BILL ANALYSIS AB 2533 Page 1 CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS AB 2533 (Salinas) As Amended July 7, 2004 Majority vote ----------------------------------------------------------------- |ASSEMBLY: |57-19|(May 20, 2004) |SENATE: |21-10|(August 23, | | | | | | |2004) | ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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: AB 2533 Page 2 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 AB 2533 Page 3 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