BILL ANALYSIS
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 608
Author: Alquist (D), et al
Amended: 8/24/10
Vote: 21
PRIOR VOTES NOT RELEVANT
SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE : 8-0, 8/31/10
AYES: Alquist, Strickland, Aanestad, Cedillo, Leno,
Negrete McLeod, Pavley, Romero
NO VOTE RECORDED: Vacancy
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 72-1, 08/30/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Hospitals: seismic safety
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill permits the Office of Statewide Health
Planning and Development to grant two separate extensions
to a general acute care hospital for a total of five years,
under specified circumstances related to local planning
delays, for compliance with existing state seismic safety
requirements.
Assembly Amendments delete the version of the bill that
passed the Senate an now address the subject of hospitals
and seismic safety.
ANALYSIS :
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Existing law :
1. Establishes and grants the Office of Statewide Health
Planning and Development (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 (Alquist Act), and its
amendments, with the following deadlines for seismic
safety compliance:
A. After January 1, 2008, requires any general acute
care (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:
(1) 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
met.
(2) 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.
(3) The building is either retrofitted to
SPC-2 and NPC-3 standards, or not used for GAC
inpatient services, by January 1, 2013.
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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:
(1) 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.
(2) 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, 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
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replacement of each building.
C. The projected construction start date or dates and
projected construction completion date or dates.
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 Web site within 90
days of receipt.
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
existing 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, 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 originally filed the local
application prior to January 1, 2008.
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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 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
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by DPH no later than January 1, 2009.
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 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 and only if, the projects meet
all of 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.
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 for any GAC
building where the work of construction is abandoned or
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suspended for a period of at least six months, unless
the GAC 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 if it is
determined that any information submitted 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
provisions in this bill to be deemed and to be adopted
as emergency regulations.
10.Requires the GAC owner that applies for an extension 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 to appeal the
assessment to the Hospital Building Safety Board.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Anderson, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
DeVore, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes,
Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto,
Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill,
Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Knight, Logue, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande,
Niello, Nielsen, Norby, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino,
Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio,
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Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torrico, Tran,
Villines, John A. Perez
NOES: Ammiano
NO VOTE RECORDED: Jones, Lieu, Ma, Torres, Yamada, Vacancy,
Vacancy
CTW:do 8/31/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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