§ 374 — State fire prevention and building code council

§ 374. State fire prevention and building code council. 1. There is\nhereby created and established in the department of state a council, to\nbe known as the state fire prevention and building code council. Such\ncouncil shall consist of the secretary of state, as chairperson, the\nstate fire administrator and seventeen other members to be appointed as\nfollows:\n a. Three members, to be appointed by the governor, from among the\ncommissioners of the departments of economic development, environmental\nconservation, corrections and community supervision, education, health,\nlabor, agriculture and markets, mental health and social services,\noffice of general services, division of housing and community renewal,\nthe president of the New York state energy research and development\nauthority, and the superintendent of financial services.\n b. Six members, to be appointed by the governor, one of whom shall be\nan elected official of a city with a population over one million, one of\nwhom shall be an elected official of another city with a population over\none hundred thousand, one of whom shall be an elected official of any\nother city, one of whom shall be an elected county official, one of whom\nshall be an elected town official, and one of whom shall be an elected\nvillage official.\n c. Eight members, to be appointed by the governor with the advice and\nconsent of the senate, one of whom shall be a fire service official, one\nof whom shall be a registered architect, one of whom shall be a\nprofessional engineer, one of whom shall be a code enforcement official,\none of whom shall represent builders, one of whom shall represent trade\nunions, one of whom shall represent agricultural producers, and one of\nwhom shall be a person with a disability as defined in section two\nhundred ninety-two of this chapter who would directly benefit from the\nprovisions of article thirteen of the state uniform fire prevention and\nbuilding code. The registered architect and professional engineer shall\nbe duly licensed to practice their respective professions in the state\nof New York. After the certification of code enforcement personnel\npursuant to this chapter shall have begun said code enforcement official\nshall be so certified.\n 2. The members of the council, other than the ex-officio members,\nshall serve for terms of four years provided, however, that any member\nappointed pursuant to paragraph b of subdivision one of this section\nshall cease to be a member of the council when such member no longer\nholds the elective office which made such member eligible to appointment\nunder such paragraph. Such terms shall commence on April first and\nexpire on March thirty-first provided, however, that of the members\nfirst appointed pursuant to paragraph b of subdivision one of this\nsection, three shall be appointed for terms of four years and three for\na term of two years, of the members first appointed pursuant to\nparagraph c of subdivision one of this section, three shall be appointed\nfor terms of four years and three for a term of two years, and the\nmember first appointed pursuant to paragraph d of subdivision one of\nthis section shall be appointed for a term of four years. Vacancies\nshall be filled for unexpired terms in the same manner as the original\nappointments.\n 3. The council shall meet at least quarterly at the call of the\nchairperson. Additional meetings may be called upon at least five days'\nnotice by the chairperson or by petition of five members of the council.\n 4. No member of the council shall be disqualified from holding any\nother public office, nor shall employment be forfeited by reason of the\nmember's appointment hereunder, notwithstanding the provisions of any\ngeneral, special or local law, ordinance, county or city charter.\n 5. Each member of the council, other than a full-time government\nofficial, shall receive per diem compensation at the rate of one hundred\nfifty dollars per day for each day spent in the performance of his\nduties. All members of the council shall receive actual and necessary\nexpenses incurred in the performance of their duties.\n 6. The governor may remove any member for inefficiency, neglect of\nduty or misconduct in office after giving him a copy of the charges\nagainst him and an opportunity to be heard, in person or by counsel in\nhis defense, upon not less than ten days notice. If any member shall be\nso removed, the governor shall file in the office of the secretary of\nstate a complete statement of charges made aginst such member, and his\nfinding thereon, together with a complete record of the proceedings.\n 7. The ex-officio members of the council and the elected county and\nlocal government official members appointed pursuant to paragraph b of\nsubdivision one of this section may, by official authority filed in\ntheir respective agencies, county or local governments and with the\nsecretary, designate a deputy or other officer of their respective\nagency, county or local government to exercise their powers and perform\ntheir duties on the council.\n 8. The council may create such subcommittees as it may from time to\ntime deem appropriate to provide it with advice and recommendations\nconcerning the performance of its duties under this article.\n 9. a. The chairperson of the council shall appoint an advisory board\non assistive listening systems in places of public assembly for the\npurposes of providing the full council with recommendations for\nstandards for such systems. Such advisory board shall consist of the\nstate fire administrator, who shall serve as chairperson, and six other\nmembers to be appointed as follows:\n (i) three members from among the members of the state fire prevention\nand building code council,\n (ii) three members one of whom shall represent an organization which\nserves as an advocate for the deaf and hard of hearing, one of whom\nshall represent consumers of products designed for the deaf and hard of\nhearing, and one of whom represents an institution of higher education\nwith expertise in the area of assistive listening technology, who shall\nbe entitled to be reimbursed for necessary travel and incidental\nexpenses out of monies appropriated to the division of housing and\ncommunity renewal.\n b. Such advisory board shall, prior to December thirty-first, nineteen\nhundred eighty-nine, submit to the state fire prevention and building\ncode council:\n (i) findings on the extent of existing federal, state and local\nrequirements for assistive listening systems,\n (ii) findings on the type, design and use of existing assistive\nlistening systems,\n (iii) recommendations for design and installation standards for\nassistive listening systems intended for places of public assembly, and\n (iv) recommendations for capacity standards for places of public\nassembly which shall be required to install assistive listening systems.\n c. In developing such recommendations the advisory board shall take\ninto consideration the costs of such systems, the standardization and\ncompatibility of such systems, if the technology permits, and the\nutilization of such systems by the consumer who is deaf or hard of\nhearing. Particular attention should be given to the ability of\nconsumers to utilize a single receiver which is compatible in a variety\nof installations employing the same assistive listening device\ntechnology.\n d. In addition, the advisory board shall ensure, to the extent\npossible, that the standards developed for the design and installation\nof assistive listening systems take into consideration the opportunity\nfor competition among manufacturers of the same or various approved\nsystems.\n