BILL ANALYSIS
SB 608
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 608 (Alquist)
As Amended August 20, 2010
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE : Vote not relevant
HOUSING APPROPRIATIONS
(vote not relevant) (vote not relevant)
SUMMARY : Permits the Office of Statewide Health Planning and
Development (OSHPD) to grant two separate extensions to a
general acute care hospital (GAC) for a total of five years,
under specified circumstances related to local planning delays,
to comply with state seismic safety requirements. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Permits OSHPD, in lieu of the extension to the January 1, 2008
seismic deadline, as specified, to grant an extension to a
GAC, in accordance with 3) and 6) below, if the GAC building
will not be able to meet the seismic safety standards, as
specified, by January 1, 2013, due to a local planning delay.
2)Requires the owner of the GAC, when applying for an extension
under the provisions of this bill, to submit to OSHPD
documentation that includes at least all of the following:
a) The original schedule of the project or projects as had
been originally anticipated;
b) The schedule of the project or projects as currently
projected;
c) A timeline for the submission of documents to the local
planning authority or jurisdiction;
d) Documentation that the local planning authority for the
project and for the enabling phases of the project does not
grant approvals prior to November 1, 2010, where the GAC
had filed the local application prior to January 1, 2008;
and,
e) A proposed construction timeframe demonstrating the
completion of the project once the permit is issued.
Requires the construction timeframe to be approved by OSHPD
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and to only include the amount of time that is reasonably
necessary to complete the construction required to meet the
seismic requirements.
3)Permits OSHPD to grant an extension, in full one-year
increments, but no longer than three consecutive years, which
compensates for delays determined pursuant to 4) below.
4)Requires OSHPD to conduct a comprehensive review of the
schedule for the project or projects according to criteria
specified in this bill. Requires this review to encompass the
project or projects under jurisdiction of OSHPD, as well as
other project phases not under the jurisdiction of OSHPD.
Requires OSHPD to consider the cumulative effect of local
approval timelines for all elements of the project or
projects, inclusive of changes in scope or sequence of the
project or projects required by the local planning process.
Permits OSHPD to grant extensions based on evaluation of each
of the following circumstances:
a) Where the local planning authority approvals have
delayed or will delay the construction start date of the
project or projects;
b) Where the local conditions of approval on a project or
projects extend the duration beyond the originally
anticipated construction completion date;
c) Where the cumulative effect of delays on the project or
projects create additional construction delays due to local
seasonal weather impact requirements of the local planning
authority;
d) Construction related to the seismic retrofit or
replacement project has begun by January 1, 2013;
e) The project or projects were submitted for review by DPH
no later than January 1, 2008; and,
f) The project or projects have received a building permit
from DPH no later than January 1, 2012.
5)Requires the GAC owner, every six months after the approval of
the extension, to report to OSHPD on the status of the
project, demonstrating that it is making reasonable progress
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toward meeting the construction timeline.
6)Permits OSHPD to grant an additional extension of up to two
years in addition to the extension granted pursuant to 3) and
4) above, if the project meets the following criteria:
a) A matrix of buildings at the facility that identifies
compliance of each building to the standards required in
existing law at the completion of the project;
b) The construction timelines submitted pursuant to 1)
above were determined to go beyond three years from the
date the building permit was issued;
c) Acute care services will not be provided in any
structural performance category (SPC)-1 building at any
time during the extension;
d) The GAC demonstrates that it has, and maintains
throughout the extension, life safety systems in all acute
care patient care areas that do not depend on, and are not
routed through, an SPC-1 building; and,
e) The GAC either demonstrates that the SPC-1 building does
not pose a structural risk to an adjoining hospital
building that is used for acute care services or mitigates
the risk in accordance with a deadline described in the
January 1, 2008 seismic deadline, as specified, that OSHPD
determines will best protect patients' safety.
7)Permits OSHPD to revoke an extension granted pursuant to the
provisions of this bill for any GAC building where the work of
construction is abandoned or suspended for a period of at
least six months, unless the hospital demonstrates in a public
document that the abandonment or suspension was caused by
factors beyond its control.
8)Permits OSHPD to revoke an extension granted pursuant to the
provisions in this bill if it is determined that any
information submitted pursuant to the provisions of this bill
was falsified in any manner by the GAC or if the GAC fails to
meet any criteria or conditions, as specified.
9)Requires regulatory submissions made by OSHPD to the
California Building Standards Commission pursuant to
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provisions in this bill to be deemed and to be adopted as,
emergency regulations.
