BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                           Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair

                                           398 (Correa)
          
          Hearing Date:  05/28/2009           Amended: 05/19/2009
          Consultant: Mark McKenzie       Policy Vote: T&H 8-2
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          ____
          BILL SUMMARY:   SB 398 would revise provisions related to the  
          assumption of fire code enforcement by a local agency.
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          ____
                            Fiscal Impact (in thousands)

           Major Provisions         2009-10      2010-11       2011-12    Fund
           
          Fire Code enforcement  minor costs to update guidelines Special*
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          * Mobilehome Parks and Special Occupancy Parks Revolving Fund
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          ____

          STAFF COMMENTS:  SUSPENSE FILE.  
          
          The Mobilehome Parks Act (MPA) requires HCD or a local agency  
          that has assumed enforcement responsibilities through an  
          agreement with HCD to inspect mobilehome parks that have had the  
          most serious history of health and safety code violations, with  
          a goal of inspecting at least five percent of the parks per  
          year.  HCD or the local enforcement agency collects a fee of $4  
          per space annually to fund the program.  There are currently  
          over 4,700 mobilehome parks with a permit to operate in  
          California, containing nearly 400,000 spaces.  HCD employs about  
          45 inspectors statewide and contracts with 74 local agencies for  
          enforcement of the MPA in their jurisdictions.  Local agencies  
          are increasingly returning the enforcement responsibilities to  
          HCD, primarily because the fees allowed by statute are  
          insufficient to fully cover the costs related to enforcement.   
          HCD reports that tens of thousands of health and safety code  
          violations have been cited and remedied since the program's  
          inception in 1991.

          Existing law authorizes a local entity that has assumed code  
          enforcement for HCD to enforce its own full fire code, or  
          authorizes a local fire agency to assume jurisdiction for  










          certain limited fire code requirements in parks, such as weed  
          abatement, fire equipment access, water supply, and fire hydrant  
          systems.  To date only eight fire agencies have been willing to  
          assume this partial jurisdiction for fire safety in mobilehome  
          parks.

          SB 398 would delete the requirement that a local agency must  
          take on the full spectrum of park code enforcement in order to  
          assume full fire code jurisdiction.  

          Recently adopted author amendments delete provisions that would  
          require that all park inspection and fire hydrant maintenance  
          records be made available to the public on HCD's website by July  
          1, 2012, to the extent that funding is available.