnerable in an earthquake.

Similar to apartment buildings with a carport on the bottom floor.

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ABC7 News spoke with Ray Riordan, director of Office of Emergency Management for the city of San Jose.

"We want people to feel safe in their homes, we want them to feel safe there, and be able to stay there after an earthquake occurs," Riordan said.

The Soft Story Retrofit Ordinance and Program will instead go into effect April of 2026.

"That was money we were hoping to apply for, we have one grant that is operational now but we only have about $6 million left in it which won't go very far," Riordan said.

Riordan said they will continue to work to find additional funding sources.

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On April 4, FEMA said the program was wasteful and ineffective: "It was more concerned with political agendas than helping Americans affected by natural disasters."

David Ojala, principal structural engineer at Thornton Tomasetti, is also the president-elect of the Structural Engineers Association of Northern California based in San Francisco.

"Waiting around to respond, and dump money in after the fact is a much worst investment," Ojala said.

Ojala said retrofitting a building can be costly, but the community can benefit.

"What are the benefits to a city in having those residents shelter in place after, instead of having to get to a shelter and be fed? What are the benefits of those workers staying and contributing to the local economy after the earthquake," Ojala said.

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Ojala thinks the government should chip in to help and not just leave it to the owner to have to handle on their own.

"What are the benefits of having a functional and resilient community and culture that stays in place and can be present after that earthquake?" Ojala said.

In recent years, Ojala said San Francisco has gone through a program of mandatory soft story building retrofit. Like San Jose, it targets certain apartment buildings.

"And then most recently, the Board of Supervisors has approved a non-ductile concrete building ordinance, which would require screening studies of evaluation of these types of older concrete buildings. Which we think are at a higher risk of collapse based on the performance we've seen in prior earthquakes," Ojala said.

The FEMA funds would have been used to retrofit between 750 and 1,500 multi-family buildings.