BILL NUMBER: AB 1660	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Salas

                        JANUARY 19, 2010

   An act to amend Section 21662.4 of the Public Utilities Code,
relating to airports.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1660, as introduced, Salas. Airports: emergency aircraft
flights for medical purposes.
   Existing law exempts an emergency aircraft flight for medical
purposes, as defined, by law enforcement, fire fighting, military, or
certain other persons, from local ordinances adopted by a city,
county, or city and county, that restrict flight departures and
arrivals to particular hours of the day or night, that restrict the
departure or arrival of aircraft based upon the aircraft's noise
level, or that restrict the operation of certain types of aircraft.
   This bill would also exempt from the above types of local
ordinances the aircraft or equipment used during a medical emergency,
or emergency personnel and first responders involved in treating the
medical emergency, for purposes of returning to its base of
operation. The bill would also make a clarifying change.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 21662.4 of the Public Utilities Code is amended
to read:
   21662.4.  (a) Emergency aircraft flights for medical purposes by
law enforcement, fire fighting, military, or other persons who
provide emergency flights for medical purposes are exempt from local
ordinances adopted by a city, county, or city and county, whether
general law or chartered, that restrict flight departures and
arrivals to particular hours of the day or night, that restrict the
departure or arrival of aircraft based upon the aircraft's noise
level, or that restrict the operation of certain types of aircraft.
   (b) As used in this section, "emergency aircraft flights for
medical purposes" are those flights in which undue delay would
threaten a patient's life. "Emergency aircraft flights for medical
purposes" include, but are not limited to, flights for the
transportation of  all   any  of the
following:
   (1) Patients accompanied by licensed or certificated medical
attendants such as paramedics, nurses, physicians, and respiratory
therapists.
   (2) Surgical transplant teams for the purpose of procuring human
organs for reimplantation in recipients.
   (3) Organ procurement agency coordinators responding to a
potential donor.
   (4) Temporarily viable human organs such as a heart, liver, lungs,
kidneys, and pancreas, and human tissue, blood, or blood components.

   (5) Human tissue and blood samples for clinical testing to
determine compatibility between a donor and a recipient.
   (6) Mechanical adjuncts or biological replacements for human
organs.
   (7) Medical equipment and supplies. 
   (8) Aircraft or equipment used during a medical emergency, or
emergency personnel and first responders involved in treating the
medical emergency, for the purpose of returning to its base of
operation. 
   "Emergency aircraft flights for medical purposes" do not include
the transportation of medical personnel to attend seminars,
conferences, or speaking appearances in which undue delay would not
jeopardize any patient's medical condition.
   (c)  (1)    Written information concerning the
emergency shall be submitted to the airport proprietor for all
emergency aircraft flights within 72 hours prior or subsequent to the
departure or arrival of the aircraft. For all emergency aircraft
flights for medical purposes, the information shall include the
patient's name and address, the names of medical attendants or
personnel and the discipline in which they are licensed or hold a
certificate to practice, a signed statement by the attending
physician specifying that a medical emergency was involved, the
requesting medical facility or agency, the intended destination, the
type and registration number of the aircraft, and the names of all
flight crew members  , provided that the disclosure is authorized
by and made in a manner consistent with the standards with respect
to the privacy of individually identifiable health information of
Title II (commencing with Sec   tion   200) of the
federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996
(P   ublic   L   aw   . 104-191),
the regulations issued by the United States Department of Health and
Human Services pursuant to that act (45 C.F.R. Pts   .
  160 and 164), and the Confidentiality of Medical
Information Act (Part 2.6   (commencing   with
Section 56) of Division 1 of the   Civil Code)  .

   This 
    (2)     This  subdivision does not
apply to emergency aircraft flights for medical purposes by law
enforcement, fire fighting, or military personnel.
   (d) Any airport that incurs additional expenses in order to
accommodate the arrival or departure of emergency aircraft flights
for medical purposes may charge the patient on whose behalf the
flight is made, or any organization or entity which has volunteered
to reimburse the airport, for those expenses.
   (e) For emergency aircraft flights for medical purposes, when two
airports are located in the same geographical area, and one of the
airports is a "closed" or restricted airport, the Legislature
encourages the use of the "open" or unrestricted airport when
feasible, rather than using the "closed" or restricted airport.
   (f) When leasing aircraft for flights for emergency medical
purposes, the Legislature encourages the use, when feasible, of
aircraft which comply with local noise ordinances.