BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1963|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1963
Author: Nava (D)
Amended: 8/4/10 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ENV. QUALITY COMMITTEE : 5-2, 6/28/10
AYES: Simitian, Corbett, Hancock, Lowenthal, Pavley
NOES: Runner, Strickland
SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE : 6-2, 6/30/10
AYES: Alquist, Cedillo, Leno, Negrete McLeod, Pavley,
Romero
NOES: Strickland, Aanestad
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cox
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 6-3, 8/2/10
AYES: Kehoe, Alquist, Corbett, Leno, Wolk, Yee
NOES: Ashburn, Emmerson, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Price, Walters
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 50-27, 6/1/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Pesticide poisoning
SOURCE : Pesticide Action Network of North America
Physicians for Social Responsibility, Los
Angeles
Health Officers Association of California
DIGEST : This bill requires laboratories that perform
certain tests on workers that handle pesticides to report
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the results of those tests to the Department of Pesticide
Regulation, requires the Office of Environmental Health
Hazard Assessment to review the information, and 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.
ANALYSIS : Existing law:
1.Requires any physician who knows or has reasonable cause
to believe that a patient is suffering from pesticide
poisoning or any disease or condition caused by a
pesticide to promptly report that fact to the local
health officer (LHO) by telephone within 24 hours, and in
writing within seven days, except that the information
which is available to the physician is all that is
required to be reported, as long as reasonable efforts
are made to obtain the information.
2.Requires LHOs receiving reports under the above-mentioned
law to immediately notify the county agricultural
commissioner and, at the LHO's discretion, to immediately
notify the director of Office of Environmental Health
Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) of each report received, and
requires LHOs to report to the director of Department of
Pesticide Regulation (DPR), the director of OEHHA, and
the director of Industrial Relations, on a form
prescribed by OEHHA, each case reported to him or her
within even days after receipt of the report.
3.Requires employers who have employees regularly handling
or exposed to specified pesticides to have a written
agreement with a physician to provide medical supervision
of those employees, and specifies the employer
responsibilities for medical supervision, including
testing at specified intervals, investigating work
practices when employee cholinesterase (ChE) levels fall
below 80 percent of baseline and removing employees from
the exposure if levels fall to 60 percent or less of
baseline, as specified.
This bill:
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1.Requires laboratories that perform cholinesterase testing
pursuant to 3 Cal. Code Regs. 6728 to report ChE results
to DPR on a monthly basis. The reports must be submitted
electronically and DPR must share them with OEHHA and
DPH.
2.The laboratory shall report all information in its
possession including:
A. Test results.
B. The purpose of the test.
C. Name of the person tested, as well as
that person's date of birth.
D. Contact information of the referring
physician, testing laboratory, and person tested
if available.
E. Accession number of the specimen.
3.The referring physician shall note in the test order the
purpose of the test.
4.Declares that the information collected and reported is
confidential.
5.Requires OEHHA to review ChE results and provide
consultation to the medical supervisor.
6.Requires DPR, OEHHA, and DPH to prepare a report on the
effectiveness of medical supervision and laboratory-based
reporting of ChE testing by December 31, 2015. Also
requires the report to be made publicly available via the
Internet.
7.States that the provisions will remain in effect only
until January 1, 2017, and as of that date is repealed,
unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before
January 1, 2017, deletes or extends that date.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
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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 2015 Special *
and reporting
* Department of Pesticide Regulation Fund.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/4/10)
Pesticide Action Network of North America (co-source)
Physicians for Social Responsibility, Los Angeles
(co-source)
Health Officers Association of California (co-source)
ACT for Women and Girls
American Civil Liberties Union
American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
(California)
American Federation of State
County and Municipal Employees
California Church Impact
California Commission on the Status of Women
California Communities United Institute
California Labor Federation
California Latinas for Reproductive Justice
California Nurses Association
California Pan-Ethnic Health Network
California Public Health Association - North
California Primary Care Association
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
Californians for Alternatives to Toxics
Californians for Justice Collaborative
Clean Water Action
Commonweal
Consumer Attorneys of California
Dolores Huerta Foundation
East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice
Environmental Center of San Luis Obispo County
Fresno Coalition Again the Misuse of Pesticides
Healthy Child Healthy World
Natural Resources Defense Council
Nevada County Citizens - Educated Choices for Life Choice
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Organizacion en California de Lideres Campesinas
Pesticide Watch
Physicians for Social Responsibility - Sacramento
Physicians for Social Responsibility - San Francisco Bay
Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California
Planned Parenthood Mar Monte
Planning and Conservation League
San Francisco City and County - Department of Public Health
Sierra Club California
Center for Environmental Health Research (U.C. Berkeley)
United Farm Workers
Urban Habitat
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/4/10)
California Association for Medical Laboratory Technology
California Clinical Laboratory Association
Quest Diagnostics
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Supporters state that nearly three
decades after the ChE Medical Supervision program was
enacted, it is impossible to judge its effectiveness
because the program does not include any requirements for
test results to be delivered to state agencies responsible
for worker health and workplace safety. Supporters assert
that this bill will give state officials the necessary
information to monitor the effectiveness of the program and
protect farm workers from dangerous overexposure to
pesticides.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : Opponents state that clinical
labs are willing to report information in their possession,
however, they should not be required to seek information or
be penalized if information requested (such as name and
address of the person tested) is not provided by the
physician ordering the test.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Block, Blumenfield,
Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles
Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De
Leon, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani,
Galgiani, Hall, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman,
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Jones, Lieu, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Monning,
Nava, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas,
Saldana, Skinner, Solorio, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres,
Torrico, Yamada, John A. Perez
NOES: Adams, Anderson, Bill Berryhill, Blakeslee, Conway,
Cook, DeVore, Emmerson, Fletcher, Fuller, Gaines,
Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Harkey, Jeffries, Knight,
Logue, Miller, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, Norby, Silva,
Smyth, Tran, Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Tom Berryhill, Audra Strickland, Vacancy
CTW:nl 8/4/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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