BILL ANALYSIS
AB 223
Page 1
Date of Hearing: January 12, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HEALTH
Dave Jones, Chair
AB 223 (Ma) - As Amended: January 4, 2010
SUBJECT : Safe Body Art Act.
SUMMARY : Establishes the Safe Body Art Act to provide minimum
statewide standards for the regulation of practitioners engaged
in the business of tattooing, body piercing, and the application
of permanent cosmetics in California. Specifically, this bill :
1)Repeals existing law governing the development of body art
standards for persons engaged in the business of tattooing,
body piercing, or permanent cosmetics.
2)Prohibits a person from performing body art if he or she is
not registered with the local enforcement agency (LEA).
3)Requires the applicant to provide specified information as a
condition of registration including, among other things, the
following: evidence of current Hepatitis B vaccination;
evidence of completion of training in bloodborne pathogens,
first aid, and CPR; proof that he or she is 18 years or older;
self-certification of knowledge and commitment to state law
and relevant local regulations; and, payment of a registration
fee, to be determined by the LEA in an amount sufficient to
cover actual administrative costs.
4)Requires a practitioner to display the registration
certificate in a readily visible place at the facility where
the practitioner is performing body art and makes a valid and
current registration issued by a LEA valid in any other
jurisdiction for no more than five consecutive days, or 15
days total, in any one calendar year. Requires a
practitioner's registration to be renewed annually.
5)Specifies that the bloodborne pathogens training pursuant to
3) above must be specific to the practitioner's practice and
meet specified criteria.
6)Directs an owner of a body art facility to provide the
specified bloodborne pathogens training to all employees,
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contractors, and volunteers who perform duties within the
cleaning and sterilization area or procedure area of the
facility. Requires each person who completes the bloodborne
pathogens training to complete a minimum of two hours of
updated training each year.
7)Specifies that records of bloodborne pathogens training must
be maintained for three years and available for inspection
upon request of the LEA.
8)Prescribes a number of hygiene and sanitation procedures for a
practitioner to follow before performing body art and at the
completion of the procedure. Directs the practitioner to
maintain a clean and sanitary environment as specified.
9)Requires jewelry to meet specific sterilization and material
requirements prior to being placed in newly pierced skin.
10)Requires various specified products applied to the skin
before tattooing or application of permanent cosmetics to be
single use and properly discarded into a waste receptacle at
the end of the procedure unless the product can be disinfected
for reuse.
11)Prescribes various requirements for commercially manufactured
inks, dyes, pigments, soaps, trays, single-use needles, needle
bars, grommets, razors, machines, and tools used in the
performance of body art.
12)Imposes various restrictions on the performance of body art
including that the client must be at least 18 years of age in
order to be offered or to receive a tattoo or permanent
cosmetics application, regardless of parental consent; or, if
under the age of 18, the client must only be offered or
receive a body piercing in the presence of, or with the
written authorization of, a parent or guardian.
13)Requires a client to read, complete, and sign an informed
consent form containing specified information and receive,
complete, and sign a questionnaire disclosing specified
information prior to the performance of body art.
14)Clarifies that body piercing does not include piercing an
earlobe with a disposable, single-use device stud or solid
needle that is applied using a mechanical device to force the
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needle or stud through the ear. Requires sites that perform
this activity to meet specified registration, training,
sanitation, and equipment requirements.
15)Prohibits a body art facility from conducting business
without a valid health permit issued by a LEA and requires the
application for a health permit to include a copy of the
facility's Infection Prevention and Control Plan (IPCP) and a
specified fee as determined by the LEA.
16)Specifies that the health permit is valid only for the
location of the facility and the time period indicated on the
permit and is non-transferable. Requires the health permit
and certificates of registration for all practitioners
performing body art in the facility to be posted prominently
at the body art facility.
17)Requires a person who proposes to construct a practice site
or mobile practice site, other than a temporary body art event
booth, to submit plans and a specified fee to the LEA for
review. Requires the plans to be reviewed before any
building, plumbing, or electric permits are issued and
requires any corrective action to be taken and the site
approved to open before any body art can be performed.
18)Specifies that a facility's IPCP pursuant to 15) above is
required to identify procedures for achieving compliance with
certain requirements relating to cleaning, disinfecting,
packing, storing, and decontaminating instruments and
procedure sites during the performance of body art.
19)Requires training on the facility's IPCP to occur not less
than once a year, and each time that tasks in which
occupational exposure may take place are initially assigned,
procedures or tasks change, and new technology is adopted for
use in the facility.
20)Specifies that records of IPCP training must be maintained
for three years and available for inspection upon request of
the LEA.
21)Requires a permanent body art facility to comply with
specified building requirements and meet specified standards
for procedure areas and cleaning and sanitation areas within
the facility.
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22)Requires a body art facility to conform to a number of
specified sterilization procedures and maintain sterilization
records.
23)Specifies that, if a practitioner performs body art in a
vehicle in a jurisdiction for more than seven days in a
consecutive 90-day period, the practitioner is required to
obtain a health permit from the LEA in that jurisdiction.
