BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 193|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 193
Author: Monning (D)
Amended: 8/21/14
Vote: 21
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 5-2, 4/23/13
AYES: Evans, Corbett, Jackson, Leno, Monning
NOES: Walters, Anderson
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SENATE FLOOR : 21-14, 5/28/13
AYES: Beall, Block, Corbett, De León, DeSaulnier, Evans,
Hancock, Hill, Hueso, Jackson, Lara, Leno, Lieu, Liu, Monning,
Padilla, Pavley, Roth, Steinberg, Wolk, Yee
NOES: Anderson, Berryhill, Calderon, Cannella, Correa, Emmerson,
Fuller, Gaines, Huff, Knight, Nielsen, Torres, Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Galgiani, Hernandez, Price, Wright, Vacancy
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : Not available
SUBJECT : Hazard evaluation system and information service
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires, except as specified, chemical
manufacturers, formulators, suppliers, distributors, importers,
and their agents to provide to the Hazard Evaluation System and
Information Service (HESIS) the names and addresses of their
customers who have purchased specified chemicals or commercial
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products containing those chemicals, and certain other
information related to those shipments, upon written request of
HESIS, for every product the final destination of which may be a
place of employment in California. This bill also provides that
the Department of Public Health (DPH) is entitled to
reimbursement of attorney's fees and costs incurred in seeking
an injunction to enforce specified requirements.
Assembly Amendments specify new circumstances under which
chemical manufacturers, formulators, suppliers, distributors,
importers, and their agents to provide information to HESIS;
exempt "quantities and dates of shipments, and the proportion of
a specified chemical within a mixture provided to HESIS by
chemical manufacturers, formulators, suppliers, distributors,
importers, and their agents" from public disclosure under the
California Public Records Act; specify that this exempted
information is disclosed to DPH and other officers and employees
of the State of California; and specify that the Chief of HESIS
consult with the Director of the Department of Industrial
Relations (DIR) when there is new scientific or medical
information.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Recognizes that hazardous substances in the workplace in some
forms and concentrations pose potential acute and chronic
health hazards to employees who are exposed to these
substances.
2. Ensures the transmission of necessary information to
employees regarding the properties and potential hazards of
hazardous substances in the workplace.
3. Requires DIR, by interagency agreement with the Department of
Health Services (DHS), to establish a repository of current
data on toxic materials and harmful physical agents in use or
potentially in use in workplaces.
4. Requires the DPH to maintain a program, known as HESIS, on
occupational health and occupational disease prevention.
5. Requires DIR and DHS to provide reliable information of
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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 agents. Existing case law settled the
authority of HESIS, on behalf of DHS, to issue hazard alerts
and fact sheets to the public.
6. The California Public Records Act, governs the disclosure of
information collected and maintained by public agencies.
Generally, all public records are accessible to the public
upon request, unless the record requested is exempt from
public disclosure.
This bill:
1. Requires that when there is new scientific or medical
information and the Chief of HESIS, in consultation with the
Director of DIR and Chief of the Division of Environmental
and Occupational Disease Control in DPH, makes a specified
determination, requires chemical manufacturers, formulators,
suppliers, distributors, importers, and their agents to
provide to HESIS the names and addresses of their customers
who have purchased specified chemicals or commercial products
containing those chemicals, and certain other information
related to those shipments, upon written request of HESIS,
for every product the final destination of which may be a
place of employment in California.
2. Authorizes DPH to seek reimbursement for attorney's fees and
costs incurred in seeking an injunction to enforce these
provisions.
3. Does not apply to a retail seller if the sale of the chemical
or mixture is in the same form, approximate amount,
concentration, and manner as the chemical or mixture is sold
to the general public.
4. Does not require employers, other than chemical
manufacturers, formulators, suppliers, distributors,
importers, and their agents, to report any information not
otherwise required by law.
5. Makes conforming changes to reflect the recent reorganization
of DPH.
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6. Exempts from disclosure, under the California Public Records
Act, the customer lists of chemical manufacturers,
formulators, suppliers, distributors, importers, and their
agents that are required to be provided pursuant to the
repository's request; and authorizes disclosure of customer
lists only to officers or employees of the state not
affiliated with HESIS who are responsible for carrying out
the purposes of the California Occupational Safety and Health
Act of 1973, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health
Administration, and the Secretary of Food and Agriculture.
7. Exempt from public disclosure the names and addresses of
customers, the quantities and dates of shipments, and the
proportion of a specified chemical within a mixture provided
to HESIS by chemical manufacturers, formulators, suppliers,
distributors, importers, and their agents, that would be
required pursuant to the bill, but provides that specifically
authorizes HESIS to disclose that information to officers or
employees of the DPH and other specified officers and
employees of the state.
8. States findings and declarations of the Legislature for
limiting the public's right of access to the information.
