Bill Text: TX SB1859 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to certain health and safety matters regarding appropriate places of employment and places that are accessible to the public.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-03-24 - Referred to Health & Human Services [SB1859 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-SB1859-Introduced.html

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82R9306 T
By: Ellis S.B. No. 1859

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certain health and safety matters regarding appropriate
places of employment and places that are accessible to the public.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 161.0901(b), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) The report must include, at a minimum:
(1) a baseline of statistics and analysis regarding
retail compliance with this subchapter, Subchapter K, and Chapters
154 and 155, Tax Code;
(2) a baseline of statistics and analysis regarding
illegal tobacco sales, including:
(A) sales to minors;
(B) enforcement actions concerning minors; and
(C) sources of citations;
(3) tobacco controls and initiatives by the Office of
Smoking and Health of the department, or any other state agency,
including an evaluation of the effectiveness of the controls and
initiatives;
(4) the future goals and plans of the Office of Smoking
and Health of the department to decrease the use of tobacco and
tobacco products, including the determination of potential
measures to address relevant air quality issues;
(5) the educational programs of the Office of Smoking
and Health of the department and the effectiveness of those
programs, including programs to increase awareness of potential
measures to address relevant air quality issues; and
(6) the incidence of use of tobacco and tobacco
products by regions in this state, including use of cigarettes and
tobacco products by ethnicity.
SECTION 2. Section 161.253(a), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) On conviction of an individual for an offense under
Section 161.252, the court shall suspend execution of sentence and
shall require the defendant to attend a tobacco awareness program,
which must include increasing the awareness of potential measures
to address relevant air quality issues, approved by the
commissioner. The court may require the parent or guardian of the
defendant to attend the tobacco awareness program with the
defendant.
SECTION 3. Section 161.301(a), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The commissioner shall develop and implement a public
awareness campaign designed to reduce tobacco use by minors in this
state. The campaign may use advertisements or similar media to
provide educational information about tobacco use. The
commissioner shall also determine and promote the implementation of
potential measures to address relevant air quality issues.
SECTION 4. Section 161.302(a), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The entity administering Section 161.301 shall also
develop and implement a grant program to support youth groups that
include as a part of the group's program components related to
reduction of tobacco use by the group's members, including
increasing the awareness of potential measures to address relevant
air quality issues.
SECTION 5. Section 161.354(c), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(c) Information included in a report filed under this
subchapter is confidential if the department determines that there
is no reasonable scientific basis for concluding that the
availability of the information could reduce risks to public
health, including increasing the awareness of potential measures
to address relevant air quality issues.
SECTION 6. Subsections(a) and (d), Section 242.001, Health
and Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) It is the goal of this chapter to ensure that
institutions in this state deliver the highest possible quality of
care. This chapter, and the rules and standards adopted under this
chapter, establish minimum acceptable levels of care. A violation
of a minimum acceptable level of care established under this
chapter or a rule or standard adopted under this chapter is
forbidden by law. Each institution licensed under this chapter
shall, at a minimum, provide quality care in accordance with this
chapter and the rules and standards. Components of quality of care
addressed by these rules and standards include:
(1) quality of life;
(2) access to care;
(3) continuity of care;
(4) comprehensiveness of care;
(5) coordination of services;
(6) humaneness of treatment;
(7) conservatism in intervention;
(8) health and safety, including relevant air quality,
of the environment;
(9) professionalism of caregivers; and
(10) participation in useful studies.
(d) The legislature finds that the construction,
maintenance, and operation of institutions shall be regulated in a
manner that protects the residents of the institutions by:
(1) providing the highest possible quality of care;
(2) strictly monitoring all factors relating to the
health, safety, welfare, and dignity of each resident, including
relevant air quality;
(3) imposing prompt and effective remedies for
noncompliance with licensing standards; and
(4) providing the public with information concerning
the operation of institutions in this state.
SECTION 7. Subsections (a) and (e), Section 242.037, Health
and Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The department shall make and enforce rules and minimum
standards to implement this chapter, including rules and minimum
standards relating to quality of life, quality of care, and
residents' rights, including relevant air quality.
(e) In addition to standards or rules required by other
provisions of this chapter, the board shall adopt, publish, and
enforce minimum standards relating to:
(1) the construction of an institution, including
plumbing, heating, lighting, ventilation, and other housing
conditions, to ensure the residents' health, safety, comfort, and
protection from fire hazard, including relevant air quality;
(2) the regulation of the number and qualification of
all personnel, including management and nursing personnel,
responsible for any part of the care given to the residents;
(3) requirements for in-service education of all
employees who have any contact with the residents;
(4) training on the care of persons with Alzheimer's
disease and related disorders for employees who work with those
persons;
(5) sanitary and related conditions in an institution
and its surroundings, including water supply, sewage disposal, food
handling, and general hygiene in order to ensure the residents'
health, safety, and comfort;
(6) the nutritional needs of each resident according
to good nutritional practice or the recommendations of the
physician attending the resident;
(7) equipment essential to the residents' health and
welfare;
(8) the use and administration of medication in
conformity with applicable law and rules;
(9) care and treatment of residents and any other
matter related to resident health, safety, and welfare;
(10) licensure of institutions; and
(11) implementation of this chapter.
SECTION 8. Section 248.026(a), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The board shall adopt rules necessary to implement this
chapter. The rules must establish minimum standards for special
care facilities relating to:
(1) the issuance, renewal, denial, suspension, and
revocation of the license required by this chapter;
(2) the qualifications, duties, and supervision of
professional and nonprofessional personnel and volunteers;
(3) residents' rights;
(4) medical and nursing care and services provided by
a license holder;
(5) the organizational structure, lines of authority,
delegation of responsibility, and operation of a special care
facility;
(6) records of care and services kept by the license
holder, including the disposal or destruction of those records;
(7) health, safety, fire prevention, and sanitary
provisions, including relevant air quality;
(8) transfer of residents in a medically appropriate
manner from or to a special care facility;
(9) construction plan approval and inspection; and
(10) any aspects of a special care facility as
necessary to protect the public or residents of the facility.
SECTION 9. Subsections (a) and (b), Section 385.002, Health
and Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The board by rule shall establish voluntary guidelines
for indoor air quality in, and air quality of common outside areas
connected to or immediately contiguous to indoor areas of,
government buildings, including guidelines for ventilation and
indoor air pollution control systems. The board may adopt other
rules necessary to implement this chapter.
(b) In establishing the guidelines, the board shall
consider:
(1) the potential chronic effects of air contaminants
on human health;
(2) the potential effects of insufficient ventilation
of the indoor, or immediately contiguous outdoor, environment on
human health;
(3) the potential costs of health care for the short-
term and long-term effects on human health that may result from
exposure to indoor air contaminants; and
(4) the potential costs of compliance with a proposed
guideline.
SECTION 10. The legislature finds that the quality of the
air in appropriate places of employment and appropriate places that
are accessible to the public shall be maintained and improved with
effective and necessary measures, prescribed by statute or rule,
that protect the general health, safety, and welfare.
SECTION 11. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.