H.B. 278

1

PUBLIC SCHOOL SEISMIC STUDIES
2 2013 GENERAL SESSION
3 STATE OF UTAH
4 Chief Sponsor: Gage Froerer
5 Senate Sponsor: ____________
6
7 LONG TITLE
8 General Description:
9 This bill imposes requirements on a school district regarding seismic safety evaluations
10 of school buildings.
11 Highlighted Provisions:
12 This bill:
13 . requires a school district to conduct or update a seismic safety evaluation of a
14 school district building constructed before 1975 if the school district issues certain
15 general obligation bonds on or after July 1, 2013; and
16 . provides that a school district is not required to conduct or update a seismic safety
17 evaluation of a building constructed before 1975 if a seismic safety evaluation was
18 performed on the building within the 25-year period before the school district issues
19 certain general obligation bonds.
20 Money Appropriated in this Bill:
21 None
22 Other Special Clauses:
23 This bill provides an immediate effective date.
24 Utah Code Sections Affected:
25 ENACTS:
26 53A-18-107, Utah Code Annotated 1953
27

28 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
29 Section 1. Section 53A-18-107 is enacted to read:
30 53A-18-107. Requirement to conduct seismic safety evaluations when issuing a
31 bond.
32 (1) As used in this section, "qualifying general obligation bond" means a bond:
33 (a) issued pursuant to Title 11, Chapter 14, Local Government Bonding Act; and
34 (b) authorized by an election held on or after July 1, 2013.
35 (2) If a school district issues a qualifying general obligation bond, the school district
36 shall:
37 (a) except as provided in Subsection (4), conduct or update a seismic safety evaluation
38 of each school district building:
39 (i) constructed before 1975; and
40 (ii) used by the school district as a school; and
41 (b) provide a copy of a seismic safety evaluation prepared under Subsection (2)(a) to
42 the Utah Seismic Safety Commission created in Section 63C-6-101 .
43 (3) A seismic safety evaluation conducted under Subsection (2) shall be conducted by a
44 licensed structural engineer familiar with seismic codes.
45 (4) A school district is not required to conduct or update a seismic safety evaluation of
46 a building as required in Subsection (2)(a) if a seismic safety evaluation or study was
47 performed on the building within the 25-year period before the school district issues the
48 qualifying general obligation bond.
49 Section 2. Effective date.
50 If approved by two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, this bill takes effect
51 upon approval by the governor, or the day following the constitutional time limit of Utah
52 Constitution Article VII, Section 8, without the governor's signature, or in the case of a veto,
53 the date of veto override.

Legislative Review Note
as of 1-25-13 2:05 PM

Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel

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