BILL NUMBER: SB 1271 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 10, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Senator Corbett
( Principal coauthor: Senator
Alquist )
( Coauthors: Senators
Blakeslee and Hancock )
FEBRUARY 23, 2012
An act to add and repeal Section 17280.6 of the Education Code,
relating to school facilities.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1271, as amended, Corbett. School facilities: Field Act:
seismic safety standards: workgroup.
Existing law requires the Department of General Services, under
the police power of the state, to supervise the design and
construction of any school building or the reconstruction or
alteration of or addition to any school building, if not exempted, to
ensure that plans and specifications comply with specified rules,
regulations, and building standards and to ensure that the work of
construction is performed in accordance with the approved plans and
specifications, for the protection of life and property. Existing law
authorizes the department to issue a stop work order when
construction work on a public school is not being performed in
accordance with existing law and would compromise the structural
integrity of the building, thereby endangering the public safety, but
requires the department to allow construction of incidental and
minor nonstructural additions or nonstructural alterations without
invoking its stop work authority.
Existing law establishes in the Department of General Services the
Division of the State Architect and provides that the State
Architect has general charge, under the Department of General
Services, of the erection of all state buildings.
This bill would require the Department of General Services to
convene a workgroup , as specified, to develop and adopt
standards, subject to the approval of other members of the
working group, with respect to the seismic safety of schools and to
make recommendations to the Legislature on ways to amend the Field
Act to make it more effective. The bill would require the workgroup
to include representatives from the office of the State Auditor, the
Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Office of Emergency
Services, and the State Architect. The bill would require the
workgroup to adopt the standards and submit the recommendations by
January 1, 2014. recommendations for improving the
oversight of school construction projects. The bill would require the
workgroup to review changes made within the Division of the State
Architect to improve its oversight of school construction and to
review the Field Act to consider changes to the act concerning
occupancy of school facilities when and if significant safety
concerns are identified. The bill would require the Division of the
State Architect to report the recommendations of the work to the
Senate Select Committee on Earthquake and Disaster Preparedness,
Response and Recovery by January 1, 2014, at a public hearing with an
opportunity for public comment, as specified. The bill would
repeal these provisions on January 1, 2016.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) California has 9,903 public schools, many of which are at risk
of not meeting the construction requirements of the Field Act and,
therefore, they may not be seismically safe.
(2) There are 15,000 faultlines that lay across California, with
the San Andreas and the Hayward faults being significantly active
fault zones.
(3) On average, approximately 37,300 earthquakes are recorded and
analyzed per year, amounting to over 100 earthquakes per day.
(4) According to a December 2011 report by the State Auditor
concerning an audit of the Division of the State Architect, there are
significant gaps in the effective and comprehensive level of
oversight of school construction and seismic safety projects.
(5) While the Division of the State Architect must certify school
construction projects when they comply with the act, as of December
2010 approximately 16,400 projects statewide remained uncertified.
(6) The Division of the State Architect did not effectively
document its determinations about the risk level of uncertified
projects or use these determinations to guide its approach to
following up on those projects.
(7) The Division of the State Architect has been inconsistent and
ineffective in enforcing the Field Act and using its authority to
order school districts to stop work on projects after identifying a
potential threat to public safety.
(8) The Division of the State Architect does not have a process
for planning oversight for projects of similar size and complexity
and cannot demonstrate that it has provided adequate field oversight
.
(b) Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature to ensure that
the state's public schools are seismically safe and in compliance
with the Field Act.
SEC. 2. Section 17280.6 is added to the Education Code, to read:
17280.6. (a) The Department of General Services shall convene a
workgroup to develop and adopt standards, subject to the
approval of other members of the working group, with respect to the
seismic safety of schools and shall make recommendations to the
Legislature on ways to amend the Field Act to make it more effective.
By January 1, 2014, the workgroup shall adopt the standards and
submit the recommendations for improving the oversight
of school construction projects . The workgroup shall
review both of the following:
(b) The workgroup shall not exceed six members and shall include,
but not be limited to, representatives from all of the following:
(1) The office of the State Auditor.
(2) The Superintendent of Public Instruction.
(3) Office of Emergency Services.
(4) The State Architect.
(c) The workgroup shall hold a public hearing to solicit public
comments before adopting standards pursuant to subdivision (a).
(d) In developing standards for the seismic safety of schools and
recommendations on ways to amend the Field Act, the Department of
General Services and the workgroup, by January 1, 2014, shall
consider all of the following:
(1) The Division of the State Architect's use of orders to comply
and stop work orders.
(2) The Division of the State Architect's use of penalties for
school districts.
(3) Policies regarding classifying types of uncertified projects.
(4) Improved communication with school districts on uncertified
projects.
(5) Specific expectations for conducting site visits and
monitoring efforts to its planned actions.
(6) Directions for the field engineers to increase their presence
on project sites.
(7) Increasing training on current code requirements.
(8) Evaluating inspectors, including providing consistent
documentation of performance.
(9) Increased oversight by qualified individuals of
accessibility-related and fire and life safety-related issues.
(10) Increased transparence to the public of the Division of the
State Architect's actions.
(1) Changes made internal to the Division of the State Architect
to improve its oversight of school construction projects since
December 2011. The workgroup shall make any recommendations it
determines are necessary to further improve oversight, process,
training, and inspection activities under the control of the Division
of the State Architect concerning school facility construction and
seismic, fire, and life safety.
(2) The Field Act, as it relates to occupancy of school
facilities, to consider what, if any, statutory changes should be
made to prohibit occupancy when and if significant safety concerns
are identified, and what, if any, penalties the Division of the State
Architect should be able to levy against school districts that do
not provide all required documents.
(b) The workgroup shall be composed of representatives from all of
the following:
(1) The Division of the State Architect.
(2) The Superintendent of Public Instruction.
(3) The Seismic Safety Commission.
(4) The State Fire Marshal.
(5) School districts that represent the diverse size and geography
of California's school districts.
(6) The California Community College Chancellor's office.
(7) A community college district.
(c) The Division of the State Architect shall report the
recommendations of the workgroup, including, but not limited to, any
actions taken by the Division of the State Architect to modify its
oversight of school construction projects pursuant to paragraph (1)
of subdivision (a), to the Senate Select Committee on Earthquake and
Disaster Preparedness, Response and Recovery by January 1, 2014, at a
public hearing of the committee. The Senate Select Committee on
Earthquake and Disaster Preparedness, Response and Recovery shall
provide an opportunity for public comment before proposing statutory
changes recommended by the workgroup.
(e)
(d) This section shall remain in effect only until
January 1, 2016, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later
enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2016, deletes or
extends that date.