BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2533
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 2533 (Salinas)
As Amended July 7, 2004
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |57-19|(May 20, 2004) |SENATE: |21-10|(August 23, |
| | | | | |2004) |
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Original Committee Reference: B. & P.
SUMMARY : Authorizes civil penalties and a right of private
action against owners of certain unreinforced masonry (URM)
buildings that have not been retrofitted and fail to comply with
existing seismic safety warning notice requirements.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires owners of URM buildings in seismic safety zone 4 that
have not been retrofitted and are not in compliance with
existing seismic safety warning notice requirements as of
December 31, 2004, to conspicuously post a different and
larger warning notice, as specified.
2)Requires every rental or lease agreement involving URM
buildings in seismic safety zone 4 that are neither
retrofitted nor in compliance with warning notice requirements
to include a written statement alerting the new owner to the
dangers of URM buildings and the notice requirements under
existing law, as specified.
3)Authorizes local building departments (LBDs) to levy an
administrative fine of $250 on building owners who do not
comply with the requirements of this bill no sooner than 15
days after the LBD notifies the owner that they are subject to
an administrative fine.
4)Authorizes LBDs to levy an additional administrative fine of
$1,000 on an owner if they do not comply with seismic safety
warning notice requirements within 30 days of the first
administrative fine.
5)Authorizes a private party to seek injunctive relief, as
specified, against a noncompliant building owner if all of the
following conditions are met:
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a) He or she has made a request to an appropriate authority
for enforcement at least 90 days prior to the action;
b) An administrative fine has not been levied since the
request for enforcement was made;
c) At least 15 days prior to filing of the action, the
person has served on each proposed defendant a notice of
noncompliance, as specified; and,
d) The owner has failed to post a sign in compliance with
the law within 15 days of receipt of the notice of
noncompliance.
6)Declares that the prohibitions and sanctions imposed by this
bill are cumulative, and that any civil action for injunctive
relief shall be independent of any other rights or remedies.
The Senate amendments :
1)Revise the enforcement mechanism for this bill so that a
private party may pursue injunctive relief in civil court
(instead of equitable relief) provided that they first request
that the LBD enforce the law, if no fines had been recently
levied, and if the private party notices the owner, as
specified, 15 days before filing and the owner still fails to
comply.
2)Increase the size of the required warning notice for
unretrofitted URMs that are not in compliance with existing
warning notice requirements as of December 31, 2004.
3)Exempt unretrofitted URM buildings that are in compliance with
existing warning notice requirements from the new signage
requirements created by this bill.
4)Require the LBD to notify building owners of exposure to
administrative fines under this bill and wait at least 15 days
before levying an administrative fine of $250.
5)Provide "chaptering-out" amendments to prevent a conflict
with AB 3032 (Yee), which generally exempts retrofitted URM
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buildings from seismic safety warning notice requirements.
6)Make various technical or nonsubstantive amendments.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill authorized civil penalties
and a right of private action against owners of certain URM
buildings that have not been retrofitted and fail to comply with
existing seismic safety warning notice requirements.
FISCAL EFFECT :
1)Minor absorbable costs for the Seismic Safety Commission,
which is generally charged with coordinating local
governments' response to the state's earthquake safety
requirements.
2)Potential minor fine revenues to local governments and to the
state.
COMMENTS : This bill is intended to increase the posting of
seismic safety warning notices in URM buildings by creating new
legal remedies for public agencies and private citizens to
enforce those notice requirements.
This bill would allow LBDs to impose successive administrative
fines of $250 and $1,000 for failure to post the warning notice,
and authorizes private individuals to seek a court injunction to
make the building owner comply if the public agencies fail to
act. This bill also revises and enlarges the required warning
notice, requires a similar disclosure in rental/lease
agreements, and exempts retrofitted or otherwise compliant URM
buildings from the notice requirement.
Analysis Prepared by : Hank Dempsey / B. & P. / (916) 319-3301
FN:
0007035