Requires a vehicle that will be operating in the jurisdiction
for less than seven days in a consecutive 90-day period to be
treated as a temporary demonstration booth subject to the
requirements in this bill governing temporary body art
facilities.
24)Allows a practitioner to operate in a temporary demonstration
booth for a maximum of seven days in a 90-day period in the
local jurisdiction of registration provided that the booth
meets certain specified requirements.
25)Requires the sponsor of a temporary body art event to apply
for and obtain a sponsor's health permit from the LEA in the
jurisdiction where the event will be held and makes the
sponsor responsible for ensuring the availability of support
facilities and supplies for practitioners and vendors as
specified.
26)Permits a LEA officer to enter a body art facility during the
facility's hours of operation and other reasonable times to
conduct specified inspection and compliance activities.
Requires the LEA officer to make a written report and furnish
a copy to the owner or practitioner upon completion of an
inspection or investigation.
27)Authorizes a LEA officer to impound any instruments found to
be unsafe based upon the inspection findings or other evidence
and requires the LEA to initiate proceedings to release the
impounded instrument or seek remedies for its disposal within
30 days.
28)Makes it a violation of this bill for the owner or any person
working in a body art facility to conceal or withhold records
or evidence, interfere with the performance of a LEA officer,
or knowingly falsify or misrepresent information required to
be submitted or maintained by this bill. Allows a LEA to
suspend a certificate of registration or health permit for a
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violation of this bill.
29)Requires a body art facility or practitioner whose
certificate of registration or health permit has been
suspended to cease doing business until the certificate or
permit has been reinstated. If a body art facility's health
permit has been revoked, the facility is required to remain
closed until a new permit is issued.
30)Provides for specified due process whenever a LEA officer
finds that a practitioner or body art facility is not in
compliance with the requirements of this bill.
31)Makes it a misdemeanor to perform body art without being
registered, operate a body art facility without a health
permit, or operate a temporary body art event without a health
permit, and authorizes the LEA to assess an administrative
penalty of $25 to $1,000 for the violation of any provision of
this bill.
32)Allows a city, county, or city and county to adopt
regulations or ordinances that do not conflict with, or are
more stringent than, the provisions of this bill.
33)Defines various terms for purposes of this bill.
34)Makes the provisions of this bill operative on July 1, 2011.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Makes it a misdemeanor to tattoo or offer to tattoo a person
under the age of 18.
2)Requires the California Conference of Local Health Officers
(CCLHO) to establish sterilization, sanitation, and safety
standards for persons engaged in the business of tattooing,
body piercing, or permanent cosmetics.
3)Requires the Department of Public Health (DPH) to provide the
necessary resources to support the development of these
standards and requires the standards to be directed at
establishing and maintaining sterile conditions and safe
disposal of instruments.
4)Allows the standards to be modified as appropriate to protect
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consumers from transmission of contagious diseases through
cross-contamination of instruments and supplies.
5)Requires the standards to be submitted to DPH for review and
consultation by July 1, 1998, and directs DPH to distribute
those standards in written form to all county health
departments (CHDs) within 30 days after they are adopted by
DPH.
6)Requires persons engaged in the business of tattooing, body
piercing, or permanent cosmetics to register with the CHD by
December 31, 1998, as specified.
7)Requires a registrant to obtain a copy of DPH's standards from
the CHD, provide the CHD with his or her business address, and
pay a one-time $25 registration fee and an annual $105
inspection fee to the CHD. States that the county is not
precluded from charging an additional amount if necessary to
cover the cost of registration and inspection.
8)Requires each CHD to conduct annual inspections of the
locations at which registrants conduct regulated activities.
9)Authorizes a county to adopt any regulations that do not
conflict with, or are more comprehensive than, current law or
with the standards adopted by DPH.
10)States that current law does not limit a county's ability to
require a registrant to obtain any business license or permit
that the county finds appropriate.
11)Specifies that in those jurisdictions where the local health
officer and the environmental health director are in separate
departments, the county or city has the option to choose the
entity responsible for enforcement.
12)Subjects a person who fails to register or violates the
sterilization, sanitation, and safety standards after December
31, 1998, to a $500 civil penalty per violation as specified.
13)Requires any person seeking to engage in the business of
tattooing, body piercing, or permanent cosmetics to comply
with the requirements in current law by January 1, 1999.
14)Requires a task force consisting of specified members to be
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formed for the purpose of recommending legislation to the
Legislature concerning licensing, training, sanitation, and
other subjects deemed necessary to protect the health and
welfare of persons seeking the services of body art
practitioners.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee analysis of a substantially similar bill, AB 517 (Ma)
of 2009, since no state entity has a regulatory role and LEAs
have the authority to increase local fees to provide for the
administration and enforcement costs of implementing this
program, there would be no fiscal effect on the state.
Additionally, although this constitutes a state-mandated local
program, since the LEAs have the authority to charge fees to
cover the cost of the program, local costs would be ineligible
for reimbursement by the state.
COMMENTS :
1)PURPOSE OF THIS BILL . The author argues that this bill is
needed because the state lacks enforceable statewide standards
that are sufficiently detailed for consistent and effective
local enforcement despite requirements in existing law and
repeated efforts from both health practitioners and
established body art professional trade associations.
