BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON
BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Senator Jerry Hill, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 317 Hearing Date: July 6,
2015
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|Author: |Maienschein |
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|Version: |June 30, 2015 Amended |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant|Bill Gage |
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Subject: Veterinary medicine: temporary shelter.
SUMMARY: Exempts a temporary shelter which is operated either by a
licensed veterinarian from another state, or a state licensed
veterinarian, that is providing care and shelter to animals
during a declared state of emergency, from having to obtain a
premises registration from the Veterinary Medical Board.
Existing law, the Business and Professions Code (BPC):
1)Establishes the Veterinary Medical Board (VMB) within the
Department of Consumer Affairs for the purpose of
administering the Veterinary Practice Act (Act).
(BPC § 4800 et seq.)
2)States that it is unlawful for any person to practice
veterinary medicine in California without a valid, unexpired
or unrevoked license, as specified. (BPC § 4825)
3)Requires all veterinarians, actually engaged and employed by
the state, or a county, city, corporation, firm or individual
practicing veterinary medicine, to secure a license issued by
the VMB. (BPC § 4828)
4)Exempts the following from the provisions of the Act:
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a) Veterinarians while serving in any armed branch of the
military service of the United States or the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) while actually engaged and
employed in their official capacity;
b) Regularly licensed veterinarians in actual consultation
from other states;
c) Regularly licensed veterinarians actually called from
other states to attend cases in this state, but do not open
an office or appoint a place to do business;
d) Veterinarians employed by the University of California,
as specified;
e) Students in the school of veterinary medicine of the
University of California or the College of Western
University of Health Sciences, as specified;
f) A veterinarian who is employed by the Meat and Poultry
Inspection Branch of the California Department of Food and
Agriculture (CDFA) while actually engaged and employed in
his or her official capacity; or,
g) Unlicensed personnel employed by the CDFA or the USDA,
as specified.
(BPC § 4830)
5)Requires the VMB to establish a regular inspection program that
will provide for random, unannounced inspections and that the
VMB shall make every effort to inspect at least 20 percent of
veterinary premises on an annual basis.
(BPC § 4809.7)
6)Requires that all premises where veterinary medicine,
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veterinary dentistry, veterinary surgery and the various
branches thereof is being practiced shall be registered with
the VMB. (BPC § 4853 (a))
7)Defines "premises" as including a building, kennel, mobile unit
or vehicle, as specified. (BPC § 4853 (b))
8)Requires that all premises where veterinary medicine,
veterinary dentistry, or veterinary surgery is being
practiced, and all instruments, apparatus and apparel used in
connection with those practices, shall be kept clean and
sanitary at all times, and shall conform to those minimum
standards established by the VMB.
(BPC § 4854)
9)Provides that the requirements of licensure for health care
practitioners in California shall not apply in a state of
emergency, as defined under Section 8558 of the Government
Code, for a health care practitioner licensed from another
state who offers or provides health care for which he or she
is licensed, if the emergency overwhelms the response
capabilities of California health care practitioners and only
upon the request of the Director of the Emergency Medical
Services Authority (Director). (BPC § 900 (a))
10) Specifies that the Director shall be the medical control and
shall designate the licensure and specialty health care
practitioners required for the specific emergency and shall
designate the areas to which they may be deployed. (BPC § 900
(b))
11)Requires health care practitioners from another state to
provide, upon request, a valid copy of a professional license
and a photographic identification issue by the state in which
the practitioner holds a license before being deployed by the
Director.
(BPC § 900 (c))
12)Requires health care practitioners from another state to also
provide to the appropriate California licensing authority
verification of licensure upon request.
(BPC § 900 (d))
13)Provides that health care practitioners from another state
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providing health care shall have immunity from liability for
services rendered as provided in Section 8659 of the
Government Code. (BPC § 900 (e))
Existing law, the Government Code (GC):
1)Specifies that any veterinarian or registered veterinary
technician who renders services during any state of war
emergency, a state of emergency, or a local emergency at the
express or implied request of any responsible state or local
official or agency shall have no liability for any injury
sustained by any animal by reason of those services,
regardless of how or under what circumstances or by what cause
those injuries are sustained; provided, however, that the
immunity herein granted shall not apply in the event of a
willful act or omission. (GC § 8659)
2)Defines a "state of war emergency" as a condition which exists
immediately, with or without a proclamation by the Governor,
whenever this state or nation is attacked by an enemy of the
U.S., or upon receipt by the state of a warning by the federal
government indicating that such an enemy attack is probable.
