BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 328|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 328
Author: Hueso (D)
Amended: 5/4/15
Vote: 21
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: 5-2, 5/12/15
AYES: Jackson, Hertzberg, Leno, Monning, Wieckowski
NOES: Moorlach, Anderson
SUBJECT: Landlords: notice of pesticide use
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill requires a landlord or a landlord's agent to
provide a tenant, and any tenant of adjacent units, with advance
written notice of the use of pesticides at a dwelling unit if
the landlord or authorized agent applies any pesticide without a
licensed structural pest control operator. This bill requires
the posting of a similar notice at least 24 hours prior to
applying a pesticide in a common area without a licensed
structural pest control operator, unless the pest poses an
immediate threat to health and safety, in which case the notice
is required to be posted as soon as practicable, but not later
than one hour after the pesticide is applied.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
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1)Regulates the terms and conditions of residential tenancies
and generally requires a landlord to keep a rental unit in a
condition fit for occupancy. (Civ. Code Sec. 1940 et seq.)
2)Creates an implied covenant of quiet enjoyment in every lease,
requiring that the tenant shall not be disturbed in his or her
possession by the landlord. (Civ. Code Sec. 1927; Pierce v.
Nash (1954) 126 Cal.App.2d 606, 612.)
3)Provides that any building or portion thereof including any
dwelling unit, guestroom or suite of rooms, in which there
exists an infestation of insects, vermin, or rodents to an
extent that endangers the life, limb, health, property,
safety, or welfare of the public or the occupants thereof
shall be deemed a substandard building. (Health & Saf. Code
Sec. 17920.3.)
4)States that a registered structural pest control company shall
provide the owner, or owner's agent, and tenant of the
premises for which work is to be done with clear written
notice. (Bus. & Prof. Code Sec. 8538.)
5)Specifies that the notice described above shall contain the
following statements and information using words with common
and everyday meaning:
the pest to be controlled;
the pesticide or pesticides proposed to be used, and the
active ingredient or ingredients;
a statement which, among other things, provides
"CAUTION-PESTICIDES ARE TOXIC CHEMICALS." The statement
must also include notice regarding possible symptoms of
illness, and various persons to contact for further
information; and
if a contract for periodic pest control has been
executed, the frequency with which the treatment is to be
done. (Bus. & Prof. Code Sec. 8538.)
1)States that the notice described above shall be provided at
least 48 hours prior to application of pesticides, except as
provided. (Bus. & Prof. Code Sec. 8538.)
2)Requires a landlord of a residential dwelling unit to provide
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each new tenant that occupies the unit with a copy of the
notice provided by a registered structural pest control
company if a contract for periodic pest control service has
been executed. (Civ. Code Sec. 1940.8.)
3)Requires, by regulation, registered structural pest control
operators to leave in a conspicuous location a written notice
identifying the common, generic or chemical name of each
pesticide applied within or around a structure, and states
that such notice may be provided by a door hanger, invoice,
billing statement or other similar written document which
contains the registered company's name, address, and telephone
number. (16 Cal. Code Reg. Sec. 1970.4.)
4)Specifies, by regulation, that in the case of a multiple
family structure, such notice may be given to the designated
agent or the owner, and that for external pest control
servicing to a multiple family dwelling consisting of more
than 4 units, notices shall be posted in heavily frequented,
highly visible areas including, but not limited to, all
mailboxes, the manager's apartment, in all laundry rooms, and
community rooms. (16 Cal. Code Reg. Sec. 1970.4.)
This bill:
1)Requires a landlord or authorized agent that applies any
pesticide to a dwelling unit without a licensed structural
pest control operator to provide, at least 24 hours prior to
application of the pesticide, a tenant of that dwelling unit
and a tenant in each neighboring dwelling unit that could
reasonably be impacted by the pesticide use with written
notice.
2)Requires a landlord or authorized agent that applies any
pesticide to a common area without a licensed structural pest
control operator to post, at least 24 hours prior to
application of the pesticide and at least 24 hours after the
pesticide is applied, written notice in a conspicuous place in
the common area in which a pesticide is to be applied.
3)Specifies that the written notices referenced above must
contain, in nontechnical language and in a clear and coherent
manner, the following statements and information:
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the pest or pests to be controlled;
the name and brand of the pesticide product proposed to
be used;
a statement which, among other things, provides
"CAUTION-PESTICIDES ARE TOXIC CHEMICALS." The statement
must also include notice regarding possible symptoms of
illness, and various persons to contact for further
information;
the approximate date, time, and frequency with which the
pesticide will be applied; and
for pesticides applied in a dwelling unit, a
notification stating "The approximate date, time, and
frequency of this pesticide application is subject to
change if a tenant in the unit the pesticides will be
applied waives the 24-hour waiting period."
1)Provides that upon receipt of written notification, the tenant
may sign a waiver to allow the landlord or authorized agent to
apply a pesticide to a dwelling unit at an agreed upon time
within 24 hours.
2)States that if the pest poses an immediate threat to health
and safety, thereby making compliance with the 24-hour prior
notice requirement for application of a pesticide in a common
area unreasonable, a landlord or authorized agent shall post
the notification as soon as practicable, but not later than
one hour after the pesticide is applied.
3)Specifies that this bill neither abrogates the responsibility
of a registered structural pest control company to abide by
specified notification requirements, nor authorizes a landlord
or authorized agent to enter a tenant's dwelling unit in
violation of existing law.
Background
According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers,
Americans placed over 3 million calls to poison control centers
in 2013, the most recent year for which data is available.
