BILL NUMBER: SB 443 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 5, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 2, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Senator Pavley
FEBRUARY 26, 2009
An act relating to public health.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 443, as amended, Pavley. Supermarkets: cleaning products:
risk assessment. reviews.
Existing law regulates environmental health issues, including
food, drugs, occupational safety, and consumer products.
This bill would require the Office of Environmental Health Hazard
Assessment (OEHHA) to conduct screening-level risk
assessments reviews , as defined, that evaluate
the potential harm to the public, supermarket employees, custodial
staff, and the environment from cleaning products that are used to
clean supermarkets. This bill would prohibit the reviews from
duplicating or overlapping or conflicting with existing statutory and
regulatory requirements and programs. This bill would require,
when an assessment a review is being
performed, a supermarket and a manufacturer of a cleaning product to
provide specified information regarding cleaning products to the
OEHHA upon request. The bill would require the OEHHA to compile a
report, by December 31, 2011, of the results of the
assessments reviews and post the report on its
Internet Web site .
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) The potential health and safety hazards related to the use of
corrosive and hazardous chemicals currently used for purposes of
cleaning a supermarket, where both packaged and open food products
and fresh produce are stored and displayed, is an urgent concern that
needs to be evaluated and understood as soon as possible so that the
state may take action to prevent public hazards in a timely manner.
(b) Some of the chemicals commonly used in supermarket cleaning
products are known to cause serious human health problems. For
example, 2-Butoxyethanol, a carcinogen that causes reproductive
damage and liver and kidney damage, and can break down red blood
cells, is an active ingredient in some supermarket cleaning products.
(c) The California Environmental Protection Agency's Office of
Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), conducts health
screening assessments of chemicals that could be of concern, and is
already conducting studies to evaluate chemical emissions in some
products used by the state at the request of the Department of
General Services.
(d) Given OEHHA's overall mission to protect and enhance public
health and the environment by scientific evaluation of risks posed by
hazardous substances, these evaluations are within OEHHA's mandates.
(e) The Legislature has declared in Section 113705 of the Health
and Safety Code, "[t]hat the public health interest requires that
there be uniform statewide health and sanitation standards for retail
food facilities to assure the people of this state that the food
will be pure, safe, and unadulterated."
SEC. 2. (a) For purposes of this section, the following
definitions shall apply:
(1) "Office" means the Office of Environmental Health Hazard
Assessment.
(2) "Screening-level risk assessment" or "assessment" means
(2) "Review" means an indepth
analysis of a substance to determine whether the substance is toxic
or capable of becoming toxic. An assessment A
review shall include an evaluation of any known environmental
concentrations of a substance, as well as predictions of
environmental concentrations of the substance from releases resulting
from its production, processing, uses, and disposal, and its
environmental fate evaluated on the basis of intrinsic physical and
chemical properties, environmental mobility, and persistence.
(3) "Supermarket" has the same meaning as defined in Section
14526.5 of the Public Resources Code.
(b) (1) The reviews conducted pursuant to subdivision (c) shall
not duplicate or overlap or conflict with existing statutory and
regulatory requirements and programs.
(2) In accordance with paragraph (1), the office shall consult
with the Department of Pesticide Regulation, the State Air Resources
Board, Department of Toxic Substances Control, Department of General
Services, Department of Industrial Relations, and other state or
federal agencies with statutory and regulatory authority over
chemicals and chemical products.
(b)
(c) During the 2010 calendar year, the office shall
conduct screening-level risk assessments
reviews that will evaluate the potential harm to the public,
supermarket employees, custodial workers, and the environment that
may be in contact with a chemical or chemical product used for
purposes of cleaning a supermarket. In particular, the
assessments reviews shall evaluate the effects
of the chemicals or chemical products on food safety for consumers
and air toxicity levels.
(c)
(d) For purposes of assisting the office to conduct the
assessment reviews required by
subdivision (b) (c) , and upon the
request of the office:
(1) A supermarket shall provide the office with a list of cleaning
products used at the supermarket.
(2) A manufacturer of a cleaning product shall provide the office
with information regarding the formulation of the cleaning product
and any other information required to conduct the assessment
a review . The office shall treat all
information provided by a manufacturer as confidential and the
information shall be exempt from disclosure under the California
Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 6250) of
Division 7 of Title 1) 1 of the
Government Code Code) .
(d)
(e) The results of each assessment
review required by subdivision (b)
(c) , shall be published in a report that the office shall
make publicly available and provide to a supermarket whose cleaning
products have been evaluated. The office shall complete a draft of
the report on or before July 1, 2011, and submit the draft report to
the Environmental Policy Council for review and comment. The office
shall also make the draft report available on its Internet Web site
for purposes of public comment. The office shall issue , and
post on its Internet Web site, the final report on or before
December 31, 2011. The report shall do both of the following:
(1) Include recommendations regarding methods to mitigate
any potential hazards posed by chemicals and chemical
products, and possible alternative products for use by a supermarket
that will maintain public health standards for sanitation and also
protect consumers, supermarket employees, custodial workers, and the
environment for any toxic or hazardous exposures.
(2) Identify data gaps on ingredients and formulations of
supermarket cleaning products.