BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 358
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Date of Hearing: April 16, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AND TOXIC MATERIALS
Luis Alejo, Chair
AB 358 (Holden) - As Amended: March 19, 2013
SUBJECT : Lead hazard evaluation.
SUMMARY : Provides specific standards for lead hazard evaluation
in public and residential buildings. Specifically, this bill:
Provides that testing of lead hazards in public buildings or
residential buildings shall be carried out in compliance with
the Department of Public Health (DPH) that include either
quantitative or qualitative results using tests recognized by
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA).
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the State Housing Law (SHL) regulating the
construction and maintenance of dwellings used for human
occupation.
2)Declares any building as unsafe and in violation of the SHL if
that building contains a lead hazard that is likely to
endanger the health of the public or building occupants.
3)Allows local building departments and other authorized
enforcement agencies, including the DPH, to order the
abatement of a lead hazard that is present at levels equal to
or in excess of those established by DPH regulations.
4)Allows DPH to enter and inspect a worksite or business that
conducts lead related abatement, evaluations, instruction or
construction.
5)Requires any person being paid for lead construction,
including inspection, risk assessment or designing plans for
the abatement of lead hazards, and any person performing lead
inspections or abatement in a public elementary, preschool or
day care centers to have a certificate from DPH.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
AB 358
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1)Need for the bill: According to the sponsors of this bill,
the 3M Corporation, "The U.S. EPA has recognized several
chemical test kits by various manufacturers used for detecting
lead. HUD has updated it's guidelines for controlling lead
based paint hazards in housing and has included several EPA
recognized test kits in their guidelines as acceptable for use
in detecting lead. CDPH regulations reference outdated HUD
guidelines and do not recognize chemical test kits. AB 358
corrects this by allowing CDPH to include EPA recognized test
in its lead testing programs."
2)Qualitative vs. qualitative lead testing requirements .
According to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO)
there have been three main approaches for determining the lead
content in paint:
a) Test the paint for lead in situ using a chemical test
kit;
b) Measure the amount of lead in paint in situ using a
portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF) device; and
c) Collect a paint sample and measure its lead content in a
laboratory using various analytical techniques.
"There is a range of chemical test kits, from simple
qualitative tests to more sophisticated semi quantitative
tests. Many rely upon a color change to indicate the presence
of lead above a certain concentration. In the simplest kits,
the result is either positive (i.e. lead is present above a
certain concentration) or negative (i.e. lead is absent above
a certain concentration), according to whether a colour change
occurred. The threshold concentration for the colour change
depends upon the test kit used and may be regulated in the
country where the test is marketed. In the USA, for example,
test kits should detect concentrations above 0.5% lead by
weight (5000 mg/kg). Depending on the context in which they
are meant to be used, some chemical test kits may have lower
limits of detection." (WHO, Brief guide to analytical methods
for measuring lead in paint , 2011).
3)There is no universal definition of lead-based paint.
Federal, state and local agencies have established different
standards for determining the amount of lead in a product that
AB 358
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requires protective action. The definition for lead paint
that requires abatement can range from 5,000 ppm to 600 ppm,
with lower levels established for children's and other
consumer products. These varied standards will need to be
considered if the DPH chooses to certify qualitative lead
testing devices. Some examples of current lead standards are:
a) Lead-based Paint Definition: (The Lead Exposure
Reduction Act, Section 401, Title IV, TSCA amendment,
Public Law 102-550, 1992; Title X of the1992 Housing and
Community Development Act) is set at .5%, (5,000 ppm);
b) Lead-free Paint Definition: The Consumer Product Safety
Commission has limited the lead in most paints to 0.06%
(600 ppm by dry weight); and
c) Lead-based Paint Definition established by the State of
Wisconsin is 0.06% (600 ppm).
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
3M Corporation (sponsor)
Opposition
Masek Consulting Services
Analysis Prepared by : Bob Fredenburg / E.S. & T.M. / (916)
319-3965