BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE HUMAN
SERVICES COMMITTEE
Senator Jim Beall, Chair
BILL NO: AB 2386
A
AUTHOR: Mullin
B
VERSION: May 7, 2014
HEARING DATE: June 24, 2014
2
FISCAL: Yes
3
8
CONSULTANT: Sara Rogers
6
SUBJECT
Care facilities: carbon monoxide detectors
SUMMARY
This bill requires community care facilities, residential
care facilities for the elderly and child day care
facilities and homes to have one or more functioning carbon
monoxide detectors, as specified.
ABSTRACT
Existing Law:
1.Establishes the Community Care Facilities Act, which
provides for the licensure and regulation by CDSS of CCFs
defined as nonmedical residential and non-residential
facilities for mentally ill, developmentally and
physically disabled, and children and adults who require
care or services. (HSC Section 1500 et seq.)
Continued---
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 2386 (Mullin)
PageB
2.Establishes the Residential Care Facilities for the
Elderly Act, which provides for the licensure and
regulation of Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly
(RCFEs) as a separate category within the existing
residential care licensing structure of CDSS. (HSC 1569
et seq.)
3.Establishes the California Child Day Care Facilities Act
to provide for the licensure and regulation of child day
care and family day care facilities as a separate
licensing category within the existing licensing
structure of CDSS (HSC 1596.72 et seq.)
4.Provides for the CDSS licensure and regulation of small
family day care homes serving between six and eight
children, as specified, in a residentially zoned and
occupied property. (HSC 1597.30 et seq.)
5.Provides that facilities licensed by CDSS shall be
subject to unannounced visits by CDSS and that the
department shall visit facilities as often as necessary
to ensure the quality of care provided. (HSC 1534,
1569.33, 1597.09 and 1597.55a)
6.Requires annual unannounced inspections when a license is
on probation, when required by the terms of a facility
compliance plan, when an accusation is pending, when
required for federal financial participation (CCFs and
RCFEs), or to verify that a person who has been ordered
out of the facility is no longer present. (HSC 1534,
1569.33, 1597.09 and 1597.55a)
7.Requires CDSS to perform random inspections each year on
no fewer than 20 percent of facilities not subject to
annual inspections. Provides that this percentage shall
increase by 10 percent if the total citations issued by
the department exceeds the previous year by 10 percent.
As a result of this trigger, CDSS currently is required
to perform random inspections on 30 percent of the
facilities not subject to annual inspection. Requires
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 2386 (Mullin)
PageC
CDSS to visit every facility no less than every 5 years.
(HSC 1534, 1569.33, 1597.09 and 1597.55a)
This bill:
1.Requires community care facilities, residential care
facilities for the elderly and child day care facilities
and homes to have one or more functioning carbon monoxide
detectors in the facility, as specified.
2.Requires, as a condition of initial licensure, community
care facilities, residential care facilities for the
elderly and child day care facilities and homes to
provide satisfactory evidence to CDSS that there is one
or more functioning carbon monoxide detectors in the
facility, as specified.
FISCAL IMPACT
An Assembly Appropriations Committee stated there are minor
and absorbable costs to CDSS to check compliance during
inspections.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
According the author, this bill aligns existing health and
safety requirements with the Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
Prevention Act of 2010, which requires all existing
dwellings intended for human occupancy that have a fossil
fuel burning appliance, a fireplace, or an attached garage
to install a carbon monoxide detector on or before January
1, 2013.
The author states that although these detectors are
required for single family homes, as well as schools and
child care facilities that operate on school campuses,
there is no requirement that a carbon monoxide detector be
installed in non-residential facilities, such as a
non-residential child care facility. This bill would
require community care facilities, residential care
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 2386 (Mullin)
PageD
facilities for the elderly, day care centers and family day
care homes to have one or more functioning carbon monoxide
detectors that meet specified statutory requirements, and
would require CDSS to account for the presence of the
detectors during inspections.
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Act
SB 183 (Lowenthal) Chapter 19, Statutes of 2010 enacted the
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Act of 2010 which
required the State Fire Marshal to develop a certification
and decertification process to approve and list carbon
monoxide devices and required an owner of a dwelling unit
intended for human occupancy to install an approved carbon
monoxide device, in each existing dwelling unit having a
fossil fuel burning heater or appliance, fireplace, or an
attached garage. The law provided that failure to comply,
following a 30-day notice, is subject to a maximum fine of
two hundred dollars for each offense.<1>
Carbon monoxide poisoning
Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless, and potentially
deadly gas. At low levels of exposure, it can cause health
problems such as headaches, fatigue, nausea, dizzy spells,
confusion and irritability. Unnoticed, carbon monoxide
poisoning can cause vomiting, loss of consciousness and
eventually brain damage or death. Carbon monoxide is
produced through combustion fumes, such as those produced
by cars and trucks, small gasoline engines, stoves,
-------------------------
<1> Health and Safety Code Section 17926.
