BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    

           




          
                SENATE HOUSING & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
                       Senator Richard Alarc?n, Chairman


          Bill No:                             SB 2040Hearing:April  
          3, 2000
          Author:                              ChesbroFiscal:Yes
          Version:                             February 25,  
          2000Consultant:Mark Stivers
          
                             INSPECTION OF  MARINAS

           Background and Existing Law  :

          The California Building Standards Code (Title 24 of the  
          California Code of Regulations) contains building  
          construction standards and regulations as adopted by the  
          California Building Standards Commission.  With respect to  
          most private and local government owned property, this code  
          is enforced by local building officials.  Various state  
          entities, however, have responsibility for specific types  
          of state and school facilities.  State buildings and  
          schools are inspected by the State Architect within the  
          Department of General Services.  Hospitals are inspected by  
          the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development.   
          Other departments and agencies generally have the  
          responsibility to enforce applicable codes at facilities  
          under their jurisdiction.

          The Office of the State Fire Marshall recommends, and the  
          California Building Standards Commission adopts, the  
          Uniform Fire Code that relates to fire safety.  The State  
          Fire Marshall or local fire officials enforce these  
          portions of the Building Standards Code.  Fire inspectors  
          generally focus their inspections on the adequacy of  
          ingress and egress, and fire hydrant and sprinkler systems.  
           With respect to electrical wiring, inspections are limited  
          to the use of extension cords.

          Currently, there are roughly 800 marinas in California.  As  
          with most other facilities, marinas are only inspected when  
          construction, alteration, or renovation work is done that  
          requires a building permit.  Local inspectors have no  
          jurisdiction over state or federal property, including  
          marinas on state or federal land. 




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           Proposed Law  :

          Senate Bill 2040 would require every city or county fire  
          department or district providing fire protection services  
          to inspect annually every marina within its jurisdiction  
          for compliance with applicable building standards and other  
          regulations of the State Fire Marshall.


           Comments  :

          1.   Tragedy at Lake Sonoma  .  This bill arose from an  
          unfortunate occurrence at a marina on Lake Sonoma in which  
          a young girl, Deirdre McCormick, died from electrocution  
          while swimming next to the dock.  Investigators have not  
          positively determines what caused current to escape the  
          floating dock's electrical system, but they did find  
          several defects that could have been to blame.  The author  
          believes that inspecting marinas for building code  
          violations will prevent future tragedies.  The committee  
          may wish to consider whether or not this one incident  
          merits a statewide inspection program. 

          2.  The right entity?   Building inspectors generally enforce  
          compliance with building standards such as those that apply  
          to plumbing, mechanical and electrical systems.  Fire  
          inspectors generally focus their inspections on occupancy  
          limits, the adequacy of entrances and exits, hydrant and  
          sprinkler systems.   The code violations most likely to  
          occur at marinas are arguably those for which building  
          inspectors would have more expertise.  The committee may  
          wish to consider an amendment to have building inspectors  
          conduct the annual inspections rather than fire officials.   

           
           3.   Lack of jurisdiction.  The marina at Lake Sonoma is on  
          property owned by the federal Army Corps of Engineers.   
          Some other marinas in the state are situated on state or  
          federally owned lands where, absent a contractual  
          agreement, local inspectors have no jurisdiction.  As SB  
          2040 is drafted, inspections would only take place at  
          private or local government owned marinas.  While the state  
          will not be able to require inspections on federal  
          property, such as Lake Sonoma, the committee may wish to  
          consider an amendment to require the Department of General  




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          Services or the Department of Boating and Waterways to  
          inspect, or contract with local entities to have inspected,  
          marinas on state land.
          

           Support and Opposition  :  (3/28/)

           Support  :  Sonoma County District Attorney

           Opposition  :  unknown