BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1513
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Date of Hearing: May 2, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 1513 (Allen) - As Amended: April 17, 2012
Policy Committee: HealthVote:13 - 5
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill revises the California Retail Food Code (CRFC), which
governs all aspects of retail food safety and sanitation, to
include sanitation and safety requirements for indoor and
outdoor playgrounds on the premises of retail food facilities.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires a playground on the premises of a retail food
facility to meet the same standard of cleanliness that exists
for all other areas of the facility, except food handling and
preparation areas.
2)Subjects a retail food facility with a playground to all of
the following requirements:
a) Develop a plan to ensure that indoor playground areas
are kept clean and free of hazardous conditions, including,
but not limited to, cracked or broken playground
structures.
b) Display, or furnish upon request, the retail food
facility's playground maintenance policy and dates on which
the playground was last inspected and cleaned.
c) Prohibit customers from taking food directly on
playground structures, including climbing structures and
slides, except that food may be taken to and consumed
within rest or observation areas in or near the playground
area.
FISCAL EFFECT
AB 1513
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Costs associated with this legislation would be minor and
absorbable within existing resources.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . The intent of this legislation is to ensure that the
same sanitation and safety rules that apply to other parts of
food service facilities also apply to any indoor or outdoor
play structures. The author maintains that CRFC lacks clarity
with respect to ensuring that playgrounds are sufficiently
clean and safe for use by children. This bill would clarify
that playgrounds must be treated as part of the food
facilitys' premises.
2)Background . The genesis for this legislation comes from an
organization called Kids Play Safe (KPS) which has tested the
safety and cleanliness of restaurant playgrounds in 11 states,
including California. The samples they have collected and
tested revealed the widespread presence of an array of
pathogens, from coliform (fecal) bacteria to staphylococcus
and acinetobacter lwoffii (meningitis), at levels that
indicate these playgrounds are not disinfected as frequently
as necessary.
KPS also reports that they have identified maintenance
problems with these structures including broken second-story
windows, cracks in slides and tubes, torn netting, missing
bolts and screws, and graffiti.
Estimates indicate that there are more than 15,000 of these
facilities in operation nationwide, each with an average of 50
children per day at play.
Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)
319-2081