(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no license shall be issued to conduct a horse racing meeting upon a track unless the track has been inspected by the board within 30 days prior to the date of application for a license and the track has been approved by the board as conforming to the racetrack safety standards set forth in subdivision (a) of Section 19481.
(b) The board shall adopt regulations to establish standards governing the employee housing provided to backstretch personnel at licensed racetracks. These regulations shall be commensurate with the housing standards established in the Employee Housing Act (Part 1 (commencing with Section 17000) of Division 13 of the Health and Safety Code), and shall consider the following:
(1) The health and safety of the human and equine population and the necessity for humans and horses to live in close proximity.
(2) The housing needs of state or county facilities with live racing meetings of no more than 43 days in duration that do not operate as year-round training facilities. The board shall specifically consider the different needs of these facilities compared to permanent facilities or other state and county facilities that function on a year-round basis, including state and county fair facilities that operate as year-round training facilities where horses are stabled and workers live.
(3) Compliance of facilities with racing meetings of 19 days or less, even if they operate as a year-round training facility, with this subdivision shall be contingent on funding in the Budget Act of 2002 (Chapter 379 of the Statutes of 2002).
(c) Commencing January 1, 2004, the board, with assistance from the California Department of Housing and Community Development or a local building department or other local entity designated by the jurisdiction in which the racetrack is located, shall annually inspect the living conditions of backstretch employee housing to ensure compliance with the housing standards established by the board, the findings or results of which shall be submitted to the board. No license shall be issued to a racing association to conduct a horse race meeting unless the board has inspected the housing conditions that exist on the racetrack’s backstretch and determined the living conditions to be in compliance with the standards established by the board in subdivision (b).
(d) The board may assess a reasonable fee upon racing associations to defray the costs associated with the inspections provided for in subdivision (c).
(Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 296, Sec. 21. (AB 1023) Effective January 1, 2012.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018