BILL NUMBER: AB 24 CHAPTERED 09/22/03 CHAPTER 422 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 22, 2003 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 20, 2003 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 5, 2003 PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 2, 2003 AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 28, 2003 AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 26, 2003 AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 22, 2003 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 2, 2003 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 21, 2003 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Negrete McLeod (Coauthor: Senator Bowen) DECEMBER 2, 2002 An act to amend Sections 1102.18 and 1940.7.5 of the Civil Code, and to add Section 115929 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to public safety. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 24, Negrete McLeod. Real property hazards: notice. Existing law requires an owner of residential real property or of a residential dwelling unit who knows that any release of an illegal controlled substance has come to be located on or beneath that property or that dwelling unit to give written notice to a prospective purchaser or a prospective tenant prior to the sale or the execution of a rental agreement, as applicable. These provisions are in effect only until January 1, 2004. The bill would extend the operative date of those provisions until January 1, 2006. The Swimming Pool Safety Act establishes certain safety standards requiring swimming pool enclosures, safety pool covers, or exit alarms, as defined, or certain other means of protection, and requires each swimming pool for which a construction permit is issued on or after January 1, 1998, and that is located at a private, single-family home, to meet at least one of these safety standards. This bill would encourage a private entity, in consultation with the Epidemiology and Prevention for Injury Control Branch within the State Department of Health Services, to produce an informative brochure or booklet, for consumer use, explaining the child drowning hazards of, possible safety measures for, and appropriate drowning hazard prevention measures for, home swimming pools and spas, and to donate the document to the department. The bill would require the department to review and approve the document, as specified, and post the document on its Web site in a format that is readily available for downloading and for publication. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 1102.18 of the Civil Code is amended to read: 1102.18. (a) For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply: (1) "Illegal controlled substance" means a drug, substance, or immediate precursor listed in any schedule contained in Section 11054, 11055, 11056, 11057, or 11058 of the Health and Safety Code, or an emission or waste material resulting from the unlawful manufacture or attempt to manufacture an illegal controlled substance. An "illegal controlled substance" does not include, for purposes of this section, marijuana. (2) "Release" means any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping, or disposing of an illegal controlled substance in a structure or into the environment. (b) (1) Any owner of residential real property who knows, as provided in paragraph (2), that any release of an illegal controlled substance has come to be located on or beneath that real property shall, prior to the sale of the real property by that owner, give written notice of that condition to the buyer pursuant to Section 1102.6 by checking "yes" in question IC1 of the Real Estate Transfer Disclosure Statement contained in that section and attaching a copy of any notice received from law enforcement or any other entity, such as the Department of Toxic Substances Control, the county health department, the local environmental health officer, or a designee, advising the owner of the release on the property. (2) For purposes of this subdivision, a seller's knowledge of the condition is established by the receipt of a notice specified in paragraph (1) or by actual knowledge of the condition from a source independent of the notice. (3) If the seller delivers the disclosure information required by paragraph (1), delivery shall be deemed legally adequate for purposes of informing the prospective buyer of that condition, and the seller is not required to provide any additional disclosure of that information. (4) Failure of the owner to provide written notice to the buyer when required by this subdivision shall subject the owner to actual damages and any other remedies provided by law. In addition, if the owner has actual knowledge of the presence of any release of an illegal controlled substance and knowingly and willfully fails to provide written notice to the buyer, as required by this subdivision, the owner is liable for a civil penalty not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each separate violation, in addition to any other damages provided by law. (c) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2006, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2006, deletes or extends that date. SEC. 2. Section 1940.7.5 of the Civil Code is amended to read: 1940.7.5. (a) For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply: (1) "Illegal controlled substance" means a drug, substance, or immediate precursor listed in any schedule contained in Section 11054, 11055, 11056, 11057, or 11058 of the Health and Safety Code, or an emission or waste material resulting from the unlawful manufacture or attempt to manufacture an illegal controlled substance. An "illegal controlled substance" does not include, for purposes of this section, marijuana. (2) "Release" means any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping, or disposing of an illegal controlled substance in a structure or into the environment. (b) (1) The owner of a residential dwelling unit who knows, as provided in paragraph (2), that any release of an illegal controlled substance has come to be located on or beneath that dwelling unit shall give written notice to the prospective tenant prior to the execution of a rental agreement by providing to a prospective tenant a copy of any notice received from law enforcement or any other entity, such as the Department of Toxic Substances Control, the county health department, the local environmental health officer, or a designee, advising the owner of that release on the property. (2) For purposes of this subdivision, the owner's knowledge of the condition is established by the receipt of a notice specified in paragraph (1) or by actual knowledge of the condition from a source independent of the notice. (3) If the owner delivers the disclosure information required by paragraph (1), the delivery shall be deemed legally adequate for purposes of informing the prospective tenant of that condition, and the owner is not required to provide any additional disclosure of that information. (4) Failure of the owner to provide written notice to a prospective tenant when required by this subdivision shall subject the owner to actual damages and any other remedies provided by law. In addition, if the owner has actual knowledge of the presence of any release of an illegal controlled substance and knowingly and willfully fails to provide written notice to the renter, as required by this subdivision, the owner is liable for a civil penalty not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each separate violation, in addition to any other damages provided by law. (c) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2006, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2006, deletes or extends that date. SEC. 3. Section 115929 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read: 115929. (a) The Legislature encourages a private entity, in consultation with the Epidemiology and Prevention for Injury Control Branch of the department, to produce an informative brochure or booklet, for consumer use, explaining the child drowning hazards of, possible safety measures for, and appropriate drowning hazard prevention measures for, home swimming pools and spas, and to donate the document to the department. (b) The Legislature encourages the private entity to use existing documents from the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission on pool safety. (c) If a private entity produces the document described in subdivisions (a) and (b) and donates it to the department, the department shall review and approve the brochure or booklet. (d) Upon approval of the document by the department, the document shall become the property of the state and a part of the public domain. The department shall place the document on its Web site in a format that is readily available for downloading and for publication. The department shall review the document in a timely and prudent fashion and shall complete the review within 18 months of receipt of the document from a private entity.