Section 374. State fire prevention and building code council

1. There is
  hereby created and established in the department of state a council,  to
  be  known  as  the state fire prevention and building code council. Such
  council shall consist of the secretary of state, as chairman, the  state
  fire administrator and fifteen other members to be appointed as follows:
    a.  Two  members,  to  be  appointed  by  the governor, from among the
  commissioners of the departments of economic  development,  correctional
  services,  education,  health, labor, mental health and social services,
  office of general services, division of housing and  community  renewal,
  and the superintendent of insurance.
    b.  Six members, to be appointed by the governor, one of whom shall be
  an elected official of a city with a population over one million, one of
  whom shall be an elected official of another city with a population over
  one hundred thousand, one of whom shall be an elected  official  of  any
  other city, one of whom shall be an elected county official, one of whom
  shall  be  an elected town official, and one of whom shall be an elected
  village official.
    c. Seven members, to be appointed by the governor with the advice  and
  consent of the senate, one of whom shall be a fire service official, one
  of  whom  shall  be  a  registered  architect,  one  of  whom shall be a
  professional engineer, one of whom shall be a code enforcement official,
  one of whom shall represent builders, one of whom shall represent  trade
  unions,  and  one of whom shall be a person with a disability as defined
  in section two hundred ninety-two of this  chapter  who  would  directly
  benefit  from  the  provisions  of article thirteen of the state uniform
  fire  prevention  and  building  code.  The  registered  architect   and
  professional   engineer   shall  be  duly  licensed  to  practice  their
  respective professions in the state of New York. After the certification
  of code enforcement personnel pursuant to this chapter shall have  begun
  said code enforcement official shall be so certified.
    2.  The  members  of  the  council, other than the ex-officio members,
  shall serve for terms of four years provided, however, that  any  member
  appointed  pursuant  to  paragraph  b of subdivision one of this section
  shall cease to be a member of the council when  such  member  no  longer
  holds the elective office which made such member eligible to appointment
  under  such  paragraph.  Such  terms  shall  commence on April first and
  expire on March thirty-first provided,  however,  that  of  the  members
  first  appointed  pursuant  to  paragraph  b  of subdivision one of this
  section, three shall be appointed for terms of four years and three  for
  a  term  of  two  years,  of  the  members  first  appointed pursuant to
  paragraph c of subdivision one of this section, three shall be appointed
  for terms of four years and three for a  term  of  two  years,  and  the
  member  first  appointed  pursuant  to paragraph d of subdivision one of
  this section shall be appointed for a  term  of  four  years.  Vacancies
  shall  be  filled for unexpired terms in the same manner as the original
  appointments.
    3. The council shall meet at  least  quarterly  at  the  call  of  the
  chairman.  Additional  meetings  may  be  called upon at least five days
  notice by the chairman or by petition of five members of the council.
    4. No member of the council shall be  disqualified  from  holding  any
  other  public office, nor shall employment be forfeited by reason of the
  member's appointment hereunder, notwithstanding the  provisions  of  any
  general, special or local law, ordinance, county or city charter.
    5.  Each  member  of  the  council,  other than a full-time government
  official, shall receive per diem compensation at the rate of one hundred
  fifty dollars per day for each day  spent  in  the  performance  of  his
  duties.  All  members  of the council shall receive actual and necessary
  expenses incurred in the performance of their duties.

    6. The governor may remove any member  for  inefficiency,  neglect  of
  duty  or  misconduct  in  office  after giving him a copy of the charges
  against him and an opportunity to be heard, in person or by  counsel  in
  his  defense, upon not less than ten days notice. If any member shall be
  so  removed,  the  governor shall file in the office of the secretary of
  state a complete statement of charges made aginst such member,  and  his
  finding thereon, together with a complete record of the proceedings.
    7.  The  ex-officio  members of the council and the elected county and
  local government official members appointed pursuant to paragraph  b  of
  subdivision  one  of  this  section  may, by official authority filed in
  their respective agencies, county or  local  governments  and  with  the
  secretary,  designate  a  deputy  or  other  officer of their respective
  agency, county or local government to exercise their powers and  perform
  their duties on the council.
    8.  The  council  may create such subcommittees as it may from time to
  time deem appropriate to provide  it  with  advice  and  recommendations
  concerning the performance of its duties under this article.
    9.  a.  The chairman of the council shall appoint an advisory board on
  assistive listening  systems  in  places  of  public  assembly  for  the
  purposes   of  providing  the  full  council  with  recommendations  for
  standards for such systems. Such advisory board  shall  consist  of  the
  state  fire  administrator,  who  shall serve as chairman, and six other
  members to be appointed as follows:
    (i) three members from among the members of the state fire  prevention
  and building code council,
    (ii)  three  members one of whom shall represent an organization which
  serves as an advocate for  the  hearing  impaired,  one  of  whom  shall
  represent  consumers  of products designed for the hearing impaired, and
  one of whom represents an institution of higher education with expertise
  in the area of assistive listening technology, who shall be entitled  to
  be reimbursed for necessary travel and incidental expenses out of monies
  appropriated to the division of housing and community renewal.
    b. Such advisory board shall, prior to December thirty-first, nineteen
  hundred  eighty-nine,  submit  to the state fire prevention and building
  code council:
    (i) findings on the  extent  of  existing  federal,  state  and  local
  requirements for assistive listening systems,
    (ii)  findings  on  the  type,  design  and  use of existing assistive
  listening systems,
    (iii)  recommendations  for  design  and  installation  standards  for
  assistive listening systems intended for places of public assembly, and
    (iv)  recommendations  for  capacity  standards  for  places of public
  assembly which shall be required to install assistive listening systems.
    c. In developing such recommendations the advisory  board  shall  take
  into  consideration  the  costs of such systems, the standardization and
  compatibility of such  systems,  if  the  technology  permits,  and  the
  utilization of such systems by the hearing impaired consumer. Particular
  attention  should  be  given  to  the  ability of consumers to utilize a
  single receiver which  is  compatible  in  a  variety  of  installations
  employing the same assistive listening device technology.
    d.  In  addition,  the  advisory  board  shall  ensure,  to the extent
  possible, that the standards developed for the design  and  installation
  of  assistive  listening systems take into consideration the opportunity
  for competition among manufacturers of  the  same  or  various  approved
  systems.