BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2297
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 22, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HEALTH
Richard Pan, Chair
AB 2297 (Levine) - As Amended: April 2, 2014
SUBJECT : Health facilities: fuel cell generators.
SUMMARY : Allows certain health facilities to use reliable
alternative clean energy technologies as primary or backup power
sources if the technology meets reliability requirements set
forth by federal and state regulators. Requires the Office of
Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) to submit
guidelines for the use of reliable alternative clean energy
technologies to the California Building Standards Commission
(CBSC) in the next triennial edition of the California Building
Standards Code.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes OSHPD which, among other things, is responsible
for developing the building standards for the adequacy,
safety, and sanitation of the physical plant of general acute
care hospitals and requires regulations adopted pursuant to
law to permit program flexibility by the use of alternate
concepts, methods, procedures, techniques, and equipment.
2)Establishes the CBSC, consisting of the Secretary of the State
and Consumer Services Agency, and 10 members appointed by the
Governor, as specified. California's building codes
(California Code of Regulations, Title 24) are published on a
triennial basis. The CBSC is responsible for the
administration and implementation of each code cycle, which
includes the proposal, review, and adoption processes.
3)Requires any building standard adopted or proposed by state
agencies, including OSHPD, to be submitted to, and approved or
adopted by, the CBSC. Requires building standards adopted by
state agencies and submitted to CBSC to be accompanied by an
analysis written by the state agency that proposes the
standards to justify the approval to the satisfaction of the
CBSC.
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill has not been analyzed by a fiscal
committee.
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COMMENTS :
1)PURPOSE OF THIS BILL . According to the author, the health and
environmental risks of diesel exhaust have been
well-documented. The author also notes that processes are
underway at the federal level to explore making current
regulations on essential backup technologies technologically
neutral, and that this means that, so long as technology is as
reliable and safe as diesel generators, they could be used as
replacements. The author concludes that this bill simply
directs the state to prepare for these standards by allowing
for clean energy technologies that are at least as reliable as
diesel generators.
2)BACKGROUND . Health facilities are required to maintain backup
generators to provide emergency lighting and power supplies in
case of a power failure. State and federal regulations
require hospitals to store enough fuel to operate the
generators for 48 hours. All general acute care hospitals in
California use diesel generators as their back-up.
State building standards. Building standards submitted to the
CBSC for approval are required, by law, to be accompanied by
an analysis which will, to the satisfaction of the Commission,
justify their approval. The approval of the proposed building
standards is based on a nine point list of criteria that must
be met, including whether or not the proposed building
standards conflict with, overlap, or duplicate other building
standards, and that the applicable national specifications,
published standards, and model codes have been incorporated
where appropriate.
Diesel. Diesel engines emit a complex mixture of air
pollutants, including particulate matter. In 1998, the
California Air Resources Board identified diesel particulate
matter as a toxic air contaminant based on its potential to
cause cancer and other adverse health effects. In addition to
particulate matter, emissions from diesel engines include over
40 other cancer-causing substances. A report issued in 2002
by the Environmental Defense Fund estimates that the cancer
risk from diesel exhaust is about 10 times higher than from
all other toxic air effects on the respiratory, neurological,
and immune systems, especially for vulnerable groups such as
children and people who are ill and at a higher risk of injury
AB 2297
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and illness due to exposure to diesel exhaust.
Environmental Protection Agency regulations, which go into
effect in 2015, will require emergency engines to use cleaner
fuel, ultra-low sulfur diesel however, the rules re-state that
in an emergency, such as a hurricane or earthquake, any engine
of any size can operate without meeting emission limits.
3)SUPPORT . The National Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
supports this bill and writes that currently hospitals are
required to have diesel back-up generators on-site in case
electricity from the grid fails and these backup generators
are required to be tested at regular intervals. NRDC further
argues that diesel back-up generators contribute to local air
pollution problems and that even though other technologies
exist that provide similar electrical back-up capacities and
are cleaner than back-up diesel generating technologies,
significant regulator impediments exist that prevent hospitals
from utilizing these cleaner technologies.
The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) also supports this bill
stating that researchers estimate that as many as 60,000
Americans die prematurely each year because of exposure to
fine particles and diesel back-up generators emit fine
particles at extremely high rates. EDF states that this bill
will help allow for the adoption of less- or non-polluting
technologies in many of the areas of California most impacted
by localized air pollution.
4)PREVIOUS LEGISLATION .
a) AB 390 (Montanez), Chapter 676, Statutes of 2003,
reduces the testing frequency for testing diesel back-up
generators of health facilities and aligned California law
with The Joint Commission standards governing this type of
testing.
b) AB 2216 (Gaines), Statutes of 2010, Chapter 164,
extended until January 1, 2011, a requirement that health
facilities meet the most recent standards set by the Joint
Commission for testing of backup diesel generators.
5)TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS .
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a) As currently drafted, this bill requires OSHPD to submit
guidelines to the CBSC which would allow hospitals to use
reliable alternative clean energy technologies as primary
or back-up power sources if the technology meets
reliability requirements set forth by federal and state
regulators. Existing law specifies that OSHPD proposes
building standards for CSBC approval, but does not submit
guidelines. This bill should be amended to reflect this.
b) As currently drafted, this bill allows for the use of
reliable alternative clean energy technologies for
"essential services." Regulations refer to generators as
"essential power systems." This bill should be amended to
reflect this.
6)POLICY COMMENT . Current state standards and codes for
hospital construction are based on federal standards and codes
and both specify that backup generators use technology that
employs "prime mover" technology, which is a device supplying
the turning force necessary to turn the shaft of a generator
or alternator. Steam turbines or diesel engines are the most
common prime movers for electrical generators, and currently
diesel generators are the only types of generators that
satisfy those regulations.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Bloom Energy
ClearEdge Power, LLC
Environmental Defense Fund
Natural Resources Defense Council
Sunrun, Inc.
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Lara Flynn / HEALTH / (916) 319-2097