Bill Text: NY S01104 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Establishes an emergency evacuation plan for individuals with disabilities; establishes $500 fine for failure to comply with such plan within one year of the effective date.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-03-07 - referred to governmental operations [S01104 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-S01104-Introduced.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          1104

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                     January 7, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen.  STEWART-COUSINS -- read twice and ordered printed,
          and when  printed  to  be  committed  to  the  Committee  on  Housing,
          Construction and Community Development

        AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to establishing and main-
          taining an emergency evacuation plan for individuals with disabilities

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. The executive law is amended by  adding  two  new  sections
     2  378-a and 378-b to read as follows:
     3    §  378-a.  Standards  for emergency planning and preparedness. 1.  The
     4  state fire prevention and building code  council  shall  update  chapter
     5  four  of  the  New  York state fire code, titled "Emergency planning and
     6  preparedness", to ensure emergency evacuation drills,  fire  safety  and
     7  emergency  evacuation  plans, employee training and response procedures,
     8  hazard communication, and use and  occupancy-related  standards  address
     9  the  needs  of  individuals  with  disabilities. The process of updating
    10  chapter four of the New York state fire code as it pertains to the needs
    11  of persons with disabilities shall be  done  in  consultation  with  the
    12  independent  agency  as  described  in  subdivision  (b) of section five
    13  hundred fifty-eight of this chapter.
    14    2. The state fire prevention and building code council  shall  promul-
    15  gate  regulations  to  require  the following elements to be included in
    16  each emergency evacuation plan:
    17    (a) procedures for evacuating individuals with disabilities;
    18    (b) a list of individuals with  disabilities  who  have  notified  the
    19  owner  that  they are disabled and would require assistance in the event
    20  of an emergency. The list shall include the floor and room  number  that
    21  the individual with a disability occupies within the building. Such list
    22  shall only be maintained for the purpose of an emergency evacuation, and
    23  shall not be disseminated for any other purpose;

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD07341-01-1

        S. 1104                             2

     1    (c)  a  notification mechanism to the occupants that a list of persons
     2  with disabilities in need of assistance in case of an  emergency  exists
     3  and  is  maintained  by  the owner and the method by which occupants can
     4  place their name on such list;
     5    (d)  the  location and type of evacuation assistance devices or assis-
     6  tive technologies that are available within the building; and
     7    (e) areas of rescue. These areas shall be  identified  by  signs  that
     8  state  "Area  of Rescue Assistance" and display the international symbol
     9  of accessibility. Lettering must be permanent and  comply  with  federal
    10  Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines.
    11    §  378-b.  Emergency evacuation plan. 1. Notwithstanding any provision
    12  of law to the contrary, it shall be the duty of every owner of  a  high-
    13  rise  building, as defined in section four hundred three of the building
    14  code of New York state, to establish and maintain  an  emergency  evacu-
    15  ation  plan  as  provided  for in regulations issued pursuant to section
    16  three hundred seventy-eight-a of this article.
    17    2. Such owner shall make the plan available in a large-print  document
    18  (18-point font size or larger) and Braille (Grade II) upon request to:
    19    (a) local law enforcement and fire safety personnel; and
    20    (b) employees, tenants, or guests located in the high-rise building.
    21    3.  A  copy  of  such plan shall be maintained at all times in a place
    22  easily accessible by  law  enforcement  and/or  fire  safety  personnel,
    23  including  but  not limited to the management office, the security desk,
    24  in the vicinity of the firefighter's elevator recall key, the life safe-
    25  ty panel, or the fire pump room. In the absence of any of the  locations
    26  listed  in  this subdivision, a copy of such plan shall be posted in the
    27  front entry of the building.
    28    4. On an annual basis, every high-rise  building  owner  shall  update
    29  such  emergency  evacuation  plan  and  provide  occupants with a notice
    30  detailing the provisions of the emergency evacuation plan.
    31    5. A copy of such plan shall be filed with  the  department  of  state
    32  within  one  year  of the effective date of this section, and an updated
    33  emergency evacuation plan shall be filed with the  department  of  state
    34  annually thereafter.
    35    6.  Owners  located  in  municipalities  with a population of over one
    36  million are exempt from developing such plan if such municipalities have
    37  ordinances, rules, codes or regulations that establish emergency  evacu-
    38  ation  procedures specifically for people with disabilities in high-rise
    39  buildings.
    40    7. Knowing failure to comply with any provision  within  this  section
    41  shall be punishable by a civil penalty of up to five hundred dollars.
    42    §  2.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
    43  have become a law; provided, however,  that  high-rise  building  owners
    44  shall  have one year from the effective date of this act to establish an
    45  emergency evacuation plan.
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