Summary as Introduced
Creates the Warehouse Tornado Preparedness Act. Provides that all operators of a warehouse within this State shall prepare a tornado safety plan for each warehouse they operate within 120 days after the effective date of the Act for each existing warehouse or, for warehouses opened on or after 120 days after the effective date of the Act, no later than 7 days after the warehouse becomes operational. Provides that each plan shall be specific to the warehouse it was prepared for and must be reviewed and updated at least once per year or upon any significant change to the operations of the warehouse that affects the applicability or accuracy of the information in the plan. Specifies what the plan must contain. Requires each warehouse facility to have designated or constructed sufficient shelter space for at least 125% of persons who regularly work in the warehouse at the same time, including persons who are at the warehouse temporarily, such as delivery drivers. Requires each warehouse to maintain specified emergency supplies in its tornado shelter. Effective immediately.
Staff Analysis
House Amendment 3
House Floor Amendment 3 shifts critical responsibilities from state agencies to local governments, particularly impacting county emergency management offices, fire protection districts, and building code enforcement functions.
1. Shift in Responsibility for Tornado Safety Plan Filing
• Original Bill: Required warehouses to file tornado safety plans with state agencies (State Fire Marshal, IEMA-OHS) and local emergency services.
• Amendment Change: Now only local authorities must receive and manage these filings:
- Local Fire Department/Fire Protection District
- Local Emergency Services and Disaster Agency (ESDA)
Impact on Counties:
• Counties that manage fire protection districts or operate county-level ESDA offices will have to receive, review, and store warehouse tornado safety plans.
• This shifts administrative responsibility onto counties instead of state agencies.
• Counties must ensure that their ESDA and possibly county-managed fire districts are equipped to handle plan review, archiving, and updates.
Potential Challenges:
• Increased workload for local ESDA coordinators.
• Need to develop internal tracking or filing systems.
• Possible pressure to informally “approve” or monitor these plans, even if the law does not formally impose an approval duty.
2. Building Code and Shelter Area Standards for New Warehouse Facilities
• New warehouses must demonstrate that their tornado safety design matches or exceeds the life-safety performance level required for the worst-case environmental threats under the local building code.
• They can meet this either through rational engineering analysis or use FEMA P-431 prescriptive methods for identifying safe refuge areas.
Impact on Counties:
• Counties that enforce building codes (either directly or through county-authorized inspectors) will have to review more complex structural safety information for warehouses.
• Counties may need access to expertise in FEMA P-431 standards or structural engineering to effectively oversee new compliance requirements.
Potential Challenges:
• Higher technical expectations for county building inspectors or contracted reviewers.
• Risk of disputes if developers and counties interpret compliance differently.
• Potential additional liability concerns if a warehouse claims compliance and later a failure occurs during a tornado.
3. New Certification Requirements for Inspectors (Effective January 1, 2027)
• Inspectors performing building inspections must be certified through the International Code Council (ICC) in the specific area they are inspecting.
• Municipalities must keep on file proof of certifications.
• A one-year grace period is provided for newly hired inspectors to get certified.
Impact on Counties:
• Although the amendment refers specifically to “municipalities,” if a county uses in-house inspectors or contracts third-party inspectors (especially in unincorporated areas or for county-regulated zones), similar expectations may apply under parallel county code enforcement practices.
• Counties may face market pressure to also require ICC certification for consistency or risk being viewed as a lower-standard jurisdiction.
Potential Challenges:
• Recruitment difficulties: Finding inspectors who are already ICC-certified may be harder in some rural areas.
• Cost pressures: Hiring or contracting certified inspectors could increase inspection program costs.
• Administrative overhead: Counties would need better record-keeping systems to track and file inspector certifications.
Overall Summary for Counties
• More administrative burden at the local (county) level for receiving and maintaining tornado safety plans.
• Higher technical expectations for building code compliance evaluation, particularly for tornado safety refuge areas in warehouses.
• Likely professionalization push for building inspectors, even if not explicitly mandatory for counties in this bill.
• New costs and procedural steps associated with plan management, inspections, and documentation tracking.