According to the sponsor, the California Association of
Environmental Health Administrators (CAEHA), only seven of 62
cities and counties with public health and environmental
health agencies have comprehensive local programs that
register and inspect body art practitioners and their
operations and facilities. CAEHA asserts that the current
lack of enforceable statewide standards puts public health at
risk, creates an uneven playing field for the industry, and
does not accommodate reciprocity between local jurisdictions
of registered practitioners. This bill is intended to prevent
"back-street" tattooing and piercing in unsanitary sites by
unregistered practitioners and set forth appropriate
regulatory standards for all industry stakeholders.
2)BACKGROUND . The CCLHO is an organization of all legally
appointed health officers in the state that was created by the
Legislature in 1995 specifically to consult with, advise, and
make recommendations to state departments, boards, commissions
and officials of federal, state, and local government, the
Legislature, and any other organization or association on
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matters affecting health. Pursuant to AB 186 (Brown), Chapter
742, Statutes of 1997, which establishes a statutory scheme to
regulate body art practitioners, CCLHO is directed to
establish sanitation and safety guidelines and DPH is required
to review and adopt them as standards. According to the
CCLHO, it has been working with an affiliate organization, the
California Conference of Directors of Environmental Health,
for over 10 years to draft these guidelines and urge DPH to
adopt them as standards. CCLHO states that it has been
concerned that the draft guidelines would be unenforceable and
considered "underground" regulations unless formally adopted
by DPH. However, in January 2008, DPH issued a memo
concluding that regulations are not necessary as current law
does not explicitly require DPH to adopt these standards. DPH
contends in the memo that while current law makes reference to
the adoption of these standards by DPH, these references do
not reflect the intent by the Legislature for DPH to adopt
regulations. Rather, DPH maintains in the memo that it was
the intent of the Legislature that, following DPH's review and
consultation of the standards established by the CCLHO, DPH
would distribute the standards to each CHD.
3)LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL OPINION . In response to the memo from
DPH, the CCLHO obtained an opinion from the Office of
Legislative Counsel in October 2008 to determine whether DPH's
decision not to adopt the CCLHO standards as state regulations
precluded enforcement of the standards by a county that has
not adopted them as local regulations. Based on an
examination of the legislative history of AB 186, which
changed the entity required to establish the standards from
DPH to the CCLHO, Legislative Counsel opined that the
Legislature did not intend to require DPH to adopt the
standards. Consequently, Legislative Counsel concluded that
DPH is not required to adopt the CCLHO standards in order for
those standards to be enforceable.
4)LOCAL ORDINANCES . According to the sponsor, in the absence of
statewide standards, several local governments in California
have enacted comprehensive body art ordinances, including Los
Angeles, Orange, Monterey, San Francisco, Santa Clara, San
Mateo, and San Diego. Additional ordinances are under
consideration in other counties, such as Sonoma, Kern, and
Marin.
5)PRIOR LEGISLATION .
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a) AB 517 (Ma) of 2009, which was substantively identical
to this bill, would have established the Safe Body Art Act
to provide comprehensive statewide regulations on the body
art industry. In his veto message, Governor Schwarzenegger
stated that he did not see a compelling need for additional
legislation, given that body art guidelines were developed
several years ago, local jurisdictions have the option to
establish these requirements in their own county, and many
have chosen to do so.
b) AB 186 (Brown), Chapter 742, Statutes of 1997, requires
the CCLHO to establish safety and sterilization standards
for body art practitioners; requires practitioners to
register with and pay a fee to the LEA in their
jurisdiction; requires LEAs to conduct annual inspections;
and, establishes a task force to recommend legislation to
address the health of persons seeking tattooing, body
piercing, and permanent cosmetics.
c) SB 1360 (Committee on Health and Human Services),
Chapter 415, Statutes of 1995, creates the CCLHO to serve
as an advisory body to specified entities on matters
affecting health.
6)SUPPORT . CAEHA notes in support that this bill is a
culmination of collaborative efforts between public health and
environmental health representatives, individual
practitioners, and body art trade associations to ensure that
statewide standards are not only protective of public health,
but fair and reasonably enforceable. The Blood Centers of
California write in support that the minimum standards
required in this bill will enable blood centers to tap into a
huge potential donor source from otherwise healthy adults with
body art and piercings. Several individual CHDs add that by
clearly establishing scope of local authority, practitioner
registration requirements, and consistent enforcement of
mobile and fixed body art sites, this bill represents a
significant step in the way body art is regulated and helps to
protect the health of practitioners and their clients.
7)POLICY COMMENT . This bill is substantially similar to AB 517
(Ma) of 2009 which was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger. The
author may wish to address the extent to which this bill
addresses the Governor's concerns.
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Association of Environmental Health Administrators
(sponsor)
Blood Centers of California
Body Manipulations
California Alliance for the Promotion of Safe Body Art
Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services
Mariposa County Health Department
San Francisco Department of Public Health
Santa Clara County Public Health Department
Yolo County Health Department
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Cassie Rafanan / HEALTH / (916)
319-2097