BILL NUMBER: SB 564	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 19, 2014
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 15, 2014
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 16, 2013
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 4, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Monning

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2013

   An act to add Article 3 (commencing with Section 115815) to
Chapter 4 of Part 10 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code,
relating to recreational activities.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 564, as amended, Monning. Ski resorts: accident reports.
   Existing law regulates certain behavior related to recreational
activities and public safety, including, among other things,
playgrounds and wooden playground equipment.
   This bill would, among other things, require a ski resort, as
defined, to submit a monthly summary accident report, as defined, to
the State Department of Public Health, as provided. The bill would
 authorize the department to request additional
safety-related information, as provided, and would  require
the department to post the reports and other information onto its
publicly accessible Internet Web site.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) Residents and visitors annually make five to six million daily
visits to California's mountain ski  resorts,  
resorts  and analysis of hospital discharge and emergency room
visit data reveals over 11,500 ski and snowboard injuries are treated
at California hospitals each year.
   (b) Ski resorts are not uniformly subject to any federal or state
safety statutes, regulations, or reporting requirements and do not
provide or make accessible accident, death, and injury statistics or
other safety-related information to government or the public.
   (c) Resort patrons are required to agree to negligence waivers
with the purchase of a resort lift ticket or season pass.
   (d) The State Department of Public Health has established branches
and units to provide statewide surveillance and control of accidents
and injuries.
  SEC. 2.  Article 3 (commencing with Section 115815) is added to
Chapter 4 of Part 10 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code,
to read:

      Article 3.  Ski Resorts


   115815.  For  the  purposes of this article, the
following definitions shall apply:
   (a) "Accidents" means any occurrence resulting in a death or an
injury or injuries other than those requiring only minimal first aid,
such as minor abrasions and bruises.
   (b) "Department" means the State Department of Public Health.
   (c) "Ski resort" or "resort" means the operator of a snow sport
facility.
   (d) "Skier day" means use of a snow sport facility by a patron who
skis, snowboards, or engages in any other snow sport during a single
calendar day of facility operations. The number of skier days are
used to track use as well as to normalize other patron volume-related
statistics over a defined period of facility operations.
   (e) "Snow sport facility" means a facility located in California,
including any facility that operates on federal land in California,
that is used by skiers, snowboarders, and persons engaged in other
forms of gravity propelled, nonmotorized, and upright downhill
sliding snow sports.
   (f) "Summary accident report" or "report" means a report that
contains all of the following with respect to a snow sport facility:
   (1) The number of accidents reported to a resort during the
reporting period that occurred on its lifts, slopes, or trails or
after an intended or unintended egress from the slope and trail
boundaries to adjacent terrain.
   (2) The number of accidents reported to a resort during the
reporting period that resulted in a death, either at the site of the
accident, during the subsequent emergency transport, or at a medical
care facility.
   (3) The number of accidents reported to a resort during the
reporting period that resulted in nonfatal injuries requiring
transportation by air or ground ambulance to a medical care facility.

   (4) The number of skier days and the number of days of full or
partial operation during the reporting period. 
   (5) A description of each accident that provides sufficient
information to explain the severity of the accident. 
   115816.  (a) By the 15th calendar day after the end of each full
or partial calendar month that a facility is used as a snow sport
facility, a resort shall submit to the Injury Surveillance and
Epidemiology Unit of the Safe and Active Communities Branch within
the department, or other division, branch, or unit, as specified by
the department, an electronic summary accident report in a format
acceptable to the department. 
   (b) As part of or in addition to the summary accident report, the
department may request additional safety-related information as it
deems necessary or desirable and is available to the resort. The
resort shall respond to all such requests on a timely basis.
 
   (c) 
    (b)  Any information relating to a victim's identity
shall be redacted by the resort  prior to  
before  submitting the report or other requested information to
the department. 
   (d) 
    (c)  The department shall post all reports and
information received pursuant to this section onto its publicly
accessible Internet Web site.