Establishes emergency evacuation plan for individuals with disabilities; establishes $500 fine for failure to comply with such plan within one year of the effective date.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3490
2011-2012 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 23, 2011
___________
Introduced by Sens. STEWART-COUSINS, HUNTLEY, MONTGOMERY, PERKINS,
STAVISKY -- 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 New
12 York state commission on quality of care and advocacy for persons with
13 disabilities.
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.
LBD07564-01-1
S. 3490 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.
