BILL ANALYSIS
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 23
Author: Padilla (D)
Amended: 5/28/09
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMM. : 10-0, 4/28/09
AYES: Lowenthal, Huff, Ashburn, DeSaulnier, Harman,
Hollingsworth, Kehoe, Pavley, Simitian, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Oropeza
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT : Manufactured housing: emergency preparedness
plans
SOURCE : State Firefighters Association
DIGEST : This bill requires an owner or operator of a
mobilehome park or a recreational vehicle park to adopt and
post notice of an emergency preparedness plan.
ANALYSIS : Under the Mobilehome Parks Act and the Special
Occupancy Parks Act, the Department of Housing and
Community Development (HCD) regulates mobilehome parks and
recreational vehicle (RV) parks to assure protection of the
health, safety, and general welfare of all park residents.
HCD has adopted statewide regulations to enforce the acts'
provisions. Local agencies, however, have the option of
assuming enforcement authority within their jurisdictions
through agreement with HCD. Enforcement agencies inspect
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those mobilehome parks that have a history of health and
safety code violations or about which the agency receives a
complaint regarding a potential health or safety code
violation.
Existing law requires that in every mobilehome park and RV
Park a person be available in person or by telephonic means
to respond in a timely manner to emergencies concerning the
operation or maintenance of the park. In parks of 50 or
more units, this person or his or her designee shall reside
in the park and have knowledge of the emergency procedures
of the park's utility systems and common facilities.
Existing law also permits, but does not require, mobilehome
park management, but not RV park management, in each park
to adopt an emergency preparedness plan. If a park does
adopt a plan, that plan must include procedures developed
by the Office of Emergency Services for mobilehome parks.
This bill:
1.Declares the Legislature's intent that a mobilehome park
owner or operator communicate to residents essential
information about evacuation routes and emergency
preparedness but states that it is not the intent of the
Legislature that a park owner or operator be responsible
for evacuating residents from their homes during an
emergency.
2.Requires that on or after September 1, 2010, every owner
or operator of a mobilehome park or an RV park adopt an
emergency preparedness plan by doing either of the
following:
A. Adopting the emergency procedures and plans
approved by the Standardized Emergency Management
System Advisory Board on November 21, 1997.
B. Adopting a plan that is developed by the park
management and is comparable to the procedures and
plans in 2A (above).
3.Requires park management to:
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A. Post notice of the plan in the park clubhouse
or another conspicuous area within the park.
B. Provide, on or before September 10, 2010,
notice to existing park residents and new residents,
as they are approved for tenancy, on how to access
the plan as well as individual emergency
preparedness information from the appropriate state
or local agencies, including the California
Emergency Management Agency.
4.Permits HCD or a local enforcement agency to determine
whether park management has complied with the bill's
requirements by various means including receipt of a copy
of the plan, a photograph of the posted plan, and site
inspections conducted in response to complaints of
alleged violations.
5.Requires that park management must correct a violation
with 60 days of receiving notice from an enforcement
agency and deems a violation as an unreasonable risk to
life, health, or safety.
Comments
In October 2008, the Marek fire near Lake View Terrace
tragically claimed the life of a homeless man and his dog,
burned over 18,000 acres, and destroyed 49 structures.
Thirty-eight of those structures were mobile homes at the
Sky Terrace Mobile Lodge. On November 15, 2008, the Sayre
Fire devastated the Oakridge Mobile Home Park in Sylmar,
destroying more than 500 homes and scorching over 10,000
acres in the local foothills. During the fire at the
Oakridge Mobile Home Park, police officers thought they had
successfully evacuated the park only to learn from a local
nurse that a number of seniors with health issues were
still in their mobilehomes. The seniors were ultimately
saved as fire overtook the mobilehome park.
Both of these fires occurred in the author's district. The
author is a member of the Senate Select Committee on
Manufactured Housing and Communities, which in February
held a hearing about what these two fires showed about fire
safety and code enforcement in mobilehome parks. Based on
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what the committee learned, the author introduced this bill
to ensure that all mobilehome park residents, especially
senior residents and residents with disabilities and health
problems, can be identified and evacuated in a safe and
timely manner in the event of an emergency. The author
notes that without adopted and active emergency plans there
is not only a danger to residents but also for emergency
services personnel who must spend time and resources
checking for people in need of assistance instead of
fighting fires or otherwise responding to a disaster.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/18/09)
State Firefighters Association (source)
AARP
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees
American Red Cross
California Commission on Aging
California Fire Chiefs Association
California Fire Safe Council
California Professional Firefighters
City of Los Angeles
Congress of California Seniors
County of Los Angeles
Golden State Manufactured-Home Owners League
League of California Cities
Western Center on Law and Poverty
JA:nl 5/27/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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