BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1244|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 1244
Author: Lieu (D), et al.
Amended: 8/26/14
Vote: 21
SENATE BUSINESS, PROF. & ECON. DEV.COMMITTEE : 9-0, 4/28/14
AYES: Lieu, Wyland, Berryhill, Block, Corbett, Galgiani,
Hernandez, Hill, Padilla
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-0, 5/23/14
AYES: De León, Walters, Gaines, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
SENATE FLOOR : 36-0, 5/27/14
AYES: Anderson, Beall, Berryhill, Block, Cannella, Corbett,
Correa, De León, DeSaulnier, Evans, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani,
Hancock, Hernandez, Hill, Hueso, Huff, Jackson, Knight, Lara,
Leno, Lieu, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nielsen, Padilla,
Pavley, Roth, Steinberg, Torres, Vidak, Walters, Wolk, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Calderon, Liu, Wright, Yee
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : Not available
SUBJECT : Structural Pest Control Board
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill extends, until January 1, 2019, the
provisions establishing the Structural Pest Control Board (SPCB)
and the term of the executive officer of the SPCB, and makes
numerous technical, updating and correcting changes to the
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structural pest control law.
Assembly Amendments delete a provision prohibiting a limited
liability company from providing structural pest control
services; authorize the use of pesticide stamp numbers in
reports; delete specified pesticide application reporting
requirements; establish maintenance requirements of specified
reports; prescribes a $2 fee for pesticide use stamp numbers;
delete provisions relating to the deposit of stamp and stamp
number fees; double-joint this bill with AB 1685 (Williams); and
make conforming changes.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Establishes, until January 1, 2015, the SPCB, within the
Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA), and authorizes the
Director of DCA to appoint a registrar to be the executive
officer of the SPCB. Requires the SPCB to license and
regulate structural pest control operators, as specified.
2. Provides that structural pest control includes, with respect
to household pests and wood destroying pests or organisms, or
other pests which may invade households or other structures,
the engaging in, offering to engage in, advertising for,
soliciting, or the performance of, among other things, the
identification of infestations, or the use of insecticides,
pesticides, rodenticides, fumigants, or allied chemicals or
substances for the purpose of eliminating, exterminating,
controlling, or preventing infestations or infections of
those pests, or organisms. Specifies that an applicator's
license expires three years from the date the license is
issued.
3. Requires registered structural pest control companies to
submit monthly reports to the county agricultural
commissioner reporting the name and registration number of
each pesticide, the amount used, and the number of
applications made, and requires the report to have a
pesticide stamp issued by the SPCB, as specified.
4. Prescribes various fees for licensing, registration,
examinations, and other purposes pertaining to structural
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pest control matters, and authorizes a fee of $2 for a
pesticide use stamp in connection with a monthly pesticide
report. Provides that those fees may be deposited in the
Structural Pest Control Research Fund, or with a bank or
other depository, as specified.
5. Authorizes suspension and fines to be imposed on a
registered structural pest control company for specified
violations.
6. Establishes a disciplinary review committee, in connection
with disciplinary procedures against structural pest control
licensees and registered companies, which requires as a
member of the committee, a person representing the Secretary
of the Department of Food and Agriculture.
This bill:
1. Extends the operation of the SPCB and its authority to
appoint an executive officer until January 1, 2019.
2. Deletes sulfur dioxide and propylene oxide from the list of
lethal fumigants.
3. Requires automatic notice to be given, rather than upon
request, to the agricultural commissioner in the county where
fumigation is to be performed.
4. Eliminates provisions regarding the practice of fumigating a
single apartment within a larger complex.
5. States that the text of fumigation warning signs indicating
the date and time fumigant was injected, and the name,
address and telephone number of the registered company
performing the fumigation to be printed in legible ink of any
color, rather than just red on white.
6. Requires a waiver from the state regulatory authority if a
registered company performing fumigation finds that the use
of chloropicrin is not possible, as specified.
7. Requires all home solicitation contracts to be subject to a
three-day right to cancel, as specified in existing law.
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8. Extends the number of days from 30 days to 90 days that an
unlicensed individual, working for a registered company, may
apply pesticides for training purposes.
