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AB-1721 Seismic retrofitting: soft story multifamily housing.(2021-2022)



Current Version: 05/19/22 - Amended Assembly

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AB1721:v97#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Assembly  May 19, 2022
Amended  IN  Assembly  March 21, 2022

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 1721

Introduced by Assembly Member Rodriguez
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Holden)

January 27, 2022

An act to add Article 11.1 (commencing with Section 8619.20) and Article 23 (commencing with Section 8669.8) to, and to add and repeal Article 5.10 (commencing with Section 8590.10) of, 8590.15) of Chapter 7 of Division 1 of Title 2 of the Government Code, relating to state government.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1721, as amended, Rodriguez. California Emergency Services Act: emergency preparedness: mutual aid: seismic retrofitting Seismic retrofitting: soft story multifamily housing.

Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act, establishes the Office of Emergency Services (OES) within the office of the Governor, and sets forth its powers and duties, including responsibility for addressing natural, technological, or manmade disasters and emergencies, including activities necessary to prevent, respond to, recover from, and mitigate the effects of emergencies and disasters to people and property. Existing law authorizes the Governor with the advice of OES to divide the state into mutual aid regions for the more effective application, administration, and coordination of mutual aid and other emergency-related activities. Existing law requires OES to coordinate response and recovery operations in each of the mutual aid regions.

This bill would establish the Emergency Medical Services Mutual Aid Program, to be administered by OES, to support local government efforts in responding to surges in demand for emergency medical services and provide effective mutual aid during disasters, as defined. The bill would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, require OES to provide noncompetitive grant funding to local governments, special districts, and tribes for the purpose of acquiring emergency medical services, as specified. The bill would also require OES to provide an annual report to the Legislature regarding the program, as specified. The bill would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, require the Controller to transfer $50,000,000 to the Director of Emergency Services to effectuate these provisions.

Existing federal law requires a state mitigation plan as a condition for disaster assistance and authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency to condition mitigation grant assistance upon state, local, and Indian tribal governments undertaking coordinated disaster mitigation planning and implementation measures. Existing law requires OES, in coordination with all interested state agencies with designated response roles in the state emergency plan and interested local emergency management agencies, to jointly establish by regulation a standardized emergency management system for use by all emergency response agencies.

This bill would establish a Local Resilience, Emergency Preparedness, and Mutual Aid Fund to, upon appropriation by the Legislature, support staffing, planning, emergency mitigation priorities, and enhancing mutual aid to help local governments meet emergency management, preparedness, readiness, and resilience goals. The bill would require the Controller, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to transfer $500,000,000 annually to the fund. The bill would require OES to establish the Local Resilience, Emergency Preparedness, and Mutual Aid Fund Committee under the Standardized Emergency Management System Advisory Board. The bill, on or before July 1, 2023, would require the committee to adopt guidelines identifying eligible uses of the funds distributed pursuant to these provisions for the mitigation, prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery phases of emergency management that supports the development of a resilient community and enhances mutual aid.

The bill would also require OES, upon appropriation, to establish the Long Term Care Mutual Aid Program, to be administered by OES in coordination with the California Health and Human Services Agency, for the purpose of supporting responses by local governments and specified long-term care facilities to facility evacuations, surge capacity issues, and other disaster responses, and providing effective mutual aid during disasters, as specified. The bill would require OES to provide noncompetitive grant funding through the program to specified nonprofit organizations that represent long-term care facilities for the purpose of developing, coordinating, and providing continued readiness, as specified. The bill would require facilities that participate in the program to integrate their disaster preparedness, response, and recovery efforts with specified entities.

Existing law establishes the California Earthquake Authority (CEA), administered under the authority of the Insurance Commissioner and governed by a 3-member board, to transact insurance in this state as necessary to sell policies of basic residential earthquake insurance.
Existing law authorizes a city or county to establish, by ordinance, seismic retrofit standards for certain woodframe, multiunit residential buildings, referred to as soft story residential buildings, that the city or county identifies as being potentially hazardous to life in the event of an earthquake.
This bill would establish the Seismic Retrofitting Program for Soft Story Multifamily Housing for the purposes of providing financial assistance to owners of soft story multifamily housing for seismic retrofitting to protect individuals living in multifamily housing that have been determined to be at risk of collapse in earthquakes, as specified. The bill would also establish the Seismic Retrofitting Program for Soft Story Multifamily Housing Fund Fund, and its subsidiary account, the Seismic Retrofitting Account, within the State Treasury. Moneys in the fund would be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the California Earthquake Authority for the purposes of distributing funds pursuant to the program. The bill would require the Controller, upon appropriation, to transfer $400,000,000 annually to the fund. The bill would require OES and CEA to enter into or use a joint powers agreement to develop and administer the program, as specified. The bill would require OES and CEA to submit a specified report to the Legislature by July 1, 2026, 2042, regarding the implementation of the program. The bill would make these provisions inoperative on July 1, 2027, 2042, and would repeal them as of January 1, 2028. 2043.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares as follows:

