Source: https://caselaw.lexroll.com/2017/09/13/california-attorney-general-opinion-no-16-801/
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 06:30:09+00:00

Document:
Does Health and Safety Code section 13146 prohibit fire protection district chiefs from enforcing the State Fire Marshal’s building standards and regulations as they relate to R-3 dwellings?
Health and Safety Code section 13146 does not prohibit fire protection district chiefs from enforcing the State Fire Marshal’s building standards and regulations as they relate to R-3 dwellings.
Health & Saf. Code, §§ 13861-13862.
Health & Saf. Code, §§ 13871-13872.
The State Fire Marshal has a duty to “foster, promote, and develop ways and means of protecting life and property against fire and panic,” and may adopt building standards and other regulations to further these purposes. (Health & Saf. Code, § 13100.1; see, e.g., Health & Saf. Code, §§ 13108.5, 13143.2, subd. (a), 13144.4, 17921, subd. (b).) The State Fire Marshal’s regulations may be found in Title 19 and in Title 24 of Part 9 of the California Code of Regulations.
In this opinion, we consider whether section 13146 is meant to prohibit fire protection district chiefs from enforcing the State Fire Marshal’s building standards and regulations as they relate to R-3 dwellings. For the reasons that follow, we find that the statute’s language does not compel such an interpretation, and that the statute’s context within the state fire protection statutory scheme as a whole counters such an interpretation.
Adult care facilities that provide accommodations for six or fewer clients of any age for less than 24 hours. Licensing categories that may use this classification include Adult Day Programs.
2016 California Building Code (effective Jan. 1, 2017) (italics and bold omitted).
Dyna-Med, Inc. v. Fair Employment & Housing Com. (1987) 43 Cal.3d 1379, 13861387.
The chief of the fire authority of the city, county, or city and county, or his or her authorized representative.
The chief building official of the city, county, or city and county, or his or her authorized representative.
The chief of any city, county, or city and county fire department or of any fire protection district, and their authorized representatives, shall enforce within its jurisdiction the building standards and other regulations of the State Fire Marshal, except those described in subdivision (a) or (d).
The State Fire Marshal shall have authority to enforce the building standards and other regulations of the State Fire Marshal in areas outside of corporate cities and districts providing fire protection services.
quoting Stafford v. Los Angeles County Employees’ Retirement Bd. (1954) 42 Cal.2d 795, 799 (“every statute should be construed with reference to the whole system of law of which it is a part so that all may be harmonized and have effect”).
Health & Saf. Code, § 13146, subds. (a)-(d).
standards relating to R-3 dwellings. The argument focuses on the language in subdivisions (a) and (b) of the statute. Subdivision (a) assigns authority to enforce standards relating to R-3 dwellings to local fire or building officials—not to fire protection district chiefs— while subdivision (b) of the statute directs fire protection district chiefs to enforce standards and regulations “except those described in subdivision (a) . . . .” The argument, in short, is that the exception expressed in subdivision (b) is mandatory, rather than discretionary, placing a hard limitation on the potential jurisdiction of a fire protection district chief.
We disagree. First, we do not construe subdivision (b)’s exception from the mandate to enforce R-3 dwelling standards and regulations as a mandatory bar to enforcement, but rather as a discretionary outlet to prevent unnecessary duplication of enforcement. Second, the Legislature’s overall fire protection statutory scheme supports a contrary interpretation, that is, that fire protection district chiefs are generally authorized to enforce all relevant standards and regulations within their jurisdictions.
Turning to the key provisions of the statutory scheme, we see that section 13146 as a whole parcels out the official responsibilities for enforcing the State Fire Marshal’s building standards and regulations as they relate to R-3 dwellings throughout the state. Subdivision (a) provides that city councils and county boards of supervisors are not to enforce the state fire building regulations as an item of general business, but instead they “shall delegate” enforcement to the local fire chief or building chief. Subdivision (a) is silent as to fire protection district chiefs.
