BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2133
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Date of Hearing: May 19, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 2133 (Niello) - As Amended: May 13, 2010
Policy Committee: Local
GovernmentVote:8-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill narrows an existing exemption from the Alquist-Priolo
Earthquake Fault Zoning Act. Current law exempts state entities
listed on the California Register of Historical Resources or the
National Register of Historic Places, which include California
Memorial Stadium and other facilities throughout the state. This
bill deletes the reference to historical registers, and
specifically exempts California Memorial Stadium.
FISCAL EFFECT
No state costs, as the bill narrows an exemption from the
Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Fault Zoning Act that is currently in
state law.
COMMENTS :
1)Background . After the 1971 San Fernando Earthquake destroyed
two hospitals, the Legislature passed the Alquist-Priolo
Earthquake Fault Zoning Act (Act) to prevent building on top
of active faults. The State Geologist publishes maps that are
the basis for development regulations within the Earthquake
Fault Zones. Before cities and counties can approve a project
within an Earthquake Fault Zone, they must require a geologic
report.
Qualified historic buildings within earthquake fault zones can
be exempt from the Act's requirements, and instead,
retrofitted under the State Historical Building Code, provided
that those buildings receive the local approvals required by
one of the five exemptions listed in current law. The Act
AB 2133
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exempts five types of projects including: condominium
conversions; structures built before May 4, 1975, unless the
alterations or additions are more than 50% of a structure's
value; alterations or additions where the value is less than
50% of a structure's values; structures damaged by the 1991
Berkeley-Oakland Hills fire that receive state waivers; and,
alterations that include seismic retrofitting on three
specified types of structures built before May 4, 1975.
In 2009, the University of California (UC) sponsored changes
to the Act which were contained in the Senate Local Government
Committee's annual omnibus bill (SB 113, Chapter 332, Statutes
of 2009). UC officials believed that there was an ambiguity
in how the Act was applied to retrofitting the California
Memorial Stadium on the University of California-Berkeley
campus, which was originally built in 1923 and is on the
National Register of Historic Places.
SB 113 exempted from the Act alterations to structures owned
and operated by state entities and agencies listed on the
California Register of Historical Resources or the National
Register of Historic Places, including Memorial Stadium. Late
concerns over the broad exemption language, specifically the
phrase "state entities and agencies" caused Governor
Schwarzenegger to request a legislative fix in his signing
message for SB 113. The governor wrote that "the proponents
have committed to send a letter?stating that UC Berkeley will
seismically retrofit the California Memorial Stadium as
required by current law and applicable regulations."
Additionally, the governor's signing letter said that the
proponents "would further commit to introduce a bill in
January, with urgency that will satisfy the concerns of the
Governor's Office of Planning and Research, the Department of
Conservation, and the Seismic Safety Committee."
2)Purpose . This bill is intended to address the concerns raised
by the governor last year by narrowing the exemption contained
in SB 113 so it applies to just to California Memorial
Stadium.
Analysis Prepared by : Brad Williams / APPR. / (916) 319-2081