HB2987: WAREHOUSE TORNADO PREPAREDNESS

Legislative Summary

Reinserts the provisions of the bill with the following changes. In provisions concerning tornado safety plans, provides that the operator of a warehouse should coordinate with the warehouse's local emergency services and disaster agency and fire department or fire protection district to create plans that, when implemented, will be consistent with the local jurisdiction's response activities. Provides that copies of the plan and all updates made to the plan must be filed with the fire department or fire protection district in the jurisdiction in which the warehouse is located and the local emergency services and disaster agency in the jurisdiction in which the warehouse is located (instead of filed with the Office of the State Fire Marshal, the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Office of Homeland Security, and the fire department, fire protection district, or local emergency services agency with primary responsibility for the warehouse). Provides that warehouse facilities constructed after the effective date of the Act must provide the means, through modification, installation, or demonstration via rational analysis, to meet a life-safety performance level for tornado loading that is equivalent to, or exceeds, the life-safety performance level for the most onerous of other building code-prescribed extreme environmental loading events. Sets forth provisions concerning that evaluation. Provides that, in lieu of a risk-targeted approach, the evaluating design professional may elect to follow prescriptive methods as outlined in the Federal Emergency Management Agency standard P-431, Tornado Protection: Selecting Refuge Areas in Buildings and the Best Available Refuge Area Checklist to ensure that shelter areas designated in tornado safety plans are qualified as the best available refuge areas. Removes provisions concerning tornado shelters and emergency supplies. Amends the Counties Code. Defines "building inspector". Requires a building inspector to hold a certification from the International Code Council in the area in which the inspector is inspecting or examining. Requires that the county keep on file a copy of the certifications of the persons doing inspections or examinations on its behalf. Provides that a building inspector may have a grace period of one year from the date of hire to acquire the certification required under these provisions. Amends the Illinois Municipal Code to add similar requirements for building inspectors. Effective immediately, except that provisions amending the Counties Code and the Illinois Municipal Code take effect January 1, 2027.