BILL ANALYSIS ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1963| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ 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 CONTINUED AB 1963 Page 2 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: CONTINUED AB 1963 Page 3 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: CONTINUED AB 1963 Page 4 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 CONTINUED AB 1963 Page 5 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, CONTINUED AB 1963 Page 6 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 **** END **** CONTINUED