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 2386 (Mullin)
PageE
lanterns, burning charcoal and wood, and gas ranges and
heating systems. Exposure occurs when fumes from these
sources build up in enclosed or semi-enclosed spaces making
the air toxic. People and animals in these spaces can be
poisoned by breathing it.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC), certain groups such as unborn babies, infants, and
people with chronic heart disease, anemia, or respiratory
problems are most susceptible to carbon monoxide poisoning,
though prolonged exposure will affect any persons or
animals exposed. The CDC states that each year, more than
400 Americans die from unintentional CO poisoning, more
than 20,000 visit the emergency room and more than 4,000
are hospitalized due to CO poisoning. Fatality is highest
among Americans 65 and older.
The California Air Resources Board has determine that on
average 30 to 40 "avoidable deaths" occur just in
California each year due to unintentional carbon monoxide
poisoning. Additionally, there are between 175 and 700
"avoidable" emergency room visits and hospitalizations in
California alone. In 2001, 25 percent of the carbon
monoxide poisoning deaths from home-related products were
of adults 65 years or older.
A recent incident at a day care center in Quebec led to
carbon monoxide poisoning of 71 children after a floor
cleaning device that uses propane may have begun leaking.
The day care center did not have a carbon monoxide detector
installed.
Regulatory Oversight
The Community Care Licensing Division (CCLD) of CDSS
provides the primary regulatory oversight over the quality
and care in 76,627 licensed community care facilities.
These facilities fall under 23 separate licensure
categories including adoption agencies, foster family
homes, RCFEs, group homes, adult residential facilities,
adult day care, child day care facilities and others which
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 2386 (Mullin)
PageF
provide primarily non-medical care and supervision to 1.4
million children and adults in California.<2>
In support, Safe Kids California writes "Carbon Monoxide
(CO), called the silent killer because it is invisible,
odorless, tasteless and hard to detect with one's own
senses, is the primary cause of accidental poisoning deaths
in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention report that each year CO poisoning kills more
than 400 people in the United States. A majority of these
deaths occur in residential setting. Yet carbon monoxide
poisoning is preventable in a home - or a day care setting
- with working carbon monoxide alarms."
COMMENTS
Although state law requires buildings intended for human
occupancy to have carbon monoxide detectors installed, the
law does not specifically include facilities that are not
24-hour facilities such as child day care facilities or
adult day care centers. Additionally, community care
licensing statute or regulations do not specifically
require compliance with this relatively new law, and
licensing staff do not document compliance with this law in
site visits, nor issue civil penalties for failure to
comply.
Staff recommends the following amendments to ensure that
all community care facilities, including certified family
homes of foster family agencies, and residential care
facilities of the elderly for persons with chronic illness
are included in the provisions of this bill:
1. Page 2, Line 3
1503.2. Every facility licensed or certified pursuant
to this chapter shall have one or more carbon monoxide
detectors in the facility that meet the standards
established in Chapter 8 (commencing with Section
13260) of Part 2 of Division 12. The department shall
----------------------
<2> http://ccld.ca.gov/res/pdf/countylist.pdf
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 2386 (Mullin)
PageG
account for the presence of these detectors during
inspections.
2. Insert a new bill section adding a new Section to Health
and Safety Code Chapter 3.01 regarding Residential Care
Facilities for Persons With Chronic Life-Threatening
Illness:
Section 1568.043 is added to the Health and Safety
Code to read:
Every residential care facility for persons with
chronic, life-threatening illness shall have one or
more carbon monoxide detectors in the facility that
meet the standards established in Chapter 8
(commencing with Section 13260) of Part 2 of Division
12. The department shall account for the presence of
these detectors during inspections.
3. Page 6, line 15
(d) A small family day care home shall not be subject
to Article 1 (commencing with Section 13100) or
Article 2 (commencing with Section 13140) of Chapter 1
of Part 2 of Division 12 , except?
PRIOR VOTES
Assembly Floor 77 - 0
Assembly Appropriations 17 - 0
Assembly Human Services 7 - 0
POSITIONS
Support: AFSCME
California State Fire Fighters Association
Safe Kids California
Oppose: None received.
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 2386 (Mullin)
PageH
-- END --