Bill Text: CA AB1963 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Pesticide poisoning.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2010-09-27 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 369, Statutes of 2010. [AB1963 Detail]

Download: California-2009-AB1963-Introduced.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 1963	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Nava

                        FEBRUARY 17, 2010

   An act to amend Section 12980 of the Food and Agricultural Code,
and to add Section 105206 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to
pesticide poisoning.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1963, as introduced, Nava. Pesticide poisoning.
   Existing law establishes standards for the handling and use of
pesticides and for determining the hazards posed by pesticides to
worker safety. Existing law imposes various reporting requirements on
physicians and local health officers when there are known or
suspected instances of pesticide poisoning. Under existing law,
worker reentry into areas treated by pesticides determined to be
hazardous to worker safety may be restricted by whether pesticide
residue levels on treated plants are determined by scientific
analysis not to be a significant factor in cholinesterase depression
or other health effects.
    This bill would require any laboratory that performs
cholinesterase testing on human blood for an employer to enable the
employer to satisfy his or her responsibilities for medical
supervision of his or her employees who regularly handle pesticides
pursuant to specified regulations or to respond to alleged exposure
to cholinesterase inhibitors or known exposure to the inhibitors that
resulted in illness to electronically report specified information
on every person tested to the Department of Pesticide Regulation,
which would be required to share the information in an electronic
format with the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment
(OEHHA) and the State Department of Public Health on an ongoing
basis, as specified. This bill would require the Department of
Pesticide Regulation and the local county agricultural commissioner
to investigate the incidences of cholinesterase inhibitor-related
illness and would require the OEHHA to review the cholinesterase test
results.
   Because this bill would increase the duties of local officials,
this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
   This bill would authorize the State Department of Public Health to
assess a fine of up to $200 per person per case against a laboratory
that knowingly fails to meet the reporting requirements of the above
provisions. The bill would also require, by December 31, 2013, the
Department of Pesticide Regulation and the OEHHA, in consultation
with the State Department of Public Health, to prepare a report, as
specified, and to post that report on their Internet Web sites.
   Existing law declares the intent of the Legislature that the
development of regulations relating to pesticides and worker safety
should be the joint and mutual responsibility of the Department of
Food and Agriculture and the State Department of Public Health.
   This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature that the
development of regulations relating to pesticides and worker safety
the joint and mutual responsibility of the Department of Pesticide
Regulation and the OEHHA.
    The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 12980 of the Food and Agricultural Code is
amended to read:
   12980.  The Legislature hereby finds and declares that it is
necessary and desirable to provide for the safe use of pesticides and
for safe working conditions for farmworkers, pest control
applicators, and other persons handling, storing, or applying
pesticides, or working in and about pesticide-treated areas.
   The Legislature further finds and declares that the development of
regulations relating to pesticides and worker safety should be the
joint and mutual responsibility of the  Department of Food
and Agriculture and the State Department of Health Services 
 Department of Pesticide Regulation and the Office of  
Environmental Health Hazard Assessment  .
   The Legislature further finds and declares that in carrying out
the provisions of this article, the University of California, the
Department of Industrial Relations, and any other similar institution
or agency should be consulted.
  SEC. 2.  Section 105206 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
   105206.  (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (1) California has been recognized as a leader in occupational
safety and public health by establishing pesticide illness
surveillance and cholinesterase medical monitoring programs in the
1970s. The Department of Pesticide Regulation is the primary agency
responsible for implementing these programs, and it does so in
collaboration with the Office of Environmental Health Hazard
Assessment (OEHHA).
   (2) Insecticides that inhibit the enzyme cholinesterase constitute
some of the most acutely hazardous pesticides used in California.
   (3) Regulations adopted pursuant to Section 12981 of the Food and
Agricultural Code require agricultural employers to provide periodic
cholinesterase testing for employees who regularly handle
cholinesterase inhibiting pesticides.
   (4) Under Section 105200, physicians are required to file
pesticide illness reports with the local health officer when they
know, or have reasonable cause to believe, that patients may be
suffering from pesticide poisoning or any disease or condition caused
by a pesticide. Section 105200 requires each local health officer to
forward the reports to the Director of Pesticide Regulation, the