(American Association of Poison Control Centers, 2013 Annual
Report of the American Association of Poison Control Centers'
National Poison Data System
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Existing law requires registered structural pest control
operators to provide the owner and tenants of a property for
which work is to be done with advance written notice prior to
the application of pesticides. This bill requires landlords or
their agents to provided tenants with advance written notice of
the use of pesticides at a dwelling unit at least 24 hours prior
to their application if the landlord or agent applies any
pesticide without a licensed structural pest control operator.
Comments
The author writes:
Current law requires that a tenant be notified when a
registered pest management professional is going to
potentially expose them to pesticides. However, such
notification is not required when a landlord or property
manager applies over-the-counter pesticides on their own,
leaving tenants without any information about their exposure
to pesticides. As a result, tenants have no way to protect
their families from these harmful toxins.
SB 328 would require landlords that apply pesticide products
to their properties to provide tenants with prior notification
of the pest being treated, the product being used, and basic
health and safety information, including symptoms to look for
and phone numbers to local poison control centers. Landlords
already must get consent from tenants to enter their units.
Adding this notification to the existing landlord-tenant
communication process when pesticides are being applied will
standardize the information shared and ensures tenants are
fully aware of the pesticide products used in their homes.
Related/Prior Legislation
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SB 1167 (Hueso, Chapter 81, Statutes of 2014) expanded the duty
of individuals who possess property infested with rodents to
immediately exterminate and destroy the rodents, to also require
those individual to abate specified conditions causing the
infestation. The bill also authorized specified agencies and
governing bodies to abate the conditions causing the rodent
infestation, and directed that an agency's abatement order
include abatement of specified conditions that the agency
determines to have caused the infestation.
SB 1411 (Jackson, 2014) would have authorized county
agricultural commissioners to adopt regulations to prohibit the
use of any pesticide within one-quarter mile of a school, and
would have required schools and other specified sites within
one-quarter mile of planned pesticide application be notified in
writing in advance. The bill would have required the placement
of signs in agricultural fields that include the name of the
pesticide, date and time of any restricted entry interval, and
the telephone numbers of the commissioner and pesticide
applicator. The bill died in the Senate Agriculture Committee.
SB 2143 (Bowen, Chapter 234, Statutes of 2000) required the
landlord of a residential dwelling unit to provide each new
tenant that occupies the unit with a copy of the notice provided
by a registered structural pest control company if a contract
for periodic pest control service has been executed. The bill
specified that the required notice contain information about the
frequency of treatment if a contract for periodic pest control
has been executed.
AB 2260 (Shelley, Chapter 718, Statutes of 2000) established the
Healthy Schools Act of 2000. The bill required that the
preferred method of managing pests at schoolsites be "effective
least toxic pest management practices," required each schoolsite
to maintain records of all pesticide use at the schoolsite for a
period of 4 years and make the records available to the public
upon request, and required, on an annual basis, the school
district to provide to all staff and parents or guardians of
pupils enrolled at a school written notification addressing,
among other things, expected pesticide use.
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FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified5/15/15)
Alameda County Board of Supervisors
Black Women for Wellness
Breast Cancer Action
California Association of Code Enforcement Officers
California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative
California Pan-Ethnic Health Network
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
Californians for a Healthy and Green Economy
Center for Environmental Health
Clean Water Action - California
Coalition for Clean Air
Environmental Working Group
Healthy Homes Collaborative
Inquilinos Unidos/United Tenants
Instituto de Educacion Popular del Sur de California
Oakland Tenants Union
Pacoima Beautiful
Pest Control Operators of California
Pesticide Action Network North America
Physicians for Social Responsibility - Los Angeles
Regional Asthma Management and Prevention
San Francisco Asthma Task Force
San Francisco Bay Area Physicians for Social Responsibility
SoCalCOSH
Society for Allergy Friendly Environmental Gardening
Western Center on Law & Poverty
one individual
OPPOSITION: (Verified5/15/15)
Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles
California Apartment Association
California Association of Realtors
Educational Community for Homeowners
Santa Barbara Rental Property Association
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ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the Healthy Homes
Collaborative, tenants should be afforded the right to know
about pesticide applications in their homes and be given the
opportunity to take precautionary measures that comes with that
knowledge. Currently, such notification is only required when
landlords hire a licensed pest control professional. However,
we know that in many cases, owners and property managers attempt
to manage pests on their own through the use of store-bought
pesticides. In these cases, there are no requirements that
tenants be notified. By requiring landlords and property
managers to notify tenants of any do-it-yourself pesticide use,
SB 328 would ensure that tenants have the right to know about
the pesticides used in their homes and are given the opportunity
to take steps to avoid unwanted pesticide exposure independent
of who is applying the pesticides.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION:According to the Apartment Association
of Greater Los Angeles and the Santa Barbara Rental Property
Association, this bill in its current form suffers from some
confusing definitional requirements and prohibits property
owners from ridding a kitchen of a recently reported ant
infestation without a 24-hour prior notice and an okay to enter
the unit to treat the infestation. They also state that the
bill's prescription for warning residents of the content of
commercially available pest-control products already appear on
the products themselves, as required by federal and state law,
and the disclosure requirements of SB 328 exceed even those
required of professional pest-control operators.
According to the California Apartment Association (CAA), the
definition of pest and pesticides in the bill may be too broad,
potentially capturing such things as anti-bacterial products,
homemade bleach solutions, and mold. CAA notes potential
ambiguity in the bill concerning the required notice, waiver of
the 24-hour notification period for pesticide applications in a
dwelling unit, and the meaning of specific words such as
"non-technical." According to the California Association of
Realtors (CAR), SB 328 holds landlords and property managers to
stricter notification stands than that for licensed pest control
operators, resulting in non-uniform pesticide notification
standards for pesticide applications on residential real
property.
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Prepared by:Tobias Halvarson / JUD. / (916) 651-4113
5/15/15 15:24:28
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