Amended in Senate September 3, 2013

Amended in Senate July 10, 2013

Amended in Assembly May 24, 2013

Amended in Assembly April 18, 2013

Amended in Assembly April 2, 2013

Amended in Assembly March 11, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 56

Introduced by Assembly Member Weber

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Ammiano, Brown, Holden, Maienschein, and Wieckowski)

(Coauthor: Senator Cannella)

January 7, 2013

An act to add Article 7 (commencing with Section 32080) to Chapter 1 of Part 19 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code, relating to school facilities.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 56, as amended, Weber. School facilities: carbon monoxide devices.

Existing law, the Leroy F. Greene School Facilities Act of 1998, requires certain new school facilities construction projects that require the approval of the Department of General Services, as specified, to include an automatic fire detection, alarm, and sprinkler system.

Existing law requires an owner of a dwelling unit intended for human occupancy to install a carbon monoxide device, as specified, in each existing dwelling unit having a fossil fuel burning heater or appliance, a fireplace, or an attached garage.

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This bill would require any private or public school building used for educational purposes for kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, that is built on or after January 1, 2014, and that has a fossil fuel burning furnace located inside the school building, to have a carbon monoxide device. The bill would require that the carbon monoxide device be installed in close proximity to each furnace located within the school building.

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Existing law, the California Building Standards Law, requires the California Building Standards Commission to approve or adopt proposed building standards that are submitted by state agencies during an 18-month code adoption cycle.

This bill would begin delete require end delete begin insert require, by July 1, 2015, end insert the State Fire Marshal to propose begin insert for adoption by the commission, end insert appropriate standards for begin delete implementing the bill’s provisions in the next code adoption cycle of the California Building Standards Commission. end delete begin insert the installation of carbon monoxide devices in public and private school buildings that meet specified criteria. end insert

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. 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) (1) Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless gas produced
when fuel, such as gas, oil, kerosene, wood, or charcoal, is burned.
Carbon monoxide can cause harmful health effects by reducing
the delivery of oxygen to the body’s organs, such as the heart,
brain, and tissues. The most common symptoms of carbon
monoxide poisoning are headaches, dizziness, weakness, nausea,
vomiting, chest pain, and confusion. Long-term breathing of carbon
monoxide can affect the memory, brain function, behavior, and
cognition. According to the American Medical Association, carbon
monoxide is the leading cause of accidental poisoning deaths in
the United States. Gas furnaces and other fuel-burning appliances
are common sources of carbon monoxide poisoning.

(2) The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
estimate that each year more than 400 Americans die from
unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning, more than 20,000 visit
the emergency room, and more than 4,000 are hospitalized due to
carbon monoxide poisoning. According to the United States
Environmental Protection Agency, a person cannot see or smell
carbon monoxide. At high levels, carbon monoxide can kill a
person in minutes.

(3) The State Air Resources Board estimates that every year
carbon monoxide accounts for between 30 and 40 avoidable deaths,
possibly thousands of avoidable illnesses, and between 175 and
700 avoidable emergency room and hospital visits.

(4) There are well-documented chronic health effects of acute
carbon monoxide poisoning and prolonged exposure to carbon
monoxide, including, but not limited to, lethargy, headaches,
concentration problems, amnesia, psychosis, Parkinson’s disease,
memory impairment, and personality alterations.

(b) In an analysis conducted by the National Fire Protection
Association of nonfire carbon monoxide incidents reported for the
year 2005, 250 carbon monoxide incidents were reported
nationwide in educational facilities. Of these, 150 incidents
occurred in school buildings used for preschool, kindergarten, or
grades 1 to 12, inclusive.

(c) (1) On December 3, 2012, Finch Elementary School in
Atlanta, Georgia, was evacuated after firefighters discovered a
carbon monoxide leak from the school’s furnace. Firefighters
responded to the school after reports came in that people at the
school were unconscious. Although no one was found unconscious,
firefighters found people sickened and, in total, 43 students and
10 adults were taken to the local hospital.

(2) The firefighters detected high and unsafe levels of carbon
monoxide near a furnace, and detected up to 1,700 parts per million
of carbon monoxide in other areas, a very high level of the gas.

(3) The State of Georgia did not require school facilities to have,
and Finch Elementary School did not have, carbon monoxide
detectors. Two states, Maryland and Connecticut, have passed
legislation requiring carbon monoxide detectors in school facilities.

(d) Senate Bill 183 of the 2009-10 Regular Session (Chapter
19 of the Statutes of 2010) requires a dwelling unit that is intended
for human occupancy and that has a fossil fuel burning heater or
appliance, a fireplace, or an attached garage to have a carbon
monoxide alarm, as specified.

(e) Because carbon monoxide affects individuals differently
and symptoms of exposure can mimic symptoms of common
ailments such as the influenza virus, it is difficult to quantify the
exact number of carbon monoxide incidents in school buildings
and it is highly probable that the number of carbon monoxide
incidents is underreported. Additionally, the number of carbon
monoxide incidents in schools will likely rise in future years as
school buildings and their infrastructure become outdated over
time. Carbon monoxide devices provide a vital, highly effective,
and low-cost protection against carbon monoxide poisoning and
these devices should be made available to every school in
California to help prevent students from being exposed to the
effects of carbon monoxide.

SEC. 2.  

Article 7 (commencing with Section 32080) is added
to Chapter 1 of Part 19 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education
Code, to read:

 

Article 7.  Carbon Monoxide Devices

 

32080.  

For purposes of this article, “fossil fuel” has the same
meaning as defined in Section 13262 of the Health and Safety
Code.

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32081.  

(a) A private or public school building that is used for
educational purposes for kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12,
inclusive, that is built on or after January 1, 2014, and that has a
fossil fuel burning furnace located inside the school building, shall
have a carbon monoxide device, approved and listed pursuant to
Section 13263 of the Health and Safety Code, installed in that
building.

end delete

begin insert

begin insert 32081. end insert   

end insert begin insert

(a) By July 1, 2015, the State Fire Marshal shall
propose for adoption by the California Building Standards
Commission, for the commission’s next triennial code adoption
cycle, appropriate standards for the installation of carbon
monoxide devices in school buildings. The proposed building
standards shall require carbon monoxide devices to be installed
in public and private school buildings that meet all of the following
criteria:

end insert begin insert

(1) The school building is constructed pursuant to the 2016
California Building Standards Code (Title 24 of the California
Code of Regulations), or any amendments to the California
Building Standards Code which follow.

end insert begin insert

(2) The school building is used for educational purposes for
kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive.

end insert begin insert

(3) A fossil fuel burning furnace is located inside the school
building.

end insert

(b) A private or public school begin delete used end delete begin insert that uses a school building end insert
for educational purposes for kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12,
inclusive, that begin insert was built before the adoption of the 2016 California
Building Standards Code (Title 24 of the California Code of
Regulations), and end insert has a begin insert fossil fuel burning end insert furnace located inside
the school begin delete building, and that was built before January 1, 2014, end delete
begin insert building end insert is encouraged to have a carbon monoxide device installed
in the building.

begin delete

32082.  

A carbon monoxide device installed pursuant to Section
32081 shall be installed in close proximity to each furnace located
within the public or private school building so that the device can
accurately detect the leakage of carbon monoxide.

end delete begin delete

32083.  

The State Fire Marshal shall propose appropriate
standards for the implementation of this article in the next code
adoption cycle of the California Building Standards Commission.

end delete