BILL NUMBER: AB 2472 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 25, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Huffman
FEBRUARY 19, 2010
An act to add Section 18941.8 to the Health and Safety Code,
relating to building standards.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2472, as amended, Huffman. Building standards:
experimental green innovation permit program.
The California Building Standards Law provides for the adoption of
building standards by state agencies by requiring all state agencies
that adopt or propose adoption of any building standard to submit
the building standard to the California Building Standards Commission
for approval and adoption. Existing law requires that all building
standards shall be administered and enforced and, whenever
practicable, written on a performance basis consistent with state and
nationally recognized standards for building construction.
Existing law authorizes a city or county to make changes or
modifications in the requirements contained in the provisions
published in the California Building Standards Code and other
specified regulations, including, but not limited to, changes or
modifications to green building standards.
This bill would, notwithstanding existing law, authorize a city,
county, or city and county to adopt an experimental
a green innovation building permit program
that exempts an unspecified number of buildings from the
California Building Standards Code in order to promote
and facilitate innovation of and
research regarding environmentally sustainable building
materials, methods, and designs not yet considered or addressed
in the state's building codes . The bill would impose certain
reporting requirements on the city, county, or city and county
relating to the scope, designs, modifications, administration,
and performance measures of the permit program and the permits
issued.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:
(a) Buildings and development have a broad range of impacts on
human health and the environment, including current and future
impacts to water quality, water supply, air quality, and the state's
natural habitats and ecosystems.
(b) A study by the United States Green Building Council indicates
that buildings in the United States account for 72 percent of
electricity consumption, 39 percent of energy use, 38 percent of all
greenhouse gas emissions, and 14 percent of potable water
consumption.
(c) In 2010, the California Building Standards Commission adopted
green building standards to address a set of risks to public health
and safety not previously considered or addressed in the state's
building codes.
(d) Future buildings will need to reach energy and water
efficiency levels far beyond present California mandatory minimum
standards in order to reduce anticipated environmental risks to
public health and safety and ensure adequate availability of critical
resources.
(e) There is currently no legal framework that allows innovative
green building technologies to be developed on a limited scale in the
field before they are allowed or mandated statewide.
(f) Local voluntary programs that provide for limited field
testing of innovative and efficient sustainable building practices
not yet considered or addressed in the California Building Standards
Code are needed to augment traditional research for future green
building standards. These programs will reduce the imminent impacts
of an expanding built environment on the state's economy, quality of
life, and natural environment, as well as provide regulators with the
opportunity to gain experience with and contribute input to emerging
technologies at a small scale before they are called on to regulate
them statewide.
SECTION 1. SEC. 2. Section 18941.8
is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:
18941.8. (a) Notwithstanding Section 18941, a city, county, or
city and county may adopt an experimental permit program that exempts
up to ____ buildings from the California Building Standards Code, in
order to facilitate innovation of environmentally sustainable
building materials, methods, and designs.
18941.8. (a) Notwithstanding Section 18941, a
city, county, or city and county may adopt a green innovation
building permit program to promote and facilitate innovation and
research regarding environmentally sustainable building materials,
methods, and designs not yet considered or addressed in the state's
building codes.
(b) A city, county, or city and county that adopts a green
innovation building permit program shall do all of the following:
(1) Require the building official, certified by the International
Code Council in accordance with Section 18949.28, to administer and
enforce these provisions to ensure qualified oversight of the health
and safety of buildings permitted under this section.
(2) Require environmentally sustainable building materials,
methods, or designs not yet considered or addressed in the state's
building codes, while enforcing the broader intent of the California
Building Standards Code regarding the protection of public health and
safety.
(3) Annually limit the program to a maximum of 25 new or existing
single-family detached dwellings, unoccupied accessory buildings, or
portions thereof.
(4) Require performance monitoring and reporting of each permit
under this program to the local building official for use in
assessing the success of each permit.
(b)
(c) A city, county, or city and county that adopts
an experimental a green innovation
permit program pursuant to this section shall report to the
Department of Housing and Community Development and the
commission on both of the following:
(1) No later than Within six months
after adoption of the experimental green
innovation permit program, the local jurisdiction
building official shall report on the scope and
requirements of the program and the types of permits to be issued.
(2) Five Three years after the
adoption of the experimental green innovation
permit program, the local jurisdiction
building official shall report on the types of permits issued,
the number of each type of permit issued, an assessment of the
program's success, and recommendations for future revisions to the
experimental permit program green innovation
permit program and state building standards .
(c)
(d) A city, county, or city and county that adopts
an experimental a green innovation
permit program shall require that upon resale of a property where
an experimental a green innovation
permit has been issued, that the seller notify the buyer in writing
of the building designs and modifications approved under the
experimental green innovation permit program
for that property.
(d) A city, county, or city and county that adopts an experimental
permit program shall require the property owners to measure and
record performance data of the innovative features covered under the
experimental permit.