BILL NUMBER: AB 832 CHAPTERED 09/04/01 CHAPTER 228 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 4, 2001 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 1, 2001 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 20, 2001 PASSED THE SENATE JULY 21, 2001 AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 25, 2001 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Corbett FEBRUARY 22, 2001 An act to amend Sections 1276.05 and 130050 of, and to add and repeal Section 130021 of, the Health and Safety Code, relating to health facilities, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 832, Corbett. Health facilities: seismic safety. Existing law requires the Office of Statewide Health and Planning and Development to allow any general acute care hospital facility that needs to relocate facilities on an interim basis as part of its approval plan for compliance with the Alfred E. Alquist Hospital Facilities Seismic Safety Act of 1983, flexibility in achieving compliance with, or in substantial satisfaction of, the objectives of specified building materials. This bill would provide that the above compliance provisions relate only to specified provisions of the act. The existing Alfred E. Alquist Hospital Facilities Seismic Safety Act of 1983 establishes, under the jurisdiction of the office, a program of seismic safety building standards for certain hospitals built on and after March 7, 1973. The existing act also requires owners of all general acute care hospitals to conduct seismic evaluations in accordance with specified criteria. This bill would revise existing seismic evaluation criteria and would also provide that until January 1, 2008, all regulatory submissions to the California Building Standards Commission made by the office pursuant to specified provisions of the act are deemed, and shall be adopted as, emergency regulations. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 1276.05 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read: 1276.05. (a) The Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development shall allow any general acute care hospital facility that needs to relocate services on an interim basis as part of its approval plan for compliance with Article 8 (commencing with Section 130000) or Article 9 (commencing with Section 130050) in the Alfred E. Alquist Hospital Facilities Seismic Safety Act of 1983 (Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 129675) of Part 7 of Division 107) flexibility in achieving compliance with, or in substantial satisfaction of the objectives of, building standards adopted pursuant to Section 1276 with regard to the use of interim space for the provision of hospital services, or both, on a case-by-case basis so long as public safety is not compromised. (b) The state department shall allow any facility to which subdivision (a) applies flexibility in achieving compliance with, or in substantial satisfaction of, the objectives of licensing standards, or both, with regard to the use of interim space for the provision of hospital services, or both, on a case-by-case basis so long as public safety is not compromised. (c) Hospital licensees, upon application for program flexibility under this section, shall provide public notice of the proposed interim use of space that houses at least one of the eight basic services that are required in a general acute care hospital in a manner that is likely to reach a substantial number of residents of the community served by the facility and employees of the facility. (d) No request shall be approved under this section for a waiver of any primary structural system, fire and life safety requirements, or any requirement with respect to accessibility for persons with disabilities. (e) In approving any request pursuant to this section for flexibility, the office shall consider public comments. (f) The state department shall establish a unit with two statewide liaisons for the purposes of the Alfred E. Alquist Hospital Facilities Seismic Safety Act of 1983 (Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 129675) of Part 7 of Division 107), to do all of the following: (1) Serve as a central resource for hospital representatives on licensing issues relative to Article 8 or Article 9 in the Alfred E. Alquist Hospital Facilities Seismic Safety Act of 1983 and provide licensing information to the public, upon request. (2) Serve as liaison with the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, the State Fire Marshal, the Seismic Safety Commission, and other entities as necessary on hospital operational issues with respect to Article 8 or Article 9 in the Alfred E. Alquist Hospital Facilities Seismic Safety Act of 1983. (3) Ensure statewide compliance with respect to licensing issues relative to hospital buildings that are required to meet standards established by Article 8 or Article 9 in the Alfred E. Alquist Hospital Facilities Seismic Safety Act of 1983. (4) Process requests for program flexibility under subdivision (a). (5) Accept and consider public comments on requests for flexibility. (g) Each compliance plan, in providing for an interim use of space in which flexibility is requested, shall identify the duration of time proposed for the interim use of the space. Upon any amendment of a hospital's approved compliance plan, any hospital for which a flexibility plan has been approved pursuant to subdivision (a) shall provide a copy of the amended plan to the State Department of Health Services within 30 days. SEC. 2. Section 130021 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read: 130021. (a) All regulatory submissions to the California Building Standards Commission made by the office pursuant to this article and Article 9 (commencing with Section 130050) shall be deemed to be emergency regulations and shall be adopted as such. (b) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2008, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2008, deletes or extends that date. SEC. 3. Section 130050 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read: 130050. (a) Within three years after the adoption of the standards described in Section 130020, owners of all general acute care hospitals shall: (1) Conduct seismic evaluations in accordance with procedures developed by the office pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 130005 and submit evaluations to the office for its review and approval. (2) Identify the most critical nonstructural systems that represent the greatest risk of failure during an earthquake and submit the timetables for upgrading those systems pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section 130005 to the office for its review and approval. (3) With respect to the nonstructural performance evaluation required by this subdivision, the evaluation need not exceed those required by the nonstructural performance category the hospital owner has elected. Additional evaluations shall be obtained if the hospital owner elects to obtain a higher nonstructural performance category at a future date. A hospital owner shall report to the office all deficiencies that are pertinent to the nonstructural performance category the hospital owner has elected to attain. A complete nonstructural evaluation and list of nonstructural deficiencies shall be submitted to the office prior to the hospital owner selling or leasing the hospital to another party. (b) Within three years after the adoption of standards described in Section 130020, owners of all general acute care hospitals shall prepare a plan and compliance schedule for each building under the office's jurisdiction that indicates the steps by which the hospital intends to bring their hospital buildings into substantial compliance with the regulations and standards developed by the office pursuant to the Alfred E. Alquist Hospital Facilities Seismic Safety Act and this act, identifies the phasing out of or retrofit of noncomplying structures and systems, or outlines steps for relocation of acute care services to facilities that comply with the regulations and standards developed by the office pursuant to the Alfred E. Alquist Hospital Facilities Seismic Safety Act and this act, and presents comprehensive plans and compliance schedules to the office for its review and approval, and integrates this schedule into the facility's master plan. (c) Owners of all general acute care hospitals may be granted a one year allowance from the requirements of subdivision (b) by the office if they demonstrate a need for more time to prepare plans and compliance schedules for their buildings. SEC. 4. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are: In order that hospitals, the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, and the State Department of Health Services may meet existing seismic safety requirements in a timely manner, it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.