(a)Fourteen of the largest 20 wildfires in California history have occurred in the last decade. These megafires are threatening the way of life for millions of Californians and destroying tens of thousands of homes and businesses.

(b)Major and simultaneous wildfires have overwhelmed the mutual aid system and increased the number of out-of-state firefighting resources being requested.

(c)The number of unfilled requests for both in-state and out-of-state mutual aid continues to increase and the greatest challenge faced by incident commanders is a scarcity of fire crews.

(d)

(a) The United States Geological Survey and other scientists estimate a 72-percent probability that at least one earthquake of magnitude 6.7 or greater, capable of causing widespread damage, will strike the San Francisco Bay Area before 2044. For the Los Angeles region, the same model forecasts a 60-percent probability that an earthquake of magnitude 6.7 or greater will occur before 2044.

(e)

(b) The modeling for major earthquake scenarios in the Bay Area and Southern bay area and southern California from the Federal Emergency Management Agency forecasts violent shaking in densely populated areas that could result in over 50,000 displaced households and over 30,000 individuals requiring short-term shelter.

(f)

(c) There are an estimated 100,000 tens of thousands of soft story multifamily apartment buildings, built before 1980, that house an estimated 2,500,000 Californians, many of whom are economically disadvantaged.

(g)California has a history of floods. Though the last water year with major, widespread flooding was 1997 (the New Year’s Day floods, when 120,000 people were evacuated and 23,000 homes and businesses flooded), there have been several recent local flood disasters, such as the Oroville Spillway in 2017.

(h)Since 1992, every county in California has been declared a federal disaster area at least once for a flooding event. Estimates suggest one-in-five Californians and structures valued at nearly six hundred billion dollars ($600,000,000,000) statewide are located in areas that have at least a 1-in-500 probability of flooding in any given year. In the Central Valley alone, nearly one-in-three residents and crops worth nearly six billion dollars ($6,000,000,000) are located in areas at risk of flooding.

SEC. 2.

 Article 5.10 (commencing with Section 8590.15) is added to Chapter 7 of Division 1 of Title 2 of the Government Code, to read:
Article  5.10. Seismic Retrofitting Program for Soft Story Multifamily Housing

8590.15.
 For purposes of this article, the following definitions apply:
(a) “Fund” means the Seismic Retrofitting Program for Soft Story Multifamily Housing Fund.
(b) “Joint powers authority” means the agency or entity designated or created pursuant to a joint powers agreement between the Office of Emergency Services and the California Earthquake Authority, entered into pursuant to Section 8590.17, to implement this article.
(c) “Multifamily housing” means a two- or three-story building containing 5 to 20 residential units.
(d) “Program” means the Seismic Retrofitting Program for Soft Story Multifamily Housing.
(e) “Seismic retrofitting” means making a structure more resistant to earthquake shaking and damage.
(f) “Soft story” means a multiunit, wood-frame building with a weak first story that has a high collapse potential due primarily to its soft or weak first-story walls.

8590.16.
 (a) The Seismic Retrofitting Program for Soft Story Multifamily Housing is hereby established, to be developed and administered as provided in this article, for the purposes of providing financial assistance to owners of soft story multifamily housing for seismic retrofitting to protect individuals living in multifamily housing that have been determined to be at risk of collapse in earthquakes.
(b) The Seismic Retrofitting Program for Soft Story Multifamily Housing Fund is Fund, and its subsidiary account, the Seismic Retrofitting Account, are hereby created within the State Treasury. Moneys in the fund and its subsidiary account shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the California Earthquake Authority for the purposes of distributing funds pursuant to the program as provided in this article.
(c) Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the Controller shall transfer four hundred million dollars ($400,000,000) annually to the fund for the purposes of carrying out this article.
(d) Funds appropriated for purposes of the program shall be available for a 10-year performance period, which may be extended by the joint powers agreement on an annual basis until July 1, 2042.

