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
________________________________________________________________________
4864
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 13, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sen. BAILEY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Cities 1
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 403.4.8.4.2 of the New York city building code, as
2 amended by section 5 of part C of local law number 126 of the city of
3 New York for the year 2021, is amended to read as follows:
4 403.4.8.4.2 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, including Fire Department
10 in-building Auxiliary Radio Communication systems (ARCs); [and]
11 3. Electrically powered fire pumps, unless electrical power to the
12 motor is taken ahead of the main from the street side of the house
13 service switch[.];
14 4. At least one elevator serving all floors, or one elevator per bank
15 where different banks serve different portions of the building; and
16 5. Electricity for dedicated safe spaces, pursuant to section 403.4.9.
17 § 2. The New York city building code is amended by adding a new
18 section 403.4.9 to read as follows:
19 403.4.9 Emergency medical supplies and safe spaces for occupants. All
20 residential occupancies in buildings greater than 125 feet (38 100 mm)
21 in height shall be required to designate safe spaces for vulnerable
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09054-01-5
S. 4864 2
1 occupants, in the event of a power outage or emergency situation that
2 does not necessitate evacuation. Vulnerable occupants shall include
3 those occupants who are elderly, or chronically ill or disabled, includ-
4 ing those suffering from mental illness and those persons specified in
5 subdivision 2 of section 23-d of the executive law. Such safe spaces
6 shall be equipped with a range of medical supplies with a particular
7 focus on supplies used by occupants that require access to a power
8 source and supplies used by persons included in the registry established
9 pursuant to subdivision 2 of section 23-d of the executive law.
10 § 3. The New York city building code is amended by adding 4 new
11 sections 403.5.7, 403.5.7.1, 403.5.7.2, and 403.5.7.3 to read as
12 follows:
13 403.5.7 Emergency evacuation plans for vulnerable occupants. An emer-
14 gency evacuation plan for vulnerable occupants shall be prepared and
15 maintained for all residential occupancies. The term "vulnerable occu-
16 pants" shall include the following:
17 1. Occupants who are elderly, or chronically ill or disabled, includ-
18 ing those suffering from mental illness.
19 2. Any occupant who voluntarily submits their personal information for
20 inclusion in the registry established pursuant to subdivision 2 of
21 section 23-d of the executive law.
22 The evacuation plan shall include special employee actions and proce-
23 dures necessary for such vulnerable occupants, and shall be amended or
24 revised upon the occupancy of an individual with unusual needs.
25 403.5.7.1 Evacuation plan posting sites. A copy of the evacuation plan
26 and a diagram depicting evacuation routes shall be given to vulnerable
27 occupants prior to initial occupancy. A diagram depicting evacuation
28 routes shall also be posted on or immediately adjacent to every door
29 opening into interior stair enclosures and immediately adjacent to occu-
30 pant evacuation elevators.
31 403.5.7.2 Employee training. Employees shall be periodically trained
32 in the actions and procedures to take in the event vulnerable occupants
33 require evacuation and shall be kept informed of their duties and
34 responsibilities under the plan.
35 403.5.7.3 Occupant training. Vulnerable occupants capable of assisting
36 in their own evacuation shall be trained in the proper actions to take
37 in the event of an evacuation. Vulnerable occupants shall also be
38 trained to assist each other in case of evacuation to the extent their
39 physical and mental abilities permit them to do so without additional
40 personal risk. In buildings using occupant evacuation elevators in
41 accordance with Section 3008, occupant training shall incorporate
42 specific procedures for the occupants using such elevators.
43 § 4. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 23-d to read
44 as follows:
45 § 23-d. Naturally occurring retirement community registry of elderly
46 or disabled persons; notice. 1. For the purposes of this section:
47 (a) "covered municipality" shall mean a county or city with a compre-
48 hensive emergency management plan pursuant to section twenty-three of
49 this article;
50 (b) "chief executive" shall mean the chief executive of a covered
51 municipality;
52 (c) "naturally occurring retirement community" shall have the same
53 meaning as in paragraph (e) of subdivision one of section two hundred
54 nine of the elder law and shall include neighborhood naturally occurring
55 retirement community as defined in paragraph (f) of subdivision one of
56 section two hundred nine of the elder law;
S. 4864 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 their
17 information for inclusion in the registry. The registry shall identify
18 those persons in need of assistance and plan for resource allocation,
19 including but not limited to medical devices and supplies to meet those
20 identified needs. To assist the chief executive in identifying such
21 persons, the covered municipality's department of health, or such other
22 department or agency as designated by the chief executive, shall provide
23 voluntary registration information to all residents of areas determined
24 to be naturally occurring retirement communities. The registry shall be
25 updated at least every six months. The registration program shall give
26 elderly or disabled persons the option of pre-authorizing emergency
27 response personnel to enter their homes during search and rescue oper-
28 ations if necessary to ensure their safety and welfare during disasters.
