BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2001
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Date of Hearing: April 13, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS AND CONSUMER
PROTECTION
Mary Hayashi, Chair
AB 2001 (Harkey) - As Amended: April 5, 2010
SUBJECT : Building standards: State Department of Public
Health: regulations.
SUMMARY : Transfers the responsibilities of the California
Department of Public Health (CDPH) to adopt regulations related
to building standards to the California Building Standards
Commission (CBSC).
EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes CBSC to receive building standard proposals from
state agencies for adoption into the California Building
Standards Code (Code) on an annual basis.
2)Transfers the responsibilities of certain state agencies to
adopt regulations relating to building standards to CBSC.
3)Establishes the California Code of Regulations, Title 24
(Title 24), which provides for the building standards or
regulations that govern the design and construction of
buildings.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
Purpose of this bill . According to the author's office, "The
Title 24 regulatory adoption process is time consuming and
difficult to administer for agencies like CDPH, which does not
routinely develop building standards, leading to significant
inefficiencies in the process for adopting these regulations.
This responsibility has resulted in a significant and
unanticipated workload for CDPH?. Until recently, CBSC also
adopted building standards in Title 24 on behalf of CDPH.
However, because it was determined that the law did not
specifically grant CBSC this authority, any responsibilities of
CDPH to adopt building standards were given back to CDPH."
AB 2001
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Background . CBSC was established in 1953 and is responsible for
administering California's building codes, which includes
adopting, approving, publishing, and implementing the codes and
standards. The CBSC publishes the Code every three years, and
its supplements, such as the California Green Building Standards
Code, in intervening years. The building regulations or
standards take effect 180 days after their publication unless
otherwise stipulated. The Code applies to all occupancies in
the State of California.
Current law authorizes CBSC to adopt regulations relating to
building standards for the following entities: the State
Architect; the State Fire Marshal; the Office of Statewide
Health Planning and Development; the State Energy Resources
Conservation and Development Commission; and, the Department of
Housing and Community Development. CBSC may adopt regulations
for these agencies using its administrative rulemaking process.
All other agencies must adopt building standards through the
regular rulemaking process.
Support . According to the sponsor, CDPH, "Generally, CBSC
adopts the Code based on model code requirements developed by
the International Code Council, which is an association that
develops the codes used to construct residential and commercial
buildings. In some instances, the Code is amended to meet
California laws and regulations by the listed departments. If
this legislation were enacted, CBSC would simply add CDPH to the
list of adopting agencies rather than having CDPH adopt the same
requirements through the building code adoption process."
Previous Legislation . AB 3515 (Lancaster), Chapter 897,
Statutes of 1992, required CBSC to receive building standard
proposals from state agencies for consideration in an annual
code adoption cycle. This bill also required CBSC to develop
regulations setting forth the procedures for the annual adoption
cycle.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Department of Health (CDPH) (sponsor)
AB 2001
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Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Joanna Gin / B.,P. & C.P. / (916)
319-3301