Director of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and the Director
of Industrial Relations.
   (5) The Department of Pesticide Regulation and the OEHHA have
reviewed the cholinesterase medical monitoring programs, using
information from illness surveillance programs, clinical
laboratories, and surveys of doctors and agriculturalists, but have
found these data sources insufficient to evaluate the effectiveness
of cholinesterase medical monitoring programs that are intended to
protect California pesticide handlers from overexposure to pesticides
that inactivate cholinesterase. An evaluation of the cholinesterase
medical monitoring is essential to determine its effectiveness.
   (6) California workers would benefit by expanding the
cholinesterase monitoring program to include cholinesterase
laboratory reporting and establishing a framework for the Department
of Pesticide Regulation and the OEHHA to evaluate the program,
identify issues of concern, and conduct studies deemed necessary to
improve the medical monitoring program.
   (b) A laboratory that performs cholinesterase testing on human
blood drawn in California for an employer to enable the employer to
satisfy his or her responsibilities for medical supervision of his or
her employees who regularly handle pesticides pursuant to Section
6728 of Title 3 of the California Code of Regulations or to respond
to alleged exposure to cholinesterase inhibitors or known exposure to
cholinesterase inhibitors that resulted in illness shall report the
information specified in subdivision (c) to the Department of
Pesticide Regulation. Reports shall be submitted to the Department of
Pesticide Regulation on, at a minimum, a monthly basis. For the
purpose of meeting the requirements in subdivision (e), the reports
shall be submitted via electronic media and formatted in a manner
approved by the director. The Department of Pesticide Regulation
shall share information from cholinesterase reports with the OEHHA
and the State Department of Public Health on an ongoing basis, in an
electronic format, for the purpose of meeting the reporting
requirements of subdivision (i).
   (c) The testing laboratory shall report all of the following
information in complying with subdivision (b):
   (1) The test results in International Units per milliliter of
sample (IU/mL).
   (2) The purpose of the test, including baseline, 30 day, or other
periodic testing, pursuant to the requirements of Section 6728 of
Title 3 of the California Code of Regulations, or evaluation of
suspected pesticide illness.
   (3) The name and gender of the person tested.
   (4) The name, address, and telephone number of the health care
provider or medical supervisor who ordered the analysis.
   (5) The name, address, and telephone number of the analyzing
laboratory.
   (6) The accession number of the specimen.
   (7) The date that the sample was collected from the patient and
the date the analysis was performed.
   (8) Other information in its possession, or that may come into its
possession, that directly relates to the cholinesterase test or to
the identity, location, medical management, or environmental
management of the person tested.
   (d) The medical supervisor ordering the test for a person pursuant
to subdivision (b) shall ensure that the person tested receives a
copy of the cholinesterase test results and any recommendations from
the medical supervisor within 14 days of the medical supervisor
receiving the results.
   (e) All information reported pursuant to this section shall be
confidential, as provided in Section 100330, except that the OEHHA,
the Department of Pesticide Regulation, and the State Department of
Public Health may share the information for the purpose of
surveillance, case management, investigation, environmental
remediation, or abatement with the appropriate county agricultural
commissioner and local health officer.
   (f) The State Department of Public Health may assess a fine of up
to two hundred dollars ($200) per person per case against a
laboratory that knowingly fails to meet the reporting requirements of
this section.
   (g) For the purposes of protecting human health and evaluating the
circumstances of pesticide exposures that result in illness, the
Department of Pesticide Regulation, in coordination with the county
agricultural commissioners, shall investigate incidences of
cholinesterase inhibitor-related illness.
   (h) The OEHHA shall review the cholinesterase test results and may
provide an appropriate medical or toxicological consultation to the
medical supervisor. In addition to the duties performed pursuant to
Section 10510, the OEHHA, in consultation with the Department of
Pesticide Regulation and the local health officer, may provide
medical and toxicological consultation, as appropriate, to the county
agricultural commissioner to address medical issues related to the
investigation of cholinesterase inhibitor-related illness.
   (i) By December 31, 2013, the Department of Pesticide Regulation
and the OEHHA, in consultation with the State Department of Public
Health, shall prepare a report on the effectiveness of the medical
supervision program and the utility of laboratory-based reporting of
cholinesterase testing for illness surveillance and prevention. The
joint report may include recommendations to the Legislature that the
Department of Pesticide Regulation and the OEHHA deem necessary. The
Department of Pesticide Regulation and the OEHHA shall make the
report publicly available on their Internet Web sites.
  SEC. 3.  If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local
agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant
to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Government Code.