For those of you who would like to see the text of the geologic disclosure laws themselves, this page is for you. The following are excerpts of the Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Fault Zone and the Seismic Hazards Mapping Acts. Both of these Acts specifically identify the real estate licensee as the medium for disclosure in the real estate transaction. Currently (1996), only the Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Fault Zone Act can be fulfilled, because maps for the Seismic Hazards Mapping disclosure requirement are not yet available. Once these maps do become available, however, this disclosure will need to be made. All of these disclosures are addressed on the CAR Deposit Receipt. 　THE ALQUIST-PRIOLO EARTHQUAKE FAULT ZONE ACT 　(called the Alquist-Priolo State Special Studies Zone Act prior to 1994) 　The long standing and well known Alquist-Priolo Act (active fault zones) was signed into law on December 22, 1972 and went into effect on March 7, 1973. This law was amended a few years later to include a disclosure obligation for real estate licensees. The text of this disclosure section is as follows: Chapter 7.5, Section 2621.9 　(a) The person who is acting as an agent for a seller of real property which is located within a delineated special studies zone, or the seller if he is acting without an agent, shall disclose to any prospective purchaser the fact that the property is located within a delineated special studies zone, provided the maps prepared pursuant to this chapter, or the information contained in the maps, are reasonably available. 　(b) For the purposes of this section, in all transactions subject to Section 1102 of the Civil Code, disclosure shall be provided by either of the following means: 　(1) The real estate transfer disclosure statement set out in Section 1102.6 of the Civil Code. 　(2) The local option real estate transfer disclosure statement set out in subdivision (a) of Section 1102.6 of the Civil Code. 　(c) For the purposes of this section, 'reasonably available' means that for any county that includes areas covered by a delineated special studies map, a notice has been posted at the offices of the county recorder. county assessor, and county planning commission that identifies the location of the map and the effective date of the notice, which shall not exceed 10 days beyond the date the county received the map from the State Geologist. (d) For purposes of the disclosure required by this section, the following persons shall not be deemed agents of the transferor: 　(1) Persons specified in Section 1102.11 of the Civil Code. 　(2) Persons acting under a power of sale regulated by Section 2924 of the Civil Code. 　(e) For purposes of this section, Section 1101.13 of the Civil Code shall apply. 　A later amendment clarified a controversial point within the Alquist-Priolo Act. Previously, there had been some question due to interpretation of what types of real property transfers required disclosure and which did not. Section 2621.9 (b) specifically clarifies this point by linking the Alquist-Priolo disclosure requirement with and making applicable Section 1102 of the Civil Code. This code is excerpted as follows: 　Section 1102 of the Civil Code - Application of article Except as provided in Section 1102.1, this article applies to any transfer by sale, exchange, installment land sale contract, as defined in Section 2895, lease with an option to purchase, any other option to purchase, or ground lease coupled with improvements, of real property, or residential stock cooperative, improved with or consisting of not less than one nor more than four dwelling units. ( This Section became operative on January 1, 1987) 　The JCP Geologic Disclosure Report includes this disclosure and satisfies the real estate licensees's and seller's dislcosure obligation. THE SEISMIC HAZARDS MAPPING ACT 　This law has created some confusion since it uses terms once considered general to mean something very specific. The Seismic Hazards Mapping Act (Public Resource Code Chapter 7.8, Section 2690 et. seq.) was enacted January 1, 1992. 　According to this Act, the California Department of Conservation is mandated to identify and map the state's most prominent earthquake hazards in order to help avoid damage resulting from earthquakes. The official maps produced by the Seismic Hazard Zone Mapping program are also mandated to be used by cities and counties to regulate development within identified seismic hazard areas. The local governments can withhold development permits until geologic or soils investigations are conducted and mitigation measures are incorporated into development plans. Seismic hazard zones 　are defined as those areas shown on the maps that are subject to strong earthquake shaking, liquefaction, landsliding or earthquake induced ground failures. Importantly, the Seismic Hazards Mapping Act mandates disclosure of areas located within a "seismic hazard zone" delineated on the maps. Some confusion has resulted from the fact that geologically hazardous areas outlined on maps in the Seismic Safety Element of a city or county General Plan are commonly referred to as "seismic hazard zones" also. Any maps in a Seismic Safety Element will remain independent of maps produced for the Seismic Hazards Mapping Act. The disclosure section of this Act is excerpted as follows: Chapter 7.8, Section 2694 　(a) A person who is acting as an agent for a seller of real property which is located within a seismic hazard zone, or the seller if he or she is acting without an agent, shall disclose to any prospective purchaser the fact that the property is located within a seismic hazard zone, provided the maps prepared pursuant to this chapter or the information contained in the maps are reasonably available. 　