BILL NUMBER: SB 608	ENROLLED
	BILL TEXT

	PASSED THE SENATE  AUGUST 31, 2010
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 30, 2010
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 24, 2010
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 20, 2010

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Alquist
   (Principal coauthor: Senator Ducheny)

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2009

   An act to add Section 130064 to the Health and Safety Code,
relating to health facilities, and making an appropriation therefor.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 608, Alquist. Hospitals: seismic safety.
   Existing law, the Alfred E. Alquist Hospital Facilities Seismic
Safety Act of 1983, establishes, under the jurisdiction of the Office
of Statewide Health Planning and Development, a program of seismic
safety building standards for certain hospitals constructed on and
after March 7, 1973. Existing law authorizes the office to assess an
application fee for the review of facilities design and construction,
and requires that full and complete plans be submitted to the office
for review and approval. Existing law requires fees to be credited
to the Hospital Building Fund, which is continuously appropriated to
the office.
   Existing law requires that, after January 1, 2008, any general
acute care hospital building that is determined to be a potential
risk of collapse or pose significant loss of life be used only for
nonacute care hospital purposes, except that the office may grant a
5-year extension of that deadline, under prescribed circumstances,
for both structural and nonstructural requirements. Existing law also
authorizes the office to grant an additional extension if the
hospital building meets designated criteria, including appropriately
retrofitting the facility, as specified.
   This bill would authorize the office to grant a 3-year extension
of the 5-year extension in lieu of the previously described
additional extension under specified conditions. It would grant an
additional extension of up to 2 years if specified criteria are met.
This bill would require a hospital owner that applies for an
extension pursuant to this bill to pay to the office a fee for the
costs of reporting required for this extension. Because these fees
would be deposited into a continuously appropriated fund, this bill
would make an appropriation.
   This bill would provide that this bill's provisions would not
become operative if both this bill and SB 289 are enacted, both bills
add Section 130064 to the Health and Safety Code, and SB 289 is
chaptered last.
   Appropriation: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 130064 is added to the Health and Safety Code,
to read:
   130064.  (a) In lieu of the extension described in subdivision (f)
of Section 130060, the office may grant an extension to a general
acute care hospital pursuant to either subdivision (c) or (f) if the
hospital building will not meet the seismic safety standards of that
section by January 1, 2013, due to a local planning delay.
   (b) When applying for an extension under this section, the owner
of the general acute care hospital shall submit to the office
documentation that includes at least all of the following:
   (1) The original schedule of the project or projects as had been
originally anticipated.
   (2) The schedule of the project or projects as currently
projected.
   (3) A timeline for the submission of documents to the local
planning authority or jurisdiction.
   (4) Documentation that the local planning authority for the
project and for the enabling phases of the project does not grant
approvals prior to November 1, 2010, where the hospital had
originally filed the local application prior to January 1, 2008.
   (5) A proposed construction timeframe demonstrating the completion
of the project once the permit is issued. The construction timeframe
shall be approved by the office and shall only include the amount of
time that is reasonably necessary to complete the construction
required to meet the seismic safety requirements.
   (c) The office may grant an extension, in full one-year
increments, but no longer than three consecutive years, that
compensates for delays determined pursuant to subdivision (d).
   (d) The office shall conduct a comprehensive review of the
schedule for the project or projects according to criteria specified
in this section. This review shall encompass the project or projects
under the jurisdiction of the office, as well as other project phases
not under the jurisdiction of the office. The office shall consider
the cumulative effect of local approval timelines for all elements of
the project or projects, inclusive of changes in scope or sequence
of the project or projects required by the local planning process.
The office may grant extensions based on an evaluation of each of the
following circumstances:
   (1) Where the local planning authority approvals have delayed or
will delay the construction start date of the project or projects.
   (2) Where the local conditions of approval on a project or
projects extend the duration beyond the originally anticipated
construction completion date.
   (3) Where the cumulative effect of delays on the project or
projects creates additional construction delays due to local seasonal
weather impact requirements of the local planning authority.
   (4) Construction related to the seismic retrofit or replacement
project has begun by January 1, 2013.
   (5) The project or projects were submitted for review by the
department no later than January 1, 2009.
   (6) The project or projects have received a building permit from
the department no later than January 1, 2012.
   (e) Every six months after the approval of the extension, the
hospital owner shall report to the office on the status of the
project or projects, demonstrating that it is making reasonable
progress toward meeting the construction timeline.
   (f) The office may grant an additional extension of up to two
years in addition to the extension granted pursuant to subdivisions
(c) and (d) only if the project or projects meet all of the following
criteria:
   (1) A matrix of buildings at the hospital that identifies
compliance of each building to the standards required by Section
130065 at the completion of the project or projects.
   (2) The construction timelines submitted pursuant to subdivision
(a) were determined to go beyond three years from the date the
building permit was issued.
   (3) Acute care services will not be provided in any SPC-1 building
at any time during the extension.
   (4) The hospital demonstrates that it has, and maintains
throughout the extension, life safety systems in all acute care
patient care areas that do not depend on, and are not routed through,
an SPC-1 building.
   (5) The hospital either demonstrates that the SPC-1 building does
not pose a structural risk to an adjoining hospital building that is
used for acute care services or mitigates the risk in accordance with
a deadline described in subdivision (f) of Section 130060 that the
office determines will best protect patient safety.
   (g) The office may revoke an extension granted pursuant to this
section for any hospital building where the work of construction is
abandoned or suspended for a period of at least six months, unless
the hospital demonstrates that the abandonment or suspension was
caused by factors beyond its control.
   (h) The office may revoke an extension granted pursuant to this
section if it is determined that any information submitted pursuant
to this section was falsified in any manner by the hospital or if the
hospital fails to meet any of the criteria or conditions specified
in this section.
   (i) Regulatory submissions made by the office to the California
Building Standards Commission pursuant to this section shall be
deemed, and shall be adopted as, emergency regulations.
   (j) The hospital owner that applies for an extension pursuant to
this section shall pay to the office an additional fee, to be
determined by the office, sufficient to cover the additional cost
incurred by the office for maintaining all reporting requirements
established under this section, including, but not limited to, the
costs of reviewing and verifying the extension documentation
submitted pursuant to this section. This additional fee shall not
include any cost for review of the plans or other duties related to
receiving a building or occupancy permit.
   (k) A hospital denied an extension pursuant to this section may
appeal the denial to the Hospital Building Safety Board.
  SEC. 2.  Section 1 of this bill adds Section 130064 to the Health
and Safety Code. Section 1 shall not become operative if (1) both
this bill and Senate Bill 289 are enacted and become effective on or
before January 1, 2011, (2) each bill adds Section 130064 to the
Health and Safety Code, and (3) Senate Bill 289 is enacted after this
bill.