BILL NUMBER: AB 2067 CHAPTERED 09/25/02 CHAPTER 852 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 25, 2002 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 25, 2002 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 28, 2002 PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 27, 2002 AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 22, 2002 AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 12, 2002 AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 10, 2002 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 17, 2002 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 2, 2002 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Nakano FEBRUARY 19, 2002 An act to add Chapter 12 (commencing with Section 115340) to Part 9 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to health. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2067, Nakano. Nuclear emergencies: exposure to radioactive iodine. Existing law provides for the regulation of various entities, and the administration of various programs, by the State Department of Health Services to protect persons from excessive and improper exposure to radiation. This bill would require the department to work with the KI working group, coordinated by the Office of Emergency Services, to develop and implement a program to oversee the distribution of potassium iodide (KI) tablets to all persons who reside, work, visit, or attend school within the state-designated emergency planning zone of an operational nuclear powerplant, in the event of an accident causing leakage of radioactive iodine. This bill would also require the department to develop and implement, in consultation with local health departments and local emergency management agencies, a plan for the prompt distribution of potassium iodide tablets, as specified, in the event of a nuclear emergency, and for the dissemination of instructions on the use of the tablets. The bill would require the department to work with the KI working group to develop and implement a plan and method for the efficient storage of the tablets. The bill would require the department to submit these plans to the Governor and the Legislature no later than July 1, 2004. The bill would also require the department, in consultation with the KI working group, to evaluate areas in the state, other than those in specified areas around nuclear powerplants, in which leakage of radioactive iodine is possible, and evaluate the need to store quantities of KI tablets in those areas. The bill would require the department to submit the evaluation to the Governor and the Legislature no later than July 1, 2004. This bill would also provide that its provisions are to be implemented only to the extent that funds are appropriated for that purpose in the annual Budget Act or another measure. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) Radioactive iodine can cause cancer when ingested in very small amounts. (b) Radioactive iodine can be leaked, or released into the atmosphere, as a result of nuclear powerplant accidents, threatening the health and safety of those exposed. (c) Potassium iodide is an effective and inexpensive drug, approved by the Food and Drug Administration to mitigate and prevent the harmful effects of radioactive iodine. (d) It is the intent of the Legislature to ensure that residents, workers, and visitors in the state-designated emergency planning zone around each operational nuclear powerplant in California are provided with potassium iodide tablets, in the event of a nuclear emergency. SEC. 2. Chapter 12 (commencing with Section 115340) is added to Part 9 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code, to read: CHAPTER 12. PROTECTION FROM EFFECTS OF EXPOSURE TO RADIOACTIVE IODINE IN NUCLEAR EMERGENCIES 115340. (a) The State Department of Health Services shall work with the KI working group, which is coordinated by the Office of Emergency Services, to establish and implement a program to oversee the distribution of potassium iodide (KI) tablets to all persons who reside, work, visit, or attend school within the state-designated emergency planning zone of an operational nuclear powerplant, in order to provide protection to members of the public in the event of an accident causing leakage of radioactive iodine, pursuant to the offer of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to provide the state with a supply of KI tablets. (b) In order to implement the program required by subdivision (a), the department, in consultation with local health departments and local emergency management agencies, shall develop and implement a plan for both of the following: (1) The prompt distribution of the tablets to persons at risk in the event of a nuclear emergency, in a manner to best protect the public health. (2) The dissemination of instructions on the use of the tablets, including the possible need for medical consultation, if indicated. (c) The department shall work with the KI working group described in subdivision (a) to develop and implement a plan and method for the efficient storage of KI tablets. (d) The department, in consultation with the KI working group, shall evaluate areas in the state, other than those described in subdivision (a), in which leakage of radioactive iodine is possible, and evaluate the need to store quantities of KI tablets in those areas. (e) No later than July 1, 2004, the department shall submit a plan to the Governor and the Legislature on the establishment and implementation of the program required pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b), and on the development and implementation of the plan and method required in subdivision (c). No later than July 1, 2004, the department shall also submit to the Governor and the Legislature the evaluation required in subdivision (d). 115342. This chapter shall be implemented only to the extent that funds are appropriated for the purposes of this chapter in the annual Budget Act or another measure.