BILL ANALYSIS ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 608| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ UNFINISHED BUSINESS Bill No: SB 608 Author: Alquist (D), et al Amended: 8/24/10 Vote: 21 PRIOR VOTES NOT RELEVANT SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE : 8-0, 8/31/10 AYES: Alquist, Strickland, Aanestad, Cedillo, Leno, Negrete McLeod, Pavley, Romero NO VOTE RECORDED: Vacancy ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 72-1, 08/30/10 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Hospitals: seismic safety SOURCE : Author DIGEST : This bill permits the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development to grant two separate extensions to a general acute care hospital for a total of five years, under specified circumstances related to local planning delays, for compliance with existing state seismic safety requirements. Assembly Amendments delete the version of the bill that passed the Senate an now address the subject of hospitals and seismic safety. ANALYSIS : CONTINUED SB 608 Page 2 Existing law : 1. Establishes and grants the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) authority and responsibility for reviewing and approving all plans relating to construction, additions to, reconstruction, or alteration of, health care facilities, as defined. Before adopting any such plans, requires hospitals to submit the plans to OSHPD for approval and to pay an application filing fee, as determined by OSHPD, based on the project's estimated construction cost. 2. Establishes the Alfred E. Alquist Hospital Facilities Seismic Safety Act of 1983 (Alquist Act), and its amendments, with the following deadlines for seismic safety compliance: A. After January 1, 2008, requires any general acute care (GAC) hospital building that is determined to be a potential risk for collapse or significant loss of life in a major earthquake (i.e., designated as SPC-1) to be used only for non-acute care purposes. B. Authorizes OSHPD to extend the 2008 deadline by five years, to January 1, 2013, if: (1) The hospital demonstrates that compliance with the 2008 deadline will result in a loss of health care capacity that may not be provided by other GAC hospitals within a reasonable proximity, and other conditions are met. (2) The hospital agrees that by January 1, 2013, designated services will be provided by moving into an existing conforming building, relocating to a newly-built building, or continuing in the retrofitted building, as specified. (3) The building is either retrofitted to SPC-2 and NPC-3 standards, or not used for GAC inpatient services, by January 1, 2013. CONTINUED SB 608 Page 3 C. Authorizes OSHPD to extend the 2013 deadline by up to two additional years, up to January 1, 2015, if the hospital meets specified interim deadlines and is making reasonable progress toward meeting its timeline to retrofit or replace an SPC-1 building but is delayed due to factors beyond its control. D. Permits a hospital owner, in lieu of retrofitting or rebuilding SPC-1 buildings by 2013, to instead replace them by January 1, 2020, if: (1) The hospital meets specified conditions, including serving Medi-Cal or indigent patients and underserved areas, and OSHPD certifies that the hospital owner lacks the financial capacity to meet seismic standards, as defined. (2) The nonconforming building is owned or operated by a county, city, or county and city that lacks the ability to meet the 2013 deadline but commits to replace the buildings by January 1, 2020. E. Requires, by January 1, 2030, all hospital buildings to be capable of remaining intact after an earthquake, and capable of continued operation and provision of acute care medical services (designated as SPC-5), and requires owners of all acute care inpatient hospitals to demolish, replace, or change to non-acute care all hospital buildings not in substantial compliance. 3. Requires an owner of a GAC hospital building classified as SPC-1, who has not requested an extension of the 2008 deadline, to submit a report to OSHPD no later than April 15, 2007, describing the status of each building in complying with the deadline, and to identify the following: A. Each building that is subject to the deadline. B. The project number or numbers for retrofit or CONTINUED SB 608 Page 4 replacement of each building. C. The projected construction start date or dates and projected construction completion date or dates. D. The building or buildings to be removed from acute care service and the projected date or dates of this action. 4. Requires owners of SPC-1 hospital buildings who have requested an extension of the 2008 deadline to submit similar reports by June 30, 2009, and November 1, 2010. 5. Requires OSHPD to make the information reported pursuant to 3) and 4) above available on its Web site within 90 days of receipt. This bill: 1. Permits OSHPD, in lieu of the extension to the January 1, 2008, seismic deadline, as specified, to grant an extension to a GAC, in accordance with #3) and #6) below, if the GAC building will not be able to meet the existing seismic safety standards, as specified, by January 1, 2013, due to a local planning delay. 