BILL ANALYSIS
AB 599
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 599 (Hall)
As Amended July 13, 2009
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |76-0 |(May 18, 2009) |SENATE: |36-0 |(August 31, |
| | | | | |2009) |
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Original Committee Reference: HEALTH
SUMMARY : Requires, by December 31, 2010, the Forensic Alcohol
Review Committee (Review Committee) to submit to the California
Health and Human Services Agency (CHHSA) revisions to forensic
alcohol laboratory regulations, and provides that until CHHSA
adopts these revisions, a forensic alcohol laboratory that is
accredited by the American Society of Crime Laboratory
Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board (ASCLD/LAB) in forensic
alcohol analysis satisfies requirements for external proficiency
testing.
The Senate amendments :
1)Require, by December 31, 2010, the Review Committee to submit
a summary of recommended revisions to CHHSA.
2)Provide that until the effective date of regulations adopted
by CHHSA pursuant to the Review Committee's recommendations,
compliance with the standards of ASCLD/LAB satisfy the
requirements for external proficiency tests.
EXISTING LAW requires:
1)Laboratories engaged in forensic alcohol analysis by or for
law enforcement agencies for the purposes of determining
alcohol concentration in persons involved in traffic accidents
or violations (forensic alcohol laboratories) to comply with
the Department of Public Health (DPH) regulations in existence
on December 31, 2004, until those regulations are revised, as
specified.
2)Forensic alcohol laboratories to follow the ASCLD/LAB
guidelines for annual external proficiency testing, as
specified. (Proficiency testing in forensic alcohol analysis
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is a quality assurance activity in which a laboratory or
analyst analyzes samples to determine whether they correctly
identify the alcohol concentration of the samples.)
3)DPH to establish the Review Committee with specified
membership to review DPH regulations concerning forensic
alcohol laboratories, suggest revisions, and provide these
suggested revisions to CHHSA for approval. Requires DPH to
adopt CHHSA-approved recommendations of the Review Committee.
Existing Regulations :
1)Specify the procedures and conditions for collecting blood,
urine, and breath samples for alcohol analysis.
2)Establish forensic alcohol laboratory performance standards
for traffic law enforcement, among others, as evaluated by DPH
through proficiency tests.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill exempted a laboratory that
is accredited in forensic alcohol analysis by ASCLD/LAB or by
another accrediting body approved by the Review Committee from
oversight by DPH.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS : The author contends that this bill is needed because
the removal of DPH oversight of ASCLD/LAB accredited
laboratories would eliminate the duplicative process that is now
in place, allowing for more regular inspection by DPH of
non-accredited laboratories. The sponsor's primary concern with
duplicative processes is proficiency tests required by DPH.
According to DPH, in California, 38 forensic alcohol
laboratories annually conduct approximately 200,000 alcohol
tests, including breath alcohol tests conducted by law
enforcement officials. Twenty-six of the 38 forensic alcohol
laboratories are accredited by ASCLD/LAB.
According to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), there were
nearly 204,000 driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI)
arrests in California in 2007, for a rate of 863 per 100,000
licensed drivers. Of all DUI arrests, more than 80% led to
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convictions for DUI or alcohol-related reckless driving. DMV
reports that the 1,489 alcohol-involved fatalities represented
37.5% of the state's motor vehicle-related deaths. DMV also
reports there were 30,783 traffic injuries that involved alcohol
use.
DPH states the conviction and removal of drunk drivers from
California's streets and highways provides important public
health and safety benefits. DPH notes that in 2005,
alcohol-related collisions killed 1,719 California residents and
thousands more were injured. The goals of the DPH Forensic
Alcohol Program are to ensure the competency of forensic alcohol
laboratories, the qualifications of the employees of the
laboratories, and the accuracy of breath alcohol testing
procedures used by law enforcement agencies. DPH states that
accuracy is critically important in forensic alcohol testing,
where the difference between a blood alcohol concentration of
0.07% and 0.08% determines whether a law has been violated.
DPH currently requires two proficiency testing events of each
forensic alcohol laboratory each year, and laboratories are
required to participate in an additional ASCLD/LAB-approved
proficiency test and provide these results to DPH.
Analysis Prepared by : Allegra Kim / HEALTH / (916) 319-2097
FN: 0002375