BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2133
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 2133 (Niello)
As Amended August 20, 2010
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |69-1 |(May 24, 2010) |SENATE: |32-3 |(August 24, |
| | | | | |2010) |
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Original Committee Reference: L. GOV.
SUMMARY : Deletes, in existing law, an exemption from the
Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Fault Zoning Act (Act) for any
structure owned and operated by the state that is listed on the
California Register of Historical Resources or the National
Register of Historic Places, including the California Memorial
Stadium, and instead, provides a specific exemption from the Act
for the California Memorial Stadium located on the University of
California, Berkeley campus.
The Senate amendments :
1)Declare that it is the intent of the Legislature to recognize
the historical and architectural significance of the
California Memorial Stadium located on the University of
California, Berkeley campus.
2)State that the Legislature recognizes that the Act provides an
exemption process for local historical structures through the
local planning process; however, buildings owned by the state,
including the University of California, are not subject to the
local planning process and therefore cannot use this process
to obtain an exemption.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Allows for the following exemptions from the Act:
a) The conversion of an existing apartment complex into a
condominium;
b) Any development or structure in existence prior to May
4, 1975, except for an alteration or addition to a
structure that exceeds the value limit specified in c)
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below;
c) An alteration or addition to any structure if the value
of the alteration or addition does not exceed 50% of the
value of the structure;
d) Any structure located within the jurisdiction of the
City of Berkeley or the City of Oakland, which was damaged
by fire between October 20,1991, and October 23, 1991,
if granted an exemption; and,
e) Alterations, which include seismic retrofitting (as
defined in Chapter 13.5 of the Government Code-Buildings
with Concrete or Reinforced Masonry Column or Wall
Construction), to any of the following buildings in
existence prior to May 4, 1975:
i) Unreinforced masonry buildings;
ii) Concrete tilt-up buildings;
iii) Reinforced concrete moment resisting frame buildings
as described in Applied Technology Council Report 21;
and,
iv) Any structure owned and operated by a state entity
or agency that is listed on the California Register of
Historical Resources or the National Register of Historic
Places, including the California Memorial Stadium.
f) Provides, for any structure owned and operated by a
state entity or agency that is listed on the California
Register of Historical Resources or the National Register
of Historic Places that the exemption shall not apply
unless the state entity or agency submits a plan of
proposed alterations to the State Geologist.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill:
1)Deleted, in existing law, an exemption from the Act for any
structure owned and operated by the state that is listed on
the California Register of Historical Resources or the
National Register of Historic Places, including the California
Memorial Stadium.
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2)Stated that the Act shall not apply to the California Memorial
Stadium located on the University of California, Berkeley
campus.
3)Stated that the Legislature finds and declares that the
California Memorial Stadium located on the University of
California, Berkeley campus requires seismic retrofitting,
which is necessary to strengthen structures and provide
increased resistance to ground shaking from an earthquake.
4)Provided that the exemption does not conflict with the intent
or the applicability of any provision of the Act.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, no state costs, as the bill narrows an exemption from
the Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Fault Zoning Act that is currently
in state law.
COMMENTS : After the 1971 San Fernando Earthquake destroyed two
hospitals, the Legislature passed the Act to prevent building on
top of active faults. The State Geologist publishes maps which
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 get the local approvals required by one of
the five exemptions listed in current law. The Act exempts five
types of projects including: 1) condominium conversions; 2)
structures built before May 4, 1975, unless the alterations or
additions are more than 50% of a structure's value; 3)
alterations or additions where the value is less than 50% of a
structure's values; 4) structures damaged by the 1991
Berkeley-Oakland Hills fire that get receive state waivers; and,
5) alterations that include seismic retrofitting on three
specified types of structures built before May 4, 1975, under
specified conditions.
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 applied to retrofitting the California Memorial
Stadium on the University of California-Berkeley campus, which
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was originally built in 1923 and on the National Register of
Historic Places.
SB 113 exempted from the Act alterations to structures owned and
operated by state entities and agencies that are listed on the
California Register of Historical Resources or the National
Register of Historic Places, including the California Memorial
Stadium. Late concerns over the broad exemption language,
specific to the use of 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."
Support arguments: This bill, pursuant to the Governor's
request, rectifies the broad language that was added to existing
law by SB 113 last year by instead providing for an explicit
exemption only for the California Memorial Stadium located on
the University of California, Berkeley campus.
Opposition arguments: Individuals opposed to the bill have
expressed concerns about public safety because of the potential
to increase usage and human occupancy load limits of the
California Memorial Stadium.
Analysis Prepared by : Debbie Michel / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958
FN: 0006634