BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                     AB 576


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          Date of Hearing:  April 7, 2015





                   ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS





                                Susan Bonilla, Chair





          AB 576  
          (Ting) - As Introduced February 24, 2015





          SUBJECT:  California Building Standards Commission:  advisory  
 
          panels.





          SUMMARY:   Authorizes the California Building Standards  
 
          Commission (CBSC) to appoint individuals from the energy and  
 
          resource professions to join its building standards advisory  
 








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          panels.





          EXISTING LAW





          1)Establishes the CBSC within the Department of General  
 
            Services. (Health and Safety Code (HSC) §18901)





          2)Requires state agencies to submit adopted or proposed building  
 
            standards to the CBSC for approval prior to codification. (HSC  
 
            §18930)





          3)Requires that building standards be approved by the CBSC  
 
            before they are filed with the Secretary of State and codified  
 
            and prohibits the standards from being published in any other  
 
            title of the California Code of Regulations. (HSC §18938,  
 
            §18940)








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          4)Requires that the Governor appoint the CBSC members from the  
 
            public, design professions, the building and construction  
 
            industry, local government building officials, fire and safety  
 
            officials, and labor, including at least one member who is  
 
            experienced and knowledgeable in building energy efficiency  
 
            standards and one member who is experienced and knowledgeable  
 
            in sustainable building, design, construction, and operation.  
 
            (HSC §18921)





          5)Authorizes the CBSC to appoint individuals from the design  
 
            professions, the building and construction industry, the  
 
            affected general public, and interested governmental agencies,  
 
            to code advisory panels to advise the CBSC and its staff on  
 
            building standards. (HSC §18927)













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          6)Requires the CBSC to solicit nominations for the plumbing,  
 
            electrical mechanical and energy (PEME) and green building  
 
            code advisory committees from specified energy and efficiency  
 
            professions, including: environmental/energy organizations;  
 
            local government water efficiency officials; environmental  
 
            organization representatives; and energy/building performance  
 
            specialists. (Title 24, California Code of Regulations (CCR) §  
 
            1-209)





          7)Requires the CBSC to adopt and update green building  
 
            standards. (24 CCR § 1-203)





          8)Requires the CBSC to submit code changes to one or more code  
 
            advisory committees specifically knowledgeable in the proposed  
 
            building standard. (24 CCR § 1-409)





          THIS BILL








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          1)Amends the California Building Standards Law to expressly  
 
            include energy and resource efficiency professions as one of  
 
            the professions CBSC may choose from when appointing people to  
 
            its advisory panels.





          2)States that it is the intent of the Legislature to enact  
 
            legislation to promote the creation of energy and resource  
 
            efficient homes in California.





          FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. This bill is keyed fiscal by the  
 
          Legislative Counsel.





          COMMENTS  











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          1)Purpose. This bill is sponsored by the author. According to  
 
            the author, this bill "authorizes the CBSC to appoint energy  
 
            and resource efficiency professionals to the advisory panels  
 
            or committees, which would codify existing practices to  
 
            promote the use of energy and resource efficiency  
 
            professionals on these panels or committees and reinforce the  
 
            state's commitment to sustainable building standards." 





            Further, "[a]s the building code evolves to account for more  
 
            energy and resource efficiency measures, it is important to  
 
            ensure that the CBSC is able to draw upon the knowledge and  
 
            qualifications of experts in the field."





          2)Background. The California Building Standards Law establishes  
 
            CBSC and the process for adopting state building standards  
 
            (HSC §18901-18949.31).  First, state agencies propose building  
 
            standards for building types under their jurisdiction. Second,  








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            CBSC adopts, modifies, or rejects the standards. Third, CBSC  
 
            publishes the updated standards in the California Building  
 
            Standards Code every three years. CBSC publishes supplements  
 
            in intervening years (e.g. the California Green Building  
 
            Standards Code, or CALGreen). 







          The CBSC is made up of 11 members who represent the public,  
 
            building design professions, the building and construction  
 
            industry, local government building officials, fire and safety  
 
            officials, and labor, and must include at least one member who  
 
            is experienced and knowledgeable in building energy efficiency  
 
            standards and one member who is experienced and knowledgeable  
 
            in sustainable building, design, construction, and operation.



          Advisory Panels. The statute authorizes CBSC to appoint an  
 
            advisory panel to advise CBSC and its staff on building  
 
            standards. It permits CBSC to appoint people from the design  
 








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            professions, the building and construction industry, the  
 
            affected general public, and interested governmental agencies.  
 
            Panel appointees must be knowledgeable and qualified in the  
 
            type of work relevant to the building standards in question.



          While the statute does not discuss the composition of the  
 
            advisory panels, its regulations do. The State Building  
 
            Standards Code requires CBSC to establish six types of  
 
            standing code advisory committees: (1) accessibility; (2)  
 
            PEME; (3) building, fire, and other regulations; (4)  
 
            structural design/lateral forces; (5) health facilities; and  
 
            (6) green building (24 CCR § 1-209). For PEME and green  
 
            building, CBSC must solicit nominations for voting members  
 
            from energy and resource efficiency professions, such as  
 
            environmental organizations.



          Differences between current law and this bill. While the current  
 
            building standards statute (HSC § 18927) does not specifically  
 
            include energy and resource efficiency professions as one of  
 
            the professions CBSC may choose from for its advisory panels,  








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            the current building standards regulations (24 CCR § 1-209)  
 
            require CBSC to choose from at least three professions  
 
            specific to energy and resource efficiency. 



          This bill would amend the HSC to include the energy and resource  
 
            efficiency professions in general as a group CBSC may choose  
 
            from. 

            Prior legislation. AB 2270 (Ting) of 2014 would have  
 
            authorized the CBSC to appoint individuals from the energy and  
 
            resource efficiency professions to appropriate advisory panels  
 
            that advise the CBSC and its staff with respect to building  
 
            standards. (STATUS: vetoed by Governor Brown because the CBSC  
 
            already appoints energy and resource professionals to the  
 
            panels) 





            AB 930 (Gordon), Chapter 399, Statutes of 2011, required that  
 
            at least one member of CBSC be a person who is experienced and  
 
            knowledgeable in sustainable building, design, construction,  
 








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            and operation. 





            AB 1058 (Laird) of 2007 would have required the Department of  
 
            Housing and Community Development and ultimately the CBSC to  
 
            adopt best practices and building standards related to green  
 
            building, and would have required the advisory panels to also  
 
            advise the CBSC with respect to green building standards.  
 
            (STATUS: This bill was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger  
 
            because the bill conflicted with the safety standards of the  
 
            time and he believed the standards should be left to the  
 
            regulatory process)





          REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:









          Support








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          None on file.









          Opposition





          None on file.









          Analysis Prepared by:Vincent Chee / B. & P. / (916) 319-3301















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