BILL NUMBER: AB 1783 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 13, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 28, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Dodd
(Principal coauthor: Senator Wolk)
FEBRUARY 4, 2016
An act to add Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 17660) to Part
10.5 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code, relating to
school facilities.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1783, as amended, Dodd. School facilities: nonstructural
earthquake hazards: assessment.
Existing law, the Field Act, generally requires the Department of
General Services to supervise the design and construction of, the
reconstruction or alteration of, or the addition to, a school
building to ensure, among other things, that plans and specifications
comply with adopted rules and regulations and building standards,
including those relating to seismic safety. Existing law requires the
Office of Emergency Services, in cooperation with the State
Department of Education, the Department of General Services, and the
Alfred E. Alquist Seismic Safety Commission, to develop an
educational pamphlet for use by school personnel to identify and
mitigate the risks posed by nonstructural earthquake hazards.
This bill would require each school district, county office of
education, and charter school, school located
in an area of higher seismicity, as defined, on or before
January 1, 2018, to develop a plan for the inspection of the contents
in each of its school buildings of areas that are accessible to
or occupied by pupils to assess whether the contents comply
with the guidelines set forth in the pamphlet, to identify school
building contents that do not comply with the guidelines, and to
develop corrective actions to bring noncompliant contents into
compliance. The bill would require, among other things, that the plan
be developed in consultation with specified persons, that it
designate the responsible person or persons who will perform the
assessment and develop the corrective action plans for noncompliant
contents, and that it include a cost estimate for the assessment. The
bill would require each school district, county office of education,
and charter school to complete the assessment on or before January
1, 2020. The bill would require, within 60 days of completing an
assessment for each school building, that a checklist of compliant
and noncompliant contents be reported to the governing board of the
school district, the county board of education, or the governing body
of the charter school, as applicable, with a prioritization of
noncompliant items that threaten the safety of pupils and school
personnel and a set of recommended corrective actions to bring
high-priority noncompliant contents into compliance with the
published guidelines. By imposing additional duties on local
educational agency officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated
local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Following significant damage to school buildings in the 1933
Long Beach earthquake, the Field Act was enacted to mandate the
earthquake-resistant construction of schools.
(b) The Division of the State Architect (DSA) reviews the design,
construction, alteration, addition, and rehabilitation of K-12 public
schools and community colleges.
(c) The DSA also monitors the safety of nonstructural components
installed in school facilities.
(d) Implementation of the Field Act, as defined pursuant to
Section 17281 of the Education Code, depends upon a complex
interrelationship with dispersed responsibilities among state
departments and agencies, school districts, local government building
departments, educational institutions, and the construction
industry.
(e) The South Napa earthquake struck in the early morning on
August 24, 2014. Structural damage to schools was minimal. However,
nonstructural damage was significant and could have been life
threatening had the earthquake occurred during school hours.
(f) The earthquake highlighted dangers posed by light fixtures,
unrestrained bookcases, storage units, furniture, and other similar
school contents that are not subject to the Field Act's requirements.
(g) The DSA has issued guidelines for nonstructural earthquake
hazards in California schools, which include furniture and equipment.
However, there are no requirements in state law similar to the
requirements of the Field Act that require the DSA, local fire
agencies, or school districts to inspect schools to ensure that
school contents comply with the DSA nonstructural component
guidelines.
(h) School classrooms should be examined to ensure that
furnishings and equipment are properly located, anchored and braced
to prevent harm to pupils and school personnel, and to ensure egress
from any room after an earthquake.
SEC. 2. Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 17660) is added to Part
10.5 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code, to read:
CHAPTER 8. NONSTRUCTURAL EARTHQUAKE HAZARDS
17660. (a) (1) By no later than January 1,
2018, each school district, county office of education, and charter
school located in an area of higher seismicity shall
develop a plan for the inspection of the contents, as described in
Section 17662, in each of its school buildings.
buildings of areas that are accessible to or occupie
d by pupils, including classrooms, hallways, libraries,
gymnasiums, multipurpose rooms, cafeterias, computer rooms,
administrative offices, and other similar spaces.
