BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2644
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Date of Hearing: April 29, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HEALTH
Richard Pan, Chair
AB 2644 (Nazarian) - As Introduced: February 21, 2014
SUBJECT : Toilet facilities.
SUMMARY : Requires permanent food facilities, public agencies,
and publicly or privately owned facilities where the public
congregates to provide a waste receptacle in each stall in their
toilet facilities available to the public. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Requires each toilet stall to contain a waste receptacle in
restrooms for use by consumers, guests, or invitees at food
establishments required to provide restrooms for their
patrons.
2)Requires each toilet stall to contain a waste receptacle in
restrooms for use by the public in any public agency that
conducts an establishment serving the public or open to the
public and maintains restroom facilities for the public.
3)Requires each toilet stall to contain a waste receptacle in
temporary or permanent restrooms of publicly and privately
owned facilities where the public congregates, as defined.
4)Exempts from the requirement to provide waste receptacles in
their bathroom toilet stalls: a) hotels, as defined; b) mobile
or temporary food facilities, as defined; c) public or private
elementary or secondary schools; and, d) qualified historic
buildings, as defined.
5)States legislative intent to ensure standards are both viable
and efficacious, that the Office of the State Architect and
the California Building Standards Commission hold a series of
public meetings with representatives of affected industries
and state and local agencies prior to adopting standards.
6)Makes other minor, technical changes.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires permanent food facilities to provide clean toilet
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facilities in good repair for use by their employees.
Requires a food facility built after January 1, 1984, with
more than 20,000 square feet of floor space, or built after
January 1, 2004, with less than 20,000 square feet of floor
space, and space for food consumption on the premises, to
provide clean toilet facilities in good repair for patrons.
2)Requires every public agency conducting an establishment
serving the public or open to the public, and that maintains
restroom facilities for the public, to make every water closet
for each sex maintained within the facilities available
without cost or charge. Defines public agency for these
purposes as any agency of the state, city, county, or city and
county.
3)Requires publicly and privately owned facilities where the
public congregates to be equipped with sufficient temporary or
permanent restrooms to meet the needs of the public at peak
hours. Defines "facilities where the public congregates" for
these purposes to mean sports and entertainment arenas,
community and convention halls, specialty event centers,
amusement facilities, and ski resorts.
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill has not been analyzed by a fiscal
committee.
COMMENTS :
1)PURPOSE OF THIS BILL . According to the author, existing law
does not require public restrooms to be equipped with waste
receptacles. However, current standard practice is to provide
them in most, if not all, women's restrooms. But not in
restrooms for men. The author argues that this bill creates
consistency by requiring public restrooms, for men and women,
to have waste receptacles in every stall, thereby providing
consumers with an appropriate place to dispose of waste
products.
2)BACKGROUND . The author provided several articles on a growing
trend of products being flushed in toilets causing sewer clogs
and costing some municipalities millions of dollars to
dispatch crews to unclog pipes and pumps and to replace and
upgrade machinery. Wastewater officials report that the
majority are items that are not supposed to be flushed and
include paper towels, feminine products, and pre-moistened
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towelettes. The author claims that having a waste can inside
the stall, gives consumers a way of disposing these products
that otherwise could end up being flushed in the toilet,
avoiding the increased maintenance costs to the sewer system.
The author points out that this bill also provides a more
dignified way of disposal for pads and protective products
necessary for people affected with urinary incontinence.
3)AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT . The Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal civil rights law that
prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities by
ensuring equal access to goods and services. It recognizes
inaccessible facilities as a form of discrimination, since
these facilities can prohibit participation by people with
disabilities. Public restrooms are one of the most critical
building amenities because they need to be responsive to a
wide range of human needs and abilities. The needs of a
person using a wheelchair and the space the wheelchairs
require are used as a primary source of design information for
accessible restrooms in terms of amount of space and paths of
travel. The 2010 ADA Standards require the provision of
ambulatory accessible toilet compartments (stalls) to support
the needs of individuals who are ambulatory and may require
the use of a cane, walker, or crutches. Mounting locations
and the proximity of equipment are important for people who
use wheelchairs and who may have limited reach range. The
design standards reect these users needs in 4)the mounting
heights for common accessories, such as mirrors, paper towel
dispensers, waste receptacles, soap dispensers, napkin/tampon
vendors, and toilet partition mounted equipment. There are
very specific space, reach range, and path of travel
requirements that must be met in all public restrooms to be
ADA compliant.
