BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1167
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SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1167 (Hueso)
As Amended March 26, 2014
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :37-0
HOUSING 6-0
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|Ayes:|Beth Gaines, Ammiano, | | |
| |Brown, Maienschein, | | |
| |Quirk-Silva, Yamada | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires property owners to abate substandard building
conditions causing pest infestations, in addition to destroying
the pests.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS :
Background: Current law lists various conditions that, if
present in a residential building to an extent that there is a
danger to public health and safety, require that the building be
declared substandard. These conditions include structural
hazards, unsafe wiring, faulty plumbing systems, and faulty
weather protection. Inadequate sanitation is also one of these
conditions, which the law specifies includes, but is not limited
to, 15 different conditions. One of those conditions is an
infestation of insects, vermin, or rodents.
SB 488 (Hueso), Chapter 89, Statutes of 2013, empowered local
code enforcement officers, if an agreement does not exist with
an agency that has a health officer, to determine an infestation
of insects, vermin, or rodents for purposes of deeming a
building to be substandard due to inadequate sanitation. In
addition to identifying and citing substandard conditions, code
enforcement officers are authorized to require that a property
owner correct the violations. If the owner fails to do so after
30 days' notice, or within a shorter notice period if the
enforcement agency deems it necessary to prevent or remedy an
immediate threat to the health and safety of the public, the
SB 1167
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enforcement agency must institute appropriate actions or
proceedings to prevent, restrain, correct, or abate the
violation.
Similarly, state environmental health law requires a person who
possesses (i.e., owns or leases) any place that is infested with
rodents to endeavor to exterminate and destroy the rodents. The
law allows the Department of Public Health (DPH) and local
health officers to inspect places for rodent infestation. If
the possessor of the property fails to endeavor to exterminate
and destroy the rodents, DPH or the local health officer must
exterminate and destroy the rodents and may place a lien against
the property to recover its costs. Independent of any
particular property, a city or county may also order and pay for
the extermination and destruction of rodents on both private and
public property.
Purpose of the bill: This bill requires building and health
inspectors responding to an infestation to order the abatement
of both the infestation and substandard building conditions that
are causing the infestation. Existing law already gives
building inspectors the authority to cite any substandard
building condition causing the infestation, but this bill would
require it.
This bill also expands the authority and obligations of DPH and
local health officers to abate substandard conditions causing a
rodent infestation. As such, this bill reduces the need for
multiple inspections to address a single problem.
According to the sponsors, "SB 1167 would ensure that those
cited for a pest infestation also address any substandard
housing conditions that contribute to the infestation by simply
aligning existing codes related to pest infestations and
habitability. Addressing conditions that contribute to an
infestation will result in more effective long-term elimination
of pest infestation, healthier living conditions for residents,
and healthier communities."
There is no opposition on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Rebecca Rabovsky / H. & C.D. / (916)
319-2085
SB 1167
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FN: 0004050