BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 317
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
317 (Maienschein)
As Amended April 27, 2015
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes |Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+--------------------+----------------------|
|Business & |14-0 |Bonilla, Jones, | |
|Professions | |Baker, Bloom, | |
| | |Campos, Chang, | |
| | |Dodd, Eggman, | |
| | |Gatto, Holden, | |
| | |Mullin, Ting, Wilk, | |
| | |Wood | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+--------------------+----------------------|
|Appropriations |17-0 |Gomez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bloom, Bonta, | |
| | |Calderon, Chang, | |
| | |Daly, Eggman, | |
| | |Gallagher, Eduardo | |
| | |Garcia, Holden, | |
| | |Jones, Quirk, | |
| | |Rendon, Wagner, | |
| | |Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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AB 317
Page 2
SUMMARY: Exempts an organization, that establishes a temporary
shelter facility for the purpose of providing veterinary medical
care, shelter and food and water during a state of emergency by a
veterinarian licensed in another state, from a premises
registration permit if the shelter meets certain conditions,
including posting a notice about the use of a temporary shelter,
complying with sanitary standards and ceasing operation within 60
days of establishment. Specifically, this bill:
1)Exempts an organization that establishes a temporary shelter
facility, in order to provide veterinary medical care, shelter,
and food and water during a state of emergency by a
veterinarian, who is regularly licensed from another state, from
a premises registration requirement if the following conditions
are met:
a) A notice is posted in a conspicuous location stating that
the temporary shelter facility is being used for the
diagnosis and treatment of animals affected by the state of
emergency and that the diagnosis and treatment is provided by
a veterinarian who is licensed in another state or territory
of the United States;
b) The temporary shelter facility complies with sanitary
requirements, as specified; and,
c) The temporary shelter ceases operations within 60 days
after its establishment unless the Veterinary Medical Board
(VMB) grants an extension of this date to protect the public
health and safety of the animals within the temporary
shelter.
AB 317
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FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, any costs to the VMB are minor and absorbable.
COMMENTS:
Purpose. This bill is sponsored by the American Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). According to the
author, "? an overwhelming number of Americans reported on a
recent poll that they would not evacuate their homes during a
disaster if it means leaving their pets behind. It is important
that we authorize animal welfare responders to establish temporary
facilities to ensure the health and safety of Californians as well
as their animals.
"Mid-disaster is no time to try to grapple with these logistical
issues - [this bill] will make California prepared to evacuate
every person and every pet when confronted by our next wildfire,
flood, mudslide or other major disaster."
Background. The author notes that 2015 marks the 10th anniversary
of Hurricane Katrina. The disaster highlighted awareness across
the nation about the need to deploy resources to provide services
for displaced or lost animals including proper care and shelter
during an emergency. According to the sponsor, in the event of
Hurricane Sandy, many individuals had to move to temporary
shelters which did not always allow animals. The ASPCA reports
that it established temporary shelters to house those animals
along with stray animals.
This bill aims to make it clear that an organization seeking to
establish a temporary shelter facility, for the purpose of animal
care during a state of emergency, as determined by the appropriate
authority, will be exempt from the current premises requirements
for veterinary care facilities as long as specific conditions are
AB 317
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met.
Veterinary Medical Board. The VMB's mission is to protect
consumers and animals through development and maintenance of
professional standards, licensing of veterinarians, registered
veterinary technicians and premises, and diligent enforcement of
the Veterinary Medicine Practice Act. To that end, the VMB
licenses and regulates veterinarians, registered veterinary
technicians, veterinary hospitals and mobile practices.
Under current law, Business and Professions Code Section 4853
requires all premises where veterinary medicine is practiced to
obtain a premises permit from the VMB. There are currently over
3000 licensed premises in California and more than 11,000 licensed
veterinarians. In order to obtain the premises permit, applicants
must submit an application which needs to include the type of
practice, the number of employees, the business model, business
owner information and a $200 registration fee. The VMB reports
that the application process for a premises permit takes between
three and four weeks. In the case of a declared state of
emergency, this process could be viewed as prohibitive for
organizations to apply for and receive the appropriate premises
license currently required to provide veterinary services.
In order to alleviate the potential barrier for organizations to
establish temporary shelters for the sole purpose of veterinary
medical care, shelter, food and water for emergency animal
assistance, this bill would exempt organizations from having a
premises permit as long as they post a notice that the shelter is
temporary, it complies with the sanitation standards under
existing law and the shelter ceases to exist within 60 days after
its establishment unless the VMB grants a specific exemption.
As highlighted on the Web site,
http://www.ready.gov/caring-animals , most shelters for people do
AB 317
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not allow animals due to public health reasons; therefore, pet
emergency planning is necessary. As written, in order for a
temporary shelter to be established without the proper premises
permit, this bill would require a declaration of a state of
emergency order as defined in Government Code Section 8858.
Emergency Declarations. The Governor has the authority to issue
emergency declarations for state of emergencies and state of war
emergencies. Local emergencies are declared by the local
governing body of a city, county or city and county. Under
current law, emergencies may be declared for multiple reasons,
including fires, floods, earthquakes, and storms or riots, among
others. Under the provisions of this bill, an organization would
be authorized to establish a temporary shelter and be exempt from
the premises requirement for any state of emergency declaration
ordered as defined in Government Code Section 8558.
Disasters and Animals. As noted, the Hurricane Katrine disaster
of 2005 heightened the awareness and need for effective emergency
plans at the local, state and federal level, including emergency
plans for pets. As a result, the Federal Pets Evacuation and
Transportation Standards Act of 2006 was passed, which amended the
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to include
that state and local emergency preparedness planning address the
needs of individuals with household pets and service animals
following a major disaster or emergency. In addition, the need
for pet care in the event of emergencies led several animal
welfare and animal care organizations to establish disaster
response teams to provide emergency assistance including the ASCPA
and the VMB among others.
In the event of a declared state of emergency, this bill would
authorize temporary shelter facilities for the purpose of
providing veterinary medical care, shelter and food and water to
operate in California for a limited period of time without a
premises permit as required for all other animal veterinary care
AB 317
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services.
Policy Issue: As currently written, this bill will exempt
organizations that establish a temporary shelter facility to
provide veterinary medical care, shelter, food and water during a
state declared emergency by a veterinarian licensed in another
state to be exempt from the premises permit required by existing
law.
However, it is unclear if an organization that establishes a
temporary facility for veterinary medical care after a declared
emergency would be exempt from the premises requirement if the
organization used California-licensed veterinarians. The author
may wish to consider clarifying that a temporary shelter
established after a declaration of an emergency could be exempt
from the premises permit if they used a California-licensed
veterinarian as well.
Analysis Prepared by:
Elissa Silva / B. & P. / (916) 319-3301 FN:
0000423