(GC § 8558 (a))
3)Defines "state of emergency" as a duly proclaimed existence of
conditions of disaster or extreme peril to the safety of
persons and property within the state caused by such
conditions as fire, flood, earthquake, drought, etc., which by
reasons of their magnitude are likely to be beyond the control
of services, personnel, equipment and facilities of any single
county, city, city and county and requires combined forces of
mutual aid region or regions to combat such emergency. (GC §
8558 (b))
4)Defines "local emergency" as a duly proclaimed existence of
conditions or disaster or of extreme peril to the safety of
persons and property within the territorial limits of a
county, city, city and county caused by such conditions as
specified above. (GC § 8558 (c))
This bill:
1)Provides that a temporary shelter shall be exempt from the
registration requirements of Veterinary Medicine Act if all of
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the following requirements are met:
a) The temporary shelter is established to provide care and
shelter to animals displaced by a state of emergency, as
defined, and only provides care and shelter to those
animals, and, if possible, is located near an American Red
Cross shelter, or other equivalent shelter, that houses
persons displaced by the state of emergency.
b) The temporary shelter is operated by either of the
following:
i) A veterinary health care practitioner licensed or
certified by, and in good standing in another state,
district or territory who is deployed to the state
pursuant to the state of emergency.
ii) A veterinary health care practitioner licensed
or certified by, and in good standing in this state who
responds to a state of emergency, as defined.
c) The temporary shelter complies with the requirements for
veterinary premises to maintain sanitary conditions, as
specified.
d) The temporary shelter does not operate beyond a
60-calendar-day period, however, the Director of Emergency
Medical Services Authority may grant an extension of that
period in 30-calendar-day increments until the state of
emergency is concluded.
e) Requires that within 30 calendar days after a temporary
shelter exempt for premises registration requirements
ceases operation, that the party responsible for the
temporary shelter file a report with the VMB containing
specified information.
FISCAL
EFFECT: This bill has been keyed "fiscal" by Legislative
Counsel. According to the Assembly Committee on Appropriations
analysis dated May 6, 2015, this bill will result in minor and
absorbable costs to the VMB.
COMMENTS:
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1. Purpose. This measure is sponsored by the American Society
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). According
to the Sponsors, "Hurricane Katrina and polls have clearly
shown that ensuring that pets have a safe place to go during
a disaster is imperative to ensuring that people evacuate out
of harm's way. In the wake of Katrina a poll conducted by
the Fritz Institute showed that 44% of New Orleans' residents
did not initially evacuate because they would not leave their
pets. Similarly, a Lake Research Partners poll commissioned
by the ASPCA found that 42% of Americans would not evacuate
without their pets and an American Humane Association poll
found that 47% of Americans said they would refuse assistance
during a disaster if it meant leaving their pet. Clearly,
having the ability to ensure that veterinary responders can
establish temporary shelters when they are called upon by the
Director of the Emergency Medical Services Authority is
critical to ensuring that all Californians evacuate out of
impacted areas. This is extremely important for emergency
responders who are put at more peril when they have to rescue
individuals who did not initially evacuate due to a desire
not to abandon their pets. Current CA law clearly authorizes
veterinarians to respond from out of state when called upon,
but it does not authorize temporary shelters. According to
the AVMA, in 2013 roughly 53% of Californians owned pets
making the need for shelters even more paramount. From
Hurricane Katrina, to the devastating tornadoes in Missouri,
to Hurricane Sandy, we have found that temporary shelters are
critical in ensuring not only the maximum number of animals
can be saved, but also ensuring the public safety of pet
owners. This is why disaster responders like the American
Red Cross and the CA Professional Firefighters, among others,
are supporting AB 317."
