Bill Text: CA AB1342 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Disability access.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 2-1)

Status: (Vetoed) 2016-01-15 - Consideration of Governor's veto stricken from file. [AB1342 Detail]

Download: California-2015-AB1342-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 1342	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JULY 16, 2015
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 22, 2015
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 1, 2015
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 28, 2015
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 26, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Steinorth
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Cooley and Kim)

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2015

   An act to amend Section 1938 of the Civil Code, and to amend
Sections 4459.8, 4467, and 8299.06 of the Government Code, relating
to disability access, and making an appropriation therefor.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1342, as amended, Steinorth. Disability access.
   (1) Existing law requires the State Architect to establish and
publicize a program for the voluntary certification by the state of
any person who meets specified criteria as a Certified Access
Specialist (CASp). Existing law requires each applicant for CASp
certification or renewal to pay certain fees, and requires the State
Architect to periodically review those fees, as specified. Existing
law provides for the deposit of those fees into the Certified Access
Specialist Fund, which is continuously appropriated for use by the
State Architect to implement the CASp program.
   This bill would require applicants for CASp certification or
renewal to additionally provide to the State Architect information
about the city, county, or city and county in which the applicant
intends to provide or has provided services, and would require the
State Architect to post that information on his or her Internet Web
site.
   (2) Until December 31, 2018, existing law requires any applicant
for a local business license or equivalent instrument or permit, or
renewal of a local business license or equivalent instrument or
permit, to pay an additional fee of $1 for that license, instrument,
or permit. Under existing law, the city, county, or city and county
that collected the fee retains 70% of the fee, and the remaining 30%
of the fee is deposited into the Disability Access and Education
Revolving Fund, a continuously appropriated fund.  Existing law
requires each local entity collecting the fee to make an annual
report on the fees to the Legislature and to the chairs of specified
committees, as specified. 
   This bill would extend the operation of those provisions
indefinitely. By increasing the revenue deposited into a continuously
appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation.  By
extending the duties of local governments with respect to the
reporting of specified fees, this bill would impose a state-mandated
local program. 
   (3) Existing law requires a commercial property owner or lessor to
state on every lease form or rental agreement executed on or after
July 1, 2013, whether the property has been determined by a CASp to
meet all applicable construction-related accessibility standards.
   This bill, for every lease form or rental agreement executed on or
after July 1, 2016, would require the commercial property owner or
lessor to provide the lessee or tenant with a current disability
access inspection certificate and inspection report or a copy of a
CASp inspection report, or would require a statement on the form or
agreement that, upon request of the lessee or tenant, the property
owner may  permit   not prohibit  a CASp
inspection of the subject premises at the lessee's or tenant's
expense and that the parties must mutually agree on the arrangements
for the time and manner of the inspection.
   (4) Existing law establishes the California Commission on
Disability Access for purposes of developing recommendations to
enable persons with disabilities to exercise their right to full and
equal access to public facilities and facilitating business
compliance with applicable state and federal laws and regulations.
Existing law sets forth the powers and duties of the commission,
including, but not limited to, developing educational materials and
information for businesses, building owners, tenants, and building
officials, posting that information on the commission's Internet Web
site, and coordinating with other state agencies and local building
departments to ensure that information provided to the public on
disability access requirements is uniform and complete. Existing law
provides that those provisions shall not remain operative unless
funds are appropriated for those purposes.
   This bill would additionally require the commission to provide a
link on its Internet Web site to the Internet Web site of the
Division of the State Architect's CASp certification program and to
make the commission's educational materials and information available
to other state agencies and local building departments. The bill
would also appropriate the sum of $120,000 from the General Fund to
the commission for the 2015-16 fiscal year for the purpose of
establishing 2 permanent outreach coordinator positions. 
   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. 
   Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program:  no   yes  .


