Establishes an 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
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768--A
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 4, 2017
___________
Introduced by Sen. STEWART-COUSINS -- read twice and ordered printed,
and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Housing,
Construction and Community Development -- recommitted to the Committee
on Housing, Construction and Community Development in accordance with
Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
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. (a)
4 The 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
12 independent agency as described in subdivision (b) of section five
13 hundred fifty-eight of this chapter.
14 (b) Provided however, any tenant or resident of a building who is not
15 an employee of such building shall not be required to evacuate persons
16 with disabilities or assist with such evacuation and shall be exempt
17 from personal liability for the failure to evacuate a disabled individ-
18 ual if he or she acted in good faith.
19 2. The state fire prevention and building code council shall promul-
20 gate regulations to require the following elements to be included in
21 each emergency evacuation plan:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02752-08-8
S. 768--A 2
1 (a) procedures for evacuating individuals with disabilities. Munici-
2 palities with a population of one million or more are exempt from the
3 procedures promulgated pursuant to this paragraph if such municipalities
4 have ordinances, rules, codes or regulations that establish substantial-
5 ly equivalent procedures for evacuating individuals with disabilities;
6 (b) a list of individuals with disabilities who have notified the
7 owner or managing agent that they are disabled and would require assist-
8 ance in the event of an emergency. The list shall include the floor and
9 room number that the individual with a disability occupies within the
10 building. Such list shall only be maintained for the purpose of an emer-
11 gency evacuation, and shall not be disseminated for any other purpose;
12 (c) a notification mechanism to the occupants that a list of persons
13 with disabilities in need of assistance in case of an emergency exists
14 and is maintained by the owner or managing agent and the method by which
15 occupants can place their name on such list;
16 (d) the location and type of evacuation assistance devices or assis-
17 tive technologies that are available within the building; and
18 (e) areas of rescue. These areas shall be identified by signs that
19 state "Area of Rescue Assistance" and display the international symbol
20 of accessibility. Lettering must be permanent and comply with federal
21 Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines.
22 3. The creation, possession or maintenance of a list of disabled indi-
23 viduals by a building owner or managing agent as required by paragraphs
24 (b) and (c) of subdivision two of this section shall not be considered
25 prima facie evidence of an unlawful discriminatory practice prohibited
26 under section two hundred ninety-six of this chapter.
27 § 378-b. Emergency evacuation plan. 1. Notwithstanding any provision
28 of law to the contrary, it shall be the duty of every owner of a high-
29 rise building, as defined in section four hundred three of the building
30 code of New York state, to establish and maintain an emergency evacu-
31 ation plan as provided for in regulations issued pursuant to section
32 three hundred seventy-eight-a of this article.
33 2. Such owner shall make the plan available in a large-print document
34 (18-point font size or larger) and Braille (Grade II) upon request to:
35 (a) local law enforcement and fire safety personnel; and
36 (b) employees, tenants, or guests located in the high-rise building.
37 3. A copy of such plan shall be maintained at all times in a place
38 easily accessible by law enforcement and/or fire safety personnel,
39 including but not limited to the management office, the security desk,
40 in the vicinity of the firefighter's elevator recall key, the life safe-
41 ty panel, or the fire pump room. In the absence of any of the locations
42 listed in this subdivision, a copy of such plan shall be posted in the
43 front entry of the building.
44 4. On an annual basis, every high-rise building owner shall update
45 such emergency evacuation plan and provide occupants with a notice
46 detailing the provisions of the emergency evacuation plan.
47 5. A copy of such plan shall be filed with the department of state
48 within one year of the effective date of this section, and an updated
49 emergency evacuation plan shall be filed with the department of state
50 annually thereafter.
51 6. Owners located in municipalities with a population of over one
52 million are exempt from the provisions of this section if such munici-
53 palities have ordinances, rules, codes or regulations that establish
54 emergency evacuation procedures specifically for people with disabili-
55 ties in high-rise buildings.
S. 768--A 3
1 7. Knowing failure to comply with any provision within this section
2 shall be punishable by a civil penalty of up to five hundred dollars.
3 § 2. Section 296 of the executive law is amended by adding a new
4 subdivision 22 to read as follows:
5 22. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the owner or managing agent
6 of a building from creating, possessing or maintaining the list of indi-
7 viduals with disabilities required pursuant to paragraphs (b) and (c) of
8 subdivision two of section three hundred seventy-eight-a of this chap-
9 ter.
10 § 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
11 have become a law; provided, however, that high-rise building owners
12 shall have one year from the effective date of this act to establish an
13 emergency evacuation plan.