8590.17.
 (a) The Office of Emergency Services shall enter into a or use an existing joint powers agreement with the California Earthquake Authority in accordance with the Joint Exercise of Powers Act (Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 6500) of Division 7 of Title 1) and this article to develop and administer the program.
(b) The program shall do all of the following:
(1) Encourage cost-effective seismic retrofitting for existing affordable multifamily housing in California.
(2) Provide financial assistance to owners of multifamily housing that have been determined to be at risk of collapse in earthquakes for seismic retrofitting to protect individuals living in multifamily housing.
(3) Prioritize financial assistance to benefit communities with high social vulnerability.
(4) Prioritize financial assistance to owners of multifamily housing serving low- and moderate-income households in communities with high concentrations of soft story multifamily housing or in areas of high seismicity.
(c) The California Earthquake Authority shall receive a reasonable amount not to exceed 10 percent of funding under this program to provide technical assistance to cities and local building departments to develop inventories and seismic retrofit programs for multifamily housing in high seismic areas.
(d) The California Earthquake Authority shall receive reasonable funds, as required, to offset administrative, operational, information technology, and finance costs to administer the program and is prohibited from using funds from policyholders to offset any costs associated with this program.

8590.18.
 (a) The joint powers authority shall develop criteria and a scoring methodology to prioritize financial assistance provided under the program that consider, but are not limited to considering, all of the following:
(1) An area’s and community’s vulnerability to earthquake. earthquakes.
(2) The number of low- and moderate-income households residing in multifamily housing in the area.
(3) Other factors that lead some populations to experience a greater risk from earthquakes, including socioeconomic characteristics of an area or community such as poverty levels, residents with disabilities, residents experiencing language barriers, residents over 65 or under 5 years of age, and households without a car.
(b) The joint powers authority shall develop eligibility criteria for communities and property owners who may receive financial assistance under the seismic retrofitting program in accordance with this article.
(c) Contracts for seismic retrofit engineering and construction work executed after the date of enactment of the act adding this subdivision may qualify for grant reimbursement if the projects qualify under the program requirements developed pursuant to act by the appropriate agencies.

8590.19.
 (a) The joint powers authority may accept any federal funds granted by an act of Congress or by executive order for any of the purposes of this article.
(b) The joint powers authority may establish financial assistance limits and matching funding or other recipient contribution requirements, as necessary, to ensure the viability and efficient operation of the program and to maximize the program’s impact on reducing earthquake risk in California.

8590.20.
 (a) By July 1, 2026, 2042, the joint powers authority shall submit a report to the Legislature pursuant to Section 9795 regarding the implementation of the program. The report shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following:
(1) An evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of the program.
(2) An evaluation of the overall earthquake risk reduction in achieved statewide through awards of financial assistance under the program.
(3) Detailed information about the quantity, monetary value, geographic distribution, and categories of awards of financial assistance made under the program.
(4) Detailed information about the sources and amounts of funds appropriated or granted to the program.
(b) The requirement for submitting a report imposed by this section is inoperative on January 1, 2028, 2043, pursuant to Section 10231.5.

8590.21.
 The operation of this article is contingent upon an appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act or another statute for purposes of this article.

8590.22.
 This article shall become inoperative on July 1, 2027, 2042, and, as of January 1, 2028, 2043, is repealed.

SEC. 3.Article 11.1 (commencing with Section 8619.20) is added to Chapter 7 of Division 1 of Title 2 of the Government Code, to read:
11.1.Emergency Medical Services Mutual Aid Program
8619.20.

(a)The Emergency Medical Services Mutual Aid Program is hereby established, to be administered by the office in coordination with the Emergency Medical Services Authority, for the purpose of supporting local government efforts to respond to surges in demand for emergency medical services and provide effective mutual aid during disasters.

(b)Pursuant to Section 8619.21, the office shall provide noncompetitive grant funding through the program to local governments, special districts, and tribes for the purpose of acquiring emergency medical services resources, including mobile field hospitals, triage tents, ambulances, and body armor and personal protective equipment for emergency medical services personnel.

(c)For purposes of this article, the following definitions shall apply:

(1)“Disaster” has the same meaning as in Section 8680.3.

(2)“Office” means the Office of Emergency Services.

(3)“Program” means the Emergency Medical Services Mutual Aid Program.

