BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON HEALTH
Senator Ed Hernandez, O.D., Chair
BILL NO: SB 488
AUTHOR: Hueso
AMENDED: April 22, 2013
HEARING DATE: May 1, 2013
CONSULTANT: Moreno
SUBJECT : Substandard housing: regulations.
SUMMARY : Permits the determination of an infestation of
insects, vermin or rodents and the lack of adequate garbage
storage and removal facilities to be made by an environmental
agency, housing department, or building department, as
specified, if an agreement does not exist with an agency that
has a local health officer (LHO) to make that determination.
Existing law:
1.Deems a building or portion thereof including any dwelling
unit, guestroom or suite of rooms, or the premises on which
these are located, to be a substandard building if specified
conditions exist to an extent that endangers the life, limb,
health, property, safety, or welfare of the public or the
occupants.
2.Specifies that the "inadequate sanitation" conditions include,
but are not limited to:
a. Lack of, or improper water closet, lavatory, or bathtub
or shower in a dwelling unit;
b. Lack of, or improper water closets, lavatories, and
bathtubs or showers per number of guests in a hotel;
c. Lack of, or improper kitchen sink;
d. Lack of hot and cold running water to plumbing fixtures
in a hotel;
e. Lack of hot and cold running water to plumbing fixtures
in a dwelling unit;
f. Lack of adequate heating;
g. Lack of, or improper operation of required ventilating
equipment;
h. Lack of minimum amounts of natural light and ventilation
required by this code;
i. Room and space dimensions less than required by this
code;
j. Lack of required electrical lighting;
aa. Dampness of habitable rooms;
Continued---
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bb. Infestation of insects, vermin, or rodents, as
determined by the LHO;
cc. General dilapidation or improper maintenance;
dd. Lack of connection to required sewage disposal system;
and,
ee. Lack of adequate garbage and rubbish storage and removal
facilities, as determined by the LHO.
This bill: Permits the determination of an infestation of
insects, vermin or rodents and the lack of adequate garbage
storage and removal facilities to be made by an environmental
agency, housing department, or building department, as
specified, if an agreement does not exist with an agency that
has a LHO to make that determination..
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill has been keyed non-fiscal.
COMMENTS :
1.Author's statement. The California Health and Safety Code
currently deems infestations of pests and vermin substandard
housing. However, state law limits the authority to cite for
infestations to the LHO. Many jurisdictions across the state
currently do not have an agreement for the services of the
LHO. As a result, there is no government agency with the legal
authority to enforce this law in those jurisdictions. This
leaves tenants in housing with pests and vermin problems and
unresponsive landlords with no recourse to ensure their
housing is safe and habitable. SB 488 will give local code
enforcement officers the legal authority to identify and abate
pests and vermin when a health officer is not available. This
will allow all tenants in California to have state law
enforced in their community and help resolve unhealthy housing
for families in communities across the state.
2.Background. According to the CDC, rats and mice spread more
than 35 diseases which can be spread to humans directly,
through handling of rodents, through contact with rodent
feces, urine, or saliva, or through rodent bites. Diseases
carried by rodents can also be spread to humans indirectly,
through ticks, mites or fleas that have fed on an infected
rodent. Some insects, such as bedbugs, cause a variety of
negative physical health, mental health and economic
consequences. Many people have mild to severe allergic
reaction to the bites with effects ranging from no reaction to
a small bite mark to, in rare cases, anaphylaxis (severe,
whole-body reaction). The CDC considers bed bugs a pest of
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significant public health importance. Bed bugs fit into a
category of blood-sucking external parasites similar to head
lice, which feed on the blood of humans but are not believed
to transmit disease. Other such parasites, such as body lice,
are known to transmit several serious diseases. Finally, a
number of studies have linked cockroach and rodent allergens
in homes to an increase in the prevalence and severity of
asthma symptoms, with cockroach allergens estimated to be the
primary contributor to childhood asthma in inner-city homes
nationwide.
3.California Healthy Housing Coalition survey. A 2011
California Healthy Housing Coalition informal survey of
California code enforcement officers conducted through the
California Association of Code Enforcement Officers found that
40 percent experienced barriers to enforcing pest infestations
for their community. The types of barriers identified in
rural, urban, and suburban jurisdictions fall into the
following categories:
a. Efficiency- Extra coordination and time is needed for
additional inspection by the county, delaying resolution.
b. Responsiveness - For a variety of reasons, counties can
be slow to do inspections, delaying resolution.
c. Fiscal - Cities unable to pay for county services,
resulting in an inability to resolve problems.
d. Legal - Cities without county services cannot cite or
mandate compliance, resulting in a reliance on voluntary
compliance to resolve problems.
1.Support. Regional Asthma Management and Prevention (RAMP)
writes that pest infestations are a common problem in
California's housing, particularly rental housing, and that a
wide range of healthy homes programs, legal aid organizations,
and public health groups that conduct home visits list pests
as one of the most common problems they encounter that make a
home unhealthy. RAMP cites as an example a healthy homes
program finding in the City of San Diego of pest infestations
in more than 90 percent of the 400 plus housing units they
inspected. The California Pan-Ethnic Health Network writes
that infestations of pests and vermin are considered to be
substandard housing conditions, and that these pests and
vermin are far too common problems for tenants in California
and have significant impacts on residents including asthma
triggers and skin conditions. The YMCA Childcare Resource
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Service states that many jurisdictions across the state
currently do not have an agreement for the services of the LHO
and as a result, tenants are left in housing with pests and
vermin problems and unresponsive landlords with no recourse to
ensure their housing is safe and habitable. The California
Association of Code Enforcement Officers writes that this is a
good sense bill that will bring to bear a broader array of
tools to assure the habitability of housing.
2.Opposition. The Apartment Association California Southern
Cities, the East Bay Rental Housing Association, and the
NORCAL Rental Property Association pest and garbage
determinations are the sole responsibility of LHOs and those
substandard housing determinations should continue to be made
by professionals with the same or equivalent training. The
opponents seek an amendment that would ensure that any code
enforcement official making determinations normally made by
LHOs have the same or equivalent training and education with
respect to substandard housing determinations as LHOs in their
jurisdiction.
3.Policy comment. This bill, in effect, changes existing law so
that the same entity/authority who inspects for the other 12
conditions that can lead to inadequate sanitation listed under
Health and Safety Code Section 17920.3 (a) could also make the
determination for a rodent/insect infestation or the
inadequate control of residents' garbage. If this is the
author's intent, he author may wish to amend existing law to
delete the reference to LHOs, and be silent on the inspecting
authority (which is the case for the other 12 conditions under
this law).
SUPPORT AND OPPOSITION :
Support: California Association of Code Enforcement Officers
(sponsor)
California Pan-Ethnic Health Network (sponsor)
Regional Asthma Management and Prevention (sponsor)
Healthy Homes Collaborative
San Diego Regional Asthma Coalition
Western Center on Law & Poverty
YMCA Childcare Resource Service
Oppose: Apartment Association California Southern Cities
East Bay Rental Housing Association
NORCAL Rental Property Association
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