Panel Urges Mandate on Gas Shut-Off Valves

Despite protests from San Fernando Valley real estate agents, a Los Angeles City Council panel recommended Tuesday that home buyers be required to install valves that automatically seal off gas pipes in an earthquake.

The council’s Ad Hoc Committee on Earthquake Recovery also recommended that installation of the valves be required for any apartment building, condominium complex, hotel and motel that has more than five units.

The valves cost about $350, including installation, and have been hailed by seismic experts as an effective tool in reducing the risk of fires fed by gas leaking from broken pipes after quakes.

But representatives of the San Fernando Valley Assn. of Realtors and the Los Angeles Assn. of Realtors opposed the requirement, saying the added cost of the valves may hurt a real estate market that is only now rebounding from a five-year slump.

The valve requirement would be the latest of many seismic improvements mandated by the city in the aftermath of the Northridge earthquake. It would apply whenever a house changes hands, but it would not affect owners who remain in their present homes.

Mel Wilson, president of the Valley real estate association, said he supports safety laws but worries that the cost of the valves will make the process harder for first-time home buyers.

“It’s just adding another fee onto the cost of buying a home,” he said.

And if the valves are such a good idea, they should be required on all homes, he argued.

Councilman Hal Bernson--who chairs the panel and proposed the gas valve requirements after the devastating gas fires that followed the Kobe, Japan, quake--said he would like to require the valves on all homes but believes such an ordinance would not pass the council because of the expected opposition from residents.

“We have to take this one step at a time,” said Bernson, who represents the northwestern San Fernando Valley.

The proposal he backed Tuesday would expand on a previous Bernson ordinance that requires property owners to install the valves on all new and renovated homes and commercial structures. That law was approved by the council and took effect July 1.

Bernson, a member of the state Seismic Safety Commission, defended the gas valve ordinance, saying the valves could prevent massive destruction in the next large earthquake.

“I don’t think this will do anything” to hurt the real estate market, he said. “But it will make the entire city safer.”

The valves shut the flow of natural gas through pipes, often by dropping a steel ball into the passage when triggered by a significant jolt. Some models can be reset with a push of a button.

Under Bernson’s proposal, home buyers will have six months after the purchase to install the valves. The owners of multifamily buildings will have one year.

The entire council is expected to consider the measure in two weeks. In a related matter, the council voted Tuesday to support the Southern California Gas Co. as it applies to the state for the authority to install the valves on gas meters.

Since last year, the gas company has operated a pilot program in certain areas, offering valves to its customers. But a company spokesman said fewer than 2,000 people have purchased the valves.

Despite such efforts, the gas company has long opposed Bernson’s proposals to make the valves mandatory, a company spokeswoman said.

The valves can also be installed by a certified private contractor.