Dive Brief:

• The California State Geological Survey has begun mapping the Santa Monica fault and hundreds of miles of previously unchartered fault lines in and around Los Angeles, which pose a potential problem for developers and builders.
• If state mapping shows a project is above a fault, it is up to the developer prove that wrong -- that could turn out to be what happens to a mixed-use project called the Millennium Hollywood because a draft map released in the spring shows it is above an active splay fault -- a branching fault line -- of the Hollywood Fault.
• The Millennium Hollywood was the target of a lawsuit last year claiming a cover-up of geological data in order to get initial permits from the city.

Dive Insight:

A key component of the fault findings will be whether faults are mapped as "active." If they have seen activity in the past 11,000 years -- very little time in geological terms -- they are deemed active and they count in decision-making. A consultant for the Millennium Hollywood developers says its engineers have found no evidence of activity.