BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 599|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 599
Author: Hall (D)
Amended: 7/13/09 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE : 10-0, 7/8/09
AYES: Alquist, Strickland, Aanestad, Cedillo, Cox,
DeSaulnier, Leno, Maldonado, Negrete McLeod, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Pavley
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 5/18/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Forensic blood alcohol testing laboratories
SOURCE : California Association of Crime Laboratory
Directors
DIGEST : This bill provides that, until the effective
date of specified regulatory changes, accreditation on the
forensic alcohol analysis discipline or subdiscipline by
the American Society of Crime Laboratory
Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board is sufficient to
comply with proficiency testing requirements. This bill
also requires the review committee established by the
Department of Public Health to submit its summary of
revisions of the regulations to the Health and Human
Services Agency by December 31, 2010.
CONTINUED
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ANALYSIS :
Existing Law
1. Requires laboratories that perform forensic alcohol
analysis tests by or for law enforcement agencies on
blood, urine, tissue, or breath samples to comply with
regulations pertaining to competence, staffing, and
laboratory procedures, as specified, but provides that
such laboratories shall not be licensed by the
Department of Public Health (DPH).
2. Requires DPH to establish a forensic alcohol review
committee consisting of law enforcement officials,
defense attorneys, coroners and other members, as
specified, to evaluate and recommend revisions to
regulations that the committee determines are necessary
to ensure the competence of laboratories and employees
to prepare, analyze, and report the results of tests.
3. Requires all laboratories that perform forensic alcohol
analysis tests by or for law enforcement agencies to
follow guidelines for proficiency testing established by
the American Society of Crime Laboratory
Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board (ASCLD/LAB).
4. Requires DPH to establish a review committee to review
the regulations and determine revisions that will limit
those regulations to those that the review committee
determines are reasonably necessary to ensure the
competence of the laboratories and employees to prepare,
analyze, and report the results of the tests and comply
with applicable laws and to submit a summary of
revisions to the Health and Human Services Agency
(HHSA).
Existing State Regulations
1. Establish qualifications for forensic alcohol
supervisors, forensic alcohol analysts, or forensic
alcohol analyst trainees.
2. Require forensic laboratories to:
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A. Meet established laboratory performance and
procedure standards.
B. Employ at least one forensic alcohol supervisor.
C. Maintain a quality control program in forensic
alcohol analysis procedures.
D. Demonstrate satisfactory performance in a
proficiency testing program conducted by, or approved
by, DPH, to evaluate the accuracy of the forensic
alcohol analyses performed by the laboratory.
E. Maintain records pertaining to personnel, analysis
results, equipment, proficiency testing.
F. Pass on-site inspections by the DPH.
Background
According to DPH, 38 forensic alcohol laboratories in
California conduct alcohol analysis and other forensic
tests. City, county, and state governmental law
enforcement agencies operate 28 of these forensic alcohol
laboratories, and 10 are private laboratories. Some of the
private laboratories provide testing services for law
enforcement through contractual arrangements with cities
and counties. Twenty-six of the forensic alcohol
laboratories (all governmental) are accredited by
ASCLD/LAB. The 38 forensic alcohol laboratories annually
conduct approximately 200,000 alcohol tests.
DPH's regulations are designed to ensure the competency of
local forensic alcohol laboratories, the qualifications of
the employees of the laboratories, and the accuracy of
breath alcohol testing procedures used by law enforcement
agencies, which affects the admissibility of tests into
evidence in drunk driving cases.
SB 1623 (Johnson), Chapter 337, Statutes of 2004, removed
DPH's authority to license the laboratories. Prior to
this, DPH operated a forensic alcohol laboratory licensing
and regulatory program for more than 30 years. Current
statute still requires forensic alcohol labs to comply with
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all of DPH's regulations, and requires DPH to enforce the
regulations.
AB 1623 also established a review committee to evaluate
DPH's regulations pertaining to forensic alcohol testing in
order to determine revisions that the review committee
determines are reasonably necessary. Under current
statute, the HHSA can disapprove revisions proposed by the
review committee, but neither it or DPH can promulgate
regulations on its own.
DPH states that the review committee is composed of
representatives of groups involved in, or affected by,
DPH's regulations (including the sponsor of this bill, the
California Association of Crime Lab Directors). The
committee has met nine times, but has not completed its
determinations.
DPH also states that, with the passage of SB 1623, it has
ceased routine onsite inspections of forensic alcohol labs,
but it maintains authority to conduct inspections for
cause, and is still required to regulate forensic alcohol
laboratories. DPH annually requires two proficiency tests
of each forensic alcohol laboratory, and laboratories are
required to participate in an additional ASCLD/LAB-approved
proficiency test and provide these results to DPH.
According to DPH, the conviction and removal of drunk
drivers from California's streets and highways provides
important public health and safety benefits. In 2005,
1,719 California residents were killed in alcohol-related
crashes and thousands more were injured. Chemical testing
to determine the concentration of alcohol inn the blood of
persons involved in traffic violations is a critical
component of the state's efforts to control drunk driving.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/19/09)
California Association of Crime Laboratory Directors
(source)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
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Employees, AFL-CIO
California Peace Officers' Association
California State Sheriff's Association
District Attorney of Santa Clara County
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
Sheriff-Coroner, San Bernardino County
San Diego County Sheriff's Department
San Francisco Police Department
Orange County Sheriff's Department
Ventura County Sheriff's Department
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/19/09)
Department of Public Health
California Association for Medical Laboratory Technology
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong,
Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick,
Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill,
Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Krekorian, Lieu,
Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Nava,
Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, John A. Perez, V. Manuel
Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Silva, Skinner, Smyth,
Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres,
Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada, Bass
NO VOTE RECORDED: Eng, Monning, Price, Saldana
CTW:cm 8/19/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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