California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2113

Introduced by Assembly Member Donnelly

February 20, 2014

An act to amend Section 19577 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to horse racing.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2113, as introduced, Donnelly. Horse racing: samples.

Existing law, the Horse Racing Law, generally regulates horse racing and vests the administration and enforcement of its provisions in the California Horse Racing Board. Existing law requires a blood or urine test sample that is required by the board to be taken from a horse to be divided or taken in duplicate if there is sufficient sample, and requires the board to adopt regulations to ensure the security of obtaining and testing of all samples.

This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to those provisions.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 19577 of the Business and Professions
Code is amended to read:

19577.  

(a) (1)  begin delete Any end delete begin insert A end insert blood or urine test sample required by
the board to be taken from a horse that is entered in begin delete any end delete begin insert a end insert race
shall be divided or taken in begin delete duplicate, end delete begin insert duplicate end insert if there is sufficient
sample available after the initial test sample has been taken. The
initial test sample shall be referred to as the official test sample
and the secondary sample shall be referred to as the split sample.
All samples immediately become and remain the property of the
board. The board shall adopt regulations to ensure the security of
obtaining and testing of all samples.

(2) Paragraph (1) does not apply to total carbon dioxide testing.
The board shall adopt emergency regulations in accordance with
the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government
Code) to establish policies, guidelines, and procedures that include
a split sample process related to total carbon dioxide testing. These
regulations shall be deemed to be an emergency and necessary for
the immediate preservation of the public peace, health and safety,
or general welfare. The emergency regulations shall be submitted
to the Office of Administrative Law for filing with the Secretary
of State and publication in the California Code of Regulations,
and shall be replaced by final, permanent regulations within 120
days of their adoption.

(b) If the official test sample is found to contain a prohibited
drug substance, the executive director, after consulting begin delete with end delete and
agreeing with the equine medical director that the official test
sample contains a prohibited substance, shall confidentially inform
the owner and trainer of those results. The owner or the trainer of
the horse, upon being so informed, may request that the split
sample be tested by an independent laboratory selected from a list
of laboratories provided begin delete by end delete and approved by the board. The owner
or trainer of the horse shall pay the cost of testing the split sample.

(c) If the split sample test results fail to confirm the finding of
the prohibited drug substance found in the official test sample, a
presumption affecting the burden of producing evidence pursuant
to Section 603 of the Evidence Code of no evidentiary prohibited
drug substance in the animal shall exist for purposes of this chapter.

(d) The executive director shall report to the board a finding of
a prohibited drug substance in an official test sample within 24
hours of the confirmation of that prohibited drug substance in the
split sample by the independent laboratory, or within 24 hours of
waiver of split sample testing by the owner or trainer. begin delete Any end delete begin insert A end insert
recommendation to the board by the executive director to dismiss
the matter shall be by mutual agreement with the equine medical
director. The authority for the disposition of the matter shall be
the responsibility of the board.

(e) The executive director shall maintain responsibility for all
test samples until the executive director refers the matter to the
board. Notwithstanding any other begin delete provision of end delete law, and except as
provided in subdivision (a), the results of the tests from the official
testing laboratory, the Kenneth L. Maddy Equine Analytical
Chemistry Laboratory and the independent laboratory shall be
confidential until or unless the board files an official complaint.

(f) If the owner or trainer does not request that the split sample
be tested within the time limits set by the board, the owner and
trainer waive all rights to that sample and the board assumes all
jurisdiction over the split sample.

(g) The board shall contract with the Regents of the University
of California to be the primary drug testing laboratory performing
the equine drug testing required by this section.