BILL ANALYSIS
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 398
Author: Correa (D)
Amended: 8/20/09
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 8-2, 4/21/09
AYES: Lowenthal, DeSaulnier, Harman, Kehoe, Oropeza,
Pavley, Simitian, Wolk
NOES: Ashburn, Hollingsworth
NO VOTE RECORDED: Huff
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-5, 5/28/09
AYES: Kehoe, Corbett, DeSaulnier, Hancock, Leno, Oropeza,
Yee
NOES: Cox, Denham, Runner, Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wolk
SENATE FLOOR : 27-10, 6/1/09
AYES: Alquist, Calderon, Cedillo, Corbett, Correa,
Ducheny, Florez, Hancock, Harman, Kehoe, Leno, Liu,
Lowenthal, Maldonado, Negrete McLeod, Oropeza, Padilla,
Pavley, Romero, Runner, Simitian, Steinberg, Wiggins,
Wolk, Wright, Wyland, Yee
NOES: Aanestad, Ashburn, Benoit, Cogdill, Cox, Denham,
Dutton, Hollingsworth, Strickland, Walters
NO VOTE RECORDED: DeSaulnier, Huff, Vacancy
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 49-24, 8/24/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Mobilehome parks: fire code enforcement
CONTINUED
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SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill makes changes to the fire prevention
code enforcement mobilehome parks.
Assembly Amendments revise and recast the bill with a
similar intent as it left the Senate.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law, the Mobilehome Parks Act, authorizes the
Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to
regulate mobilehome parks to assure protection of the
health, safety, and general welfare of all mobilehome park
residents. HCD has adopted statewide regulations to
enforce the act's provisions. Local agencies, however,
have the option of assuming enforcement authority within
their jurisdictions through agreement with HCD.
Enforcement agencies inspect 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.
The Mobilehome Parks Act specifically directs HCD to adopt
fire protection standards to prevent fires and to protect
life and property in mobilehome parks. HCD's fire
protection standards are applicable in all parks, except
for parks located in a jurisdiction where the local agency
is the enforcement agency for the Mobilehome Parks Act and
the local agency has adopted a fire prevention code that
imposes restrictions that are equal to or stronger than
HCD's standards.
Existing law allows a local agency that is not the
enforcement agency to enforce only specific provisions of
HCD's fire prevention code, which it enumerates to be fire
hydrant systems, water supply, fire equipment access and
posting thereof, parking, lot identification, weed, debris
and combustible material abatement, and burglar bars.
This bill:
1. Specifies that fire prevention regulations adopted by
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the HCD are not applicable in a mobilehome park within a
special district, or another entity organized solely to
provide fire protection services and monitored and
funded by a county or other public entity, that meets
both of the following requirements:
A. Has been delegated fire code enforcement by a
city, county, or city and county that is the
mobilehome code enforcement agency.
B. Is enforcing a fire prevention code imposing
restrictions equal to or greater than the
restrictions imposed by those building standards
published in the California Building Standards Code
and other state regulations adopted by HCD.
2. Adds combustible brush and vegetation clearance on a lot
or common area that represents an imminent fire hazard,
flammable liquid storage, hazardous materials storage
and use, and open flame or open burning to the list of
items a city, county, city and county, or special
district can enforce under its own fire prevention code
without assuming full code enforcement responsibility
for mobilehome parks from HCD.
Background
Local enforcement . Seventy-four local agencies currently
enforce the Mobilehome Parks Act in their jurisdictions
under agreement with HCD. Three of these are counties that
also provide enforcement for parks in seven cities within
their respective jurisdictions. These 74 local agencies
also retain jurisdiction to enforce their own local fire
code in mobilehome parks, as long as that standard meets or
exceeds HCD's requirements. Due to the fee structure for
the park code enforcement program and the lack of revenue
it provides, local governments have been largely unable to
take on the whole park inspection program in order to
obtain greater fire code authority. SB 1627 (Dunn),
Chapter 433, Statutes of 2000, allows local enforcement of
the fire code only for park fire hydrant systems, water
supply, fire equipment access, posting of fire equipment
access, parking, lot identification, weed, debris and
combustible storage abatement, and burglar bars. To date,
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eight fire agencies have assumed this limited jurisdiction
for fire safety in parks. These eight are Los Angeles
County Fire, Santa Barbara County Fire, the fire
departments in the cities of Huntington Beach, Mountain
View, Sunnyvale, and Torrance, the Burney Fire Protection
District, and the Ebbetts Pass Fire District.
In these eight jurisdictions, this creates an overlapping
approach whereby the local fire authorities and HCD have
responsibility for different aspects of fire safety.
Proponents note that this can lead to confusion. They
assert that when it comes to issues involving enforcement
of the fire code, there should be a more straightforward
approach, such as allowing local fire authorities that are
responsible for putting out the fires to enforce fire
related code issues across the board in mobilehome parks.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10
2010-2011 2011-12 Fund
Fire Code enforcement minor costs to
update guidelines Special*
*Mobilehome Parks and Special Occupancy Parks Revolving
Fund
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/26/09)
Golden State Manufactured-Home Owners League
League of California Cities
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Arambula, Beall, Block, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes,
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Furutani, Galgiani, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber,
Jones, Lieu, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Monning,
Nava, John A. Perez, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin,
Salas, Skinner, Solorio, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres,
Torrico, Yamada, Bass
NOES: Adams, Anderson, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill,
Blakeslee, Conway, DeVore, Duvall, Fuller, Gaines,
Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Harkey, Knight, Logue,
Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, Silva, Smyth, Audra
Strickland, Tran, Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hall, Huffman, Jeffries, Krekorian,
Miller, Saldana, Vacancy
JJA:do 8/26/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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