BILL NUMBER: SB 1051 CHAPTERED 05/07/04 CHAPTER 38 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE MAY 7, 2004 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR MAY 6, 2004 PASSED THE SENATE APRIL 29, 2004 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY APRIL 1, 2004 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 26, 2004 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY FEBRUARY 5, 2004 INTRODUCED BY Committee on Local Government (Senators Torlakson (Chair), Ackerman, Hollingsworth, Machado, Margett, Perata, and Soto) FEBRUARY 27, 2003 An act to amend Sections 2805, 106925, 116180, and 116205 of, to add Section 116112 to, and to repeal Section 116215 of, the Health and Safety Code, relating to vectorborne diseases, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1051, Committee on Local Government. Vectorborne Disease Account. Under existing law, the State Department of Health Services is required to certify that imported tires are mosquito free, to charge fees for the certification and examination of vector control technicians, and to deposit these fees in the Mosquitoborne Disease Surveillance Account. Statutory authorization for the Mosquitoborne Disease Surveillance Account was terminated on January 1, 2003. This bill would change existing law references to the Mosquitoborne Disease Surveillance Account to the Vectorborne Disease Account, established by the bill for deposit of those funds, and would make conforming changes. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 2805 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read: 2805. (a) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (b), every pest abatement district employee who handles, applies, or supervises the use of any pesticide for public health purposes, shall be certified by the state department as a vector control technician in at least one of the following categories commensurate with assigned duties: (1) Mosquito control. (2) Terrestrial invertebrate vector control. (3) Vertebrate vector control. (b) The state department may establish by regulation exemptions from the requirements of this section that are deemed reasonably necessary to further the purposes of this section. (c) The state department shall establish by regulation minimum standards for continuing education for any government agency employee certified under Section 116110 and regulations adopted pursuant thereto, who handles, applies, or supervises the use of any pesticide for public health purposes. (d) An official record of the completed continuing education units shall be maintained by the state department. If a certified technician fails to meet the requirements set forth under subdivision (c), the state department shall suspend the technician's certificate or certificates and immediately notify the technician and the employing district. The state department shall establish by regulation procedures for reinstating a suspended certificate. (e) The state department shall charge and collect a nonreturnable renewal fee of twenty-five dollars ($25) to be paid by each continuing education certificant on or before the first day of July, or on any other date that is determined by the state department. Each person employed on September 29, 1996, in a position that requires certification shall first pay the annual fee the first day of the first July following that date. All new certificants shall first pay the annual fee the first day of the first July following their certification. (f) The state department shall collect and account for all money received pursuant to this section and shall deposit it in the Vectorborne Disease Account provided for in Section 116112. Notwithstanding Section 116112, fees deposited in the Vectorborne Disease Account pursuant to this section shall be available for expenditure, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to implement this section. (g) Fees collected pursuant to this section shall be subject to the annual fee increase provisions of Section 100425. SEC. 2. Section 106925 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read: 106925. (a) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (b) or (i), every government agency employee who handles, applies, or supervises the use of any pesticide for public health purposes, shall be certified by the department as a vector control technician in at least one of the following categories commensurate with assigned duties, as follows: (1) Mosquito control. (2) Terrestrial invertebrate vector control. (3) Vertebrate vector control. (b) The department may establish by regulation exemptions from the requirements of this section that are deemed reasonably necessary to further the purposes of this section. (c) The department shall establish by regulation minimum standards for continuing education for any government agency employee certified under Section 116110 and regulations adopted pursuant thereto, who handles, applies, or supervises the use of any pesticide for public health purposes. (d) An official record of the completed continuing education units shall be maintained by the department. If a certified technician fails to meet the requirements set forth under subdivision (c), the department shall suspend the technician's certificate or certificates and immediately notify the technician and the employing agency. The department shall establish by regulation procedures for reinstating a suspended certificate. (e) The department shall charge and collect a nonreturnable renewal fee of twenty-five dollars ($25) to be paid by each continuing education certificant on or before the first day of July, or on any other date that is determined by the department. Each person employed on September 20, 1988, in a position that requires certification, shall first pay the annual fee the first day of the first July following that date. All new certificants shall first pay the annual fee the first day of the first July following their certification. (f) The department shall charge and collect nonrefundable examination fees for providing examinations pursuant to this section. When certification is required as a condition of employment, the employing agency shall pay the fees for certified technician applicants. The fees shall not exceed the estimated reasonable cost of providing the examinations, as determined by the director. (g) The department shall collect and account for all money received pursuant to this section and shall deposit it in the Vectorborne Disease Account provided for in Section 116112. Notwithstanding Section 116112, fees deposited in the Vectorborne Disease Account pursuant to this section shall be available for expenditure, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to implement this section. (h) Fees collected pursuant to this section shall be subject to the annual fee increase provisions of Section 100425. (i) Employees of the Department of Food and Agriculture and county agriculture departments holding, or working under the supervision of an employee holding, a valid Qualified Applicator Certificate in Health Related Pest Control, issued by the licensing and certification program of the Department of Food and Agriculture, shall be exempt from this section. SEC. 3. Section 116112 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read: 116112. The Vectorborne Disease Account is hereby established within the State Treasury. When appropriated by the Legislature, the funds deposited in the Vectorborne Disease Account shall be available for expenditure by the department to support activities for the prevention, surveillance, and control of vectorborne diseases and to support other activities that carry out the purposes of this part. SEC. 4. Section 116180 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read: 116180. (a) The department may enter into a cooperative agreement with any local district or other public agency engaged in the work of controlling mosquitoes, gnats, flies, other insects, rodents, or other vectors and pests of public health importance, in areas and under terms, conditions, and specifications as the director may prescribe. (b) The agreement may provide for financial assistance on behalf of the state and for the doing of all or any portion of the necessary work by either of the contracting parties, except that in no event shall the department agree that the state's contribution shall exceed 50 percent of the total cost of any acceptable plan. (c) The agreement may provide for contributions by the local district or other public agency to the Vectorborne Disease Account. SEC. 5. Section 116205 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read: 116205. The department shall collect and account for all money received pursuant to this article and shall deposit it in the Vectorborne Disease Account provided for in Section 116112. SEC. 6. Section 116215 of the Health and Safety Code is repealed. SEC. 7. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are: Created in 1983, the Mosquitoborne Disease Surveillance Account collected funds to support the State Department of Health Services's vectorborne disease prevention programs. In 2002, the Legislature inadvertently repealed the statutory authorization for the account, although it did not repeal the statutes authorizing the department to spend the money in the account. In order to reauthorize the account at the earliest possible time, so as to address the emerging public health and safety threats posed by vectorborne diseases, including but not limited to the West Nile virus, it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.