5)SUPPORT . The California Senior Legislature (CSL) writes in
support of this bill that by requiring waste receptacles in
all restroom stalls, not just women's room stalls, creates
consistency and consumer protections for people with bladder
incontinence and other diseases that affect the bladder nerves
and spinal cord. CSL further writes that this bill is
especially critical for California's seniors, as the
underlining issue is the disposal of incontinence products for
seniors and persons with specific diseases and disposal
privacy while in a public place should be afforded to both men
and women.
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6)SUPPORT IF AMENDED . Disability Rights California (DRC) writes
that they are in support of including waste receptacles in
restrooms as long as the placement of receptacles does not
interfere with disability access. DRC suggests amending this
bill to state that placement of waste receptacles must not
interfere with disability access and be compliant with
disability access requirements under state and federal law.
7)OPPOSITION . The California Chamber of Commerce, California
Attractions and Parks Association, California Restaurant
Association, and California Retailers Association are in
opposition to this bill. The opposition writes that they
understand this bill was introduced in response to a complaint
from a senior citizen constituent who was embarrassed by
having to dispose of his or her disposable underwear in the
main area of a public restroom. The opposition continues,
that while they are sympathetic to the issue presented, they
do not believe that unfortunate situations, in and of
themselves, should drive public policy; that the costs
associated with installing, maintaining, and the upkeep of new
waste receptacles in every California restroom required by
this bill is very difficult to quantify. In addition,
existing bathrooms for use by the public have been constructed
and/or modified to meet ADA compliance and this bill does not
take into account these requirements.
8)RELATED LEGISLATION .
a) SB 1042 (Calderon) requires food facilities to provide a
baby changing table within or adjacent to toilet rooms
unless the addition of a baby changing table would result
in noncompliance with a law relating to access for persons
with disabilities. SB 1042 is currently pending in the
Senate Rules Committee
b) SB 1358 (Wolk and Lara) requires certain public
buildings and various facilities, including a theater,
sports arena, or library, with a restroom open to the
public, to provide at least one safe, sanitary, and
convenient baby diaper changing station. Requires a
permanent food facility to provide a baby changing table
accessible to both men and women within or adjacent to
toilet rooms unless the addition of a baby changing table
would result in noncompliance with ADA. SB 1358 is pending
in the Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing.
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9)PREVIOUS LEGISLATION .
a) AB 2256 (Huffman) of 2010 would have prohibited a person
from packaging or labeling a consumer product for
distribution or sale in California as flushable, sewer and
septic safe, or other like term or phrase unless the
product meets certain criteria, as specified. AB 2256
passed the Assembly and the Senate Committee on Business,
Professions and Economic Development, but was double
referred and never set for hearing in the Senate Committee
on Environmental Quality.
b) AB 1105 (Mullin) of 2005 would have required certain
food establishments to provide a baby changing table within
or adjacent to all restroom facilities intended for public
use. Would have excluded locations where the addition of a
baby changing station would place the food establishment
out of compliance with local, state, or federal ADA laws.
AB 1105 failed passage in the Assembly Committee on Health.
10)POLICY COMMENT . For a public restroom to be ADA compliant,
there are very specific space, reach range, and path of travel
requirements that need to be met. While there are clear
benefits of having a waste receptacle in each toilet stall,
there is the distinct possibility that blanket requirements
could result in restrooms that are not compliant with ADA
standards or even building codes. This bill could provide an
exception for those restrooms where the installation of a
waste receptacle in the toilet stalls would cause the facility
to be noncompliant.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Senior Legislature
National Multiple Sclerosis Society - California Action Network
Opposition
California Chamber of Commerce
California Attractions and Parks Association
California Restaurant Association
California Retailers Association
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Analysis Prepared by : Patty Rodgers / HEALTH / (916) 319-2097