Background
In 1973, the Legislature enacted the California Occupational
Safety and Health Act for the purpose of assuring safe and
healthful working conditions. In furtherance of this purpose,
the Legislature subsequently established comprehensive statutory
mandates requiring DIR and DPH to safeguard the health and
safety of California workers. One such mandate requires DIR and
DPH to maintain a repository that collects and maintains data on
toxic materials and harmful physical agents in use or
potentially in use in workplaces. HESIS, a DPH program,
utilizes the information collected by the repository to evaluate
potential hazards to human health and provides information about
possible health hazards that may be caused by exposure to toxic
materials. HESIS also issues early warnings to various
industries concerning potential workplace hazards.
The current strategy used by HESIS when mailing out hazard
alerts is to identify each business likely to use the targeted
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chemical by searching commercial databases using standard
industry codes. For example, after participating in a workplace
fatality investigation last year, HESIS mailed out a hazard
alert on the use of methylene chloride-containing paint
strippers. To identify employees potentially exposed to the
potential hazard of these paint strippers, HESIS searched the
commercial databases for businesses classified as furniture
refinishers, furniture strippers, or bathtub refinishers.
Additionally, the Occupational Health Branch (OHB) (of which
HESIS is a part) maintains a database of businesses,
contractors, unions, and advocacy groups. That database is of
limited use in directed hazard alert mailings since a search for
potential users of toxic materials is based upon the likely
relevance of the businesses, contractors, unions, and advocacy
groups to the toxic material.
In its Summer 2004 Occupational Health Watch publication,
indicated that "[a]lthough businesses are required to submit
hazardous materials inventories to local agencies, these data
are not computerized, easily accessed, nor compiled on a
statewide basis. Direct requests to manufacturers and importers
to voluntarily submit their client lists for the test chemicals
was unsuccessful. Requiring client lists of hazardous
chemicals, or making inventory data available on a statewide
basis, would help ensure that workers and employers receive OHB
alerts in a manner timely enough to keep workers health." (Cal.
Dept. of Health Services, Occupational Health Branch,
Occupational Health Watch (Summer 2004)
[as of
Aug. 10, 2013], p. 5.)
Prior legislation
AB 816 (Lieber, 2005), would have required chemical
manufacturers and importers to provide HESIS the names and
addresses of businesses to which they sold their products. The
bill is substantially similar to the enrolled version of AB 816
(Lieber, 2005). In vetoing AB 816, Governor Schwarzenegger
stated:
This bill is unnecessary and an invasion of privacy.
Employers are currently required to notify their workers
about health hazards and to provide a safe and healthy
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workplace. Other protective measures that ensure worker
safety include the Business Plan Hazardous Materials
Inventories; the Air Toxics Program; CalSites Database,
Unidocs Hazardous Materials Online Inventory Database; and
the Wastewater Pretreatment and Pollution Prevention Plans.
Employers must also inform their employees of the
availability of material safety data sheets (MSDS) relating
to any chemical to which the employee may be exposed.
Further, employers routinely undergo Division of
Occupational Safety and Health inspections to ensure that
MSDS documents are available for employees.
Assembly Bill 816 imposes an unreasonable, labor intensive
and duplicative reporting requirement when there are
existing programs and standards in place to ensure that
employees are protected from hazardous chemical exposure.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/25/14)
American Sustainable Business Council
Bay Area Healthy 880 Communities
Breast Cancer Fund
California Conference of the Amalgamated Transit Union
California Conference of Machinists
Californians for A Healthy And Green Economy
California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative
California Labor Federation
California Nurses Association
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
California School Employees Association
California State Association of Occupational Health Nurses
California Teamsters Public Affairs Council
Center for Environmental Health
Central Coast School Food Alliance
Clean Water Action
Communication Workers of America
Consumer Attorneys of California
Engineers & Scientists of CA, IFPTE Local 20
International Longshore & Warehouse Union, Northern California
District Council
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Latino Coalition for a Healthy California
Mujeres Unidas y Activas
National Lawyers Guild, Labor, Employment Committee
Occupational Health and Safety Section/ American Public Health
Association
Physicians for Social Responsibility, Los Angeles
Professional and Technical Engineers, IFPTE Local 21
SEIU California
Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition
UNITE-HERE, AFL-CIO
United Food and Commercial Workers, Western States Council
Utility Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO
Warehouse, Processing & Distribution Workers' Union
Western Occupational & Environmental Medical Association
Worksafe!
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office, in
the absence of a robust federal policy on chemicals, California
has confronted a number of difficulties when responding to the
release of chemical hazards in recent years. Too often, the
public is provided protections only after damaging effects to
workers' health have become pervasive. Finding information
concerning new, unregulated chemicals, such as certain solvents,
is often very difficult to track when they are used in many
different settings. When it has been able to obtain the
necessary information, [the Hazardous Evaluation System and
Information Service (HESIS)] has provided early warnings to
various industries concerning prospective hazards, such as
alerts on chemicals posing reproductive hazards.
This bill requires chemical manufacturers, suppliers,
distributors, importers and their agents, when requested to do
so by [HESIS] maintained jointly at DIR and the DPH, and under
conditions of confidentiality, to provide the names and
addresses of their customers who have purchased chemicals or
products containing those chemicals, and their proportions, to
the repository maintained by the HESIS.
AL:d 8/25/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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