BILL NUMBER: AB 1468 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 30, 2003
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 14, 2003
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Pavley
FEBRUARY 21, 2003
An act to add Article 8 (commencing with Section 41985) to Chapter
3 of Part 4 of Division 26 of the Health and Safety Code, relating
to air quality.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1468, as amended, Pavley. Air quality: negative air machines.
(1) Existing law designates the State Air Resources Board as the
state agency charged with coordinating efforts to attain and maintain
ambient air quality standards. Existing law designates air
pollution control districts and air quality management districts as
having the primary responsibility for the control of air pollution
from all sources other than vehicular sources, and, subject to the
powers and duties of the state board, requires that districts adopt
and enforce rules and regulations to achieve and maintain the state
and federal ambient air quality standards in all areas affected by
emission sources under their jurisdiction.
This bill would require each negative air machine in the
state , as defined, at an asbestos abatement site in
the state that is inspected by a district pursuant to a rule adopted
by that district to be leak tested on a monthly basis
, and would prohibit any negative air machine from emitting more
than 0.01 asbestos fibers per cubic centimeter . The bill
would require the testing of a negative air machine to be conducted
by an approved independent testing company, as
defined, and would prohibit contractors from testing their own
equipment. The bill would authorize an approved independent
testing company that completes training by an approved training
business, as defined, to certify a negative air machine if it meets
certain industry standards. The bill would require the
independent testing company to issue a certification to the abatement
contractor that owns or operates a machine, and to affix
the a certification decal to the
negative air machine. The bill would require the state board to
adopt regulations to implement the certification program, including
a program for authorizing approved independent training companies to
train independent testing companies. The bill would require
each owner or operator to maintain a copy of a certification for
every negative air machine on a an asbestos
abatement worksite, and would require a
an owner or operator to maintain testing records on each
negative air machine owned and operated, and to make those records
available to the district. The bill would require the district with
jurisdiction over the owner operator area
where an asbestos abatement project occurs to enforce the
testing and certification requirements. The bill would, in addition
to any other sanctions under existing law, subject any person who
violates any of those requirements to a citation and an
administrative fine in an amount determined by the district. By
imposing additional duties on districts, this bill would impose a
state-mandated local program.
(2) Existing law makes a violation of any provision of the
nonvehicular air pollution control laws in the state, including any
rule, regulation, permit, or order of the state board or a district,
a misdemeanor.
By expanding the scope of a crime, this bill would impose a
state-mandated local program.
(3) 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, including the creation of a State Mandates Claims Fund
to pay the costs of mandates that do not exceed $1,000,000 statewide
and other procedures for claims whose statewide costs exceed
$1,000,000.
This bill would provide that with regard to certain mandates no
reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that,
if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains
costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall
be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
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. Article 8 (commencing with Section 41985) is added to
Chapter 3 of Part 4 of Division 26 of the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
Article 8. Negative Air Machines
41985. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Substantial medical and scientific evidence indicates that
human exposure to asbestos fibers significantly increases the risk of
contracting cancer and other debilitating or fatal diseases,
including, but not limited to, asbestosis. There is no known
threshold level of exposure at which adverse health effects are not
anticipated.
(b) Asbestos materials were commonly used in this state in public
and private schools, state and federal buildings, commercial
buildings, as well as in residential homes and apartments for
fireproofing, soundproofing, decoration, thermal insulation, and
other purposes. As an insulating material and fire retardant,
asbestos is commonly part of plumbing, heating, air-conditioning
insulation, and plaster, carpet, tile and roof materials, masonry,
stonework, and concrete work.
(c) Removal or disturbances of materials containing asbestos can
result in the release of airborne asbestos fibers, especially if the
material is reducible to powder by hand pressure. This may result in
exposure of employees and the public to potentially dangerous levels
of asbestos.
(d) Negative air machines are used in asbestos abatement work to
maintain the desired negative pressure inside the abatement
enclosure, provide adequate air changes within the enclosure for
ventilation and worker safety, and to capture asbestos fibers drawn
from inside the abatement enclosure in a HEPA filter.
