BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó







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        |Hearing Date:June 11, 2012         |Bill No:AB                         |
        |                                   |1782                               |
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                      SENATE COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS 
                               AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
                          Senator Curren D. Price, Jr., Chair
                                           

                          Bill No:        AB 1782Author:Hill
                          As Amended:June 4, 2012  Fiscal: No

        
        SUBJECT:   Weighmasters:  exemptions.
        
        SUMMARY:  Specifies that facilities handling medical waste in 
        accordance with the provisions of the Medical Waste Management Act are 
        not weighmasters, thus eliminating the requirement that medical waste 
        handlers record parcel weight information on weighmaster certificates.

        Existing law, the Business and Professions Code (BPC):
        
       1)Requires that scales used in medical waste transactions be certified, 
          or "sealed," by a sealer certified by the California Department of 
          Food and Agriculture (CDFA).  (BPC § 12501.1)

       2)Defines "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.  (BPC § 12700)

       3)Specifies certain persons who weigh and measure commodities, but are 
          not weighmasters,  include:  retailers weighing commodities for sale 
          in retail stores in the presence of consumers, individuals measuring 
          the amount of oil, gas, or fuel for purposes of royalty consumption, 
          newspaper publishers weighing newspapers for sale to dealers, 
          textile maintenance establishments weighing in connection with the 
          business of establishments,  county sanitation districts operating, 
          as specified, pest control operators, log scalers, and weighing and 
          recycling centers.  (BPC § 12701)

       4)Requires weighmasters to obtain a license with the Division of 
          Measurement Standards under the CDFA.  (BPC § 12714)





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       5)Requires weighmasters to keep and preserve for four years all copies 
          of certificates issued and make them available for inspection, as 
          specified.  (BPC § 12716)

        Existing law, the Health and Safety Code (HSC): 
        
        1)Governs the management of medical waste under the Medical Waste 
          Management Act (Act) and requires medical waste haulers to provide 
          specified tracking data to the California Department of Public 
          Health (DPH).  (HSC § 117600)



        2)Defines"medical waste" as waste that is generated or produced as a 
          result of any of the following actions:  diagnosis, treatment, or 
          immunization of human beings or animals.  
        (HSC § 117690)

        3)Provides that the tracking data (document) shall include:  (HSC § 
          118029)

           a)   Business name, address, and telephone number. 

           b)   Name of owner, operator, and contact person. 

           c)   Hazardous waste transporter registration number. 

           d)   Vehicle manufacturer name, vehicle model year, vehicle 
             identification number, and the license plate number of each 
             vehicle transporting medical waste.  

        1)Requires a hazardous waste transporter or generator transporting 
          medical waste to maintain a completed tracking document of all 
          medical waste removed for treatment or disposal.  Further requires a 
          hazardous waste transporter or generator who transports medical 
          waste to a facility, other than the final medical waste treatment 
          facility, to also maintain tracking documents which show the name, 
          address, and telephone number of the medical waste generator. 

           a)   Requires at the time the medical waste is received by a 
             hazardous waste transporter, the transporter must provide the 
             medical waste generator with a copy of the tracking document for 
             the generator's medical waste records. 

           b)   Requires the transporter or generator transporting medical 





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             waste shall maintain its copy of the tracking document for three 
             years.  (HSC § 118040) 

        1)Subjects a waste hauler that intentionally misrepresents the weight 
          of a parcel of waste, either on the label or through a report to 
          DPH, to penalties of up to $10,000 per day per violation.  (HSC § 
          118345)
        
        This bill:

       1)Specifies that facilities handling medical waste are not 
          weighmasters.

       2)Eliminates the requirement that medical waste handlers record parcel 
          weight information on weighmaster certificates.

       3)Requires medical waste handlers to report net weights, not estimates 
          to the Department of Public Health. 


        FISCAL EFFECT:  None.  This bill has been keyed "non-fiscal" by 
        Legislative Counsel. 

        



        COMMENTS:
        
       1.Purpose.  This bill is sponsored by the Author.  According to the 
          Author, this measure 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 the 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.

       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 





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          medical waste tracking system has effectively made CDFA's 
          requirements for medical waste obsolete.