2. Use of Temporary Shelters. Under Section 4853 of the BPC, it
is required that all premises where veterinary medicine is
being practiced to obtain a premises permit from the VMB.
There are currently over 3,000 licensed premises in
California. 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, and business owner information, along with a $200
registration fee. The VMB reports that the application
process for a premises permit takes between three to four
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weeks. This bill will exempt temporary animal care shelter
facilities from premises requirements as long as the shelter
provides care and shelter to animals displaced by a state of
emergency, the shelter is operated by a licensed veterinarian
from another state who is deployed to the state pursuant to
the state of emergency, or by a state licensed veterinarian
who is responding the state of emergency, provides clean and
sanitary conditions as required by the VMB, and meets other
requirements as specified. The temporary shelter shall not
be allowed to exist for longer than 60 days unless it is
determined that a longer period is necessary by Director of
the Emergency Medical Services Authority.
It should be noted, that any requirement for the VMB to inspect
these temporary shelters would be difficult. Currently, the
VMB can only inspect, or is required to make every effort to
inspect, about 20 per cent of veterinary premises on an
annual basis. Also, during two of the major floods that hit
Sacramento in the 80's and 90's, temporary shelters (many of
them on city or county fairgrounds) were usually established
over-night to house animals without any oversight considered
necessary by the VMB, and were kept open for at least 60 to
90 days to allow animal owners the opportunity to claim their
animals.
3. ASPCA Involvement and Other Animal Welfare Responders to
Natural Disasters. As stated by the ASPCA, "[a]s we mark the
10th anniversary this August of Hurricane Katrina and the
devastation it wrought on the Gulf States, there is one
lesson from that disaster that is very clear: temporary
animal shelters are extremely important to the success of a
disaster deployment. The Louisiana SPCA estimates that
roughly 8,500 animals were housed and treated at the
temporary shelter facility located at the Lamar Dixon Expo
Center, where many animal welfare groups, including the
ASPCA, converged to assist with rescue efforts. Every
morning at 5:30am the welfare groups would mobilize and head
out into the disaster area to rescue stranded animals,
returning at dark with animals ranging from companion animals
to livestock. Rescuers were required to don heavy protective
gear in order to wade through potentially hazardous waters
and endure an historical stretch of 100+ degree days and
equally high humidity. Overall, the Louisiana SPCA estimates
that a total of 15,500 animals were rescued, when including
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animals that did not enter the Lamar-Dixon facility, and it
is likely that well over a quarter of a million animals were
impacted but not treated throughout the Gulf State impact
zone."
In New Orleans alone, as noted by the ASPCA, it is estimated
that 104,000 pets were left behind to weather the storm -
only 15%-20% of rescued animals were reunited with their
owners. "The difficulty of re-uniting animals with their
owners demonstrates the need to co-locate animal shelters
with human shelters as much as possible. This is why the
American Red Cross, a supporter of AB 317, and the ASPCA are
working diligently in California to ensure that disaster
response plans include the ability to co-locate whenever
possible and it is why recent amendments to AB 317 include a
directive to co-locate whenever feasible."
Additionally, as the ASPCA states, "Katrina and subsequent polls
have taught us that most Americans simply will not evacuate
unless their animals can come with them, increasing the risk
to emergency responders. A poll conducted by the Fritz
Institute found that 44% of New Orleans' residents did not
initially evacuate because they would not leave their pets.
Similarly, a Lake Research Partners poll commissioned by the
ASPCA found that 42% of Americans would not evacuate without
their pets and an American Humane Association poll found that
47% of Americans said they would refuse assistance during a
disaster if it meant leaving their pet. According to the
American Veterinary Medical Association, roughly 53% of
Californians own pets - clearly, having the ability to ensure
that veterinary responders can establish temporary shelters
when they are called upon by the State is critical to
ensuring the safety of not only Californians but California's
brave emergency responders."
Katrina, as indicated by the ASPCA, also resulted in passage of
the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act, which
requires states seeking FEMA assistance to accommodate pets
and service animals in their plans for evacuation residents
facing disasters. Clearly, temporary shelters are a critical
component of disaster response.
