BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 2892 Page 1 ASSEMBLY THIRD READING AB 2892 (Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials) As Amended May 27, 2016 Majority vote ------------------------------------------------------------------ |Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------| |Environmental |6-0 |Alejo, Dahle, Gray, | | |Safety | |Lopez, McCarty, Ting | | | | | | | |----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------| |Appropriations |20-0 |Gonzalez, Bigelow, | | | | |Bloom, Bonilla, | | | | |Bonta, Calderon, | | | | |Chang, Daly, Eggman, | | | | |Gallagher, Eduardo | | | | |Garcia, Roger | | | | |Hernández, Holden, | | | | |Jones, Obernolte, | | | | |Quirk, Santiago, | | | | |Wagner, Weber, Wood | | | | | | | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ SUMMARY: Extends the sunset, from January 1, 2017, to January AB 2892 Page 2 1, 2019, on the requirement for laboratories, as part of the California Medical Supervision Program (Program), to electronically transmit specified agricultural worker pesticide exposure test results to the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR). EXISTING LAW: 1)Requires each employer who has an employee who regularly handles organophosphate or carbamate pesticides (OP/CB pesticides) to contract with a physician to provide medical supervision of the employee. 2)Delineates the employer's responsibilities for medical supervision for employees regularly handling OP/CB pesticides, including requiring baseline cholinesterase tests and follow up tests after the employee has handled OP/CB pesticides, as specified. 3)Requires a laboratory that performs cholinesterase testing on human blood drawn in California under the Program, or drawn to respond to alleged or known exposure to cholinesterase inhibitors that resulted in illness, to report specified information, including test results, to DPR. 4)Sunsets the cholinesterase result reporting requirements on January 1, 2017. FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, should this bill be enacted, it could result in increased costs for the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) to review cholinesterase tests of $300,000 to $450,000 (general fund or special fund) over the extended two-year period; and, minor, absorbable costs to DPR. AB 2892 Page 3 COMMENTS: Organophosphate and carbamate (OP/CB) pesticides: Both OPs and CBs work as a pesticide by inhibiting the nerve enzyme cholinesterase, which breaks down the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, leading to the death of an insect. OPs and CBs can also affect humans by inhibiting cholinesterase. High exposure to OPs/ CBs can cause a variety of acute symptoms of neurological poisoning, including blurred vision, diarrhea, increased respiratory secretions, tremors, seizures, loss of consciousness, and death. The acute symptoms can mimic other illnesses, and people can be sub-clinically affected without showing major acute symptoms. Due to the potential for sub-clinical effects or misdiagnosis of the acute effects, it is useful to test for the depression of cholinesterase in order to identify potential overexposure to OPs/ CBs. California Medical Supervision Program (Program): DPR reports that the Program was established in 1974 when the use of cholinesterase-inhibiting pesticides was extremely prevalent in California agriculture. While the use of cholinesterase-inhibiting pesticides has declined, from 2008-2013 OP/CB use remained between 4.1 to 5.1 million pounds applied per year. The goal of the Program is to protect pesticide handlers from excessive exposure to OPs and CBs. It requires employers to contract with a licensed physician as a "medical supervisor" to periodically test the cholinesterase level of workers who regularly handle these pesticides. Under the Program, the medical supervisor establishes baseline values of cholinesterase during non-exposure periods for each employee, and periodically measures cholinesterase activity levels while the worker handles OPs/CBs. If the employee's cholinesterase is depressed below certain levels, the employer must take immediate specified actions to reduce exposure, such as promptly retesting the employee, evaluating the work practices, or immediately removing the employee from further exposure. AB 2892 Page 4 Reporting requirements: While the Program had been in existence for more than 30 years, prior to 2010, the state received very little information from the field to determine whether the Program was effective. However, AB 1963 (Nava), Chapter 369, Statues of 2010, added Section 105206 to the Health & Safety Code, which requires laboratories that conduct cholinesterase tests as a part of the Program to report test results to DPR. The results are then analyzed by DPR and OEHHA, in consultation with Department of Public Health (DPH). AB 1963 also required, by December 31, 2015, DPR and OEHHA, in consultation with DPH, to prepare a report on the effectiveness of the medical supervision program and on the utility of laboratory-based reporting of cholinesterase testing for pesticide illness surveillance and prevention. AB 1963 stated that the joint report may include recommendations to the Legislature that DPR and OEHHA deem necessary. DPR and OEHHA submitted the resultant report, The Report to the California Legislature: California's Cholinesterase Test Results, in December 2015, which found that overall, the Program appears effective in protecting agricultural workers who handle cholinesterase-inhibiting pesticides. The report did find, however, that based on the data submitted from 2011-2013, the utility of the data analysis is hampered by the inclusion of thousands of records from individuals who are not in the Program, and by missing data on the purpose of the cholinesterase test. DPR and OEHHA laid out specific "future directions," or actions that the two entities will take to improve the Program and improve the utility of the data collected. DPR and OEHHA also made two recommendations that the legislature would need to enact for Program improvement: 1) Cholinesterase reporting should continue at least through December 31, 2018, so that DPR and OEHHA can obtain additional data with clearer information on the purpose of the test and to AB 2892 Page 5 allow further evaluation of the Program; and, 2) That transferring cholinesterase reporting responsibilities from the laboratories to the medical supervisors may ultimately be a more efficient way to implement the Program. This bill would enact the first recommendation in the report by extending the cholinesterase reporting requirement through January 1, 2019. Analysis Prepared by: Shannon McKinney / E.S. & T.M. / (916) 319-3965 FN: 0003323