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

  SECTION 1.  Section 1938 of the Civil Code is amended to read:
   1938.  (a) A commercial property owner or lessor shall state on
every lease form or rental agreement executed on or after July 1,
2016, whether or not the subject premises have undergone inspection
by a Certified Access Specialist (CASp).
   (b) If the subject premises have undergone inspection by a CASp
and, to the best of the commercial property owner's or lessor's
knowledge, there have been no modifications or alterations completed
or commenced between the date of the inspection and the date of the
lease or rental agreement which have impacted the subject premises'
compliance with construction-related accessibility standards, the
commercial property owner or lessor shall provide, prior to execution
of the lease or rental agreement, a copy of any report prepared by
the CASp in response to that inspection to the lessee or tenant.
   (c) If the subject premises have been issued a current disability
access inspection certificate, as described in Section 55.53, the
commercial property owner or lessor shall provide a copy of the
current disability access inspection certificate and any inspection
report to the lessee or tenant within seven days of the date of the
execution of the lease form or rental agreement.
   (d) If the subject premises have not been issued a current
disability access inspection certificate, the commercial property
owner or lessor shall state the following on the lease form or rental
agreement:

    "A Certified Access Specialist (CASp) can inspect the subject
premises and determine whether the subject premises comply with all
of the applicable construction-related accessibility standards under
state law. Although state law does not require a CASp inspection of
the subject premises, the commercial property owner or lessor may
 permit   not prohibit  the lessee or
tenant  to obtain   from obtaining  a CASp
inspection of the subject premises for the occupancy or potential
occupancy of the lessee or tenant, at the lessee's or tenant's
expense, if requested by the lessee or tenant. The parties shall
mutually agree on the arrangements for the time and manner of the
CASp inspection."
  SEC. 2.  Section 4459.8 of the Government Code is amended to read:
   4459.8.  (a) The certification authorized by Section 4459.5 is
effective for three years from the date of initial certification and
expires if not renewed. The State Architect, upon consideration of
any factual complaints regarding the work of a certified access
specialist or of other relevant information, may suspend
certification or deny renewal of certification.
   (b) (1) The State Architect shall require each applicant for
certification as a certified access specialist to do the following:
   (A) Pay fees, including an application and course fee and an
examination fee, at a level sufficient to meet the costs of
application processing, registration, publishing a list, and other
activities that are reasonably necessary to implement and administer
the certified access specialist program.
   (B) Provide to the State Architect information about the city,
county, or city and county in which the applicant intends to provide
services.
   (2) The State Architect shall require each applicant for renewal
of certification to do the following:
   (A) Pay a fee sufficient to cover the reasonable costs of
reassessing qualifications of renewal applicants.
   (B) Provide to the State Architect information about the city,
county, or city and county in which the applicant has provided
services since the last day of certification by the State Architect.
   (3) The State Architect shall periodically review  its
  his or her  schedule of fees to ensure that
 its   the  fees for certification are not
excessive while covering the costs to administer the certified access
specialist program. The application fee for a California licensed
architect, landscape architect, civil engineer, or structural
engineer shall not exceed two hundred fifty dollars ($250).
   (c) All fees collected pursuant to this section shall be deposited
into the Certified Access Specialist Fund, which is hereby created
in the State Treasury. Notwithstanding Section 13340, this fund is
continuously appropriated without regard to fiscal years for use by
the State Architect to implement Sections 4459.5 to 4459.8,
inclusive.
   (d) The State Architect shall post on his or her Internet Web site
information about the city, county, or city and county in which each
certified access specialist provides or intends to provide services.

