§ 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, environmental
conservation, corrections and community supervision, education, health,
labor, mental health and social services, office of general services,
division of housing and community renewal, the president of the New York
state energy research and development authority, and the superintendent
of financial services.

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 deaf and hard of hearing, one of whom
shall represent consumers of products designed for the deaf and hard of
hearing, 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 consumer who is deaf or hard of
hearing. 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.