SECTIONS 2700-2709.1 - California Statutes

PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE

SECTION 2700-2709.1

2700. There is hereby established in the State of California a
strong-motion instrumentation program for the purpose of
administering the program and of acquiring strong-motion instruments
and installing and maintaining such instruments as needed in
representative geologic environments and structures throughout the
state.

2701. The division shall organize and monitor the program with the
advice of the Seismic Safety Commission.

2702. The division shall purchase, install, and maintain
instruments in representative structures and geologic environments
throughout the state, and shall process the data obtained from such
instruments resulting from periodic earthquakes, as deemed necessary
and desirable by the Seismic Safety Commission.

2703. The division shall maintain and service the strong-motion
instruments installed, shall collect and interpret all records from
the instruments, and shall make the records, record interpretations,
and technical assistance available to the construction industry.

2704. It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this chapter
to provide adequate instrumentation throughout California.

2705. (a) Counties and cities shall collect a fee from each
applicant for a building permit. Each fee shall be equal to a
specific amount of the proposed building construction for which the
building permit is issued as determined by the local building
officials. The fee amount shall be assessed in the following way:
(1) Group R occupancies, as defined in the 1985 Uniform Building
Code and adopted in Part 2 (commencing with Section 2-101) of Title
24 of the California Code of Regulations, one to three stories in
height, except hotels and motels, shall be assessed at the rate of
ten dollars ($10) per one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000), with
appropriate fractions thereof.
(2) All other buildings shall be assessed at the rate of
twenty-one dollars ($21) per one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000),
with appropriate fractions thereof.
(3) The fee shall be the amount assessed under paragraph (1) or
(2), depending on building type, or fifty cents ($0.50), whichever is
the higher.
(b) (1) In lieu of the requirements of subdivision (a), a county
or city may elect to include a rate of ten dollars ($10) per one
hundred thousand dollars ($100,000), with appropriate fractions
thereof, in its basic building permit fee for any Group R occupancy
defined in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a), and a rate of twenty-one
dollars ($21) per one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000), with
appropriate fractions thereof, for all other building types. A county
or city electing to collect the fee pursuant to this subdivision
need not segregate the fees in a fund separate from any fund into
which basic building permit fees are deposited.
(2) "Building," for the purpose of this chapter, is any structure
built for the support, shelter, or enclosure of persons, animals,
chattels, or property of any kind.
(c) (1) A city or county may retain up to 5 percent of the total
amount it collects under subdivision (a) or (b) for data utilization,
for seismic education incorporating data interpretations from data
of the strong-motion instrumentation program and the seismic hazards
mapping program, and, in accordance with paragraph (2), for improving
the preparation for damage assessment after strong seismic motion
events.
(2) A city or county may use any funds retained pursuant to this
subdivision to improve the preparation for damage assessment in its
jurisdiction only after it provides the Department of Conservation
with information indicating to the department that data utilization
and seismic education activities have been adequately funded.
(d) Funds collected pursuant to subdivision (a) and (b), less the
amount retained pursuant to subdivision (c), shall be deposited in
the Strong-Motion Instrumentation and Seismic Hazards Mapping Fund,
as created by Section 2699.5.

2705.5. The California Geological Survey shall advise counties and
cities as to that portion of the total fees allocated to the
Strong-Motion Instrumentation and Seismic Hazards Mapping Fund, so
that this information may be provided to building permit applicants.

2706. Funds collected pursuant to subdivision (a) and (b) of
Section 2705, less the amount retained pursuant to subdivision (c) of
Section 2705, shall be deposited in the State Treasury in the
Strong-Motion Instrumentation and Seismic Hazards Mapping Fund, as
created by Section 2699.5, to be used exclusively for the purposes of
this chapter and Chapter 7.8 (commencing with Section 2690).

2707. The division, upon advice of the Seismic Safety Commission,
whenever it determines that an adequate instrumentation program has
been achieved, may reduce the fee levied against building permits as
provided in Section 2705 to a level sufficient to maintain the
program established pursuant to this chapter.

2709. Any city or county that has been exempted from the provisions
of Section 2705 by Section 2708 may participate in the state
strong-motion instrumentation program by a written request to the
State Geologist by the governing body of such city or county that its
exemption be rescinded.

2709.1. (a) No strong-motion instrumentation shall be installed
pursuant to this chapter in the structural types identified in
subdivision (b) unless funds proportionate to the construction value
as called for under Section 2705 are received from organizations or
entities representing these structural types, or the instrumentation
is specifically called for by the Seismic Safety Commission in
urgency situations.
(b) The structural types subject to this section include all of
the following:
(1) Hospitals.
(2) Dams.
(3) Bridges.
(4) Schools.
(5) Powerplants.
(c) The Strong-Motion Instrumentation and Seismic Hazards Mapping
Fund may accept funds from sources other than the permit fees
identified in this chapter. The priority of installations performed
under this chapter shall be determined by the Seismic Safety
Commission.