Amd §403.4.8.2, add §§403.4.9, 403.5.7, 403.5.7.1, 403.5.7.2 & 403.5.7.3, NYC Ad Cd; add §23-d, Exec L
 
Provides for emergency evacuation plans for vulnerable occupants in all residential occupancies; requires designated safe spaces equipped with emergency medical supplies in buildings greater than 125 feet (38 100 mm) in height; provides for a voluntary registry to meet the special needs of occupants who require assistance during evacuations or other emergency situations.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6708
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 25, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BENEDETTO -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Cities
AN ACT to amend the administrative code of the city of New York and the
executive law, in relation to providing emergency evacuation plans and
safe spaces for vulnerable occupants, and providing for the establish-
ment of a voluntary registry to meet the special needs of occupants
who require assistance during evacuations or other emergency situ-
ations
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 403.4.8.2 of the New York city building code, as
2 amended by local law number 51 of the city of New York for the year
3 2014, is amended to read as follows:
4 403.4.8.2 Emergency power loads in Group R-2 occupancies. Group R-2
5 occupancies in buildings greater than 125 feet (38 100 mm) in height
6 shall be required to provide an emergency power system to support the
7 following loads:
8 1. Exit signs and means of egress illumination required by Chapter 10;
9 2. Emergency voice communications systems; [and]
10 3. Electrically powered fire pumps, unless electrical power to the
11 motor is taken ahead of the main from the street side of the house
12 service switch[.];
13 4. At least one elevator serving all floors, or one elevator per bank
14 where different banks serve different portions of the building; and
15 5. Electricity for dedicated safe spaces, pursuant to section 403.4.9.
16 § 2. The New York city building code is amended by adding a new
17 section 403.4.9 to read as follows:
18 403.4.9 Emergency medical supplies and safe spaces for occupants. All
19 residential occupancies in buildings greater than 125 feet (38 100 mm)
20 in height shall be required to designate safe spaces for vulnerable
21 occupants, in the event of a power outage or emergency situation that
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10277-03-1
A. 6708 2
1 does not necessitate evacuation. Vulnerable occupants shall include
2 those occupants who are elderly, or chronically ill or disabled, includ-
3 ing those suffering from mental illness and those persons specified in
4 subdivision 2 of section 23-d of the executive law. Such safe spaces
5 shall be equipped with a range of medical supplies with a particular
6 focus on supplies used by occupants that require access to a power
7 source and supplies used by persons included in the registry established
8 pursuant to subdivision 2 of section 23-d of the executive law.
9 § 3. The New York city building code is amended by adding 4 new
10 sections 403.5.7, 403.5.7.1, 403.5.7.2, and 403.5.7.3 to read as
11 follows:
12 403.5.7 Emergency evacuation plans for vulnerable occupants. An emer-
13 gency evacuation plan for vulnerable occupants shall be prepared and
14 maintained for all residential occupancies. The term "vulnerable occu-
15 pants" shall include the following:
16 1. Occupants who are elderly, or chronically ill or disabled, includ-
17 ing those suffering from mental illness.
18 2. Any occupant who voluntarily submits his or her personal informa-
19 tion for inclusion in the registry established pursuant to subdivision 2
20 of section 23-d of the executive law.
21 The evacuation plan shall include special employee actions and proce-
22 dures necessary for such vulnerable occupants, and shall be amended or
23 revised upon the occupancy of an individual with unusual needs.
24 403.5.7.1 Evacuation plan posting sites. A copy of the evacuation plan
25 and a diagram depicting evacuation routes shall be given to vulnerable
26 occupants prior to initial occupancy. A diagram depicting evacuation
27 routes shall also be posted on or immediately adjacent to every door
28 opening into interior stair enclosures and immediately adjacent to occu-
29 pant evacuation elevators.
30 403.5.7.2 Employee training. Employees shall be periodically trained
31 in the actions and procedures to take in the event vulnerable occupants
32 require evacuation and shall be kept informed of their duties and
33 responsibilities under the plan.
34 403.5.7.3 Occupant training. Vulnerable occupants capable of assisting
35 in their own evacuation shall be trained in the proper actions to take
36 in the event of an evacuation. Vulnerable occupants shall also be
37 trained to assist each other in case of evacuation to the extent their
38 physical and mental abilities permit them to do so without additional
39 personal risk. In buildings using occupant evacuation elevators in
40 accordance with Section 3008, occupant training shall incorporate
41 specific procedures for the occupants using such elevators.
42 § 4. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 23-d to read
43 as follows:
44 § 23-d. Naturally occurring retirement community registry of elderly
45 or disabled persons; notice. 1. For the purposes of this section:
46 (a) "covered municipality" shall mean a county or city with a compre-
47 hensive emergency management plan pursuant to section twenty-three of
48 this article;
49 (b) "chief executive" shall mean the chief executive of a covered
50 municipality;
51 (c) "naturally occurring retirement community" shall have the same
52 meaning as in paragraph (e) of subdivision one of section two hundred
53 nine of the elder law and shall include neighborhood naturally occurring
54 retirement community as defined in paragraph (f) of subdivision one of
55 section two hundred nine of the elder law;
A. 6708 3
1 (d) "registry" shall mean the list that is compiled by each covered
2 municipality of elderly or disabled persons located within a naturally
3 occurring retirement community as established under subdivision two of
4 this section; and
5 (e) "Naturally Occurring Retirement Community Database" or "NORCD"
6 shall mean the comprehensive list of every covered municipality registry
7 as established under subdivision eight of this section.
