BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 1782
                                                                  Page  1


          ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
          AB 1782 (Hill)
          As Introduced  February 21, 2012
          Majority vote 

           BUSINESS & PROFESSIONS    9-0                                   
           
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          |Ayes:|Hayashi, Bill Berryhill,  |     |                          |
          |     |Allen, Butler, Eng,       |     |                          |
          |     |Hagman, Hill, Ma, Smyth   |     |                          |
          |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
          |     |                          |     |                          |
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           SUMMARY  :  Specifies that facilities handling medical waste in 
          accordance with the provisions of the Medical Waste Management 
          Act (Act) are not weighmasters.

           EXISTING LAW  :

          1)Defines a weighmaster as any person who weighs, measures, or 
            counts any commodity and issues a statement of memorandum of 
            the weight, measure, or count which is used as the basis for 
            either the purchase or sale of that commodity or charge for 
            service.

          2)Requires weighmasters to obtain a license with the Division of 
            Measurement Standards under the California Department of Food 
            and Agriculture (CDFA).

          3)Specifies certain persons who weigh and measure commodities 
            but are not weighmasters, such as:  retailers weighing 
            commodities for sale in retail stores in the presence of 
            consumers; newspaper publishers weighing newspapers for sale 
            to dealers; and, recycling centers weighing salvage materials 
            for specified purposes.

          4)Governs the management of medical waste under the Act and 
            requires medical waste haulers to provide specified tacking 
            data to the California Department of Public Health (DPH).

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  Unknown.  This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the 
          Legislative Counsel.









                                                                  AB 1782
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           COMMENTS  :  According to the author, "AB 1782 eliminates the 
          duplicative requirement that medical waste handlers record 
          parcel weight information on weighmaster certificates, as this 
          information is already collected and transmitted electronically 
          to DPH.  To minimize public exposure to potential biological 
          hazards, California meticulously tracks medical waste from the 
          source of generation to the treatment facility.  The information 
          that DPH collects includes quantity and type of waste and the 
          dates the material leaves the generating facility, arrives at 
          the treatment facility, and passes through any transfer 
          facilities on the way.  

          "As a part of DPH's tracking system, licensed medical waste 
          haulers collect containers from waste generators and transport 
          them to a medical waste processing facility where they are 
          weighed.  Each container has a bar code label, which identifies 
          the customer.  As each container is weighed, the barcode is 
          scanned.  Both the customer information and weight are recorded 
          electronically for reporting and billing purposes.  Reports are 
          submitted to DPH on a quarterly basis and customers are billed 
          monthly.  Both waste haulers and waste treatment facilities are 
          responsible for transmitting information to DPH, creating an 
          extra level of accountability for both parties.


          "The weighmaster certificate records only a subset of the 
          information DPH requires.  DPH's requirements are more stringent 
          than CDFA's, its electronic transmittal makes the system more 
          convenient and easier to use, and the information collected is 
          better tailored to the goal of protecting public health.  The 
          development of DPH's medical waste tracking system has 
          effectively made CDFA's requirements for medical waste obsolete. 
           AB 1782 eliminates the duplicative requirement to have a 
          licensed weighmaster certify a medical waste parcel's weight.

          "Current law requires that the scales used in medical waste 
          transactions be certified, or 'sealed,' by a CDFA-certified 
          sealer, and that scale inspection and sealing occur on an annual 
          basis.  This bill does not eliminate the sealing requirement, 
          nor does it change the fact that a person who knowingly uses an 
          incorrect weighing device for commercial purposes is guilty of a 
          misdemeanor.  Should a waste hauler intentionally misrepresent 
          the weight of a parcel of waste, either on the label or through 
          a report to DPH, that person is subject to penalties of up to 








                                                                  AB 1782
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          $10,000 per day per violation."


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Rebecca May / B.,P. & C.P. / (916) 
          319-3301                                               


                                                                 FN: 
                                                                 0003191