BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1783
Page 1
GOVERNOR'S VETO
AB
1783 (Dodd)
As Enrolled August 31, 2016
2/3 vote
--------------------------------------------------------------------
|ASSEMBLY: |79-0 |(June 2, 2016) |SENATE: |39-0 |(August 17, |
| | | | | |2016) |
--------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------
|ASSEMBLY: |80-0 |(August 24, | | | |
| | |2016) | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Original Committee Reference: ED.
SUMMARY: Requires a local educational agency located in an area
of higher seismicity to conduct an inspection of the contents in
each school building to assess whether furniture and equipment
meet specified safety guidelines in the event of an earthquake.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires, by January 1, 2020, each school district, county
office of education (COE), and charter school to complete an
inspection of the contents in areas that are accessible to or
occupied by pupils, including classrooms, hallways, libraries,
gymnasiums, multipurpose rooms, cafeterias, computer rooms,
AB 1783
Page 2
administrative offices, and other similar spaces in each of
its school buildings located in an area of higher seismicity
to assess whether the contents comply with the guidelines set
forth in Chapter 3 of the "Guide and Checklist for
Nonstructural Earthquake Hazards in California School" (Guide)
on furniture and equipment, published by the Office of
Emergency Services (OES), and to develop corrective actions.
2)Defines "higher seismicity" as 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)Requires the Department of Conservation (DOC), on or before
February 1, 2017, to post instructions or a hyperlink on its
Internet Web site on how to determine whether a school
district, COE, or charter school is located in an area of
higher seismicity.
4)Requires, within 60 days of completing the inspection, the
checklist of compliant and noncompliant contents to be
reported to the governing bodies of the school district, COE
or charter school. Requires the report to 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.
5)Requires the governing bodies to review the report in a public
meeting and to post the report on their respective Internet
Web site.
6)Requires the superintendent of a school district, the county
superintendent of schools, or the chief administrator of a
charter school to annually certify in writing to their
respective governing bodies which corrective actions have been
taken and requires the certifications to be posted on each
AB 1783
Page 3
governing body's Internet Web site.
7)Specifies that if a school district, COE, or charter school
completes an inspection before January 1, 2017, the school
district, COE, or charter school may report the inspection and
any corresponding corrective actions it takes to its
respective governing bodies to meet the reporting requirement.
8)Defines "contents" as including, but 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.
9)Makes findings and declarations regarding damages from major
California earthquakes and that the August 24, 2014 South Napa
earthquake caused significant nonstructural damage that could
have been life threatening had the earthquake occurred during
school hours. Further finds and declares that school
classrooms should be examined to ensure that furnishings and
equipment are property located, anchored and braced to prevent
harm to pupils and school personnel, and to ensure egress from
any room after an earthquake.
10)Specifies that the provisions of this bill shall not be
implemented unless funding is provided in the annual Budget
Act or another statute.
The Senate amendments:
AB 1783
Page 4
1)Delete the requirement to conduct a plan for the assessment of
schools.
2)Change the term "assessment" to "inspection."
3)Make the implementation of this bill contingent upon the
provision of funding in the annual Budget Act or another
statute.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee:
1)Unknown state cost pressure to provide funding for this bill,
but likely at least in the millions. Assuming about 30
counties are subject to the requirements of this bill,
representing about 4.5 million students, the inspection
requirement for an estimated 150,000 classrooms could cost
almost $2 million. If an estimated 600 school districts
within the 30 counties possibly located in higher seismicity
areas spent $2,000 on retrofitting buildings, statewide costs
would be about $1.2 million. Charter schools would also incur
significant costs for these activities. Actual costs would
depend upon a number of unknown factors. (Proposition 98)
2)Minor costs to the Department of Conservation to provide
guidance on how to determine whether a local educational
agency has school buildings located in an area of higher
seismicity.
3)Potential significant cost avoidance at the local level to the
extent the preventative measures required by this bill
mitigates damage and injuries in the event of an earthquake.