(2) For purposes of this section, "higher seismicity" means an
area with the result of .30g or greater on the California Geological
Survey's Ground Motion Interpolator found on the Department of
Conservation Internet Web site.
(3) The Department of Conservation, on or before February 1, 2017,
shall post instruction or a hyperlink on its Internet Web site on
how to determine whether a school district, county office of
education, or charter school is located in an area of higher
seismicity.
(b) The purpose of the plan shall be to assess whether the
contents comply with the guidelines set forth in Chapter 3 (Furniture
and Equipment) of the "Guide and Checklist for Nonstructural
Earthquake Hazards in California Schools," the educational pamphlet
published by the Office of Emergency Services, in cooperation with
the State Department of Education, the Department of General
Services, and the Alfred E. Alquist Seismic Safety Commission
pursuant to Section 8587.7 of the Government Code, to identify school
building contents that do not comply with the guidelines, and to
develop corrective actions to bring noncompliant contents into
compliance.
(c) The plan shall be developed in consultation with a California
licensed civil or structural engineer or a California licensed
architect, a representative of the a
local fire service agency of each school building,
agency, a school administrator or school business
official, a classroom teacher, and a representative of classified
school employees.
(d) The plan shall designate the responsible person or persons in
the school district, county office of education, or charter school,
as applicable, who will perform the assessment and develop the
corrective action plans for noncompliant contents. The plan shall
also identify all school buildings that are to be assessed and the
order of assessment.
(e) The plan shall include a cost estimate for the assessment.
(f) The plan shall be presented to the governing board of the
school district, the county board of education, or the governing body
of the charter school, as applicable, at a public meeting held
pursuant to the Ralph M. Brown Act (Chapter 9 (commencing with
Section 54950) of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government
Code), or, in the case of a statewide charter school, the
Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Article 9 (commencing with Section
11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the
Government Code).
17661. (a) Each school district, county office of education, and
charter school shall complete an assessment pursuant to the plan
developed pursuant to Section 17660 on or before January 1, 2020.
(b) The person or persons designated pursuant to subdivision (d)
of Section 17660 shall, at minimum, complete the checklist published
in the "Guide and Checklist for Nonstructural Earthquake Hazards in
California Schools" to identify all compliant and noncompliant
contents found pursuant to Chapter 3 of the checklist.
(c) (1) Within 60 days of completing an assessment for each school
building, the checklist of compliant and noncompliant contents shall
be reported to the governing board of the school district, the
county board of education, or the governing body of the charter
school, as applicable. The report shall include a prioritization of
noncompliant items that present an immediate and serious threat to
the safety of pupils and school personnel and a set of recommended
corrective actions to bring high-priority noncompliant contents into
compliance with the published guidelines.
(2) The governing board of the school district, the county board
of education, or the governing body of the charter school, as
applicable, shall review the report in a public meeting held pursuant
to the Ralph M. Brown Act (Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 54950)
of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code), or, in
the case of a statewide charter school, the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting
Act (Article 9 (commencing with Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of Part
1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code), and shall post
the report on its Internet Web site.
(d) (1) If corrective actions for noncompliant contents in each
school building in the school district, the county office of
education, or charter school are completed, the
(d) (1) The
superintendent of the a school
district, the county superintendent of schools, or the chief
administrator of the a charter school,
as applicable, shall annually certify in writing to the
governing board of the school district, the county board of
education, or the governing body of the charter school, as
applicable, which corrective actions have been taken and completed.
(2) The certifications for each school building shall be posted to
the school district's, county office of education's, or charter
school's Internet Web site, as applicable.
17662. For purposes of this chapter, "contents" includes, but is
not limited to, file cabinets, bookcases, desktop and countertop
equipment, equipment on carts, display cases, art objects, potted
plants, aquariums, equipment on wheels or rollers, such as pianos and
chalkboards, office equipment, refrigerators, vending machines, shop
and gym equipment, gas cylinders, gas piping, and storage
racks, electrical equipment, mechanical equipment, plumbing
equipment, and kitchen equipment. racks.
SEC. 3. If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local
agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant
to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Government Code.