The Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Fault Zoning Act was signed into California law on December 22, 1972, to mitigate the hazard of surface faulting to structures for human occupancy. The act in its current form has three main provisions: 1) It directs the state's California Geological Survey agency (then known as the California Division of Mines and Geology) to compile detailed maps of the surface traces of known active faults. These maps include both the best known location where faults cut the surface and a buffer zone around the known trace(s);