9. Eliminates the option for applicants to become certified in
the control of Africanized honey bees and the requirement
that the SPCB either develop or certify a program for the
certification.
10.Changes the expiration date of an operator, field
representative, and applicator license from 12 midnight three
years from the date of issue to 12 midnight on June 30 of
every third year.
11.Requires that certain enforcement actions be commenced by
the county agricultural commissioner within two years of the
violation. If an agricultural commissioner submits a
completed investigation to the SPCB for action by the
registrar of the Attorney General, the action shall be
commenced within one year of that submission.
12.Authorizes SPCB to grant extensions to companies required to
bring noncompliant properties into compliance.
13.Allows individuals licensed as applicators to request an
earlier expiration date and have their fees prorated.
14.Defines "original applicator's license" as a license issued
to someone that did not have a license during the prior
licensing period, and defines a renewal applicator's license
as a license issued to someone that did.
15.Defines "pesticide" as any spray adjuvant and any substance,
or mixture of substances intended to be used for preventing,
destroying, repelling, or mitigating any pest or organism.
16.Requires a licensee to maintain for three years a copy of
the monthly report of all pesticides used in the county and
submitted to the county agricultural commissioner.
17.Deletes the requirement that a pesticide use stamp be
affixed to that report and authorizes the use of a pesticide
use stamp number.
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18.Deletes authorization for pesticide use stamp or stamp
number fees to be deposited with a bank or other depository,
approved by the Department of Finance and designated by the
Research Advisory Panel, instead of into the Structural Pest
Control Research Fund.
19.Makes other technical and conforming changes.
20.Adds double-jointing language with AB 1685 (Williams).
Background
This bill is one of six "sunset review bills" authored by the
Chair of the Senate Business, Professions and Economic
Development (BPED) Committee. Unless legislation is carried
this year to extend the sunset dates for the SPCB and its
executive officer they will be repealed on January 1, 2015.
This bill extends those provisions to January 1, 2019, and makes
a number of legislative changes regarding the SPCB reflected in
the recommendations in the Committee's background paper.
In 2014, the Senate BPED Committee and the Assembly Business,
Professions and Consumer Protection Committee conducted joint
oversight hearings to review nine regulatory entities: Bureau
of Automotive Repair; Bureau of Home Furnishings and Thermal
Insulation; Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education;
California Massage Therapy Certification program; California
Board of Acupuncture; California Tax Preparer program; Dental
Hygiene Committee of California; Professional Fiduciaries
Bureau; and the SPCB.
The Committees began their review of the aforementioned
licensing agencies in March and conducted two days of hearings.
This bill, and the accompanying sunset bills, are intended to
implement legislative changes as recommended in the Committee's
Background Papers prepared for each agency and program reviewed
by the Committees for this year.
NOTE: For a summary of the issues and recommendations relating
to the SPCB, refer to the Senate BPED Committee analysis
of April 28, 2014.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
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According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee:
1. On-going Special Fund costs of approximately $4.85 million
annually (Structural Pest Control Fund, Structural Pest
Control Education and Enforcement Fund), supporting 29.9
personnel years until January 1, 2019, partially offset by
fee revenues of $4.24 million, based on the 2014-15 Budget.
2. AB 1685 (Williams) raises the maximum fees that the SPCB
could charge for licensure examinations. The increased fees
are intended to provide sufficient resources to implement
computer based testing and allow the SPCB to set the fees at
a level sufficient to cover the reasonable costs of
administering licensing exams. It is unclear whether the
increased fee authority, if enacted, will provide sufficient
resources to address the operating deficiencies in the
Structural Pest Control Fund.
3. Minor and absorbable costs to DCA to extend the operations
of the SPCB and its executive director, and make numerous
technical, clarifying, and non-substantive changes to the
Structural Pest Control Act.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/27/14)
California Association of Realtors
Cardinal Professional Products
Pest Control Operators of California
Structural Pest Control Board
Western Exterminator Company
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The Pest Control Operators of
California (PCOC) writes, "SB 1244 will include the Structural
Pest Control Board Act Review Committee's recommendations. Our
members have been working with the Structural Pest Control Board
throughout the entire process to identify areas that require
updating and PCOC believes this is an important component of the
bill."
MW:k 8/28/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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