BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 980
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 980 (Pan)
As Amended March 21, 2013
Majority vote
BUSINESS & PROFESSIONS 8-4 APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Bocanegra, Campos, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bocanegra, |
| |Dickinson, | |Bradford, |
| |Eggman, Holden, Mullin, | |Ian Calderon, Campos, |
| |Skinner, | |Eggman, Gomez, Hall, |
| |Ting | |Rendon, Pan, Quirk, Weber |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Jones, Hagman, |Nays:|Harkey, Bigelow, |
| |Maienschein, Wilk | |Donnelly, Linder, Wagner |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires the California Building Standards Commission
(CBSC), in conjunction with the Office of Statewide Health Planning
and Development (OSHPD), to adopt emergency regulations to delete
proposed building standard regulations for primary care clinics
offering abortion services, and prohibits CBSC from adopting
building standard regulations for construction requirements that
differ between primary care clinics that offer certain abortion
services and those that do not. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires CBSC and OSHPD to adopt emergency regulations that delete
building standard regulations for primary care clinics providing
abortion services (Section 1226.7) from the 2013 Triennial Edition
of the California Building Standards Code (2013 Code).
2)Prohibits CBSC from adopting building standard regulations for
construction requirements that distinguish between primary care
clinics providing medication or aspiration abortion services and
certain other primary care clinics.
3)Declares that the Legislature intends to preempt and render
inoperative the 2013 Code regulations defining a primary care
clinic that provides abortion services.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee,
minor absorbable costs to the CBSC and OSHPD.
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COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of this bill . This bill would require CBSC and OSHPD to
adopt emergency regulations to preempt a pending building standard
regulation that would effectively prevent clinics that provide
medication and aspiration abortion services from utilizing a
proposed building standard exemption for primary care clinics that
would allow them to follow less stringent and less costly space
and plumbing code requirements for new and retrofitted clinics.
Additionally, this bill would prohibit CBSC from adopting any
future building standards that would differentiate between primary
care clinics that provide medication or aspiration abortion
services and those that do not.
The sponsors believe that differential treatment of primary care
clinics is unjustified, and argue that building standards for
primary care clinics should be uniformly applied, regardless of
whether or not abortion services are offered. This bill is
sponsored by the Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California.
2)Understanding the building standards code cycle and rulemaking
process . CBSC is responsible for administering California's
building codes. The CBSC publishes the code every three years,
and supplements to the code in intervening years. Building
regulations and standards take effect 180 days after their
publication unless otherwise stated.
OSHPD promulgates building standard regulations related to the
construction of licensed clinics and outpatient clinical services
of a hospital in non-hospital buildings under the jurisdiction of
local building departments. OSHPD also develops building
standards that have specific construction requirements for primary
care clinics providing abortion services based on California
Department of Public Health (CDPH) regulations prescribing general
space requirements for clinics.
3)Understanding the OSHPD exemption for primary care clinics . CBSC
recently adopted OSHPD regulations that exempted primary care
clinics, except for those that provide abortions, from certain
plumbing code and space requirements. These regulations are part
of the 2013 Code that will take effect on January 1, 2014. These
exemptions would permit the construction or renovation of primary
care clinics at a lower cost because they would not have to comply
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with the existing - and more stringent - plumbing standards.
These exemptions target a limited classification of primary care
clinics to align with the national guidelines established for
small, community-oriented primary care outpatient facilities that
are expected to increase in number as a result of the federal
Affordable Care Act.
4)This bill in practice . As noted above, the actions taken by this
bill are relatively straightforward:
First, this bill requires CBSC and OSHPD to adopt emergency
regulations to repeal Section 1226.7 of the 2013 Code (which deals
specifically with requirements for primary care clinics that
provide abortion services) so only Section 1226.6 of the 2013 Code
(dealing with the lower requirements for primary care clinics in
general) remains. By deleting Section 1226.7, primary care
clinics that provide abortion services should be able to avail
themselves of the less expensive building standard quickly,
thereby making it easier to build new clinics and retrofit
existing ones.
Any building standard adopted through the emergency rulemaking
procedure takes effect immediately upon filing with the Secretary
of State but expire after six months. Any permanent change to the
building code would need to be promulgated through the regular
rulemaking process within 180 days of taking effect, to keep the
OSHPD exemptions permanently in the code.
Second, this bill would explicitly prohibit CBSC from adopting
building standards in the future that distinguish between primary
care clinics providing medication or aspiration (as opposed to
surgical) abortion services and certain other primary care
clinics. The purpose of this is simply to prevent the
promulgation of a regulation like Section 1226.7 of the 2013 Code
in the future.
Analysis Prepared by : Joanna Gin / B., P. & C.P. / (916) 319-3301
FN: 0000627
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