BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1863|
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CONSENT
Bill No: AB 1863
Author: Gaines (R)
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE : 5-0, 6/9/10
AYES: Alquist, Cedillo, Leno, Negrete McLeod, Pavley
NO VOTE RECORDED: Strickland, Aanestad, Cox, Romero
SENATE ENV. QUALITY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/28/10
AYES: Simitian, Runner, Corbett, Hancock, Lowenthal,
Pavley, Strickland
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 74-0, 4/22/10 (Consent) - See last page
for vote
SUBJECT : Diesel generators: health facilities
SOURCE : California Hospital Association
DIGEST : This bill extends, until January 1, 2016,
provisions of law related to resting diesel back-up
generators in hospitals, and extends provisions according
to national testing standards.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
CONTINUED
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1. Requires a health facility to test each of its diesel
backup generators 12 times a year with testing intervals
of not less than 20 days and not more than 40 days.
Requires that tests be conducted for at least 30
continuous minutes pursuant to either of the following:
A. A dynamic load that is at least 30 percent of the
nameplate rating (initial capability as stated on the
nameplate) of the generator.
B. A test conducted at less than 30 percent of the
nameplate rating of the generator, if the health
facility revises its existing documented management
plan to conform with the National Fire Protection
Association 110: Standard for Emergency and Standby
Power Systems, 2005 edition, testing and maintenance
activities. Requires these activities to include
inspection procedures for assessing the prime mover's
exhaust gas temperature against the minimum
temperature recommended by the manufacturer.
2. Requires if a diesel backup generator cannot be tested
pursuant to the requirements of either #1A or #1B above,
it must be tested for 30 continuous minutes at intervals
of not less than 20 days and not more than 40 days with
available Emergency Power Supply Systems load and tested
annually with supplemental loads of all of the following
in the following order for a total of two continuous
hours:
A. Twenty-five percent of nameplate rating for 30
minutes.
B. Fifty percent of nameplate rating for 30 minutes.
C. Seventy-five percent of nameplate rating for 60
minutes.
3. Requires health facilities to submit all data collected
about diesel backup generator operation to the
Department of Public Health (DPH), upon request.
4. Sunsets the requirements in #1, #2, and #3 above on
January 1, 2011.
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5. Requires the Air Resources Board (ARB) to develop a
program to reduce pollution from diesel engine
particulate matter emissions.
6. Authorizes each air pollution control district (air
district) to enforce rules and regulations to achieve
and maintain the state and federal ambient air quality
standards in all areas affected by emission sources
under their jurisdiction.
7. Authorizes each air district to require a person to
obtain a permit from the air district prior to building,
erecting, altering, replacing, operating, or using any
article, machine, equipment, or other contrivance that
may cause air contamination.
8. Provides, through regulation, that specified health
facilities maintain back-up generators to provide
emergency lighting and power supplies in case of a power
failure.
This bill extends, until January 1, 2016, the existing
requirements that health facilities use standards,
consistent with those currently set by The Joint Commission
(formerly the Joint Commission on Accreditation of
Healthcare Organizations, for testing diesel backup
generators and submit to DPH all related data collected
about generator operation, upon request.
Background
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
Healthcare Association (now 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
mandated under 25-year old Title 22 regulations which
require a weekly one-half hour test of generators.
Following Hurricane Katrina, The Joint Commission, the
nation's largest health care accrediting entity, studied
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diesel generator problems and revised its diesel testing
standards. The Joint Commission determined that monthly
testing under certain specified conditions regarding
duration and load was appropriate. AB 390 (Montanez)
aligns California with The Joint Commission standards and
establishes a sunset date of January 1, 2009, and AB 2216
(Gaines), Chapter 232, Statutes of 2008, extends the AB 390
sunset date to January 1, 2011 with the expectation that
the Licensing and Certification Division of the Department
of Health Services (now DPH) would address this issue in
regulation prior to the sunset. To date, DPH has not
addressed this issue by revising the section of the Title
22 regulations pertaining to backup diesel generator
testing. However, DPH has indicated that they anticipate
that the revised regulations can be promulgated by 2016.
Health facilities subject to the AB 390 and AB 2216
requirements 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.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/28/10)
The California Hospital Association (source)
Bay Area Quality Management District
South Coast Air Quality Management District
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The bill's sponsor, the California
Hospital Association (CHA), states that current law was
modified in 2003 through AB 390 and subsequently in 2008
with AB 2216 in response to concerns that hospitals were,
in accordance with 25-year-old regulations, over-testing
their backup generators. CHA argues that this bill clearly
states the current requirements under industry
accreditation guidelines and will reduce diesel particulate
matter in the environment and provide a clear testing path
for facilities.
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ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Bass, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block,
Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
DeVore, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong,
Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick,
Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill,
Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal,
Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello,
Nielsen, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas,
Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra
Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran,
Villines, Yamada, John A. Perez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Blumenfield, Caballero, Huber, Huffman,
Norby, Vacancy
CTW:mw 8/3/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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