COMMENTS: Local educational agencies are eligible for state
school facilities bond funds administered through the School
Facility Program (SFP). The SFP requires a local educational
AB 1783
Page 5
agency to receive approval from the California Department of
Education, to ensure that the selected site and school
specifications are safe and meet the school's education plan,
and the Division of State Architect (DSA), to ensure that the
architectural design plans meet fire, life and safety
requirements, Field Act requirements, and access requirements
under the Americans with Disability Act. The Field Act, named
after the author of the bill establishing the Act,
Assemblymember C. Don Field, was enacted in 1933 after an
earthquake in Long Beach. The Act authorized the State
Architect to develop a statewide building code to make all
buildings, especially school buildings, safe from earthquakes.
The Act has been strengthened since then and California's public
schools are commonly considered to be the safest public
buildings in the state. When DSA determines that the project
plans comply with all the necessary building codes and the Field
Act, the school district may proceed to construction of the
project.
The Field addresses the structure of buildings. There are no
requirements regarding the contents, although there are
guidelines established in regulations under the Division of
Industrial Safety or requirements for insurance purposes.
Following the 1994 Northridge earthquake, SB 1122 (Alarcon),
Chapter 294, Statutes of 1999, was enacted to require the OES to
develop an educational pamphlet. According to a Senate
Committee analysis of the bill, the author stated that while the
Northridge earthquake caused minimal structural damage,
nonstructural hazards (e.g., light fixtures, ceilings, storage
cabinets, broken glass, etc.) may be life threatening to
students. The California Emergency Management Agency, in
consultation with the DSA, the Seismic Safety Commission and the
California Department of Education, developed the "Guide and
Checklist for Nonstructural Earthquake Hazards in California
School." The Guide covers three components within a building -
Ceilings and Overhead, Walls and Wall Mounted, and Furniture and
Equipment. It is unclear how many school districts have used
the recommendations in the Guide to secure nonstructural
AB 1783
Page 6
contents within a school building.
This bill, contingent upon funding provided for its purposes in
the Budget Act or another statute, requires school districts,
COEs and charter schools located in areas of higher seismicity
to conduct an inspection for assessing whether furniture and
equipment are in compliance with the recommendations established
in the Guide. Examples of recommendations in the chapter for
Furniture and Equipment include arranging and fastening together
file cabinets that are more than three feet or securing the
cabinets to walls to prevent overturning, and restraining large
or heavy office equipment to prevent sliding or from blocking an
exit way.
Under this bill, school districts, COEs and charter schools can
determine whether they are required to conduct the inspection by
using a tool located on the DOC's Internet Web site. Those that
meet the threshold established by the bill, intended to be those
located in areas where there is a higher risk of an earthquake,
are required to complete the inspection of all schools in their
jurisdictions by January 1, 2020, and submit a report to each of
their governing bodies within 60 days after completing the
inspections. School districts, COEs, or charter schools that
complete inspections that are consistent with the requirements
of this bill prior to January 1, 2017 will not be required to
conduct additional inspections and may, instead, submit the
pre-January 1, 2017 inspections to the governing bodies to meet
the reporting requirement. The bill also requires district
superintendents, county superintendents and chief administrators
of charter schools to annually certify in writing corrective
actions that have been taken.
The author states, "The South Napa Earthquake struck early in
the 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
AB 1783
Page 7
during school hours. Post-earthquake inspection showed file
cabinets had collapsed on desks, a drill press lying on the
floor, and bookcases blocking exits, among many other hazards.
The safety hazards posed by school contents during the South
Napa earthquake have been found in the aftermath of a number of
other earthquakes elsewhere in the state in previous years."
According to the author, replacing and repairing contents
damaged by the earthquake was estimated at $9 million for
schools in the Napa Unified School District.
GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE:
To Members of the California State Assembly:
I am returning the following four bills without my signature:
Assembly Bill 1198
Assembly Bill 1783
Assembly Bill 2182
Senate Bill 1113
Each of these bills creates unfunded new programs.
Despite significant funding increases for local educational
agencies over the past few years, the Local Control Funding
Formula remains only 96 percent funded. Given the precarious
balance of the state budget, establishing new programs with the
AB 1783
Page 8
expectation of funding in the future is counterproductive to the
Administration's efforts to sustain a balanced budget and to
fully fund the Local Control Funding Formula.
Additional spending to support new programs must be considered
in the annual budget process.
Analysis Prepared by: Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916)
319-2087 FN: 0005113