Fire protection districts and their chiefs are addressed in subdivision (b), which provides that a fire protection district chief “shall enforce” the State Fire Marshal’s building standards and regulations, “except those described in subdivision (a) or (d).” As we have seen, subdivision (a) addresses situations where a local fire department or building department has been delegated to enforce R-3 dwelling regulations; subdivision (d) addresses situations where the State Fire Marshal itself is delegated to enforce its building regulations at the request of a local agency. Thus, fire protection district chiefs must enforce State Fire Marshal building regulations and standards as a general matter, but are not required to do so in situations where code enforcement is in the hands of another agency.
Our interpretation finds strong support in the broad powers bestowed on fire protection districts under the Fire Protection District Law and related provisions. The law gives fire protection districts “all rights and powers, expressed or implied, necessary to carry out the purposes and intent” of the Fire Protection District Law, including the power to “enforce rules and regulations for the administration, operation, and maintenance” of “fire protection services.” Fire protection district chiefs “shall enforce in their respective areas building standards relating to fire and panic safety adopted by the State Fire Marshal and published in the California Building Standards Code and other regulations that have been formally adopted by the State Fire Marshal for the prevention of fire or for the protection of life and property against fire or panic.” Similarly, fire protection district chiefs are among those officials who must enforce the State Housing Law, state building standards relating to fire and panic safety, and regulations promulgated pursuant to the State Housing Law relating to fire prevention, protection and suppression, and fire and panic safety, in their respective areas.
In addition, fire protection districts may issue written orders to correct any fire hazard,18 and annex territory (other than commercial forest lands) that is classified as a state responsibility area and, in such circumstances, “the district shall be responsible for fire suppression and prevention for structures in the area . . . .”19 A fire protection district may also provide a state agency with fire protection services, may provide a city or county with fire protection, suppression, and prevention services, and may enter into a joint powers agreement or mutual aid agreement with a broad range of public agencies.  We find no differentiation by the Legislature between the scope of enforcement responsibilities granted to fire protection districts and those granted to other local authorities.
Had the Legislature intended to bar fire protection district chiefs from enforcing State Fire Marshal’s building standards and regulations as they relate to R-3 dwellings, we believe that it would have done so expressly (for example, by stating that such chiefs “shall not,” or “are not authorized to,” enforce such standards and regulations as they relate to R3 dwellings). No such prohibitory language appears. We believe that the limiting language in Health and Safety Code section 13146, subdivision (b), provides organizational direction rather than a curtailment of the jurisdiction of a fire protection district.
Therefore, we conclude that Health and Safety Code section 13146 does not prohibit fire protection district chiefs from enforcing the State Fire Marshal’s building standards and regulations as they relate to R-3 dwellings.
 Health & Saf. Code, §§ 13800-13970.
 Health & Saf. Code, § 13145.
 Health & Saf. Code, §§ 17910-17998.3.
 Health & Saf. Code, § 17962. A city or county may designate a specified department or officer as responsible for enforcing those provisions, but only if there is no city or county fire department or fire protection district in the area. (Health & Saf. Code, § 17964.) 18 Health & Saf. Code, § 13870. 19 Health & Saf. Code, § 13811.
 Gov. Code, §§ 55603, 55632; Pub. Contract Code, § 20811.
 Health & Saf. Code, §§ 13861, subd. (j) (joint powers), 13863 (mutual aid); see Gov. Code, § 6500 (public agencies); see also, Gov. Code, § 51175, subd. (a) (“Since fires ignore civil boundaries, it is necessary that cities, counties, special districts, state agencies, and federal agencies work together to bring raging fires under control. Preventive measures are therefore needed to ensure the preservation of the public peace, health, or safety”).
 See, e.g., Health & Saf. Code, §§ 13108 (authorizing chief of city, county, or fire protection district to enforce regulations for state-owned buildings upon approval as specified), 13145; Pen. Code, § 374.3, subd. (d) (local health department, local fire department, fire protection district, and Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, may determine public health and safety hazard, public nuisance, or fire hazard created by private property owner’s dumping waste on his or her property).
 Health & Saf. Code, § 13804.
 Health & Saf. Code, § 13801.

References: § 13100
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 § 13146
 § 13145
 § 17962
 § 17964
 § 13870
 § 13811
 § 20811
 § 6500
 § 51175
 § 374
 § 13804
 § 13801