BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
838 (Swanson)
Hearing Date: 8/27/2009 Amended: As Introduced
Consultant: Bob Franzoia Policy Vote: L&IR 4-2
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 838 would require the Occupational Safety and
Health Standards Board (OSHSB), by July 1, 2011, to adopt a
standard to protect workers from being exposed to excessive heat
indoors.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 Fund
Adoption of indoor heatUp to $135 Up to $256 General/
standard Special*
Enforcement of standard $293 $585 Special*
Appeals $59 $118 Special*
* General Fund for the OSHSB; Occupational Safety and Health
Fund for the Division of Occupational Safety and Health
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STAFF COMMENTS: SUSPENSE FILE.
The Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) estimates
implementing this bill will require two staff initially,
increasing to five staff permanently to adopt and enforce the
indoor heat standard and to hear appeals of citations issued for
violations of the standard.
To promulgate the standard, this analysis anticipates the need
for one associate governmental program analyst for the OSHSB and
one associate safety engineer for the Division of Occupational
Safety and Health (DOSH) in order to complete the necessary work
by July 1, 2011. Given that the standard is highly
controversial and subject to much debate, there would be a need
for continual updating and monitoring and communicating with
stakeholders as the potential exists for future amendment of the
standard.
For enforcement purposes, two safety engineers would be needed
after the standard is promulgated on July 1, 2011. Enforcement
of the standard is expected to increase inspections by
approximately 150 in the first year. Each safety engineer
conducts approximately 50 inspections annually with some
workload being absorbed by existing staff. It is anticipated
the citation rate would be approximately 75 percent the first
year and 40 to 50 percent annually ongoing. This would result
in approximately 113 citations the first year and 60 to 75
citations annually ongoing, as knowledge of the standard becomes
widespread to employers of workers that may be exposed to
excessive indoor heat.
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AB 838 (Swanson)
This analysis estimates that 100 percent of the citations would
be appealed in the year after the promulgation of the standard,
dropping to 50 percent annually. Between January 1, 2011 and
June 30, 2012, the Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board
(OSHAB) (a three-member, judicial body appointed by the Governor
that handles appeals from employers regarding citations issued
by DOSH for alleged violation of workplace safety and health
laws and regulations) would receive approximately 113 appeals
and 30 to 40 appeals beginning July 1, 2012 and ongoing. The
OSHAB would need a one third time administrative law judge and
one clerical to hear the appeals generated by enforcement.
As part of the state government trailer bill Chapter 12 /2009
(AB 12x4, Evans), the Director of Industrial Relations would be
authorized to levy a separate surcharge upon all employers, as
defined, for the purposes of deposit in the newly created
Occupational Safety and Health Fund. Chapter 12 requires that
the total amount of the surcharges be allocated between
employers in proportion to payroll respectively paid in the most
recent year for which payroll information is available. The
surcharge levied shall not exceed $52,000,000 in the 2009-10,
adjusted for as appropriate to reconcile any over/under
assessments from previous fiscal years, and shall not be
adjusted each year thereafter by more than the state-local
government deflator. The cap of $52,000,000 represents the
amount expended by the DOSH in 2008-09 for the enforcement of
workplace health and safety standards. With this cap, the DOSH
will be forced to begin prioritizing enforcement activities if
enforcement duties and costs exceed the cap as adjusted by the
deflator. For 2009-10, the deflator was 0.003 percent. For
2010-11, deflator is estimated to increase to 0.014 for an
increase of $728,000 in additional enforcement funding.
This bill is nearly identical to AB 1045 (Richardson) 2007 which
was vetoed by the Governor with the following message:
Two years ago, my administration worked with the Occupational
Safety and Health Standards Board to adopt the nation's first
outdoor heat regulations. Those regulations require employers
to provide anyone working outdoors with appropriate training,
provide sufficient quantities of water, and ensure access to
shade. When the board adopted those regulations it also said it
would commence a review of indoor worksites.
The board has conducted its review and is now considering the
appropriate means of protecting indoor workers from excessive
heat. This legislation, which proscribes specific requirements
upon any regulation adopted by the board, unnecessarily
circumvents the board's established rulemaking process. Just as
the outdoor heat standards were adopted via the regulatory
process and free of legislative interference, so too should any
indoor heat standard be adopted.