10)Requires the GAC owner that applies for an extension pursuant
to the provisions of this bill to pay to OSHPD an additional
fee, to be determined by OSHPD, sufficient to cover the
additional cost incurred by OSHPD for maintaining all
reporting requirements established pursuant to the provision
of this bill, including, but not limited to, the costs of
reviewing and verifying the extension documentation submitted.
Prohibits the additional fee from including any cost for
review of the plans or other duties related to receiving a
building or occupancy permit.
11)Permits a GAC denied an extension pursuant to the provisions
in this bill to appeal the assessment to the Hospital Building
Safety Board.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes and grants OSHPD authority and responsibility for
reviewing and approving all plans relating to construction,
additions to, reconstruction, or alteration of, health care
facilities, as defined. Before adopting any such plans,
requires hospitals to submit the plans to OSHPD for approval
and to pay an application filing fee, as determined by OSHPD,
based on the project's estimated construction cost.
2)Establishes the Alfred E. Alquist Hospital Facilities Seismic
Safety Act of 1983, and its amendments, with the following
deadlines for seismic safety compliance:
a) After January 1, 2008, requires any GAC hospital
building that is determined to be a potential risk for
collapse or significant loss of life in a major earthquake
(i.e., designated as SPC-1) to be used only for non-acute
care purposes;
b) Authorizes OSHPD to extend the 2008 deadline by five
years, to January 1, 2013, if:
i) The hospital demonstrates that compliance with the
2008 deadline will result in a loss of health care
capacity that may not be provided by other GAC hospitals
within a reasonable proximity, and other conditions are
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met;
ii) The hospital agrees that by January 1, 2013,
designated services will be provided by moving into an
existing conforming building, relocating to a newly-built
building, or continuing in the retrofitted building, as
specified; or,
iii) The building is either retrofitted to SPC-2 and
NPC-3 standards, or not used for GAC inpatient services,
by January 1, 2013.
c) Authorizes OSHPD to extend the 2013 deadline by up to
two additional years, up to January 1, 2015, if the
hospital meets specified interim deadlines and is making
reasonable progress toward meeting its timeline to retrofit
or replace an SPC-1 building but is delayed due to factors
beyond its control;
d) Permits a hospital owner, in lieu of retrofitting or
rebuilding SPC-1 buildings by 2013, to instead replace them
by January 1, 2020, if:
i) The hospital meets specified conditions, including
serving Medi-Cal or indigent patients and underserved
areas, and OSHPD certifies that the hospital owner lacks
the financial capacity to meet seismic standards, as
defined; or
ii) The nonconforming building is owned or operated by a
county, city, or county and city that lacks the ability
to meet the 2013 deadline but commits to replace the
buildings by January 1, 2020.
e) Requires, by January 1, 2030, all hospital buildings to
be capable of remaining intact after an earthquake, and
capable of continued operation and provision of acute care
medical services (designated as SPC-5), and requires owners
of all acute care inpatient hospitals to demolish, replace,
or change to non-acute care all hospital buildings not in
substantial compliance.
3)Requires an owner of a GAC hospital building classified as
SPC-1, who has not requested an extension of the 2008
deadline, to submit a report to OSHPD no later than April 15,
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2007, describing the status of each building in complying with
the deadline, and to identify the following:
a) Each building that is subject to the deadline;
b) The project number or numbers for retrofit or
replacement of each building;
c) The projected construction start date or dates and
projected construction completion date or dates; and,
d) The building or buildings to be removed from acute care
service and the projected date or dates of this action.
4)Requires owners of SPC-1 hospital buildings who have requested
an extension of the 2008 deadline to submit similar reports by
June 30, 2009, and November 1, 2010.
5)Requires OSHPD to make the information reported pursuant to 3)
and 4) above available on its Website within 90 days of
receipt.
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill, as amended has not yet been analyzed
by an Assembly fiscal committee.
COMMENTS : According to the author, this bill provides a narrow
set of circumstances that permit GACs to request from OSHPD two
separate extensions for a total of five years to comply with
state seismic safety requirements. The author maintains that,
currently, there are instances where the local planning review
and approval process for GAC construction projects have taken
longer than originally anticipated. In addition, the author
asserts that local approving agencies can require that the
phases of a hospital construction project be done in a specific
sequence which can lengthen the total amount of time needed to
finish the project, forcing some GACs to adjust their
construction schedules. The author argues that due to these
factors, a few GACs will be unable to meet the state seismic
deadline of 2015. SB 608 attempts to address the issue of local
planning delays and timing by providing an opportunity for a
limited number of hospitals that are structurally rated as not
having any patients or employees in a building at risk of
collapse or significant loss of life in a major earthquake to
achieve full seismic compliance.
SB 608
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Analysis Prepared by : Tanya Robinson-Taylor / HEALTH / (916)
319-2097
FN: 0006594