Amended in Assembly April 10, 2014

Amended in Assembly March 28, 2014

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1803

Introduced by Assembly Member Skinner

February 18, 2014

An act to amend Section 6716 of, and to add Sections 6717.1, 6717.2, 6717.3, 6717.4, 6717.5, and 6717.6 to, the Labor Code, relating to occupational safety and health.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1803, as amended, Skinner. Occupational safety and health: lead-related construction registration program.

Existing law requires the proposal, review, and adoption of standards and requirements to protect the health and safety of employees who engage in lead-related construction work.

This bill would establish a registration program that, with certain exceptions, would require employers and contractors who perform lead-related construction work, as defined, to register with the Division of Occupational Safety and Health before commencing work. The bill would require payment of an application fee for registration in an amount determined by the division as prescribed and would require annual renewal of the registration with the payment of a renewal fee established by the division. Under the bill, those fees would be deposited into the Lead Contractor Registration Fund, which the bill would create, with the moneys in the fund to be used, upon appropriation, for the purpose of investigating, registering, and renewing registrations for lead-related construction work. The bill would require an application to include specified information and a declaration that any information provided by the applicant is genuine, true, and correct to the best of the applicant’s knowledge, and would impose a civil penalty for false statements, enforceable by a public prosecutor. The bill would require the division to deny an application if it makes a specific determination and would authorize an employer or contractor to appeal that denial to the Director of Industrial Relations. The bill would establish administrative penalties to be imposed by the division for violations of these provisions.

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.  

Section 6716 of the Labor Code is amended to
read:

6716.  

(a) For the purposes of Sections 6717 to 6717.6,
inclusive, “lead-related construction work” means any begin delete of the
following: end delete

begin delete (1) end delete begin delete   end delete begin delete Any end delete construction, alteration, painting, demolition, salvage,
renovation, repair, or maintenance of any building or structure,
including preparation and cleanup, that, by using or disturbing
lead-containing material or soil, may result in significant exposure
of employees to lead as determined by the standard adopted
pursuant to Section 6717.

begin delete

(2) The transportation, disposal, storage, or containment of
materials containing lead on site or at a location at which
construction activities are performed.

end delete

(b) “Lead-related construction work,” as used in Sections 6717
to 6717.6, inclusive, does not include any activity related to the
manufacture or mining of lead or the installation or repair of
automotive materials containing lead.

SEC. 2.  

Section 6717.1 is added to the Labor Code, to read:

6717.1.  

(a) Any employer or contractor who will be engaging
in lead-related construction work, as defined in paragraphs (1) to
(7), inclusive, of subdivision (a) of Section 1532.1 of Title 8 of
the California Code of Regulations as adopted pursuant to Section
6717, or any successor to those provisions, shall apply for and
obtain a registration from the division before commencing work,
except as follows:

(1) For purposes of the registration under this section,
“lead-related construction work” means and refers to work
performed in the removal, demolition, or abatement of existing
materials and does not include the installation of new, previously
unused construction materials.

(2) An employer or contractor is not required to obtain
registration under this section to work on a job in which the amount
of lead-containing materials to be disturbed by the employer or
contractor is less than 100 square or linear feet, whichever is
applicable, or in which the amount of lead in the materials to be
disturbed is less than 0.5% by weight or 1.0 milligram per square
centimeter of surface area.

(b) An application for registration shall be accompanied by an
application fee in an amount to be estimated by the division to
equal the per-applicant cost of the registration program in excess
of the amount of moneys collected in renewal fees assessed
pursuant to Section 6717.3. begin delete These end delete begin insert The division shall deposit end insert fees
and renewal fees collected pursuant to Section 6717.3 begin delete shall be
deposited end delete into the Lead Contractor Registration Fund, which is
hereby created. All moneys in this fund shall be available, upon
appropriation, for the purpose of investigating, registering, and
renewing registrations for lead-related construction work.

(c) The application shall include all of the following information
and attachments with a declaration stating that the information,
attachments, and any other information provided by the applicant
are genuine, true, and correct to the best of the applicant’s
knowledge:

(1) Proof of a valid California contractor’s license.

(2) Proof of workers’ compensation insurance.

(3) Proof of sufficient employee health insurance coverage for
any medical surveillance costs imposed by Section 1532.1 of Title
8 of the California Code of Regulations, or any successor to that
regulation.

(4) Proof that all training and certification requirements for
employees engaged in lead-related work pursuant to Section 1532.1
of Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations, or any successor
to that regulation, have been completed.

