Seismic Safety of Existing Federally Owned or Leased Buildings
Signed December 1, 1994·William J. Clinton·59 FR 62545
Source
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Plain-language summary
Adopts the Standards of Seismic Safety for Existing Federally Owned or Leased Buildings, developed by the Interagency Committee on Seismic Safety in Construction, as the minimum requirements federal agencies must use to assess and reduce earthquake risks in buildings they own or lease. Requires agencies to inventory their buildings and estimate mitigation costs within four years, with guidance from the committee due within one year; cost estimates go to the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). FEMA must notify agencies of the order, report to Congress within six years on achieving adequate seismic safety economically, and issue biennial progress reports. The National Institute of Standards and Technology must provide technical assistance, and agencies may seek exemptions from the Office of Management and Budget. The committee must update the standards at least every five years, or within two years of FEMA publishing its Guidelines for Seismic Rehabilitation of Buildings. States that it creates no enforceable legal rights against the government.
Not written or reviewed by a person. Read the full order below for anything you intend to rely on.
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Legal standing
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Claimed authority
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in furtherance of the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977, as amended by Public Law 101- 614, which requires the President to adopt “standards for assessing and enhancing the seismic safety of existing buildings constructed for or leased by the Federal Government which were designed and constructed without adequate seismic design and construction standards” (42 U.S.C. 7705b(a)), it is hereby ordered
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Disposition
Revoked by: EO 13717, February 2, 2016
Compiled after the fact by the National Archives, so recent orders often have none yet. An empty disposition means no record, not no activity.
The order, in full
Executive Order 12941 of December 1, 1994
Seismic Safety of Existing Federally Owned or
Leased Buildings
By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, and in furtherance of the Earthquake Hazards
Reduction Act of 1977, as amended by Public Law 101-
614, which requires the President to adopt “standards
for assessing and enhancing the seismic safety of
existing buildings constructed for or leased by the
Federal Government which were designed and constructed
without adequate seismic design and construction
standards” (42 U.S.C. 7705b(a)), it is hereby ordered
as follows:
Section 1. Adoption of Minimum Standards. The Standards
of Seismic Safety for Existing Federally Owned or
Leased Buildings (Standards), developed, issued, and
maintained by the Interagency Committee on Seismic
Safety in Construction (ICSSC), are hereby adopted as
the minimum level acceptable for use by Federal
departments and agencies in assessing the seismic
safety of their owned and leased buildings and in
mitigating unacceptable seismic risks in those
buildings. The Standards shall be applied, at a
minimum, to those buildings identified in the Standards
as requiring evaluation and, if necessary, mitigation.
Evaluations and mitigations that were completed prior
to the date of this order under agency programs that
were based on standards deemed adequate and appropriate
by the individual agency need not be reconsidered
unless otherwise stipulated by the Standards.
For the purposes of this order, buildings are
defined as any structure, fully or partially enclosed,
located within the United States as defined in the
Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977, as amended,
(42 U.S.C. 7703(5)), used or intended for sheltering
persons or property, except for the exclusions
specified in the Standards.
Sec. 2. Estimating Costs of Mitigation. Each agency
that owns or leases buildings for Federal use shall,
within 4 years of the issuance of this order, develop
an inventory of their owned and leased buildings and
shall estimate the costs of mitigating unacceptable
seismic risks in those buildings. The cost estimate
shall be based on the exemptions and evaluation and
mitigation requirements in the Standards. Guidance for
the development of the inventory and cost estimates
will be issued by the ICSSC no later than 1 year after
the signing of this order. Cost estimates with
supporting documentation shall be submitted to the
Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) no later than 4 years after the signing of this
order.
Sec. 3. Implementation Responsibilities. (a) The
Federal Emergency Management Agency is responsible for
(1) notifying all Federal departments and agencies of
the existence and content of this order; (2) preparing
for the Congress, in consultation with the ICSSC, no
later than 6 years after the issuance of this order, a
comprehensive report on how to achieve an adequate
level of seismic safety in federally owned and leased
buildings in an economically feasible manner; and (3)
preparing for the Congress on a biennial basis, a
report on the execution of this order.
(b) The National Institute of Standards and
Technology is responsible for providing technical
assistance to the Federal departments and agencies in
the implementation of this order.
(c) Federal departments and agencies may request an
exemption from this order from the Director of the
Office of Management and Budget.
Sec. 4. Updating Programs. The ICSSC shall update the
Standards at least every 5 years. It shall also update
the Standards within 2 years of the publication of the
first edition of FEMA's Guidelines for Seismic
Rehabilitation of Buildings and Commentary.
Sec. 5. Judicial Review. Nothing in this order is
intended to create any right to administrative or
judicial review, or any other right, benefit, or trust
responsibility, substantive or procedural, enforceable
at law by any party against the United States, its
agencies or instrumentalities, its officers or
employees, or any person.
(Presidential Sig.)>
THE WHITE HOUSE,
December 1, 1994.Reproduced from the Federal Register plain-text record, signed December 1, 1994. Typesetting artifacts are removed; no wording is changed.