BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1782
Page 1
Date of Hearing: March 27, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS AND CONSUMER
PROTECTION
Mary Hayashi, Chair
AB 1782 (Hill) - As Introduced: February 21, 2012
SUBJECT : Weighmasters: exemptions.
SUMMARY : Specifies that facilities handling medical waste in
accordance with the provisions of the Medical Waste Management
Act (Act) are not weighmasters.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Defines a weighmaster as any person who weighs, measures, or
counts any commodity and issues a statement of memorandum of
the weight, measure, or count which is used as the basis for
either the purchase or sale of that commodity or charge for
service.
2)Requires weighmasters to obtain a license with the Division of
Measurement Standards under the California Department of Food
and Agriculture (CDFA).
3)Specifies certain persons who weigh and measure commodities
but are not weighmasters, such as: retailers weighing
commodities for sale in retail stores in the presence of
consumers; newspaper publishers weighing newspapers for sale
to dealers; and, recycling centers weighing salvage materials
for specified purposes.
4)Requires weighmasters to keep, and preserve for four years,
all copies of certificates issued and make them available for
inspection, as specified.
5)Governs the management of medical waste under the Act and
requires medical waste haulers to provide specified tacking
data to the California Department of Public Health (DPH).
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. This bill is keyed non-fiscal.
COMMENTS :
Purpose of this bill . According to the author, "AB 1782
AB 1782
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eliminates the duplicative requirement that medical waste
handlers record parcel weight information on weighmaster
certificates, as this information is already collected and
transmitted electronically to DPH. To minimize public exposure
to potential biological hazards, California meticulously tracks
medical waste from the source of generation to the treatment
facility. The information that DPH collects includes quantity
and type of waste and the dates the material leaves the
generating facility, arrives at the treatment facility, and
passes through any transfer facilities on the way.
"As a part of DPH's tracking system, licensed medical waste
haulers collect containers from waste generators and transport
them to a medical waste processing facility where they are
weighed. Each container has a bar code label, which identifies
the customer. As each container is weighed, the barcode is
scanned. Both the customer information and weight are recorded
electronically for reporting and billing purposes. Reports are
submitted to DPH on a quarterly basis and customers are billed
monthly. Both waste haulers and waste treatment facilities are
responsible for transmitting information to DPH, creating an
extra level of accountability for both parties.
"Besides DPH, CDFA also has jurisdiction over medical waste
through the weighmaster program. The weighmaster program exists
to certify that, in a commercial transaction where the price
depends on the weight, the weight is accurate. A weighmaster
may be a person or a business, and employees who perform the
actual weighing must be listed on the weighmaster application as
'deputy weighmasters.' Despite the title, no particular
training is necessary, and one can become a weighmaster by
simply completing the application and paying the application
fee.
"In certifying the weight of a parcel involved in a commercial
transaction, the weighmaster must issue a certificate. These
certificates are to be retained by the weighmaster for 4 years
and must be produced should a weight and measures official wish
to inspect them. Unlike at DPH, however, there is no
requirement that weighmaster certificates be transmitted to
CDFA, and CDFA has never, to the author's knowledge, asked to
inspect medical waste weighmaster certificates.
"The weighmaster certificate records only a subset of the
information DPH requires. DPH's requirements are more stringent
AB 1782
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than CDFA's, its electronic transmittal makes the system more
convenient and easier to use, and the information collected is
better tailored to the goal of protecting public health. The
development of DPH's medical waste tracking system has
effectively made CDFA's requirements for medical waste obsolete.
AB 1782 eliminates the duplicative requirement to have a
licensed weighmaster certify a medical waste parcel's weight.
"Though many businesses are licensed as weighmasters, law allows
for exemptions from the certificate requirement across a broad
range of industries, such as newspaper publishing, textiles,
garbage and refuse disposal, and recycling redemption.
"The medical waste industry is somewhat unique, and writing out
a weighmaster certificate for each parcel of medical waste is
more onerous than most material that is transported by the
truckload. While building materials, for instance, are often
weighed on the truck and use an actual or assumed truck tare
weight, medical waste must be transported in leak-resistant,
fully enclosed rigid containers, and each container is weighed
and scanned separately upon off-loading.
"Current law requires that the scales used in medical waste
transactions be certified, or 'sealed,' by a CDFA-certified
sealer, and that scale inspection and sealing occur on an annual
basis. This bill does not eliminate the sealing requirement,
nor does it change the fact that a person who knowingly uses an
incorrect weighing device for commercial purposes is guilty of a
misdemeanor. Should a waste hauler intentionally misrepresent
the weight of a parcel of waste, either on the label or through
a report to DPH, that person is subject to penalties of up to
$10,000 per day per violation.
"DPH's medical waste tracking system protects public health and
is tailored for the needs of the medical waste disposal
industry. Neither is true of the weighmaster program.
Producing, signing, and retaining weighmaster certificates takes
up employee time and has no demonstrable benefit. AB 1782
leaves waste handlers to focus on their primary
responsibility-the safe handling of medical waste."
Background . Administered under CDFA, the Weighmaster
Enforcement Program assures that commercial transactions based
on quantities certified on a weighmaster certificate are
accurate. The program licenses as weighmasters, individuals or
AB 1782
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firms who weigh or measure bulk commodities and issue
certificates of accuracy.
The Weighmaster Enforcement Program seeks to provide customer
confidence when buying or selling bulk products based on
quantities represented on a weighmaster certificate by ensuring
uniformity, fairness and honest competition in the marketplace.
A weighmaster is a person or business that weighs, measures, or
counts a commodity and issues a written statement of that
quantity, referred to as a weighmaster certificate. It is a
legal document used as the basis to buy or sell the commodity
described on the certificate.
All weighmaster certificates are required by law to have certain
information that must be completed prior to issuance. Some of
the required information includes the name of the licensed
weighmaster company and a description of the commodity weighed,
measured or counted. Certificates must be dated and signed by a
deputy weighmaster.
To obtain a license the person or business must complete the
application form and submit it with the proper fees and other
required information to CDFA. No person shall issue
certificates without first being licensed as a weighmaster.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Waste Management
Opposition
California Agricultural Commissioners and Sealers Association
Analysis Prepared by : Rebecca May / B.,P. & C.P. / (916)
319-3301