BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE HEALTH
COMMITTEE ANALYSIS
Senator Elaine K. Alquist, Chair
BILL NO: AB 1863
A
AUTHOR: Gaines
B
AMENDED: As Introduced
HEARING DATE: June 9, 2010
REFERRAL: Environmental Quality
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CONSULTANT:
8
Hansel/
6
3
SUBJECT
Diesel generators: health facilities
SUMMARY
Extends until January 1, 2016 existing requirements that
health facilities test diesel backup generators in
accordance with standards set by The Joint Commission.
CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW
Existing law:
Provides for the licensure of health care facilities,
including hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and
intermediate care facilities, by the Department of Public
Health (DPH).
Provides, through regulation, that specified health
facilities maintain backup generators to provide emergency
lighting and power supplies in case of a power failure.
Until January 1, 2011, requires health facilities to meet
standards that are based on those set by The Joint
Commission for testing of backup diesel generators. These
Continued---
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standards generally require health facilities to test each
of their backup generators once per month in accordance
with specified procedures.
Requires health facilities to submit data collected about
diesel backup generator operation to DPH, upon request.
Requires air pollution control districts to enforce rules
and regulations necessary to achieve and maintain
compliance by emission sources with state and federal
ambient air quality standards.
Limits, under existing regulations, the maximum number of
hours emergency backup generators may be operated for
purposes of maintenance and testing of the generators.
This bill:
Extends until January 1, 2016 existing requirements that
health facilities comply with standards set by The Joint
Commission for testing diesel backup generators and submit
to the Department of Public Health (DPH), upon request,
related data collected about generator operation.
FISCAL IMPACT
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, there
would be no direct fiscal impact associated with requiring
hospitals to continue to meet current standards for testing
of backup generators.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
Health facilities are required to maintain backup
generators to provide emergency lighting and power supplies
in case of a power failure. In 2003, the California
Hospital
Association sponsored AB 390 (Montanez), Chapter 676,
Statutes of 2003, to address concerns that hospitals were
over-testing their diesel backup generators, resulting in
unnecessary pollution. Prior to 2003, the requirements for
testing generators in California health facilities were
contained in 25-year old regulations, which required a
weekly or biweekly one-half hour test of generators.
Following hurricane Katrina, The Joint Commission, the
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nation's largest health care accrediting entity, revised
its diesel testing standards. The Joint Commission
determined that monthly testing under certain specified
duration and load conditions was adequate.
AB 390 aligned California law with The Joint Commission
standards and established a sunset date for the new
standards of January 1, 2009. AB 2216 (Gaines), Chapter
232, Statutes of 2008, extended the AB 390 sunset date to
January 1, 2011, with the expectation that the Department
of Health Services (now DPH) would adopt regulations to
update its standards by then. DPH now indicates it will be
2016 before the regulations are adopted.
Health facilities subject to testing requirements for
backup generators include acute care hospitals, acute
psychiatric hospitals, skilled nursing facilities,
intermediate care facilities, special hospitals,
intermediate care facilities for the developmentally
disabled, and nursing facilities.
Health effects of diesel engine emissions
Diesel engines emit a complex mixture of air pollutants,
including particulate matter. In 1998, California Air
Resource Board (CARB) identified diesel particulate matter
as a toxic air contaminant based on its potential to cause
cancer and other adverse health effects. In addition to
particulate matter, emissions from diesel engines include
over 40 other cancer-causing substances.
Diesel exhaust has acute and chronic effects on
respiratory, neurological, and immune systems, especially
for vulnerable groups such as children and the elderly.
People who are ill, including hospital patients, are at
higher risk of injury and illness due to exposure to diesel
exhaust.
Regulations of the California Air Resources Board (CARB)
limit the maximum number of hours emergency backup
generators may be operated for purposes of maintenance and
testing. The number of allowed hours varies based on the
age, size, and emission rate of the generator. Health care
facilities are subject to minimum testing requirements as a
condition of licensure, but are also subject to the CARB
limits on nonemergency operation.
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Prior legislation
AB 390 ( Montanez), Chapter 676, Statutes of 2003, required
health facilities, until January 1, 2009, to test their
diesel backup generators according to standards set by The
Joint Commission. Provides that, during a week when the
diesel backup generator is not being tested, the generator
must be started, with or without a load, at least once and
operated for the length of time it takes the coolant
temperature to stabilize.
AB 2216 (Gaines), Chapter 232, Statutes of 2008, extended
until January 1, 2011, the requirement that health
facilities meet the most recent standards set by The Joint
Commission for testing of backup diesel generators. The
bill additionally deleted the requirement that health
facility diesel backup generators be started during weeks
when the generator is not being tested.
Arguments in support
The California Hospital Association (CHA) states that,
before the enactment of AB 390 in 2003, testing
requirements for backup generators were contained in
25-year old regulations that did not adequately address air
quality impacts. Because DPH (formerly the Department of
Health Services) had not updated the regulations, hospitals
were being fined for air quality violations. AB 1863
merely extends the sunset date on the newer standards for
testing, as contained in AB 390 and modified by AB 2216, in
order to allow DPH additional time to update its
regulations in this area.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District states that
AB 1863 will decrease diesel emissions and reduce the toxic
risk in areas surrounding hospitals.
PRIOR ACTIONS
Assembly Health Committee 18-0
Assembly Appropriations Committee15-0
Assembly Floor 74-0
COMMENTS
1. Double referral. This bill has been double referred to
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the Environmental Quality Committee.
POSITIONS
Support: California Hospital Association (Sponsor)
Bay Area Air Quality Management District
South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD)
Oppose: None received