AB 306

(1) Existing law authorizes any person adversely affected by any regulation, rules, omission, interpretation, decision, or practice of any state agency respecting the administration of any building standard to appeal the issue for resolution to the California Building Standards Commission. Existing law authorizes any local agency having authority to enforce a state building standard and any person adversely affected by any regulation, rule, omission, interpretation, decision, or practice of that agency respecting that building standard to appeal to the commission, provided that both wish to appeal the issue for resolution to the commission. Existing law authorizes the commission to accept those appeals only if the commission determines that the issues involved in the appeal have statewide significance. This bill would revise and recast those provisions to expand the reasons for which a person can appeal to the commission to include, among other things, a request for approval to use an alternate material. The bill would modify the conditions under which the commission may accept an appeal by removing the requirement that both the local agency and the adversely affected person wish to appeal the issue, and by requiring that certain issues appealed have both statewide significance and that the person seeking the appeal has exhausted all local appeals procedures before appealing to the commission, subject to a certain exception. The bill would require the commission to review those appealed issues with specified stakeholders. The bill would additionally authorize any person to request a code interpretation from the commission relative to the intent of any regulation or provision adopted by the commission. The bill would require the commission to post, on its internet website and in a searchable format, decisions on appeals and code interpretations that it issues. (2) Existing law requires a local enforcement agency’s written rules and regulations that clarify the application of the California Building Standards Code to be made available to the public upon request. This bill would, instead, require those written rules and regulations to be posted on the agency’s internet website in a manner that clearly identifies the rules or regulations as a local interpretation or policy and links those rules or regulations, where applicable, to the related local amendments and express findings. (3) The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities. (4) By increasing the duties of local officials, this bill would impose 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.