BILL ANALYSIS �
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CONSENT
Bill No: AB 2270
Author: Ting (D)
Amended: 3/28/14 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 11-0, 6/24/14
AYES: DeSaulnier, Gaines, Beall, Cannella, Galgiani, Hueso,
Lara, Liu, Pavley, Roth, Wyland
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-0, 5/23/14 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT : Building Standards Commission: advisory panels
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill allows the Building Standards Commission to
appoint advisory panel members from the energy- and
resource-efficiency professions.
ANALYSIS : The California Building Standards Law establishes
the Building Standards Commission (BSC) and the process for
adopting state building codes. The law requires the BSC to
adopt a new version of the California Building Code every three
years. Under this process, relevant state agencies begin with a
model code developed by a national code-writing entity and then
propose amendments to the model codes to reflect California's
needs and priorities. These state agencies then submit the
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package of proposed building standards to the BSC for the BSC to
adopt, modify, or reject.
Relevant state agencies include the Department of Housing and
Community Development for residential building codes, the Office
of Statewide Health Planning and Development for hospitals and
clinics, and the Division of the State Architect for schools and
emergency service buildings. Not all buildings fall under the
jurisdiction of a relevant state agency. Most commercial,
industrial, and manufacturing structures are considered "local
buildings," over which local governments may determine
applicable building standards. With respect to green building
standards, however, current law gives BSC the authority to adopt
building standards for these local buildings.
Existing law allows the BSC to appoint from the design
professions, the building and construction industry, the
affected general public, and interested governmental agencies
appropriate advisory panels to advise the commission and its
staff with respect to building standards.
This bill additionally allows the BSC to appoint advisory panel
members from the energy- and resource-efficiency professions.
Comments
The BSC itself is comprised of 11 members. Under current law,
at least one of the members must be experienced and
knowledgeable in building energy-efficiency standards, and at
least one member must be experienced and knowledgeable in
sustainable building design, construction, and operation.
In addition, the BSC's regulations require the BSC to establish
the following standing code advisory committees: accessibility;
plumbing, electrical, mechanical, and energy (PEME); building,
fire, and other regulations; structural design/lateral forces;
health facilities; and green building. The BSC already solicits
nominations from energy- and resource-efficiency professions for
some advisory committees. Currently, the BSC is required to
solicit nominations for a voting member of the PEME committee
from an environmental/energy organization and nominations for
voting members of the green building committee who are
mechanical or electrical engineers or energy/building
performance specialists.
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FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/6/14)
California Municipal Utilities Association
TRANE
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author, the California
Green Building Standards Code requires all residential and
commercial developers to implement green building standards,
such as a 20% reduction in indoor water use, compliance with
energy efficiency standards promulgated by the California Energy
Commission, and use of low-pollutant-emitting construction and
finishing materials. As the building standards code evolves to
account for more energy- and resource-efficiency measures, it is
important to ensure that the BSC is able to draw upon the
knowledge and qualifications of experts in the field. Utilizing
the expertise of energy- and resource-efficiency professionals
will help strengthen California's building codes and further
demonstrate California's commitment to sustainable construction
practices.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-0, 5/23/14
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bocanegra, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon,
Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley, Dababneh,
Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier,
Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell,
Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer,
Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mansoor,
Medina, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Olsen, Pan, Patterson,
Perea, John A. P�rez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon,
Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner,
Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bonilla, Harkey, Roger Hern�ndez, Melendez,
Nestande, V. Manuel P�rez, Vacancy
JA:nl 8/6/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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