Bill H.2099

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3008 FILED ON: 1/16/2015

HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2099

By Mr. Brodeur of Melrose, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2099) of Paul Brodeur, Ann-Margaret Ferrante and Benjamin Swan relative to carbon monoxide and fire alarms in schools, residences and places of public assembly. Public Safety and Homeland Security.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Eighty-Ninth General Court
(2015-2016)

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An Act relative to the safety of schools, residences, and public assemblies.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Chapter 29 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 2KKKK the following section:-

Section 2LLLL. (a) There shall be established and set upon the books of the commonwealth a separate fund to be known as the School Carbon Monoxide Safety Trust Fund, to be expended without prior appropriation, by the department of elementary and secondary education. The fund shall be credited any revenue from appropriations or other monies authorized by the general court and specifically designated to be credited to the fund and any gifts, grants, private contributions, investment income earned on the assets of the fund and all other sources. Money remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund. The commissioner of elementary and secondary education or a designee, in consultation with the department of fire safety, shall administer the fund and make expenditures from the fund in the form of grants to public school districts for the installation of carbon monoxide detection systems as required under subsection (a½) of section 26F½ of chapter 148 and regulations promulgated by the board of fire prevention.

(b) Prior to receiving any monies from the fund, a school district shall submit a carbon monoxide detection system installation plan to the department of elementary and secondary education and the department of fire safety. The plan shall include, but not be limited to: (i) the method of installation of the carbon monoxide detection system for each school building in the district; (ii) the status of carbon monoxide detection systems previously installed in school buildings; and (iii) the cost, including labor costs, of installing carbon monoxide detection systems. The department of elementary and secondary education, in conjunction with the department of fire safety, shall: (A) review the plan and may request additional or supporting information within 90 days of receipt of the plan; and (B) provide each school district 60 days to submit any additional or supporting information requested. A plan shall be approved not later than 180 days after receipt of the plan.

(c) Not later than April 1 of each year, the department of elementary and secondary education, in conjunction with the department of fire safety, shall submit a report to the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate and the chairs of the house and senate committees on ways and means regarding the status of the fund including, but not limited to: (i) the amount of money in the fund; and (ii) a list of school districts that were awarded grants and the amount of the grants awarded.

SECTION 2. Subsection (a) of section 6 of chapter 70B of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following clause:-

(7) The school project includes a plan for the installation of a carbon monoxide detection system as required under subsection (a½) of section 26F½ of chapter 148.

SECTION 3. Subsection (a) of section 17 of said chapter 70B, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following sentence:-

The report shall also include an assessment of carbon monoxide detection systems within each school building and each school’s compliance with subsection (a½) of section 26F½ of chapter 148.

SECTION 4. Chapter 143 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 97A the following section:-

Section 97B. The board of building regulations and standards shall require the installation of carbon monoxide detection systems in any new or substantially rehabilitated building used as a restaurant which prepares and serves meals to the public and that: (i) contains fossil-fuel burning equipment including, but not limited to, a furnace, boiler, water heater, fireplace or any other apparatus, appliance or device that burns fossil fuel; or (ii) incorporates enclosed parking within its structure. For the purposes of this paragraph, a building shall be considered to be undergoing substantial rehabilitation when the permitted work exceeds 1/3 of the current assessed value of the building or where the work affects more than 1/3 of the total square footage of the building.

SECTION 5. Section 10A of chapter 148 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 15, the figure “26F” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- 26D.

SECTION 6. Said chapter 148 is hereby amended by striking out section 26D, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 26D. (a) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary and without regard to the date of construction, a seller shall, upon the sale or transfer of each single family or 2-family building or structure and each building or structure containing 3, 4 or 5 dwelling units occupied in whole or in part for residential purposes, equip the building or structure with approved smoke detectors under the rules and regulations of the board of fire prevention. The head of the fire department shall inspect the building or structure at the time of sale or transfer for compliance with this section. For the purposes of this section, a building or structure shall not include a building or structure for which a certificate of occupancy has been issued within 5 years prior to the date of sale or transfer.

(b) The rules and regulations of the board of fire prevention established under this section may require the upgrade, installation or replacement of smoke detector devices based upon advances in smoke detection technology; provided, however, that, in any building or dwelling unit constructed prior to January 1, 1975 which has not undergone an alteration or change of use since January 1, 1975 that would require it to comply with the smoke detector provisions of the state building code, the installation of approved monitored battery power smoke detectors shall be allowed; and provided further, that the relocation or addition of any smoke detector device or any power supply wire associated with the smoke detector device, if the device location or wire location was installed under the requirements of the state building code in effect as of the date of the installation, shall not be required.

For the purposes of this section, UL-listed devices shall be considered approved monitored battery powered smoke detectors which is activated, at a minimum, by an operable 10-year, sealed battery power source or a comparable listed low voltage system; provided however, that the board may approve other devices meeting similar standards.

(d) Nothing in this section shall abrogate the authority of the state board of building regulations and standards to regulate smoke detector requirements for the construction of new buildings and for existing buildings undergoing repair, alteration, addition or change of use.

SECTION 7. Sections 26E and 26F of said chapter 148 are hereby repealed.

SECTION 8. Section 26F½ of said chapter 148, as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after subsection (a) the following subsection:-

(a½) Each school building that provides public or private education for children in kindergarten through grade 12 that: (1) contains fossil-fuel burning equipment including, but not limited to, a furnace, boiler, water heater, fireplace or any other apparatus, appliance or device that burns fossil fuel; or (2) incorporates enclosed parking within its structure shall install carbon monoxide alarms under the regulations of the board of fire prevention.

SECTION 9. The state board of building regulations and standards shall adopt as a minimum standard the 2015 International Building Code requirement to install carbon monoxide detection systems in all new or substantially rehabilitated school buildings that provide education for children in kindergarten through grade 12.

SECTION 10. Notwithstanding subsection (a½) of section 26F½ of chapter 148 of the General Laws, the board of fire prevention shall allow the temporary use of battery-operated carbon monoxide alarms.

SECTION 11. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, not later than January 1, 2016 and without further appropriation, the state comptroller shall transfer $7,500,000 from the General Fund to the School Carbon Monoxide Safety Trust Fund established in section 2LLLL of chapter 29 of the General Laws.

SECTION 12. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, not later than March 31, 2016, the department of elementary and secondary education, in consultation with the department of fire safety and the Massachusetts School Building Authority, shall develop best practices for the placement and installation of carbon monoxide detection systems in public school buildings as required by sections 2 and 8 of this act; provided, however, that the best practices shall prioritize student and staff safety as well as cost economy.

SECTION 13. Section 10 is hereby repealed.

SECTION 14. Section 13 shall take effect on January 1, 2021.

SECTION 15. Unless otherwise provided, this act shall take effect on January 1, 2016.

Name:	District/Address:	Date Added:
Paul Brodeur	32nd Middlesex	1/16/2015
Ann-Margaret Ferrante	5th Essex	10/25/2019
Benjamin Swan	11th Hampden	2/3/2015