29 3. Upon the establishment of a registry as provided under subdivision
30 two of this section, the chief executive shall make such registry avail-
31 able to the appropriate city, county, state and federal agencies for
32 their use in delivering services in the event of a local or state disas-
33 ter. The chief executive shall at least every six months provide such
34 registry information to the New York state office of emergency manage-
35 ment, including all updates to such registry information, for placement
36 in the NORCD as established under subdivision eight of this section. The
37 chief executive may, at their discretion, use the registry information
38 for local disaster preparedness only in coordination with other poli-
39 tical subdivisions of the state.
40 4. Upon the establishment of a registry as provided under subdivision
41 two of this section, at least every six months, each chief executive
42 shall cause to be published in a newspaper of general circulation within
43 a covered municipality that contains a naturally occurring retirement
44 community, a notice of the availability of the voluntary registration
45 program.
46 5. All records, data, information, correspondence and communications
47 relating to the registration of elderly or disabled persons as provided
48 under subdivision two of this section are confidential, except that such
49 information shall be available to the chief executives of other covered
50 municipalities and the NORCD for local disaster preparedness only as the
51 chief executive of the covered municipality maintaining such registry
52 deems necessary. Provided, however, the individual file of a person
53 having registered with the registry of elderly or disabled persons shall
54 be made available to that person upon request.
55 6. All community-based services providers, including but not limited
56 to home health care providers and the director of the naturally occur-
S. 4864 4
1 ring retirement community supportive service program pursuant to section
2 two hundred nine of the elder law, shall assist each chief executive by
3 collecting registration information for elderly or disabled persons as
4 part of program intake processes, establishing programs to increase the
5 awareness of the registration process, and educating clients about the
6 procedures that may be necessary for their safety during disasters.
7 7. A covered municipality shall not be liable for any claim based upon
8 the good faith exercise or performance or the good faith failure to
9 exercise or perform a function or duty on the part of any officer or
10 employee in carrying out a local disaster preparedness plan.
11 8. (a) The commission shall establish the NORCD and the commission
12 shall accept voluntary registrants directly as needed, at which time
13 such registration information collected shall be forwarded to the appro-
14 priate covered municipality for inclusion in the covered municipality's
15 registry.
16 (b) The NORCD shall be made accessible to all such appropriate state,
17 county and city emergency response personnel and organizations as may be
18 deemed appropriate by the commission in order to properly plan for
19 securing the needs, safety, and well-being of the registrants. This
20 shall include, but not be limited to, planning for evacuations, assess-
21 ing the need for individual evacuations during emergency situations that
22 may not require the evacuation of the general public, pre-positioning
23 equipment and supplies including alternatives to medical devices that
24 require electricity to operate, or such other measures as the commission
25 deems necessary to accomplish the objectives of this article. In addi-
26 tion, the NORCD shall be made accessible to all appropriate federal
27 emergency response organizations and personnel and shall be made avail-
28 able to such other voluntary relief organizations as the commission
29 deems necessary.
30 (c) All records, data, information, correspondence and communications
31 relating to the NORCD shall be confidential, except that such informa-
32 tion may be made available at the discretion of the commission in furth-
33 erance of the objectives of this article. The individual file of a
34 person having information in the NORCD shall be made available to that
35 person upon request.
36 (d) The commission shall not be liable for any claim based upon the
37 good faith exercise or performance or the good faith failure to exercise
38 or perform a function or duty on the part of any officer or employee in
39 the maintenance or usage of the NORCD.
40 § 5. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
41 it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend-
42 ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen-
43 tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and
44 completed on or before such effective date.
