STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6291--A 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY April 3, 2023 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. BURDICK, EPSTEIN, RIVERA, DICKENS, LUNSFORD, LEVENBERG, DeSTEFANO -- read once and referred to the Committee on People with Disabilities -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to standards for estab- lishing and maintaining an emergency evacuation plan for individuals with disabilities The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 378 of the executive law, as added 2 by chapter 707 of the laws of 1981, is amended and a new subdivision 3-a 3 is added to read as follows: 4 3. Standards for passenger elevators to promote uniformity and ease of 5 use for [the handicapped] individuals with disabilities including, but 6 not limited to: 7 a. placement and identification of operating controls, 8 b. door jamb markings, 9 c. operation and leveling features, 10 d. operation, width, and safety features for doors, 11 e. hall buttons, and 12 f. hall lanterns. 13 3-a. a. Standards for emergency planning and preparedness for high- 14 rise buildings to ensure emergency evacuation drills, fire safety and 15 emergency evacuation plans, employee training and response procedures, 16 hazard communication, and use and occupancy-related standards address 17 the needs of individuals with disabilities which shall be developed in 18 consultation with the independent agency as described in subdivision (b) 19 of section five hundred fifty-eight of this chapter. 20 b. The following elements shall be included in each emergency evacu- 21 ation plan: 22 (i) procedures for evacuating individuals with disabilities; EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD02233-02-3
A. 6291--A 2 1 (ii) a list of individuals with disabilities who have notified the 2 owner or the owner's agent that they are disabled and would require 3 assistance in the event of an emergency. The list shall include the 4 floor and room number that the individual with a disability occupies 5 within the building. Such list shall only be maintained for the purpose 6 of an emergency evacuation, and shall not be disseminated for any other 7 purpose; 8 (iii) a notification mechanism to the occupants that a list of persons 9 with disabilities in need of assistance in case of an emergency exists 10 and is maintained by the owner or the owner's agent and the method by 11 which occupants can place their name on such list; 12 (iv) a requirement that the building owner or the owner's agent shall 13 publicly post the emergency contact information for the building on each 14 floor, and make updates as necessary; 15 (v) the location and type of evacuation assistance devices or assis- 16 tive technologies that are available within the building; and 17 (vi) areas of rescue which shall be identified by signs that state 18 "Area of Rescue Assistance" and display the international symbol of 19 accessibility. Lettering must be permanent and comply with federal Amer- 20 icans with Disabilities Act guidelines. 21 c. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, standards 22 developed pursuant to this subdivision shall specify that: 23 (i) it shall be the duty of every owner of a high-rise building, or of 24 the owner's agent, to establish and maintain an emergency evacuation 25 plan as provided for in this subdivision; 26 (ii) the owner or owner's agent shall make the emergency evacuation 27 plan available upon request to: 28 (A) local law enforcement and fire safety personnel; and 29 (B) employees, tenants, or guests located in the high-rise building; 30 and 31 (iii) the emergency evacuation plan shall be made available in a 32 large-print document (18-point font size or larger); Braille (Grade II); 33 and/or any other alternative formats upon request. 34 d. A copy of the emergency evacuation plan shall be maintained at all 35 times in a place easily accessible by law enforcement and/or fire safety 36 personnel, including but not limited to the management office, the secu- 37 rity desk, in the vicinity of the firefighter's elevator recall key, the 38 life safety panel, or the fire pump room. In the absence of any of the 39 locations listed in this subdivision, a copy of such plan shall be post- 40 ed in the front entry of the building. 41 e. Every high-rise building owner or the agent of such owner shall 42 post emergency contact information for the building in a publicly 43 conspicuous area on each floor of the building. If such emergency 44 contact information changes, such owner or agent shall post a new notice 45 as soon as practicable. 46 f. On an annual basis, every high-rise building owner or the agent of 47 such owner shall update the emergency evacuation plan and provide occu- 48 pants with a notice detailing the provisions of the emergency evacuation 49 plan. 50 g. A copy of the emergency evacuation plan shall be filed with the 51 department of state within one year of the effective date of this subdi- 52 vision, and an updated emergency evacuation plan shall be filed with the 53 department of state annually thereafter. 54 h. High-rise buildings located in municipalities with a population of 55 over one million are exempt from developing such plan if such munici- 56 palities have ordinances, rules, codes or regulations that establish
A. 6291--A 3 1 emergency evacuation procedures specifically for people with disabili- 2 ties in high-rise buildings. 3 i. A knowing failure to comply with any provision within this subdivi- 4 sion shall be punishable by a civil penalty of up to five hundred 5 dollars. 6 j. As used in this subdivision, "high-rise building" means a building 7 with an occupied floor located more than seventy-five feet above the 8 lowest level of fire department vehicle access. 9 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 10 have become a law; provided, however, that high-rise building owners or 11 their agents shall have one year from the effective date of this act to 12 establish an emergency evacuation plan.