BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1652
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1652 (Jones)
As Amended August 9, 2010
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: | |(June 1, 2010) |SENATE: |24-12|(August 23, |
| | | | | |2010) |
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(vote not relevant)
Original Committee Reference: L. & E.
SUMMARY : Imposes specified requirements on ski resorts that
operate in California.
The Senate amendments delete the Assembly approved version of
this bill and instead:
1)Require a ski resort that operates in California to do all of
the following:
a) Prepare an annual safety plan that conforms with the
requirements of federal regulations for ski resorts
operating on federal property;
b) Make the annual safety plan available to the public at
the resort, upon request; within 30 days of receipt of such
request; and,
c) Make available to the public, within 30 days of receipt
of a request, a monthly report containing the following
information, if known:
i) A description of each incident resulting in a
fatality which occurred on the ski resort property and
resulted from a recreational activity, such as skiing,
snowboarding, and sledding, that the resort is designed
to provide;
ii) The age of each person fatally injured in an
incident, as specified, type of recreational activity
involved, cause of the fatality, location at the resort
where the incident occurred, and name of any facility
AB 1652
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where medical treatment was provided; and,
iii) States that the report shall not identify a deceased
person by name or address.
d) Establish its own signage policy used to indicate the
ski area boundaries, closed areas, relative degree of slope
difficulty, and other safety and educational information.
e) Establish its own policy for safety padding or other
barriers for lift towers and fixed snowmaking equipment
located on or in close proximity to groomed ski runs.
2)Makes enactment conditional on enactment of SB 880 (Yee).
EXISTING LAW :
1)Specifies the requirements, among other things, for obtaining
a license for and the operation of passenger aerial tramway at
ski resorts and requires the Department of Occupational Health
and Safety (DOSH) to conduct inspections of aerial tramways
biannually.
2)Provides that every person who, among other things, willfully
commits a trespass by knowingly skiing in an area or on a ski
trail which is closed to the public and has signs posted
indicating the closure is guilty of a misdemeanor.
3)Requires the reporting of any fatality or injury of a patron
requiring more than standard first aid by an operator of
amusement rides to the DOSH.
4)Prohibits a person under 18 years of age from operating a
bicycle, a nonmotorized scooter, in-line or roller skates, or
a skateboard, nor ride upon a bicycle, a nonmotorized scooter,
or a skateboard as a passenger, upon a street, bikeway, or any
other public bicycle path or trail unless that person is
wearing a properly fitted and fastened bicycle helmet that
meets ASTM International, the Consumer Product Safety
Commission standards, or standard subsequently established by
those entities. This requirement also applies to a person who
rides upon a bicycle while in a restraining seat that is
attached to the bicycle or in a trailer towed by the bicycle.
Violations are punishable by a fine of not more than $25.
AB 1652
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5)Existing federal law provides that the Secretary of
Agriculture is authorized to issue permits for the use and
occupancy of lands within the National Forest System for
Nordic and alpine skiing operations and purposes.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill required ski resorts to
prepare an annual safety plan and create a monthly summary
report stating the number of deaths and injuries at the resort.
Required a person under 18 years of age and a person employed by
a ski resort to wear a properly fitted and fastened snow sport
helmet when operating snow skis or a snowboard.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS : According to the author, there are currently no
requirements concerning posting of signs related to ski slope
conditions, boundary warnings, or known hazards. Also,
consumers are unable to obtain information about overall death
and injury statistics or the relative safety performance of
individual ski resorts because data is only aggregated
nationally by the National Ski Area Association.
Analysis Prepared by : Martin Radosevich / HEALTH / (916)
319-2097
FN: 0005796