(5) Other information and attachments as the division determines
to be necessary to evaluate the health and safety of the proposed
employment and place of employment.

(d) Notwithstanding Section 6426, if, in a declaration required
by subdivision (c), a declarant willfully states as true any material
fact he or she knows to be false, that person shall be subject to a
civil penalty of up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000). Any public
prosecutor may bring a civil action to impose the civil penalty.
The application for registration shall include a statement advising
declarants of the penalty authorized under this provision.

(e) Within 15 business days after the receipt of an application,
the division shall notify the registration applicant either that the
application is complete or what is necessary to complete the
application. The division shall notify the applicant that the
application is granted, or that it was denied with reasons for that
denial specified in the notice, within 30 business days after the
date of submission of a completed application.

SEC. 3.  

Section 6717.2 is added to the Labor Code, to read:

6717.2.  

(a) The division shall deny an application for
lead-related construction work registration if it determines, based
on available facts, including the information provided by the
employer or contractor in the application for registration, the
employer or contractor has failed to show that the conditions,
practices, means, methods, operations, or processes used or
proposed to be used will provide a safe and healthful place of
employment. The division shall consider the employer’s or
contractor’s compliance history with the division. The division
shall begin delete immediately end delete notify the employer or begin delete contractor, end delete begin insert contractor
immediately, end insert in writing, of the reasons for a denial of an application
for registration, and shall send a copy of that notification to the
director.

(b) An employer or contractor may appeal the denial by the
division of an application for registration to the director. The
director or his or her designee shall select a place convenient to
the parties for the hearing, which shall be held within two working
days after the receipt of the employer’s or contractor’s appeal. The
employer or contractor shall have the burden of establishing that
it qualifies for registration.

(c) The director or his or her authorized designee shall preside
over the hearing, which shall be open to employees and any
employee representative or representatives. The employer or
contractor shall notify the employees or employee representative
or representatives of any appeal hearing a reasonable time prior
to the hearing. Proof of this notification by the employer or
contractor shall be provided at the hearing.

(d) The director’s decision after an appeal hearing concerning
an application for registration shall be final unless begin insert the employer
or contractor files end insert a request for rehearing begin delete is filed end delete with the director
within 10 days after the date the director’s decision is rendered,
or unless the decision is appealed to the courts as provided by law.

SEC. 4.  

Section 6717.3 is added to the Labor Code, to read:

6717.3.  

(a) A registration for lead-related construction work
shall be valid for one year after the date of issuance by the division.

(b) An employer or contractor engaged in lead-related
construction work shall annually file an application to renew its
registration with the division at least 30 days before the expiration
date of its current registration along with a renewal fee to be
established by the division. The begin insert division shall deposit end insert renewal begin delete fee
shall be deposited end delete begin insert fees end insert into the Lead Contractor Registration Fund
established by subdivision (b) of Section 6717.1.

SEC. 5.  

Section 6717.4 is added to the Labor Code, to read:

6717.4.  

(a) The division may hold a hearing to determine if a
violation of a duty specified in Section 6717.1 has occurred. Notice
shall be given and the hearing conducted in accordance with the
Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 5 (commencing with
Section 11500), Part 1, Division 3, Title 2, Government Code).
The division shall have all the powers granted by that chapter. If
the division determines on the basis of the hearing that a violation
has occurred, it shall order the violator to pay monetary penalties,
as follows:

(1) Five thousand dollars ($5,000) for a first finding of a
violation for failing to register as required by Section 6717.1.

(2) Twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) for a second or
subsequent finding of a violation of Section 6717.1.

(b) It is a defense to a proceeding under this section if the owner,
contractor, employer, public agency, or agent thereof acted under
a belief that Section 6717.1 was inapplicable because no lead was
present and proves, by a preponderance of the evidence, that he
or she made a reasonable effort to determine whether lead was
present.

(c) The penalties under this section shall be in addition to any
other penalty or remedy provided by law.

SEC. 6.  

Section 6717.5 is added to the Labor Code, to read:

6717.5.  

The division, at any time, upon a showing of good
cause and after notice and an opportunity to be heard, may revoke
or suspend a lead-related construction work registration issued by
the division.

SEC. 7.  

Section 6717.6 is added to the Labor Code, to read:

6717.6.  

The program to register employers and contractors
who perform lead-related construction work established in Sections
6717 to 6717.6, inclusive, shall be funded solely from the funds
in the Lead Contractor Registration Fund. To the extent possible,
the division shall consolidate the administration of the program to
register employers and contractors who perform lead-related
construction work with the administration of the program to register
persons doing asbestos-related work.