BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 278|
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VETO
Bill No: SB 278
Author: Gaines (R), et al
Amended: 4/25/11
Vote: 21
SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE : 9-0, 04/06/11
AYES: Hernandez, Strickland, Alquist, Anderson, Blakeslee,
De León, DeSaulnier, Rubio, Wolk
SENATE FLOOR : 38-0, 05/05/11
AYES: Alquist, Anderson, Berryhill, Blakeslee, Calderon,
Cannella, Corbett, Correa, DeSaulnier, Dutton, Emmerson,
Evans, Fuller, Gaines, Hancock, Harman, Hernandez, Huff,
Kehoe, La Malfa, Leno, Lieu, Liu, Lowenthal, Negrete
McLeod, Padilla, Pavley, Price, Rubio, Simitian,
Steinberg, Strickland, Vargas, Walters, Wolk, Wright,
Wyland, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: De León, Runner
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 06/27/11 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Public safety: ski resorts
SOURCE : California Ski & Snowboard Safety Organization
California Ski Industry Association
DIGEST : This bill requires ski resorts to prepare an
annual safety plan and make it available to the public the
same day a request is received at the resort. It requires
a monthly report with specified details about any fatal
CONTINUED
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incidents at the resort which resulted from a recreational
activity to be available within 30 days at the resort, and
requires a ski resort to establish a signage policy and a
safety padding policy.
ANALYSIS : Existing federal law provides that the
Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to issue permits for
the use and occupancy of lands within the National Forest
System for nordic and alpine skiing operations and
purposes.
Existing federal regulations state that the holder of a
winter recreation resort permit prepare and annually revise
an operating plan that covers all operations authorized by
the permit.
Existing state law:
1.Specifies the requirements for obtaining a license for,
and the operation of, passenger aerial tramway at ski
resorts and requires the Division of Occupational Health
and Safety (DOSH) to conduct inspections of aerial
tramways biannually.
2.Requires the reporting of any fatality or injury of a
patron requiring more than standard first aid by an
operator of amusement rides to DOSH.
3.Provides that every person who, among other things,
willfully commits a trespass by knowingly skiing in an
area, or on a ski trail, which is closed to the public
and has signs posted indicating the closure, is guilty of
a misdemeanor.
This bill:
1.Requires a ski resort that operates in California to
prepare an annual safety plan, in addition to meeting
federal regulations, and to make the plan available to
the public at the ski resort upon request the same day
the request is received.
2.Requires a ski resort to create a monthly report
including descriptions of each incident at the resort
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resulting in a fatality occurring from participating in
recreational activities offered at the resort.
3.Requires the report to include the age of the person
fatally injured, the type of activity involved, the cause
of the fatality, the location where the incident occurred
at the resort, and the name of the medical facility where
treatment was provided. Excludes the resort from naming
the fatally injured person.
4.Requires that resorts establish signage policies to
indicate ski area boundaries, closed areas, degree of
slope difficulty, and other unspecified safety and
educational information.
5.Resorts must also establish policies for safety padding
or other barriers for lift towers and snowmaking
equipment located on or near groomed ski runs.
6.States that nothing in the bill changes the existing
assumption of risk doctrine as it applies to ski resorts.
Background
California hosts an extensive recreational nordic and
alpine skiing and snowboarding industry, with approximately
30 resorts drawing skiers and snowboarders from all over
the world every year. Nordic skiing is commonly referred
to as cross-country skiing but encompasses all types of
skiing where the heel of the boot cannot be affixed to the
ski. Conversely, alpine skiing is commonly referred to as
downhill skiing but encompasses skiing with fixed-heel
bindings.
In November 2008, the Assembly Judiciary Committee held an
informational hearing on "Ski and Snowboard Health, Safety
and Liability Standards." The hearing concluded that the
ski industry has no uniform safety policies, procedures, or
signage, and the safety practices that are in place tend to
vary from location to location. Unlike most states with
major ski resorts, California has no ski safety statute, no
proactive oversight and no established ski and snowboard
safety standards.
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Most, but not all, of California's ski resorts are located
on federal land, which subjects them to some oversight by
the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). Ski resorts located on
federal property are required to file annual operating or
safety plans with the USFS. Although the USFS has
contractual authority to enforce safety improvements on
land leased to ski resorts, with no established national
safety standards, the USFS takes a "hands-off" position on
safety regulation. Individuals testifying at the
informational hearing reported great difficulty in
obtaining copies of the plans from the USFS when they filed
the required Freedom of Information Act requests.
The California ski industry enjoys legal liability
protection through a common law doctrine of "assumed risk"
as well as contractual negligence waivers included on ski
pass purchase agreements. As a result of these
protections, ski resorts have limited exposure to legal
liability. There is no publicly accessible, statewide
repository of information on ski resort-related deaths and
injuries.
Comments
According to the National Ski Areas Association, about 40.6
people have died skiing/snowboarding per year on average
over the past 10 years. Serious injuries (injuries
resulting in paralysis, serious head injuries, etc.) from
skiing/snowboarding occur at the rate of about 43.6 per
year nationwide. In the 2007/2008 season, there were 41
serious injuries. Thirty-two of these serious injuries
were skiers and nine were snowboarders. The rate of
serious injury in 2007/2008 was 0.68 per million
skier/snowboarder visits. According to a Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention study in the journal
Wilderness and Environmental Medicine , more people are hurt
snowboarding than any other outdoor activity, accounting
for a quarter of emergency room visits. Almost 213,000
people were treated each year in emergency departments for
outdoor recreational injuries from 2004 to 2005. Of those
injured, about 109,000 (51.5 percent) were people between
the ages of 10 and 24.
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FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 4/28/11)
California Ski & Snowboard Safety Organization (co-source)
California Ski Industry Association (co-source)
California Chapter of American College of Emergency
Physicians
California State Sheriffs' Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The California Ski & Snowboard
Safety Organization supports safety improvements in
California skiing, snowboarding and recreational snow
sports and believes making information on safety practices
and performance at ski resorts readily available to the
public will further enhance the public's safety. They
state that individuals and families should be informed
about the hazards and risks that exist with snow sports and
that California resorts should make reasonable efforts to
prevent or reduce the number of accidents and injuries
without fundamentally altering the enjoyment of the sport.
The California Chapter of American College of Emergency
Physicians (CAL/ACEP) believes this bill is important
accident prevention and injury management legislation.
They state that many of the injuries CAL/ACEP member
physicians see during the winter months result from ski and
snowboard accidents, and that many of those injuries could
have been avoided with better signage for boundaries and
hazards at those resorts. They believe that the data
derived from the reporting requirements in this bill will
provide opportunities for stronger accident and injury
prevention policies.
GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE:
"I am returning Senate Bill 278 without my signature.
This bill would make available to the general public a
ski resort's annual safety plan as well as information
about any fatal incidents. It would also require ski
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resorts to create their own signage policy regarding
skier information. I believe such a measure is
unnecessary--yet another exercise of the State's
regulatory power for objectives that, in the ordinary
course, are handled by private business or the people
themselves."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 06/27/11
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson,
Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani,
Beth Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Grove, Hagman,
Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill,
Huber, Hueso, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lara, Logue,
Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell,
Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan,
Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Portantino, Silva, Skinner,
Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao, Wagner,
Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Gordon, Gorell, Huffman
CTW:nl 1/4/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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