8 2. In each covered municipality, in order to meet the special needs of
9 persons who would need assistance during evacuations or other emergency
10 situations and sheltering because of physical or mental handicaps, or
11 whose ability to care for themselves during an emergency situation is
12 adversely affected by advanced age, or permanent or temporary medical
13 condition of the use of a medical device that requires electricity to
14 operate, each chief executive of such covered municipality shall main-
15 tain a registry of elderly or disabled persons located within a
16 naturally occurring retirement community who voluntarily submit his or
17 her information for inclusion in the registry. The registry shall iden-
18 tify those persons in need of assistance and plan for resource allo-
19 cation, including but not limited to medical devices and supplies to
20 meet those identified needs. To assist the chief executive in identify-
21 ing such persons, the covered municipality's department of health, or
22 such other department or agency as designated by the chief executive,
23 shall provide voluntary registration information to all residents of
24 areas determined to be naturally occurring retirement communities. The
25 registry shall be updated at least every six months. The registration
26 program shall give elderly or disabled persons the option of pre-author-
27 izing emergency response personnel to enter their homes during search
28 and rescue operations if necessary to ensure their safety and welfare
29 during disasters.
30 3. Upon the establishment of a registry as provided under subdivision
31 two of this section, the chief executive shall make such registry avail-
32 able to the appropriate city, county, state and federal agencies for
33 their use in delivering services in the event of a local or state disas-
34 ter. The chief executive shall at least every six months provide such
35 registry information to the New York state office of emergency manage-
36 ment, including all updates to such registry information, for placement
37 in the NORCD as established under subdivision eight of this section. The
38 chief executive may, at his or her discretion, use the registry informa-
39 tion for local disaster preparedness only in coordination with other
40 political subdivisions of the state.
41 4. Upon the establishment of a registry as provided under subdivision
42 two of this section, at least every six months, each chief executive
43 shall cause to be published in a newspaper of general circulation within
44 a covered municipality that contains a naturally occurring retirement
45 community, a notice of the availability of the voluntary registration
46 program.
47 5. All records, data, information, correspondence and communications
48 relating to the registration of elderly or disabled persons as provided
49 under subdivision two of this section are confidential, except that such
50 information shall be available to the chief executives of other covered
51 municipalities and the NORCD for local disaster preparedness only as the
52 chief executive of the covered municipality maintaining such registry
53 deems necessary. Provided, however, the individual file of a person
54 having registered with the registry of elderly or disabled persons shall
55 be made available to that person upon request.
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1 6. All community-based services providers, including but not limited
2 to home health care providers and the director of the naturally occur-
3 ring retirement community supportive service program pursuant to section
4 two hundred nine of the elder law, shall assist each chief executive by
5 collecting registration information for elderly or disabled persons as
6 part of program intake processes, establishing programs to increase the
7 awareness of the registration process, and educating clients about the
8 procedures that may be necessary for their safety during disasters.
9 7. A covered municipality shall not be liable for any claim based upon
10 the good faith exercise or performance or the good faith failure to
11 exercise or perform a function or duty on the part of any officer or
12 employee in carrying out a local disaster preparedness plan.
13 8. (a) The commission shall establish the NORCD and the commission
14 shall accept voluntary registrants directly as needed, at which time
15 such registration information collected shall be forwarded to the appro-
16 priate covered municipality for inclusion in the covered municipality's
17 registry.
18 (b) The NORCD shall be made accessible to all such appropriate state,
19 county and city emergency response personnel and organizations as may be
20 deemed appropriate by the commission in order to properly plan for
21 securing the needs, safety, and well-being of the registrants. This
22 shall include, but not be limited to, planning for evacuations, assess-
23 ing the need for individual evacuations during emergency situations that
24 may not require the evacuation of the general public, pre-positioning
25 equipment and supplies including alternatives to medical devices that
26 require electricity to operate, or such other measures as the commission
27 deems necessary to accomplish the objectives of this article. In addi-
28 tion, the NORCD shall be made accessible to all appropriate federal
29 emergency response organizations and personnel and shall be made avail-
30 able to such other voluntary relief organizations as the commission
31 deems necessary.
32 (c) All records, data, information, correspondence and communications
33 relating to the NORCD shall be confidential, except that such informa-
34 tion may be made available at the discretion of the commission in furth-
35 erance of the objectives of this article. The individual file of a
36 person having information in the NORCD shall be made available to that
37 person upon request.
38 (d) The commission shall not be liable for any claim based upon the
39 good faith exercise or performance or the good faith failure to exercise
40 or perform a function or duty on the part of any officer or employee in
41 the maintenance or usage of the NORCD.
42 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately on the one hundred twenti-
43 eth day after it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the
44 addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary
45 for the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized
46 to be made and completed on or before such effective date.