Bill Text: CA SB422 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended

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

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Bill Title: Reporting of certain communicable diseases.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2011-08-01 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 151, Statutes of 2011. [SB422 Detail]

Download: California-2011-SB422-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: SB 422	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  MARCH 21, 2011

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Wright

                        FEBRUARY 16, 2011

    An act to amend Section 25511 of the Public Resources
Code, relating to energy.   An act to amend Section
121025 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to health reporting.




	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 422, as amended, Wright.  Energy: nuclear fission
thermal powerplant: seismic safety.   Reporting of
certain communicable diseases.  
   Existing law prohibits the disclosure of public health records
relating to HIV and AIDS, and the information contained in those
records, with specified exceptions for public health purposes,
including when the person who is the subject of the record is
coinfected with HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and a sexually transmitted
disease, as specified, or when the disclosure is pursuant to a
written authorization. Existing law requires a disclosure of these
records or information to include only the information necessary for
the purpose of the disclosure, and to be made only upon agreement
that the information will be kept confidential and will not be
further disclosed without written authorization.  
   This bill would expand, for specified public health purposes, the
authority of local public health agencies to disclose information
contained in public health records relating to HIV and AIDS, to
include when the person who is subject of the record is HIV infected.
 
   Existing law requires the commission to review factors related to
safety and reliability of a proposed thermal powerplant facility at a
site, including seismic hazards at the site.  
   This bill would provide that a determination by the United States
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) that a site and related facility
of a nuclear fission thermal powerplant meets the seismic safety
standards established by the NRC on or before January 1, 2012, is
conclusive and binding on the commission as to its determination of
whether the site and related facility are seismically safe. 

