BILL NUMBER: AB 749	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	CHAPTER  477
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  SEPTEMBER 28, 2008
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  SEPTEMBER 28, 2008
	PASSED THE SENATE  AUGUST 11, 2008
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 18, 2008
	AMENDED IN SENATE  AUGUST 6, 2008
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JULY 2, 2008
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 12, 2008
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 18, 2007
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 28, 2007

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Wolk
   (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Berg)
   (Principal coauthor: Senator Alquist)

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2007

   An act to add Section 1569.695 to the Health and Safety Code,
relating to residential care facilities for the elderly.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 749, Wolk. Residential care facilities for the elderly:
emergency plans.
   Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of
residential care facilities for the elderly by the State Department
of Social Services. A violation of these provisions is a crime.
   This bill would require, as of March 1, 2009, those facilities to
have an emergency plan that includes specified provisions and is
available, upon request, to residents onsite and available to local
emergency responders. Additionally, the bill would require the
department to confirm, during comprehensive licensing visits, that
the plan is on file at the facility. By expanding the definition of a
crime, this bill would create a state-mandated local program.
   The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 1569.695 is added to the Health and Safety
Code, to read:
   1569.695.  (a) In addition to any other requirement of this
chapter, a residential care facility for the elderly shall have an
emergency plan that shall include, but not be limited to, all of the
following:
   (1) Evacuation procedures.
   (2) Plans for the facility to be self-reliant for a period of not
less than 72 hours immediately following any emergency or disaster,
including, but not limited to, a long-term power failure.
   (3) Transportation needs and evacuation procedures to ensure that
the facility can communicate with emergency response personnel or can
access the information necessary in order to check the emergency
routes to be used at the time of an evacuation and relocation
necessitated by a disaster.
   (4) Procedures that address, but are not limited to, all of the
following:
   (A) Provision of emergency power that could include identification
of suppliers of backup generators.
   (B) Responding to individual residents' needs in the event the
emergency call buttons are inoperable.
   (C) Process for communicating with residents, families, hospice
providers, and others, as appropriate, that might include landline
telephones, cellular telephones, or walkie-talkies.
   (D) Assistance with, and administration of, medications.
   (E) Storage and preservation of medications.
   (F) The operation of assistive medical devices that need electric
power for their operation, including, but not limited to, oxygen
equipment and wheelchairs.
   (G) A process for identifying residents with special needs, such
as hospice, and a plan for meeting those needs.
   (b) Each facility subject to this section shall make the plan
available upon request to residents onsite and available to local
emergency responders.
   (c) The department's Community Care Licensing Division shall
confirm, during comprehensive licensing visits, that the plan is on
file at the facility.
   (d) Nothing in this section shall create a new or additional
requirement for the department to evaluate the emergency plan. The
department shall only verify that the plan is on file at the time of
the comprehensive inspection.
   (e) This subdivision shall not apply to residential care
facilities for the elderly that have obtained a certificate of
authority to offer continuing care contracts, as defined in paragraph
(5) of subdivision (c) of Section 1771.
   (f) This section shall become operative on March 1, 2009.
  SEC. 2.  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.