(e) For the protection of public health from carcinogenic air
emissions, it is vital to ensure that when asbestos abatement is
undertaken, that negative air machines are tested for leaks to ensure
that only clean, asbestos-free air is exhausted to the outside or
recirculated within the building.
41986. For the purposes of this article, the following terms have
the following meanings:
(a) "Approved independent training business" means a company
that has been approved by the state board to provide training to
independent testing companies to test negative air machines pursuant
to this article.
(b) "Approved independent testing company" means a company that an
approved independent training business certifies as having
satisfactorily completed training for testing negative air machines,
and is thus approved to perform negative air machine testing for the
purposes of this article.
(c) "HEPA" means a high-efficiency particulate air filter
that is capable of trapping and retaining at least 99.97 percent of
all monodispersed particles of 0.3 micrometer in diameter or larger.
(b)
(d) "Negative air machine" means a machine or contrivance
whose primary use is to remove airborne asbestos contaminants from
residential or commercial abatement projects by passing
asbestos-containing asbestos-contaminated air
from an isolated work area by means of negative air pressure to a
HEPA filtration system.
41987. (a) (1) Each negative air machine
Each negative air machine at an asbestos abatement site that is
inspected by a district pursuant to a rule adopted by that district
, including, but not limited to, each air pressure differential
unit, makeup air filter, and vacuum, shall be leak tested on a
monthly basis.
(b) (1) An independent testing company may certify that a negative
air machine has successfully passed a leak test only if the results
of that test meet or exceed the American National Standards Institute
Z-9 standards adopted by the state board pursuant to paragraph (2)
of subdivision (c).
(2) Each leak test shall include a test of the wheel attachments,
control panel, seam and rivets of the housing, and the HEPA filter.
(c) A negative air machine may not emit more than 0.01 asbestos
fibers per cubic centimeter.
(c) The state board shall develop and adopt regulations to
implement this article, including provisions that do all of the
following:
(1) Create an approval program for registering and approving
independent training businesses and for those businesses to train
independent testing companies to test negative air machines.
(2) Adopt American National Standards Institute Z-9 standards for
use by approved training businesses in training testing companies.
(3) Require approved independent training businesses to provide
the state board with a list of approved independent testing
companies, and require that list to be regularly updated.
(4) Create and maintain a database of approved independent
training businesses and approved independent testing companies, and
make that database accessible to the public.
(5) Create certification forms and decals to be used by approved
independent testing companies in testing and certifying the test
results of negative air machines pursuant to this article.
(6) Include, at the discretion of the state board, either or both
of the following in the approval program:
(A) The imposition of an initial application fee on training
businesses seeking to become approved training businesses.
(B) A requirement that each approved independent testing company
remit an annual fee to the state board for maintaining that approval
status.
(d) Testing of a negative air machine shall be conducted by an
approved independent testing company. Contractors may not
test their own equipment. Upon completing a leak test on a negative
air machine, the approved independent testing company
shall certify the leak test.
(e) The approved independent testing company shall
issue a certification to the abatement contractor that owns or
operates the machine, and shall affix the a
decal indicating that certification to the negative air
machine. The owner or operator of the machine shall maintain a copy
of certification for every negative air machine used on a worksite.
(f) The owner or operator of each negative air machine shall
maintain testing records on each negative air machine owned or
operated, and shall make those records available for inspection by
the district with jurisdiction over the area of the asbestos
abatement project site where the negative air machine is used .
(g) Any unit that fails a leak test required by subdivision (a)
shall be repaired, removed from any worksite, or replaced with a unit
that successfully completes a leak test.
(h) The district with jurisdiction over the owner or
operator of a negative air machine area where an
asbestos abatement project occurs shall enforce the
requirements of this section.
(i) In addition to any other sanctions under existing law, any
person who violates any of the provisions of this section is subject
to citation and the imposition of an administrative fine by the
district in an amount determined by the district.
SEC. 2. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution for
certain costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district because in that regard this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.
However, notwithstanding Section 17610 of the Government Code, if
the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains
other 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. If the statewide cost of the claim for
reimbursement does not exceed one million dollars ($1,000,000),
reimbursement shall be made from the State Mandates Claims Fund.