8619.21.

(a)(1)Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the office shall make grants of funds on a noncompetitive basis to all of the following:

(A)Counties.

(B)Cities.

(C)Special districts.

(D)California federally recognized tribes.

(2)The grants shall be divided between all entities specified in paragraph (1) pro rata based on population.

(b)Notwithstanding subdivision (a), an entity that is required to have an emergency plan under this chapter shall not be eligible to receive a grant under this section unless the entity’s plan includes providing emergency medical services during a disaster.

(c)(1)The office shall provide an annual report to the Legislature pursuant to Section 9795 that includes, at a minimum, all of the following:

(A)The number of applications received under the program during the year of the report.

(B)The total dollar amount requested by eligible entities during the year of the report.

(C)How grants received under the program have been invested.

(D)The effectiveness of the program and the metrics used in determining effectiveness.

(2)The requirement for submitting a report imposed by this subdivision is inoperative on January 1, 2028, pursuant to Section 10231.5.

(d)The office may retain up to 3 percent of any appropriation from the Legislature for the purpose of administering the program.

8619.22.

Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the Controller shall transfer fifty million dollars ($50,000,000) to the Director of Emergency Services to effectuate this article.

SEC. 4.Article 23 (commencing with Section 8669.8) is added to Chapter 7 of Division 1 of Title 2 of the Government Code, to read:
23.Local Resilience, Emergency Preparedness, and Mutual Aid Fund
8669.8.

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a)To protect public health and safety and the environment, it is necessary to establish a high level of preparedness in counties, cities, and special districts to respond to disasters. The establishment of a high level of preparedness at the local government level is of statewide concern because of the possibility of catastrophic disasters striking the citizens of the state especially as the state faces the impacts of climate change.

(b)The establishment of a local disaster preparedness fund is the basis for achieving the stable funding necessary to maintain a high level of local preparedness and readiness, including the ongoing evaluation and hazard mitigation of existing risks before a disaster strikes, that the citizens of the state deserve and need.

(c)The funds generated pursuant to this article should be available to eligible local governments in order to provide flexibility to manage resilience and preparedness programs, develop needed emergency operations plans and response procedures, establish emergency management facilities, provide necessary training as the local hazards and state of preparedness may dictate, and enhance mutual aid capabilities.

8669.81.

For purposes of this article, the following definitions apply:

(a)“Director” means the Director of Emergency Services.

(b)“Fund” means the Local Resilience, Emergency Preparedness, and Mutual Aid Fund established pursuant to Section 8669.82.

(c)“Committee” means the Local Resilience, Emergency Preparedness, and Mutual Aid Fund Committee established pursuant to Section 8669.83.

(d)“Board” means the Standardized Emergency Management System Advisory Board.

(e)“Eligible local government” means a local government with responsibilities to respond or assist in response to disasters, consistent with local emergency plans.

(f)“Lead agency” means the lead agency of an operational area.

(g)“Local government” means a city, county, city and county, or special district.

(h)“Operational area” has the same meaning as set forth in Section 8559.

(i)“Hazard mitigation” means a sustained action taken to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to people and property from natural or human-caused hazards and their effects.

(j)“Program” means the Long Term Care Mutual Aid Program, established pursuant to Section 8669.87.

8669.82.

(a)The Local Resilience, Emergency Preparedness, and Mutual Aid Fund is hereby created within the State Treasury. Moneys in the Local Resilience, Emergency Preparedness, and Mutual Aid Fund shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for purposes of distributing funds pursuant to this article to support, staffing, planning, emergency mitigation priorities, and enhancing mutual aid to help local governments meet emergency management, preparedness, readiness, and resilience goals.

(b)Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the Controller shall transfer five hundred million dollars ($500,000,000) annually to the fund.

8669.83.

(a)The Office of Emergency Services shall establish the Local Resilience, Emergency Preparedness, and Mutual Aid Committee under the supervision of the Standardized Emergency Management System Advisory Board.

(b)The committee shall include the following representatives:

(1)The director or the director’s appointee.

(2)The following representatives that each of the three Office of Emergency Services Mutual Aid Administrative Regions shall select:

(A)One representative of a city with a population among the 10 largest in the state and one representative of a county with a population among the 10 largest in the state.

(B)One representative of a city that both has a population not less than 100,000 and is not represented pursuant to subparagraph (A) and one representative of a county that both has a population not less than 100,000 and is not represented pursuant to subparagraph (A).

