Chapter 797 Oregon Laws 2001

AN ACT

SB 14

Relating to seismic event preparation; appropriating money; limiting expenditures; and declaring an emergency.

Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:

SECTION 1. (1) Subject to the provision of funding by the State Department of Geology and Mineral Industries from gifts, grants and donations made available for carrying out this section, the State Board of Higher Education shall provide for seismic safety surveys of buildings that have a capacity of 250 or more persons and are routinely used for student activities by public institutions or departments under the control of the board. For purposes of this section, the Oregon Health Sciences University is not under the control of the board.

(2) Subject to the provision of funding by the State Department of Geology and Mineral Industries from gifts, grants and donations made available for carrying out this section, the State Board of Education shall provide for seismic safety surveys of buildings that have a capacity of 250 or more persons and are routinely used for student activities by kindergarten through grade 12 public schools, community colleges and education service districts.

(3) The boards shall ensure that the seismic safety surveys under subsection (1) or (2) of this section are conducted in accordance with the Federal Emergency Management Agency publication, “Rapid Visual Screening of Buildings for Potential Seismic Hazards: A Handbook,” FEMA-154, 1988 Edition.

(4) A seismic safety survey under subsection (1) or (2) of this section is not required for any building that has previously undergone a seismic safety survey or that has been constructed to the state building code standards that are in effect for the seismic zone classification at the site on the effective date of this 2001 Act.

(5) The boards may, by rule, establish standards to identify which buildings are routinely used for student activities. The standards must provide for the inclusion of buildings not used as classrooms, including but not limited to libraries, auditoriums and dining facilities. The boards shall adopt rules for determining building capacity.

(6) To the extent practicable, the boards shall ensure that the seismic safety surveys required under subsections (1) and (2) of this section are completed by January 1, 2007.

SECTION 2. (1) The State Board of Higher Education and the State Board of Education shall send surveys conducted pursuant to section 1 (1) and (2) of this 2001 Act to the State Department of Geology and Mineral Industries. Notwithstanding section 1 (6) of this 2001 Act, if the department determines that a survey is not fully and properly completed, the department may refuse to accept the survey and may return the survey to the appropriate board for correction or completion.

(2) The department may accept seismic safety surveys for buildings that are exempt under section 1 (4) of this 2001 Act if the department determines that the surveys are fully and properly completed and are sufficiently similar to other surveys to be useful. The surveys accepted by the department under this subsection do not need to be surveys conducted by the boards.

(3) The department shall use seismic safety surveys accepted under subsections (1) and (2) of this section to make an initial evaluation of the seismic safety of each surveyed building.

(4) Subject to available funding and after consultation with the department, the State Board of Higher Education, local school district board, community college board or education service district board shall conduct such additional seismic safety evaluations of buildings as each of those boards considers necessary. The boards shall conduct the evaluations using the life safety standard set forth in the Federal Emergency Management Agency publication, “Handbook for the Seismic Evaluation of Buildings: A Prestandard,” FEMA-310, 1998 Edition, or a stricter standard selected by the board that conducts the survey.

SECTION 3. Subject to available funding, if a building evaluated under section 2 (4) of this 2001 Act is found by a board to pose an undue risk to life safety during a seismic event, the State Board of Higher Education, local school district board, community college board or education service district board, as appropriate, shall develop a plan for seismic rehabilitation of the building or for other actions to reduce the risk. For a board that is subject to ORS 291.224, the board’s plan to rehabilitate or take other action to reduce the seismic risk of a building must be included in the capital construction program of the board. A board that is subject to ORS 291.224 shall rank the relative benefit of projects to reduce seismic risk in comparison with other life safety and code requirement projects. Subject to availability of funding, all seismic rehabilitations or other actions to reduce seismic risk must be completed before January 1, 2032. If the building is listed on a national or state register of historic places or properties or is designated as a landmark by local ordinance, the plan for seismic rehabilitation or other action shall be developed in a manner that gives consideration to preserving the character of the building.

SECTION 4. (1) The State Board of Higher Education shall report to an appropriate committee of the Seventy-second Legislative Assembly and an appropriate committee of the Seventy-third Legislative Assembly regarding the progress the board has made toward completion of the surveys described in section 1 of this 2001 Act.

(2) The State Board of Education shall report to an appropriate committee of the Seventy-second Legislative Assembly and an appropriate committee of the Seventy-third Legislative Assembly regarding the progress the board has made toward completion of the surveys described in section 1 of this 2001 Act.

SECTION 5. For purposes of sections 2 (4) and 3 of this 2001 Act, funding is available only if the Legislative Assembly provides the funding pursuant to a grant of bonding authority approved by the people at the first general election held throughout the state on or after January 1, 2002.

SECTION 6. In addition to and not in lieu of any other appropriation, there is appropriated to the State Department of Geology and Mineral Industries, for the biennium beginning July 1, 2001, out of the General Fund, the amount of $1, which may be expended for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of sections 1 and 2 (1) to (3) of this 2001 Act.

SECTION 7. Notwithstanding any other law, the amount of $1 is established for the biennium beginning July 1, 2001, as the maximum limit for payment of expenses from fees, moneys or other revenues, including Miscellaneous Receipts, but excluding lottery funds and federal funds, collected or received by the State Department of Geology and Mineral Industries for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of sections 1 and 2 (1) to (3) of this 2001 Act.

SECTION 8. This 2001 Act being necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health and safety, an emergency is declared to exist, and this 2001 Act takes effect on its passage.

Approved by the Governor July 19, 2001

Filed in the office of Secretary of State July 19, 2001

Effective date July 19, 2001

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