BILL ANALYSIS Ó Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary Senator Kevin de León, Chair AB 56 (Weber) - School Facilities: Carbon Monoxide Devices Amended: July 10, 2013 Policy Vote: Education 9-0 Urgency: No Mandate: No Hearing Date: August 30, 2013 Consultant: Jacqueline Wong-Hernandez SUSPENSE FILE. AS PROPOSED TO BE AMENDED. Bill Summary: AB 56 requires a K-12 public or private school building that is used for educational purposes, is built on or after January 1, 2014, and which has a fossil fuel burning furnace located inside the building to install a carbon monoxide device. This bill encourages schools with buildings built after January 1, 2012, to also comply with this requirement. This bill further requires the State Fire Marshal to propose appropriate standards for implementation of these requirements in the next code adoption cycle for the California Building Standards Commission (CBSC). Fiscal Impact: Bond funding: Likely minor, but potentially significant bond pressure to install a carbon monoxide device in each building of a school that contains a fossil fuel burning furnace, for every school building built after January 1, 2014. Costs will be minor for any individual school (as part of its construction) but, in aggregate, could be significant pressure on state bonds for future construction. Implementation standards: Minor costs and workload for the State Fire Marshal to develop implementation standards for adoption by the CBSC during its next regular triennial standards adoption cycle. Background: Existing law requires, under the School Facilities Program, all new construction projects to include an automatic fire detection, alarm, and sprinkler system, and all modernization projects in excess of $200,000 to include an automatic fire detection and alarm system. (Education Code §17074.50) Existing law establishes the Carbon Monoxide Poisoning AB 56 (Weber) Page 1 Prevention Act of 2010. Under the Act, the State Fire Marshal is required to develop a certification and decertification process to approve and list carbon monoxide devices and to disapprove and delist previously approved devices, if necessary. Current law prohibits any person from marketing, distributing, offering for sale, or selling any carbon monoxide device in this state unless the device and the instructions have been approved and listed by the State Fire Marshal. (Health and Safety Code § 13263) Proposed Law: AB 56 requires a K-12 public or private school building that is used for educational purposes, is built on or after January 1, 2014, and which has a fossil fuel burning furnace located inside a building to install a carbon monoxide device in that building. This bill further requires the State Fire Marshal to propose appropriate standards for implementation of these requirements "in the next code adoption cycle for the CBSC." Staff Comments: The costs for the State Fire Marshall to develop standards for the implementation of this bill will depend, in part, upon clarifying vagueness in the bill's language. This bill specifies that the State Fire Marshal "propose appropriate standards for implementation of this article," which takes effect January 1, 2014. Standards of implementation should be in effect once the bill's requirements are in effect; for practical purposes, the State Fire Marshal should have "implementation standards" done by the implementation date. This bill further states, however, that the standards be proposed "in the next adoption cycle" of the CSBC, which is in 2017. (There is an interim adoption in progress, but that will be completed by the time this bill would take effect). It is unclear whether the author intends to wait until 2017 for implementation standards that affect buildings beginning in 2014. The additional time would make the workload more easily absorbed by the State Fire Marshal, but would leave projects initiated before 2017 without standards. If the intention is to have standards completed near implementation, they cannot be accomplished without additional resources. Another key variable in the costs of this bill is whether or not, by the time the standards are to be proposed, there are national building standards for carbon monoxide devices, which would serve as a framework for developing state standards. AB 56 (Weber) Page 2 According to the State Fire Marshal, the adoption of national standards is currently being considered. If adopted, the State Fire Marshal could likely complete state standards in a streamlined process, for approximately $20,000. If the State Fire Marshal has to develop state standards in the absence of adopted national standards, whether in 2014 or in 2017, the process will be more extensive and costly. The State Fire Marshal will need to bring in outside experts, convene stakeholder meetings, and staff the adoption process; the cost will depend on how extensive the standards are and how much consensus there is upfront about the content. The State Fire Marshal anticipates it will need a .5 PY, at a cost of $85,000 to staff the project, and additional resources for meetings and contracting experts as needed. AS PROPOSED TO BE AMENDED: Author's proposed amendments would specify that the State Fire Marshal propose implementation standards to the CSBC for adoption in its next triennial code adoption cycle, and make other clarifying changes.