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


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

   SECTION 1.    Section 121025 of the   Health
and Safety Code   is amended to read: 
   121025.  (a) Public health records relating to human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
(AIDS), containing personally identifying information, that were
developed or acquired by a state or local public health agency, or an
agent of that agency, shall be confidential and shall not be
disclosed, except as otherwise provided by law for public health
purposes or pursuant to a written authorization by the person who is
the subject of the record or by his or her guardian or conservator.
   (b) In accordance with subdivision (f) of Section 121022, a state
or local public health agency, or an agent of that agency, may
disclose personally identifying information in public health records,
as described in subdivision (a), to other local, state, or federal
public health agencies or to corroborating medical researchers, when
the confidential information is necessary to carry out the duties of
the agency or researcher in the investigation, control, or
surveillance of disease, as determined by the state or local public
health agency.
   (c) Except as provided in paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive, any
disclosure authorized by subdivision (a) or (b) shall include only
the information necessary for the purpose of that disclosure and
shall be made only upon agreement that the information will be kept
confidential and will not be further disclosed without written
authorization, as described in subdivision (a).
   (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the following
disclosures shall be authorized for the purpose of enhancing
completeness of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and sexually transmitted
disease coinfection reporting to the federal Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC):
   (A) The local public health agency HIV surveillance staff may
further disclose the information to the health care provider who
provides HIV care to the HIV-positive person who is the subject of
the record for the purpose of assisting in compliance with
subdivision (a) of Section 121022.
   (B) Local public health agency tuberculosis control staff may
further disclose the information to state public health agency
tuberculosis control staff, who may further disclose the information,
without disclosing patient identifying information, to the CDC, to
the extent the information is requested by the CDC and permitted by
subdivision (b), for purposes of the investigation, control, or
surveillance of HIV  infections or HIV  and tuberculosis
coinfections.
   (C) Local public health agency sexually transmitted disease
control staff may further disclose the information to state public
health agency sexually transmitted disease control staff, who may
further disclose the information, without disclosing patient
identifying information, to the CDC, to the extent it is requested by
the CDC, and permitted by subdivision (b), for the purposes of the
investigation, control, or surveillance of HIV  infections or HIV
 and syphilis, gonorrhea, or chlamydia coinfection.
   (2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the following
disclosures shall be authorized for the purpose of facilitating
appropriate HIV/AIDS medical care and treatment:
   (A) State public health agency HIV surveillance staff, AIDS Drug
Assistance Program staff, and care services staff may further
disclose the information to local public health agency staff, who may
further disclose the information to the HIV-positive person who is
the subject of the record, or the health care provider who provides
his or her HIV care, for the purpose of proactively offering and
coordinating care and treatment services to him or her.
   (B) AIDS Drug Assistance Program staff and care services staff in
the State Department of Public Health may further disclose the
information directly to the HIV-positive person who is the subject of
the record or the health care provider who provides his or her HIV
care, for the purpose of proactively offering and coordinating care
and treatment services to him or her.
   (3) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for the purpose of
facilitating appropriate medical care and treatment of persons
coinfected with HIV, tuberculosis, and syphilis, gonorrhea, or
chlamydia, local public health agency sexually transmitted disease
control and tuberculosis control staff may further disclose the
information to state or local public health agency sexually
transmitted disease control and tuberculosis control staff, the
HIV-positive person who is the subject of the record, or the health
care provider who provides his or her HIV, tuberculosis, and sexually
transmitted disease care.
   (4) For the purposes of paragraphs (2)  and(3) 
 and (3)  , "staff" does not include nongovernmental
entities.
   (d) No confidential public health record, as defined in
subdivision (c) of Section 121035, shall be disclosed, discoverable,
or compelled to be produced in any civil, criminal, administrative,
or other proceeding.
   (e) (1) Any person who negligently discloses the content of any
confidential public health record, as defined in subdivision (c) of
Section 121035, to any third party, except pursuant to a written
authorization, as described in subdivision (a), or as otherwise
authorized by law, shall be subject to a civil penalty in an amount
not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000), plus court costs, as
determined by the court, which penalty and costs shall be paid to the
person whose record was disclosed.
   (2) Any person who willfully or maliciously discloses the content
of any confidential public health record, as defined in subdivision
(c) of Section 121035, to any third party, except pursuant to a
written authorization, or as otherwise authorized by law, shall be
subject to a civil penalty in an amount not less than five thousand
dollars ($5,000) and not more than twenty-five thousand dollars
($25,000), plus court costs, as determined by the court, which
penalty and costs shall be paid to the person whose confidential
public health record was disclosed.
   (3) Any person who willfully, maliciously, or negligently
discloses the content of any confidential public health record, as
defined in subdivision (c) of Section 121035, to any third party,
except pursuant to a written authorization, or as otherwise
authorized by law, that results in economic, bodily, or psychological
harm to the person whose confidential public health record was
disclosed, is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in
the county jail for a period not to exceed one year, or a fine of not
to exceed twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000), or both, plus
court costs, as determined by the court, which penalty and costs
shall be paid to the person whose confidential public health record
was disclosed.
   (4) Any person who commits any act described in paragraph (1),
(2), or (3), shall be liable to the person whose confidential public
health record was disclosed for all actual damages for economic,
bodily, or psychological harm that is a proximate result of the act.
   (5) Each violation of this section is a separate and actionable
offense.
   (6) Nothing in this section limits or expands the right of an
injured person whose confidential public health record was disclosed
to recover damages under any other applicable law.
   (f) In the event that a confidential public health record, as
defined in subdivision (c) of Section 121035, is disclosed, the
information shall not be used to determine employability, or
insurability of any person. 
  SECTION 1.    Section 25511 of the Public
Resources Code is amended to read:
   25511.  (a) The commission shall review the factors related to
safety and reliability of the facilities at each of the alternative
sites designated in the notice. In addition to other information
requested of the applicant, the commission shall, in determining the
appropriateness of sites and related facilities, require detailed
information on proposed emergency systems and safety precautions,
plans for transport, handling and storage of wastes and fuels,
proposed methods to prevent illegal diversion of nuclear fuels,
special design features to account for seismic and other potential
hazards, proposed methods to control density of population in areas
surrounding nuclear powerplants, and such other information as the
commission may determine to be relevant to the reliability and safety
of the facility at the proposed sites. The commission shall analyze
the information provided by the applicant, supplementing it, where
necessary, by onsite investigations and other studies. The commission
shall determine the adequacy of measures proposed by the applicant
to protect public health and safety, and shall include its findings
in the final report required by Section 25514.
   (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), for the purposes of licensing
and certification of a new nuclear fission thermal powerplant or for
a relicensing of an existing nuclear fission thermal powerplant, a
determination by the United States Regulatory Commission that a site
and related facility meets the seismic safety standards established
on or before January 1, 2012, by the United States Nuclear Regulatory
Commission for licensing or relicensing of a nuclear fission thermal
powerplant shall be conclusive and binding on the commission as to
its determination of whether the site and related facility are
seismically safe.