BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
1963 (Nava)
Hearing Date: 08/02/2010 Amended: 07/15/2010
Consultant: Brendan McCarthy Policy Vote: EQ 5-2, Health 6-2
AB 1963 (Nava), Page 2
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 1963 requires laboratories that perform certain
tests on workers that handle pesticides to report the results of
those tests to the Department of Pesticide Regulation. The bill
requires the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to
review the information. The bill requires the Department of
Pesticide Regulation, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard
Assessment, and the Department of Pubic Health to report to the
Legislature on the current program for supervising the health of
workers that handle pesticides.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 Fund
Review of laboratory data Likely less than $100 by
2015Special *
and reporting
* Department of Pesticide Regulation Fund.
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STAFF COMMENTS:
Under current law and regulation, employers who have employees
that regularly handle certain pesticides must contract with a
physician to provide medical supervision of those employees. In
particular, employees must have their cholinesterase levels
checked to ensure that they have not been exposed to dangerous
levels of pesticides that can have negative health impacts. If
the testing shows that a worker has reduced levels of
cholinesterase, he or she must be removed from exposure to
pesticides that cause reduced levels of cholinesterase.
Under a separate state law, known or suspected cases of
pesticide poisoning must be reported to the local health
officer, who in turn is required to report the information to
state and local agriculture and worker safety agencies for
investigation.
AB 1963 requires laboratories that perform cholinesterase
testing of workers, as part of the required monitoring of
workers who handle pesticides, to provide the testing data to
AB 1963 (Nava), Page 2
the Department of Pesticide Regulation. The required report
includes the test results, the purpose of the test (e.g. to
determine baseline cholinesterase levels in the worker or
periodic testing for exposure), the name and birth date of the
worker, information about the physician who ordered the test,
information on the blood sample, and contact information for the
worker and the employer.
The bill requires that information reported to the Department be
kept confidential, except that the Department may share the
information with the Office of Environmental Health Hazard
Assessment and the Department of Public Health for the purpose
of investigation, environmental remediation, or other regulatory
purposes.
The bill requires the Office of Environmental Health Hazard
Assessment to review the testing data and authorizes the Office
to provide consultation to the physician providing medical
supervision. The bill also authorizes the Office to provide
consultation to the appropriate county agricultural
commissioner.
The bill requires the Department of Pesticide Regulation, in
consultation with the Office of Environmental Health Hazard
Assessment and the Department of Public Health, to report to the
Legislature by December 31, 2015 on the effectiveness of the
medical supervision program.
Because the Department of Pesticide Regulation already has the
capability to receive medical information electronically and has
existing authority and responsibility to investigate cases of
pesticide poisoning, the Department indicates that the
requirements under the bill can largely be absorbed within
existing resources. Staff notes that there may be some
additional costs to review the program's effectiveness and
report to the Legislature.
The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment and the
Department of Public Health indicate that any costs under the
bill could be absorbed within existing resources.
Staff recommends the bill be amended to include a sunset date of
December 31, 2016, to allow for legislative review of the
program after the required report has been submitted.
AB 1963 (Nava), Page 2
AB 1530 (Lieber, 2008) was substantially similar to this bill.
However, AB 1530 required county agricultural commissioners to
participate in investigations of potential pesticide poisoning.
AB 1530 was held on this committee's Suspense File.