Since Katrina, the ASPCA and other animal welfare responders
have assisted in other major disasters around the country,
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including:
Hurricane Gustav (2008). In August 2008, the
Louisiana State Animal Response Team contacted the ASPCA
to assist in pre-storm evacuation and sheltering of
animals in the wake of Tropical Storm Gustav. The state
declared a pre-storm state of emergency and asked the
ASPCA Field Investigations and Response Team to deploy to
the site of their Mega shelter in Shreveport, LA. In
just the first 2 days of the ASPCA's deployment to
Shreveport, the ASPCA had checked more than 800 animals
into the shelter. Team members from the ASPCA and the
American Humane Association took turns pulling 12 hour
shifts to care for evacuated animals. The ASPCA also
deployed one of our Disaster Response Trailers to the
area and in total distributed more than $50,000 in
emergency grants to responders for assistance with the
evacuation.
EF5 Tornado - Joplin, MO (2011). The Joplin tornado
cut a mile wide swath of destruction that ultimately left
150 people dead and destroyed many more homes and
livelihoods. As the Joplin Humane Society's shelter space
was maxed out, the ASPCA assisted and created more
housing space by establishing a temporary shelter
facility to care for lost animals. In total, nearly 1300
animals came through the temporary shelter, many of which
were reunited with their families. To aid in recovery,
the ASPCA granted the Joplin Humane Society $100,000 as
well as continued to assist in placing animals in new
homes. In addition to the ASPCA and Joplin Humane
Society, responders from across the country assisted
including many from California like: the CA Veterinary
Medical Reserve Corps, Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society,
Sacramento SPCA, Riverside County Animal Services, Tony
LaRussa's ARF (Walnut Creek) to name a few.
Hurricane Sandy (2012). Seven years after Katrina,
the Northeast was devastated by the category 3 Hurricane
Sandy, which impacted 24 states and caused widespread
damage to homes, public infrastructure and even left
portions of Manhattan in the dark. The ASPCA worked in
collaboration with the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services National Veterinary Response Team, the NYC
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Veterinary Emergency Response Team, Animal Care and
Control of NYC and the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals
to establish and manage a temporary housing facility for
animals impacted by the storm. Hundreds of animals were
housed at the facility - animals ranged from strays where
the owner was unknown to animals whose owners were known
but who had to evacuate their homes. Many of the animals
were ultimately re-united with owners while others were
transferred to the ASPCA adoption center and other rescue
partners. Through the ASPCA Emergency Grant Program, the
ASPCA provided over 40 grants totaling over $350,000 to
organizations responding to, or impacted by Hurricane
Sandy.
As further stated by ASPCA, California is prone to
disaster, and in the wake of Katrina many reports
circulated about the devastating impact a similar
collapse of our levee system would have on Sacramento and
the Delta region. Robert Bea, professor of engineering
at U.C. Berkeley was quoted in a NY Times article as
recently as 2011 stating that "[i]n terms of damage,
death and long-term cost, a rupture of the delta levees
would be far more destructive than what happened in
Hurricane Katrina." Animals would be among the
casualties, and with polls indicating a strong desire of
Americans to shelter in place unless their pets can
evacuate with them, temporary shelters are critically
important.
This past May, FEMA's National Response Coordination Center
ran a disaster response exercise focused on a large
magnitude earthquake centered in the Los Angeles region,
as noted by the ASPCA. Early findings demonstrate that
the earthquake would result in more than 300,000 animals
needing care and shelter.
4.Current Related Legislation. AB 316 (Maienschein) Exempts
from state licensure veterinary health care practitioners who
are licensed or certified in good standing from another state
and who offer veterinary services in the event of a "cruelty
incident," as defined, and allows the sponsoring entity to
operate a temporary shelter in order to provide care to
animals seized as a result of a cruelty incident.
( Status : The bill is also set for a hearing before this
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Committee on July 6.)
5.Prior Related Legislation. AB 1810 (Hayashi, Chapter 538,
Statutes of 2010) exempted from liability veterinarians or
registered veterinarian technicians who provide services
during any state of way emergency, as state of emergency, or
local emergency, among numerous other provisions.
