BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1168
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1168 (Pan)
As Introduced February 22, 2013
Majority vote
HEALTH 16-0
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|Ayes:|Pan, Logue, Ammiano, |
| |Atkins, Bonilla, Bonta, |
| |Gomez, Gordon, |
| |Maienschein, Mansoor, |
| |Nazarian, Nestande, V. |
| |Manuel Pérez, Wagner, |
| |Wieckowski, Wilk |
| | |
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SUMMARY : Makes a number of technical and clarifying changes to
existing law governing practitioners engaged in the business of
body art in California. Specifically, this bill :
1)Includes in the definition of a body art facility a specified
building, section of a building, or vehicle in which a
practitioner demonstrates body art for the purpose of
instruction.
2)Requires personal medical information gathered from a customer
prior to the performance of body art to comply with existing
federal privacy law established under the Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.
3)Prohibits the performance of body art at any location other
than a permanent or temporary body art facility that has been
approved and inspected by the local environmental health
department (LEHD).
4)Deletes the requirement for practitioners who are initially
registering with the LEHD to provide evidence of at least six
months of related experience as there is no standard
definition of what constitutes experience.
5)Authorizes a LEHD to suspend or revoke the permit of a body
art facility if a person who does not possess a valid
practitioner registration is allowed to perform body art.
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6)Clarifies floor, wall, and ceiling surface requirements for
permanent body art facilities and requires these facilities to
have adequate restroom facilities.
7)Authorizes the LEHD to determine the amount of separation
between the procedures area of a body art facility and the
areas of the facility not related to body art.
8)Deletes the requirement for the decontamination and
sterilization areas of a body art facility to have sharps
containers because these areas primarily deal with reusable
equipment, not sharps.
9)Specifies that only service animals, as defined by the federal
Americans for Disabilities Act, are allowed in certain areas
of a body art facility.
10)Deletes the requirement for temporary body art facilities to
have eye wash stations because no such requirement exists for
permanent body art facilities and these stations are not
required in the performance of body art.
11)Makes other minor technical and clarifying changes.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS : According to the sponsor, the California Association
of Environmental Health Administrators, which represents all 62
LEHDs with body art safety inspectors, this bill is intended as
a clean-up measure to make several technical, non-controversial
clarifications to the state's existing body art statutes. The
sponsor states that this bill contains a number of relatively
small but important operational and structural refinements based
on input from practitioners and regulators in the field that are
needed to ensure effective and efficient implementation of the
state's body art laws.
The sponsor notes that, among other things, this bill will
remove an unenforceable apprenticeship requirement as both
regulators and industry practitioners agree that there are no
standards to verify what constitutes "experience;" require
practitioners to comply with federal privacy laws when obtaining
a customer's confidential medical information; clarify that
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sharps containers are not required in decontamination and
sterilization areas of a facility because all sharps waste is
gathered at the procedure area; and, make other clarifying
changes to ensure that LEHDs appropriately enforce operational
and structural requirements.
AB 300 (Ma), Chapter 638, Statutes of 2011, creates the Safe
Body Art Act (Act) to set up a uniform regulatory and oversight
structure for the performance of tattooing, branding, body
piercing, and permanent makeup in California. The Act requires
all body art practitioners to annually register with their LEHD,
obtain annual blood-borne pathogen training, provide
documentation of Hepatitis B vaccination status, and obtain
specific health information and informed consent from customers.
The Act also requires the owner of a body art facility to
obtain a permit from the LEHD, operate the facility in a safe
and clean manner, maintain written procedures for the operation
of the facility, and maintain records of training and equipment
sterilization. The Act also regulates the performance of body
art at body art events in temporary demonstration booths and in
vehicles. Inspectors from LEHDs conduct annual inspections of
body art facilities to determine compliance with the Act and
have the authority to suspend or revoke permits and
registrations under specified conditions.
The sponsor writes in support that the changes in this bill are
needed to reduce inconsistency and confusion with regard to
implementing the Act. The sponsor adds that the provisions of
this bill reflect consensus from a large stakeholder group
comprised of environmental health regulators, tattooists, body
piercers, permanent cosmetic practitioners, the mechanical ear
piercing industry and other health trainers and safe body art
advocates. Studex Corporation, a manufacturer of ear piercing
equipment states in support that this bill brings much needed
certainty, clarity, and statewide uniformity to the regulatory
oversight of the ear piercing industry.
Analysis Prepared by : Cassie Royce / HEALTH / (916) 319-2097
FN: 0000065
AB 1168
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