BILL TO STREAMLINE COLLEGE BUILDING.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

LANCASTER - State Sen. George Runner is pushing legislation to exempt community college construction projects from a 1930s-era earthquake-standards construction law that he says forces unnecessary and costly building regulations on colleges like Antelope Valley College.

The Lancaster Republican said he wants to put community colleges on the same regulatory footing as the state universities and colleges, rather than treat them like elementary, middle and high schools.

Runner is joining Sen. Denise Ducheny, D-San Diego, in authoring Senate Bill 1290 to authorize community colleges to use the Uniform Building Code instead of the Field Act for new building projects.

The Field Act applies to public elementary, middle and high schools as well as community colleges.

``This legislation will allow community colleges to build and modernize their facilities faster and with fewer unnecessary regulatory hurdles,'' Runner said.

The Field Act was adopted in the wake of the 1933 Long Beach earthquake. The act mandates a comprehensive design specification and construction inspection process for educational facilities for public school students in K-12 and for community colleges.

Among the differences between the two building code laws, the Field Act requires structural engineers at the Division of the State Architect to review and approve plans. The act also requires that during construction, an inspector certified by the state architect continuously inspect the project to ensure compliance with the plans and standards, state officials said.

Supporters of efforts to exempt community colleges from the Field Act say improvement in building codes regarding earthquakes since the 1930s renders the Field Act standards unnecessary. They also argue that the Field Act creates a double standard in which buildings for community college students are treated differently than those for state college and university students.

One of those double standard situations exists on the Antelope Valley College campus, where there is a classroom building built for California State University, Bakersfield. CSUB can use AVC classrooms for its courses, but AVC cannot use the CSUB building because of the Field Act.

``AVC is supportive of cutting red tape,'' said AVC spokesman Steve Standerfer. ``When you are in a growing area like north Los Angeles County, you need flexibility in order to meet demand.''

SB 1290 passed the Senate Education Committee with a 9-0 vote. The bill will be heard in Senate Appropriations Committee this month, Runner said.

james.skeen(at)dailynews

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