       In addition, DPH's medical waste tracking system protects public health 
          and is tailored for the needs of the medical waste disposal 
          industry.  Neither is true of the weighmaster program.  Producing, 
          signing, and retaining weighmaster certificates takes up employee 
          time and has no demonstrable benefit.  This bill leaves waste 
          handlers to focus on their primary responsibility-the safe handling 
          of medical waste.

       2.Background.  The California Medical Waste Act was created in 1990, to 
          establish and ensure statewide standards for uniformity in regards 
          to the handling and disposal of medical waste.  Medical waste refers 
          to products that cannot be considered general waste, are produced 
          from healthcare facilities, such as hospitals, clinics, doctors' 
          offices, veterinary hospitals and labs.  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 barcode 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.

       Besides DPH, CDFA has jurisdiction over medical waste through the 
          weighmaster program.  The weighmaster program exists to certify 
          that, in a commercial transaction where the price depends on the 
          weight, the weight is accurate.  A weighmaster may be a person or a 
          business that performs the actual weighing.  Individuals who weigh 
          the materials must be listed on the weighmaster application as 
          "deputy weighmasters."  No training is needed to become a 
          weighmaster; one can become a weighmaster by completing the 
          application and paying the application fee.

       In certifying the weight of a parcel involved in a commercial 
          transaction, the weighmaster must issue a certificate.  These 
          certificates are to be retained by the weighmaster for 4 years and 
          must be produced should a weight and measures official wish to 
          inspect them.  Unlike at DPH, however, there is no requirement that 
          weighmaster certificates be transmitted to the CDFA.

       Though many businesses are licensed as weighmasters, current law allows 





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          for exemptions from the certificate requirement across a broad range 
          of industries, such as newspaper publishing, textiles, garbage and 
          refuse disposal, and recycling redemption.

       3.Related Legislation.   AB 1518  (Perea): Authorizes any weighmaster 
          weighing any vehicle moving earth, stone, rock, sand, gravel, or 
          asphalt paving materials to use an unattended weighing system to 
          weigh the vehicle and to issue a weighmaster certificate.  This bill 
          is in the Senate awaiting referral for hearing in policy Committee.

        SB 944  (BP&ED Committee, Chapter 432, Statutes of 2011) a Committee 
          omnibus bill, as introduced, contained a similar provision to the 
          weighmaster exemption for medical waste haulers found in AB 1782.  
          However, due to opposition from the California Agricultural 
          Commissioners and Sealers Association, the amendment was removed 
          from the bill. 

       4.Arguments in Support.   Waste Management  (WM) states that with the 
          implementation of DPH's electronic reporting system for medical 
          waste haulers, the CDFA's weighmaster program is duplicative and 
          obsolete.  WM argues that streamlining CDFA's weighmaster 
          certificate requirements will not compromise public health and 
          safety, as DPH requires the same information to be reported.  The 
          streamlining proposed in AB 1782 will also not compromise consumer 
          protection as CDFA and county sealers of weights and measures could 
          still access this information from DPH if needed and will still 
          continue to annually certify scales used to weigh medical waste.

        5. Arguments in Opposition.  The  California Agricultural Commissioners 
           and Sealers Association  (CACASA) oppose the bill stating that 
           agricultural commissioners and sealers perform routine inspections 
           of weighmasters to ensure the correctness of the certificates 
           issued.  Removing the requirement to obtain a weighmaster 
           certificate would eliminate any recourse for the public, if a 
           consumer had a complaint or disagreement related to cost related to 
           weight.  CACASA contends that it is imperative that accurate 
           records of weights and measures transactions are created and 
           maintained through the weighmaster certificate.  CACASA is 
           confident that it is possible to address the issues raised by the 
           bill internally and administratively without granting a the entire 
           industry an exemption from the program.  CACASA understands the 
           desire to combine similar regulatory paperwork responsibilities, in 
           this case the DPH and weighmaster certificate programs.  However, a 
           statewide exemption for an entire industry will exempt businesses 
           with a wide spectrum of capabilities and technology, according to 
           CACASA.





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        SUPPORT AND OPPOSITION:
        
         Support:   Waste Management

         Opposition:   California Agricultural Commissioners and Sealers 
        Association



        Consultant:Michael Lynch