BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 582|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 582
Author: Hall (D)
Amended: 8/17/15
Vote: 21
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 5/12/15
AYES: Jackson, Moorlach, Anderson, Hertzberg, Leno, Monning,
Wieckowski
SENATE FLOOR: 38-0, 5/22/15
AYES: Allen, Anderson, Bates, Beall, Berryhill, Block,
Cannella, De León, Gaines, Galgiani, Hall, Hancock, Hernandez,
Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Huff, Jackson, Lara, Leno, Leyva, Liu,
McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Moorlach, Morrell,
Nguyen, Nielsen, Pan, Pavley, Roth, Runner, Stone, Vidak,
Wieckowski, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Fuller
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 8/20/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Electrified fences
SOURCE: Electric Guard Dog, Inc.
DIGEST: This bill authorizes an owner of real property to
install and operate an electrified fence on his or her property
if the property is not in a residential zone, the fence meets
specified requirements, and a local ordinance does not prohibit
its installation and operation.
Assembly Amendments specify additional requirements for
authorized electrified fences, including minimum standards for
warning signs, fence placement, and operating characteristics.
SB 582
Page 2
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Provides that no electrified fences shall be offered for sale,
sold, installed, or used in this state, or otherwise connected
to a source of electrical current, unless the electrical
current is limited and regulated by an electrical controller
which meets or exceeds the standards or specifications of the
National Electrical Code of the National Fire Protection
Association, the New Zealand Standards Institute, the
Standards Association of Australia, or the Underwriters
Laboratories for intermittent type electric fence or
electrified fence controllers. (Food & Agr. Code Sec. 17152.)
2)Provides that existing provisions of the Food and Agricultural
Code pertaining to electric fences shall not be construed to
preclude regulation of electrified fences by cities and
counties, including, but not limited to, requiring the
installation or use of electrified fences under permit, except
that such regulation shall not permit the installation or use
of electrified fences which do not conform to the requirements
of existing law. (Food & Agr. Code Sec. 17153.)
This bill:
1)States that an owner of real property may install and operate
an electrified security fence on his or her property, provided
the property is not located in a residential zone, and
provided the fence meets the 2006 international standards and
specifications of the International Electrotechnical
Commission for electric fence energizers in "International
Standard IEC 60335, Part 2-76."
2)Specifies that the height of an electrified security fence may
not exceed 10 feet, and that the fence must be located behind
a perimeter fence that is not less than six feet in height.
3)Requires an electrified security fence to be identified by
prominently placed warning signs that are legible from both
sides of the fence, and specifies, at a minimum, that the
warning signs shall meet all of the following criteria:
SB 582
Page 3
The warning signs are placed at each gate and access
point, and at intervals along the fence not exceeding 30
feet;
The warning signs are adjacent to any other signs
relating to chemical, radiological, or biological hazards;
and
The warning signs are marked with a written warning or a
commonly recognized symbol for shock, a written warning or
a commonly recognized symbol to warn people with
pacemakers, and a written warning or commonly recognized
symbol about the danger of touching the fence in wet
conditions.
1)Defines "electrified security fence" to mean any fence, except
as specified, that meets the following requirements:
The fence is powered by an electrical energizer where
the impulse repetition rate does not exceed one hertz and
the impulse duration does not exceed 10 milliseconds; and
The fence is used to protect and secure commercial or
industrial property.
1)Provides that an owner of real property shall not install and
operate an electric fence where a local ordinance prohibits
that installation and operation. If a local ordinance allows
the installation and operation of an electric fence, the
installation and operation of the electric fence shall meet
the requirements of the ordinance, as well as the requirements
listed above.
2)Makes other technical and conforming changes to existing law.
Background
Generally speaking, an electric fence is a fence that has an
electrical charge that is designed or placed so that a person or
animal coming into contact with the fence receives an electric
shock. It operates by sending a high voltage pulse of
SB 582
Page 4
electricity at regular intervals through conductive materials in
the fence. Unlike other physical boundaries like barbed wire or
razor wire, commercial electric fences do not physically harm
things that come into contact with them. Electric fences do not
cause physical harm to animals or people because the length of
electric shock delivered by the fence is very brief. According
to one scholar:
"[e]ven when the voltage is high, when the current flows for
only a very short duration we cannot be electrocuted. . . . A
large enough current can cause ventricular fibrillation,"
during which "the pumping action of the heart ceases and death
occurs within minutes unless treated. In the United States,
approximately 1000 deaths per year occur in accidents that
involve cord-connected appliances in kitchens, bathrooms, and
other wet locations . . . shock durations longer than 1 second
are the most dangerous . . . [e]lectric security fences have
taken advantage of this fact by shortening their shock
duration to an even shorter duration of about 0.0003 seconds .
. . electric fences are safe and do not lead to ventricular
fibrillation due to the short 0.0003 second shock duration.
(John Webster, Safety of Electric Security Fences, University
of Wisconsin - Madison,
Page 5
According to the author:
Many California-based companies that are in the cargo
transportation, inventory storage and containment shipping
business have, at any given time, millions of dollars worth of
products and service-related equipment on their premises.
Storage is often held overnight for several days or weeks
awaiting transport. The primary protection of valuable goods
and equipment is a security fence, designed to prevent
criminal trespass and theft. The installation of an electric
security fence in a jurisdiction is subject to permitting and
approval. Current state law on the use and installation of an
electric security fence in non-agricultural zones is vague.
There is no consensus among local jurisdictions whether or not
they can allow the installation of electric security fences.
SB 582 provides clear guidelines for the installation of
electric security fences, based on international standards
ensuring their safe and reliable installation in
non-residential zones. Existing international standards
require the installation of a perimeter fence at least six
feet tall separating the public from the electrified fence.
Additionally, to ensure the safety of the public, warning
signs must be visibly posted in at least two languages
(English and Spanish) and access for emergency responders must
be available. This bill helps the permitting process in local
ordinances by clarifying state law, and regulating the use and
installation of an electric security fence in non-residential
zones.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified8/21/15)
Electric Guard Dog, Inc. (source)
ABF Freight System, Inc
Copart, Inc
Old Dominion Freight
SB 582
Page 6
SA Recycling, LLC
SAIA Freight, LTL
Westward Liberty
YRC Freight Worldwide
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/21/15)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 8/20/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang,
Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly,
Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina
Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden,
Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder,
Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina,
Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen,
Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez,
Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting,
Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Chu
Prepared by:Tobias Halvarson / JUD. / (916) 651-4113
8/21/15 13:20:15
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