BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1782
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1782 (Hill)
As Introduced February 21, 2012
Majority vote
BUSINESS & PROFESSIONS 9-0
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|Ayes:|Hayashi, Bill Berryhill, | | |
| |Allen, Butler, Eng, | | |
| |Hagman, Hill, Ma, Smyth | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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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)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 by the
Legislative Counsel.
AB 1782
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COMMENTS : According to the author, "AB 1782 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.
"The weighmaster certificate records only a subset of the
information DPH requires. DPH's requirements are more stringent
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.
"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
AB 1782
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$10,000 per day per violation."
Analysis Prepared by : Rebecca May / B.,P. & C.P. / (916)
319-3301
FN:
0003191