BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 193
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 193 (Monning)
As Amended August 14, 2014
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :21-14
JUDICIARY 6-2 ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY
5-2
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|Ayes:|Wieckowski, Alejo, Chau, |Ayes:|Alejo, Bloom, Lowenthal, |
| |Dickinson, Muratsuchi, | |Stone, Ting |
| |Stone | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Wagner, Maienschein |Nays:|Dahle, Donnelly |
| | | | |
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APPROPRIATIONS 12-4
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|Ayes:|Gatto, Bocanegra, | | |
| |Bradford, | | |
| |Ian Calderon, Campos, | | |
| |Eggman, Gomez, Holden, | | |
| |Pan, Quirk, | | |
| |Ridley-Thomas, Weber | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Bigelow, Donnelly, Jones, | | |
| |Wagner | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires businesses involved in the manufacture or
distribution of chemicals used in places of employment within
this state to provide the Hazard Evaluation System and
Information Service (HESIS or "repository") with the names and
addresses of their customers, and other information about their
shipments within the state, upon request by the repository.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires, when there is new scientific or medical information
and the Chief of HESIS determines that a substance potentially
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poses a serious new or unrecognized health hazard to an
employee, chemical manufacturers, formulators, suppliers,
distributors, importers, and their agents to provide to HESIS,
upon request, the names and addresses of their customers who
have purchased certain chemicals (or products containing those
chemicals) and other information, including the quantity and
dates of shipments, and the proportion of a specified chemical
within a mixture containing the specified chemical. Specifies
that this requirement shall not apply to a retail seller of
the substance, whether sold individually or as part of a
commercial product of the public.
2)Specifies that, on or after January 1, 2016, the information
requested shall include current and past customers for not
more than a one-year period prior to the date the request is
issued, and requires that the information be provided within a
reasonable timeframe, not to exceed 30 calendar days from the
date the request is issued.
3)Provides that certain information provided to the repository
shall be considered confidential and exempt from public
disclosure under the California Public Records Act, unless
disclosure of that information is otherwise required by law.
However, the Department of Public Health (DPH) may disclose
that information to other state officers, as specified.
4)Provides that the DPH shall be entitled to reimbursement of
attorney's fees and costs incurred in seeking an injunction to
enforce these provisions.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires the Department of Industrial Relations, by
interagency agreement with the DPH, to establish a repository
of current data on toxic materials and harmful physical agents
in use or potentially in use in workplaces.
2)Requires the DPH to maintain a program, known as HESIS, on
occupational health and occupational disease prevention.
3)Requires HESIS to provide reliable information of practical
use to employers, employees, representatives of employees, and
other governmental agencies on the possible hazards to
employees of exposure to toxic materials or harmful physical
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agents, and to collect and evaluate toxicological and
epidemiological data and other pertinent information, as
specified. Recognizes the authority of HESIS, on behalf of
DPH, to issue hazard alerts and fact sheets to the public.
4)Governs, under the California Public Records Act, the
disclosure of information collected and maintained by public
agencies. Provides, generally, that all public records are
accessible to the public upon request, unless the record is
subject to a specific statutory exemption.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, any costs incurred by the DPH to seek an injunction
against an uncooperative entity will be reimbursed. Any other
administrative costs will be absorbable.
COMMENTS : According to the author's office, in the absence of a
strong federal policy on the use of chemicals in the workplace,
California has confronted a number of difficulties when
responding to the release of chemical hazards in recent years.
Many existing remedies, the author claims, are provided only
after damaging effects to workers' health have become pervasive.
This bill seeks to address this problem by giving HESIS - a
state repository of current data on toxic materials - the tools
that it needs to effectively implement its existing legislative
mandate to provide early and practical information to employers,
employees, and other government agencies.
Specifically, this bill will require chemical manufacturers,
formulators, suppliers, distributers, importers, and their
agents to provide HESIS, upon request, with the following: 1)
the names and addresses of their customers who have purchased
certain chemicals or commercial products containing those
chemicals; 2) information related to shipments to customers,
including the quantity and dates of shipments; and 3) the
proportion of a specified chemical contained with a mixture
containing the specified chemical. This bill would only apply
to employers who purchase bulk amounts of chemicals and chemical
products for use in the workplace; it would not apply to
retailers who sell the product to the general public. This bill
specifies that, as of January 1, 2015, the requests shall only
include information on past and current customers for the
one-year period prior to the date the request is received. The
party receiving the request would be required to respond "within
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a reasonable time frame," but not to exceed 30 days from the
date the request is issued.
Finally, this bill provides that certain components of the
submitted information - specifically, the names and addresses of
customers, the quantities and dates of shipments, and the
proportion of a specified chemical within a mixture - shall be
considered "confidential" information and exempt from public
disclosure under the California Public Records Act, except as
specified.
Analysis Prepared by : Thomas Clark / JUD. / (916) 319-2334
FN: 0004630