(b) For the purposes of this section, in all transactions subject to Section 1102 of the Civil Code, disclosure shall be provided by either of the following means: 　(1) The real estate transfer disclosure statement set out in Section 1102.6 of the Civil Code. (2) The local option real estate transfer disclosure statement set out in subdivision (a) of Section 1102.6 of the Civil Code. 　(c) For the purposes of this section, 'reasonably available' means that for any county that includes areas covered by seismic hazard maps, a notice has been posted at the offices of the county recorder, county assessor, and county planning commission that identifies the location of the maps and the effective date of the notice, which shall not exceed 10 days beyond the date the county received the maps from the State Geologist. (d) For purposes of the disclosure required by this section, the following persons shall not be deemed agents of the transferor: 　(1) Persons specified in Section 1102.11 of the Civil Code. 　(2) Persons acting under a power of sale regulated by Section 2924 of the Civil Code. 　(e) For purposes of this section, Section 1101.13 of the Civil Code shall apply. Chapter 7.8, Section 2696 　(c) In order to ensure that the sellers of real property and their agents are adequately informed, any county that receives an official map pursuant to this section shall post a notice within five days of receipt of the map at the office of the county recorder, county assessor, and county planning commission, identifying the location of the map and the effective date of the notice. 　NOTE! No maps have been finalized for this disclosure yet. Therefore, this disclosure requirement has not yet been triggered as of September 1996. Although some reconnaissance maps for certain parts of Ventura and Los Angeles Counties have been produced, these do not trigger the disclosure because they are not finalized. Once these maps become available (release scheduled for January, 1997), JCP Geologists, Inc. will include this disclosure in the JCP Geologic Disclosure Report. ARE ANY TRANSACTIONS EXEMPT? 　In practice, disclosure of geologic hazard areas under the Alquist-Priolo Act or the Seismic Hazards Act is required on most real estate transactions. However, according to the Acts, there are some exceptions. Unfortunately, trying to figure out if a particular transaction is truely exempt can be more difficult than just providing the disclosure. In addition, most lawyers would agree that even if a transaction may be exempt according to the Act, in the trenches, that may not prevent a lawsuit for non-disclosure. The best rule of thumb is when in doubt, just disclose. 　Section 1102.1 - Nonapplication of article 　The provisions of this article do not apply to the following: 　(a) Transfers which are required to be preceded by the furnishing to a prospective transferee of a copy of a public report pursuant to Section 11018.1 of the Business and Professions Code and transfers which can be made without a public report pursuant to Section 11010.4 of the Business and Professions Code. 　(b) Transfers pursuant to court order, including, but not limited to, transfers ordered by a probate court in administration of an estate, transfers pursuant to a writ of execution, transfers by any foreclosure sale, transfers by a trustee in bankruptcy, transfers by eminent domain, and transfers resulting from a decree for specific performance. 　(c) Transfers to a mortgagee by a mortgagor or successor in interest who is in default, transfers to a beneficiary of a deed of trust by a trustor or successor in interest who is in default, transfers by any foreclosure sale after default, in an obligation secured by a mortgage, transfers by a sale under a power of sale or any foreclosure sale under a decree of foreclosure after default in an obligation secured by a deed of trust or secured by any other instrument containing a power of sale, or transfers by a mortgagee or a beneficiary under a deed of trust who has acquired the real property at a sale conducted pursuant to a power of sale under a mortgage or deed of trust or a sale pursuant to a decree of foreclosure or has acquired the real property by a deed in lieu of foreclosure. 　(d) Transfers by a fiduciary in the course of the administration of a decedent's estate, guardianship, conservatorship, or trust. 　(e) Transfers from one co-owner to one or more other co-owners. 　(f) Transfers made to a spouse, or to a person or persons in the lineal line of consanguinity of one or more of the transferors. 　(g) Transfers between spouses resulting from a decree of dissolution of marriage or a decree of legal separation or from a property settlement agreement incidental to such a decree. 　(h) Transfers by the Controller in the course of administering Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 3771) of Part 6 of Division 1 of the Revenue and Taxation Code. 　(j) Transfers or exchanges to or from any governmental entity. (This Section became operative on January 1, 1987.)