(C)One representative of a city with a population less than 100,000 and one representative of a county with a population less than 100,000.

(D)One representative of a special district.

(E)One representative from a tribal government.

(F)For purposes of this paragraph, population shall be based on the most recent estimate of population data determined by the Demographic Research Unit of the Department of Finance.

(3)The Director of CAL FIRE or the director’s designee.

(4)The Executive Director of the Seismic Safety Commission or that person’s designee.

(5)The Chief Executive Officer of the California Earthquake Authority or that person’s designee.

(c)The committee members selected pursuant to subdivision (b) shall each serve a term of two years.

8669.84.

(a)The committee shall report to the board. The board shall meet every six months to hear committee reports.

(b)On or before July 1, 2023, the committee shall adopt guidelines identifying eligible uses of the funds consistent with Section 8669.86 for the mitigation, prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery phases of emergency management that supports the development of a resilient community and enhances mutual aid.

8669.85.

(a)To receive funds pursuant to this article, an eligible local government shall maintain their local hazard mitigation plan, multiyear training and exercise plan, and threat and hazard identification and risk assessment plan, in accordance with regulations adopted by the Office of Emergency Services. If a local government does not have any of these plans, it may use funds allocated from the fund to develop a plan. The updates to these plans shall form the work plan for the local government. The local government work plans, together, shall become part of an operational area work plan and shall guide the use of all funds allocated from the fund to jurisdictions within an operational area. The work plan shall contain measurable disaster preparedness and hazard mitigation goals and objectives.

(b)(1)The lead agency for an operational area, as identified by the agreement that establishes the operational area, shall forward annually a copy of the updated work plan and shall submit a biennial report on work plan projects to the Office of Emergency Services.

(2)Within 160 days following a proclaimed emergency, the Governor and the Legislature may request an operational area to report on how funds allocated pursuant to this article contributed to the area’s response.

8669.86.

(a)A local government that receives funds pursuant to this article shall identify in the work plan how the funds are to be used, in the following categories:

(1) Implementing hazard mitigation projects, including, but not limited to, the following:

(A)Physical projects that will reduce risk or loss from earthquakes, floods, fires, or other disaster agents.

(B)Local share requirements for state or federal hazard mitigation grants.

(2) Developing emergency operations plans, protocols, procedures, field operation guidance, or similar planning and response tools, including establishment and maintenance of emergency supply stockpiles.

(3)Upgrading or establishing emergency facilities from which the agency can manage personnel and resource response to an emergency or disaster. For purposes of this paragraph, “emergency facilities” includes, but is not limited to, emergency operations centers and communications systems used for coordination within a jurisdiction or between jurisdictions.

(4)Training in emergency management and disaster response, including, but not limited to, ensuring that staff can address emergency preparedness and response needs for those projects that serve the access and functional needs population, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 8593.3.

(5)Enhancing mutual aid capabilities.

(b)At the end of each fiscal year, an eligible local government shall confirm that funds were used for programs in the categories described in subdivision (a), and shall submit appropriate documentation to the lead agency with an annual update to the eligible local government’s element of the work plan.

8669.87.

(a)The Office of Emergency Services, upon appropriation by the Legislature pursuant to Section 8669.82, shall establish the Long Term Care Mutual Aid Program, to be administered by the office in coordination with the California Health and Human Services Agency, for both of the following purposes:

(1)Supporting responses by local governments and long-term care facilities to facility evacuations, surge capacity issues, and other disaster response issues.

(2)Providing effective mutual aid during disasters.

(b)The office shall provide noncompetitive grant funding through the program to eligible nonprofit organizations as described by Section 8692 that represent long-term care facilities for the purpose of developing, coordinating, and providing continued readiness pursuant to the program.

(c)Facilities that participate in the program shall integrate their disaster preparedness, response, and recovery efforts with the six mutual aid regions, the Medical Health Operational Area Coordinator, state agencies, and hospitals.

(d)The program shall include, at a minimum, all of the following:

(1)A field verification of long-term care facilities participating in the program.

(2)A centralized platform for communicating situational awareness between long-term care facilities and local, county, and state emergency responders, which shall include assisting health care providers coordinate evacuations, share resources and assets, and provide mutual assistance, as needed.

(3)Requirements for participating long-term care facilities related to continued readiness, including orientation and onboarding of facilities, regular education, training, drills, and exercises.