Amended in Senate August 8, 2016

Amended in Senate June 16, 2016

Amended in Assembly May 27, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 2892


Introduced by Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials (Assembly Members Alejo (Chair), Arambula, Lopez, and McCarty)

(Coauthor: Assembly Member Ting)

February 29, 2016


An act to amend Section 105206 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to pesticide poisoning.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2892, as amended, Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials. Pesticide poisoning.

Existing law, until January 1, 2017, requires, among other things, any laboratory that performs cholinesterase testing on human blood for an employer to enable the employer to satisfy his or her responsibilities for medical supervision of his or her employees who regularly handle pesticides pursuant to specified regulations or to respond to alleged exposure to cholinesterase inhibitors or known exposure to the inhibitors that resulted in illness, to electronically report specified information in its possession on every person tested to the Department of Pesticide Regulation. The department is required to share the information in an electronic format with the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) and the State Department of Public Health on an ongoing basis, as specified.

This bill would extend these requirements until January 1, 2021. The bill would require that an employer satisfying his or her responsibilities for medical supervision of employees who regularly handle pesticides contract with a medical supervisor registered with the OEHHA. The bill would require the OEHHA to establish a procedure for registering and deregistering medical supervisors and to establish requirements for their performance. The bill would additionally make specified changes to the information abegin delete testingend delete laboratory is required to report to the Department of Pesticide Regulation.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P2    1

SECTION 1.  

Section 105206 of the Health and Safety Code
2 is amended to read:

3

105206.  

(a) In order for an employer to satisfy his or her
4responsibilities for medical supervision of his or her employees
5who regularly handle pesticides pursuant to Section 6728 of Title
63 of the California Code ofbegin delete Regulations or to respond to alleged
7exposure to cholinesterase inhibitors or known exposure to
8cholinesterase inhibitors that resulted in illness,end delete
begin insert Regulations,end insert the
9employer shall contract with a medical supervisor registered with
10the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA).

11(b) Abegin delete testingend delete laboratorybegin insert that performs tests ordered by a medical
12supervisorend insert
shall report the information specified in subdivision (c)
13to the Department of Pesticide Regulation. Reports shall be
14submitted to the Department of Pesticide Regulation on, at a
15minimum, a monthly basis. For the purpose of meeting the
16requirements in subdivision (e), the reports shall be submitted via
17electronic media and formatted in a manner approved by the
18director. The Department of Pesticide Regulation shall share
19information from cholinesterase reports with the Office of
20Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) and the State
21Department of Public Health on an ongoing basis, in an electronic
22format, for the purpose of meeting the requirements of subdivisions
23(f) and (g).

24(c) Thebegin delete testingend delete laboratory shall report all of the following
25information in its possession in complying with subdivision (a):

P3    1(1) The test results in International Units per milliliter of sample
2(IU/mL).

3(2) The purpose of the test,begin delete including baseline or other periodic
4testing, pursuant toend delete
begin insert as indicated by the medical supervisor, as a
5cholinesterase test requested for an agricultural worker under
6medical supervision, and, if so, whether it is for a baseline,
7followup, or recovery test ordered to meetend insert
the requirements of
8Section 6728 of Title 3 of the California Code ofbegin delete Regulations,end delete
9begin insert Regulationsend insert orbegin insert for theend insert evaluation of suspected pesticide illness.

10(3) The name of the person tested.

11(4) The date of birth of the person tested.

12(5) The name, address, and telephone number of thebegin delete health care
13provider orend delete
medical supervisor who ordered the analysis.

14(6) The name, address, and telephone number of thebegin delete analyzingend delete
15 laboratory.

16(7) The date that the sample was collected from the person and
17 the date the result was reported.

18(8) Contact information for the person tested and his or her
19employer, if known and readily available.

20(d) The registered medical supervisor ordering a cholinesterase
21test for a person pursuant to subdivision (a) shall note in the test
22orderbegin insert the name of the medical supervisor andend insert the purpose of the
23test, pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (c), and ensure that
24the person tested and the employer receive a copy of the
25cholinesterase test results and any recommendations from the
26medical supervisor based upon those results within 14 days of the
27medical supervisor’s receipt of the results. The medical supervisor
28shall report any worker with cholinesterasebegin delete depression, beyond
29the threshold defined by Section 6728 of Title 3 of the California
30Code of Regulations,end delete
begin insert depression indicating pesticide exposureend insert to
31the local health officer pursuant to Section 105200.

32(e) All information reported pursuant to this section shall be
33confidential, as provided in Section 100330, except that the
34OEHHA, the Department of Pesticide Regulation, and the State
35Department of Public Health may share the information for the
36purpose of surveillance, case management, investigation,
37environmental remediation, or abatement with the appropriate
38county agricultural commissioner and local health officer.

39(f) The OEHHA shall establish a procedure for registering and
40deregistering medical supervisors for the purposes of outreach and
P4    1training and may establish reasonable requirements for
2 performance. The OEHHA shall review the cholinesterase test
3results and may provide an appropriate medical or toxicological
4consultation to the medical supervisor. In addition to the duties
5performed pursuant to Section 105210, the OEHHA, in consultation
6with the Department of Pesticide Regulation and the local health
7officer, may provide medical and toxicological consultation, as
8appropriate, to the county agricultural commissioner to address
9medical issues related to the investigation of cholinesterase
10inhibitor-related illness.

11(g) The Department of Pesticide Regulation and the OEHHA
12shall prepare and publicly post an update on the effectiveness of
13the medical supervision program and the utility of laboratory-based
14reporting of cholinesterase testing for illness surveillance and
15prevention by January 1, 2021.

16(h) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2021,
17and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
18is enacted before January 1, 2021, deletes or extends that date.



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