HBA-LJP C.S.H.B. 3701 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 3701 By: Naishtat Higher Education 5/5/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE On the morning of May 1, a fire at the University Towers in Austin, an apartment complex for off-campus student housing, caused the death of a 19 year old student of The University of Texas at Austin and critically injured another student. If the building had been equipped with a fire protection sprinkler system, the fire might have been prevented. C.S.H.B. 3701 provides that a high-rise building used predominately as off-campus housing for students of an institution of higher education must be equipped with a complete fire protection sprinkler system. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 3701 amends the Health and Safety Code to provide that a high-rise building used predominately as off-campus housing for students of an institution of higher education must be equipped with a complete fire protection sprinkler system that is in good working order and is in compliance with the standard adopted by the governing body of the municipality or commissioners court of the county in which the highrise building is located. The bill provides that the standard that the governing body of the municipality or commissioners court of the county are required to adopt must be in compliance with the National Fire Protection Association 13, Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems. The bill provides that until the standard is adopted, the standard is the Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems of the National Fire Protection Association as the standard existed on May, 1, 2001. The bill authorizes the attorney general, the county attorney of a county in which the building is located, or the district attorney of a district in which the building is located to bring an action in the district court of that county in the name of the state for an injunction or other process to enforce fire protection sprinkler system standards against the owner or person in charge of the building. The bill sets forth provisions regarding the prosecution of the action and an issuance of an injunction or writ for the enforcement of the standard. The bill provides for a fine of $10,000 or more for a person who is an owner of a building or serves as an agent in the care, management, supervision, control, or renting of a building for an owner who is not a resident of this state if the building does not meet the required fire protection sprinkler system standards. The bill provides that a building constructed before the effective date of this Act or contracted to be constructed before September 1, 2001 is not required to comply with required fire protection sprinkler system standards before September 1, 2002. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 3701 amends the original to correct typographical errors.