  SEC. 3.  Section 4467 of the Government Code is amended to read:
   4467.  (a) Any applicant for a local business license or
equivalent instrument or permit, and from any applicant for the
renewal of a business license or equivalent instrument or permit,
shall pay an additional fee of one dollar ($1) for that license,
instrument, or permit, which shall be collected by the city, county,
or city and county that issued the license, instrument, or permit.
   (b) The city, county, or city and county shall retain 70 percent
of the fees collected under this section, of which up to 5 percent of
the retained moneys may be used for related administrative costs of
this chapter. The remaining moneys shall be used to fund increased
certified access specialist (CASp) services in that jurisdiction for
the public and to facilitate compliance with construction-related
accessibility requirements. The highest priority shall be given to
the training and retention of certified access specialists to meet
the needs of the public in the jurisdiction as provided in Section
55.53 of the Civil Code.
   (c) The remaining 30 percent of all fees collected under this
section shall be transmitted on a quarterly basis to the Division of
the State Architect for deposit in the Disability Access and
Education Revolving Fund established under Sections 4465 and 4470.
The funds shall be transmitted within 15 days of the last day of the
fiscal quarter. The Division of the State Architect shall develop and
post on its Internet Web site a standard reporting form for use by
all local jurisdictions. Up to 75 percent of the collected funds in
the Disability Access and Education Revolving Fund shall be used to
establish and maintain oversight of the CASp program and to moderate
the expense of CASp certification and testing.
   (d) Each city, county, or city and county shall make an annual
report, commencing March 1, 2014, to the Legislature and to the
Chairs of the Senate and Assembly Committees on Judiciary, and the
Chair of the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review and the
Chair of the Assembly Committee on Budget, of the total fees
collected in the previous calendar year and of its distribution,
including the moneys spent on administrative services, the moneys
spent to increase CASp services, the moneys spent to fund programs to
facilitate compliance, and the moneys transmitted to the Disability
Access and Education Revolving Fund. A report to be submitted
pursuant to this subdivision shall be submitted in compliance with
Section 9795.
  SEC. 4.  Section 8299.06 of the Government Code is amended to read:

   8299.06.  (a) A priority of the commission shall be the
development and dissemination of educational materials and
information to promote and facilitate disability access compliance.
   (b) The commission shall work with other state agencies, including
the Division of the State Architect and the Department of
Rehabilitation, to develop educational materials and information for
use by businesses to understand  its   their
 obligations to provide disability access and to facilitate
compliance with construction-related accessibility standards.
   (c) The commission shall develop and make available on its
Internet Web site, or make available on its Internet Web site if
developed by another governmental agency, including Americans with
Disabilities Act centers, toolkits or educational modules to assist a
California business to understand its obligations under the law and
to facilitate compliance with respect to the top 10 alleged
construction-related violations, by type, as specified in subdivision
(a) of Section 8299.08. Upon completion of this requirement, the
commission shall develop and make available on its Internet Web site,
or work with another agency to develop, other toolkits or
educational modules that would educate businesses of the
accessibility requirements and to facilitate compliance with that
requirement.
   (d) The commission shall post the following on its Internet Web
site:
   (1) Educational materials and information that will assist
building owners, tenants, building officials, and building inspectors
to understand the disability accessibility requirements and to
facilitate compliance with disability access laws. The commission
shall at least annually review the educational materials and
information on disability access requirements and compliance
available on the Internet Web  site   sites
 of other local, state, or federal agencies, including Americans
with Disabilities Act centers, to augment the educational materials
and information developed by the commission.
   (2) A link to the Internet Web site of the Division of the State
Architect's Certified Access Specialist (CASp) Program to assist
building owners and tenants in locating or hiring a CASp.
   (e) The commission shall, to the extent feasible, coordinate with
other state agencies and local building departments to ensure that
information provided to the public on disability access requirements
is uniform and complete, and make its educational materials and
information available to those agencies and departments.
   (f) The commission shall establish a permanent legislative
outreach coordinator position and a permanent educational outreach
coordinator position.
   SEC. 5.    No reimbursement is required by this act
pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution because a local agency or school district has the
authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to
pay for the program or level of service mandated by this act, within
the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code. 
   SEC. 5.   SEC. 6.   For the 2015-16
fiscal year, the sum of one hundred twenty thousand dollars
($120,000) is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the
California Commission on Disability Access for the purpose of
establishing the outreach coordinator positions described in
subdivision (f) of Section 8299.06 of the Government Code.