2. Requires the owner of the GAC, when applying for an extension, to submit to OSHPD documentation that includes at least all of the following: A. The original schedule of the project or projects as had been originally anticipated. B. The schedule of the project or projects as currently projected. C. A timeline for the submission of documents to the local planning authority or jurisdiction. D. 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 GAC had originally filed the local application prior to January 1, 2008. CONTINUED SB 608 Page 5 E. A proposed construction timeframe demonstrating the completion of the project once the permit is issued. Requires the construction timeframe to be approved by OSHPD and to only include the amount of time that is reasonably necessary to complete the construction required to meet the seismic requirements. 3. Permits OSHPD to grant an extension, in full one-year increments, but no longer than three consecutive years, which compensates for delays determined pursuant to #4) below. 4. Requires OSHPD to conduct a comprehensive review of the schedule for the project or projects according to criteria specified in this bill. Requires this review to encompass the project or projects under jurisdiction of OSHPD, as well as other project phases not under the jurisdiction of OSHPD. Requires OSHPD to 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. Permits OSHPD to grant extensions based on evaluation of each of the following circumstances: A. Where the local planning authority approvals have delayed or will delay the construction start date of the project or projects. B. Where the local conditions of approval on a project or projects extend the duration beyond the originally anticipated construction completion date. C. Where the cumulative effect of delays on the project or projects create additional construction delays due to local seasonal weather impact requirements of the local planning authority. D. Construction related to the seismic retrofit or replacement project has begun by January 1, 2013. E. The project or projects were submitted for review CONTINUED SB 608 Page 6 by DPH no later than January 1, 2009. F. The project or projects have received a building permit from DPH no later than January 1, 2012. 5. Requires the GAC owner, every six months after the approval of the extension, to report to OSHPD on the status of the project, demonstrating that it is making reasonable progress toward meeting the construction timeline. 6. Permits OSHPD to grant an additional extension of up to two years in addition to the extension granted pursuant to #3) and #4) above, if and only if, the projects meet all of the following criteria: A. A matrix of buildings at the facility that identifies compliance of each building to the standards required in existing law at the completion of the project. B. The construction timelines submitted pursuant to #1) above were determined to go beyond three years from the date the building permit was issued. C. Acute care services will not be provided in any structural performance category (SPC)-1 building at any time during the extension. D. The GAC 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. E. The GAC 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 the January 1, 2008 seismic deadline, as specified, that OSHPD determines will best protect patients' safety. 7. Permits OSHPD to revoke an extension for any GAC building where the work of construction is abandoned or CONTINUED SB 608 Page 7 suspended for a period of at least six months, unless the GAC demonstrates in a public document that the abandonment or suspension was caused by factors beyond its control. 8. Permits OSHPD to revoke an extension granted if it is determined that any information submitted was falsified in any manner by the GAC or if the GAC fails to meet any criteria or conditions, as specified. 9. Requires regulatory submissions made by OSHPD to the California Building Standards Commission pursuant to provisions in this bill to be deemed and to be adopted as emergency regulations. 10.Requires the GAC owner that applies for an extension to pay to OSHPD an additional fee, to be determined by OSHPD, sufficient to cover the additional cost incurred by OSHPD for maintaining all reporting requirements established pursuant to the provision of this bill, including, but not limited to, the costs of reviewing and verifying the extension documentation submitted. Prohibits the additional fee from including any cost for review of the plans or other duties related to receiving a building or occupancy permit. 11.Permits a GAC denied an extension to appeal the assessment to the Hospital Building Safety Board. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No ASSEMBLY FLOOR : AYES: Adams, Anderson, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeVore, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Knight, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, Norby, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, CONTINUED SB 608 Page 8 Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torrico, Tran, Villines, John A. Perez NOES: Ammiano NO VOTE RECORDED: Jones, Lieu, Ma, Torres, Yamada, Vacancy, Vacancy CTW:do 8/31/10 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED **** END **** CONTINUED