6.Arguments in Support. According to the Sponsors the ASPCA ,
this measure "clarifies existing disaster response law to
ensure that veterinarians licensed in another state that have
been called on by California to respond to a declared
emergency have the ability to establish temporary animal
shelters. Business and Professions Code 900 currently
authorizes the State Emergency Medical Services Authority to
request health professionals, including veterinarians, from
other states to assist during a declared emergency. However,
existing law is unclear whether those veterinarians called
into assist during a declared state of emergency can establish
temporary shelters to house displaced animals. In fact,
existing law is unclear whether even California licensed
veterinarians can establish shelters during a disaster
deployment - AB 317 will clarify that both in state and out of
state veterinary responders can utilize temporary shelters
during a declared state of emergency.
The Tony La Russa's Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF), the
California Animal Control Directors Association , the
California Professional Firefighters and other supporters of
this measure indicate that one of the most significant natural
disasters in our nation's history was Katrina and one that
presented many difficulties for responders. The challenges
faced in the Gulf States ten years ago would appear again when
Hurricane Sandy made landfall in the Northeast in 2012. Sandy
displaced thousands of people and pets, caused nearly 300
deaths, and plunged parts of the U.S. into darkness for weeks.
Both events, in addition to other disasters across the
country have also demonstrated the need to deploy resources to
provide displaced or lost animals with proper care and
shelter. Temporary shelters are critical for the health and
welfare of Californians since many people will not evacuate
during a natural disaster without their beloved animals and
some actually to go back to try and retrieve their pet.
Temporary shelters are critical to ensuring that people will
feel safe about evacuating when they need to evacuate. Also,
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many shelters cannot handle all the animals impacted; this
measure will ensure that both veterinarians in California and
those from another state, if requested by State Emergency
Medical Services Authority, can establish temporary shelters
to house and treat displaced animals and assist in their
return to their rightful owners.
7.Arguments in Opposition. The California Veterinary Medical
Association (CVMA) is opposed to this measure and believes
that exemption from a California veterinary premises permit
should only be used when there is no other alternative. "After
careful deliberation and several meetings with the bill's
sponsors, the CVMA believe the need for out-of-state
veterinarians to provide veterinary medical care in a
temporary shelter facility established by an organization
during a state of emergency has not been demonstrated.
Further, we think AB 317 does not provide sufficient
protection for animals and consumers." CVMA is concerned that
there is no provision for the VMB to take disciplinary action
against the veterinarian or inspect the temporary facility.
CVMA goes on to state that "[t]here are more than 9,200
licensed veterinarians in California. The California
Veterinary Medical Reserve Corps (CAVMRC) has more than 750
members and is integrated into the California Emergency
Management System. The CAVMRC provides training and resources
for veterinary professionals to respond to the needs of
animals during a disaster. Additionally, the California
Animal Response Emergency System (CARES), which operates under
the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services
(Cal-OES) and the California Department of Food and
Agriculture, is a state emergency for animals. These two
systems along with private practice and shelter veterinarians
in California have historically met the shelter and housing
needs of animals displaced during a disaster through private
veterinary facilities, animal control, and SPCA facilities or
temporary facilities."
The VMB is also opposed to this measure and argues that "AB 317
restricts the Board's ability to ensure that any organization
entering California to provide veterinary care during a
declared emergency is qualified to do so by meeting even the
basic minimum facility standards." The VMB further states
that exempting a facility from registration and further
inspection by the Board, potentially exposes animals and the
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public to unsanitary conditions where serious harm may come to
the very animals the temporary shelter is designed to protect.
The VMB is also concerned that this measure would seriously
limit the Board's enforcement ability to respond to an adverse
situation if a temporary shelter failed to provide safe and
efficacious veterinary care. Since current law restricts the
Board's inspection authority to only those premises that are
registered with the Board, there would be little to no
recourse through the state should an animal be injured or
harmed at an unregistered shelter.
SUPPORT AND OPPOSITION:
Support:
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
(Sponsor)
American Red Cross
California Animal Control Directors Association
California Professional Firefighters
County Health Executives Association of California
Tony La Russa's Animal Rescue Foundation
Opposition:
California Veterinary Medical Association
California Veterinary Medical Board
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