BATON ROUGE, La. (March 5, 2007) – Building safe and smart, following the new building code passed post-Katrina and Rita and educating those who are in the industry have been major factors in helping Louisiana’s real estate and construction industry recover.  Louisiana through Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, the Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA) and the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) today announced a $14 million program to help local governments implementing the new statewide building codes was given final approval by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

"This fulfills my promise to our local officials when we passed these tough, new building codes after Katrina and Rita," Governor Blanco said. "Our program will provide them with the financial support and resources they need to rebuild safer and protect our homes, schools and businesses from future storms. This will also help provide insurance rate relief to our citizens. In all my meetings with sectors of the insurance industry, I have been told again and again that second only to reliable levees, implementing and enforcing our statewide building codes is a must-do for affordable insurance."

The program, funded by Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) monies available to the State, was developed by the LRA and will be administered by GOHSEP. Local building code enforcement officials will be offered training so they can accurately implement the provisions of the revised code. Resources will be provided to jurisdictions to assist in establishment of code offices. GOHSEP, the Department of Public Safety and the Uniform Construction Code Council (UCCC) are working with the Louisiana Municipal Association (LMA) and the Louisiana Police Jury Association (LPJA) to develop an expedited application process. Awards will be provided on a reimbursement basis after each application is approved.

The stringent new codes were developed as part of Governor Blanco's ongoing commitment to rebuild a safer, stronger and smarter Louisiana. In accordance with the state's UCCC, local governments must have implemented the new statewide building code by January 1, 2007.

"It was very important to us that we support the building code officials and fire marshals as they get their arms around these new codes," said LRA board member Tim Coulon. "It will take a lot of work, but we believe it is worth the extra effort to keep our families safe."

Since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, local governments in the most severely affected parishes have limited financial resources to provide staff to establish the new statewide building code in conjunction with implementation of the Road Home housing assistance program.

"The implementation of the new building codes will help reduce our state's risk greatly in the years to come," said COL Jeff Smith, Acting Director of GOHSEP. "In partnership with the Governor's Office and the LRA, we were able to apply mitigation monies in a non-traditional way to help make sure the codes can be understood and enforced, which is how we can make a real difference in terms of safety in our communities."

Last year, Gov. Blanco, the Louisiana Legislature and the LRA Board of Directors endorsed guidelines for the code enforcement funds that include:

Funding to support the operating capacity shortfalls of the most severely impacted parishes for code enforcement activities, especially in areas where this capacity could limit the ability of homeowners and businesses to get permits;

Support the efforts of the UCCC to implement the new state building code through regional code compliance offices;

Training for code enforcement officials; and

Assist the State Fire Marshal's office to adapt to new needs caused by the new statewide building code.

The LRA and GOHSEP will work closely with LMA and LPJA to implement the new codes