from the California Building Industry Association
After four years in the making, the Building Standards Commission has approved a package of industry-sponsored reforms that will prevent agencies from circumventing the public process with last-minute green building proposals.
The Problem: In recent years, several "non-adopting" agencies have approached HCD and the BSC after the informal process has run its course and requested major changes to our green building standards. These last-minute changes had not been vetted via the informal public process, nor were they accompanied by technical justification or economic impact analysis. These non-adopting agencies include:
- Air Resources Board
- Department of Water Resources
- Cal Recycle
- Department of Public Health
The Solution: Two years ago, the Governor signed industry-sponsored legislation which required the BSC to adopt administrative rules establishing the procedures these non-adopting agencies must follow when seeking amendments to California's Green Building Standards. Over the past year, the BSC staff has been working with industry and others on the draft regulations which were unanimously adopted on Wednesday by the Building Standards Commission. In short, these non-adopting agencies are now required to follow the same rules as anyone from the private sector would have to follow when seeking a code change. Code-change submittals must be submitted to HCD and BSC at the beginning of the informal process (not the end) and they must be accompanied by thorough technical justification and economic impact analysis.
Bob Raymer of the California Building Industry Association led the industry effort on this issue. He can be reached at rraymer@cbia.org.