BILL NUMBER: AB 289 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 699
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 29, 2006
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 29, 2006
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 30, 2006
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 29, 2006
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 24, 2006
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 7, 2006
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 21, 2006
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 26, 2006
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 26, 2005
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 20, 2005
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 14, 2005
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Chan
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Jerome Horton, Koretz, Lieber, and
Pavley)
(Coauthor: Senator Kuehl)
FEBRUARY 9, 2005
An act to add Sections 57018, 57019, and 57020 to the Health and
Safety Code, relating to hazardous chemicals.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 289, Chan Chemicals: testing methods.
Existing law required the California Environmental Protection
Agency to initiate a scientific peer review of screening levels for
certain contaminants and to complete the process by December 31,
2004. The agency was required to publish, by March 1, 2004, a list of
screening numbers determined for specified contaminants, and to
conduct public workshops in establishing and revising those levels.
This bill would authorize a state agency, as defined, to request a
manufacturer, as defined, of a chemical, as defined, to provide the
state agency with specified information regarding the chemical. The
bill would provide that the information that a state agency may
request, includes, but is not limited to, an analytical test method
for that chemical in a specified matrix, the octanol-water partition
coefficient and bioconcentration factor for humans for the chemical,
and other information relevant to the fate and transport of the
chemical into the environment. The bill would require the
manufacturer to provide the requested information within one year,
and would specify actions that a state agency is required to take
before making the request. The bill would provide a procedure for
when a manufacturer believes that information provided pursuant to a
state agency request involves the release of a trade secret.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Every year more than 55,000,000 pounds of all chemicals are
released in the state.
(b) Over 85,000 chemicals are commercially available today, and
many are known to cause cancer and damage to the brain and the
nervous and reproductive systems.
(c) Many of these chemicals do not persist, but instead break down
in the environment or are metabolized by humans or biota into
different, more stable compounds, which can be used as chemical
indicators or biomarkers of exposure to the parent compound.
(d) For a majority of chemicals in use today, the matrix by which
the chemical is transported into biota and humans is unknown and it
is impossible to determine the chemical's level in humans. Analytical
test methods only exist for approximately 30 percent of all
chemicals.
(e) It costs the federal and state governments time and money to
develop analytical test methods for chemicals or their chemical
biomarkers of exposure. It is conservatively estimated that
developing analytical test methods for each chemical costs over one
hundred thousand dollars ($100,000).
(f) In the interests of human health, it should be the
responsibility of those who manufacture or import a chemical to
provide relevant information on the fate and transport of that
chemical into the environment.
SEC. 2. Section 57018 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
57018. (a) For purposes of Sections 57019 and 57020, the
following definitions shall apply:
(1) "Analytical test method" means a procedure used to sample,
prepare, and analyze a specific matrix to determine the identity and
concentration of a specified chemical and its metabolites and
degradation product. An analytical test method shall conform to the
standards adopted by the National Environmental Laboratory
Accreditation Conference.
(2) "Bioconcentration factor" means the concentration of a
chemical in an organism divided by its concentration in a test
solution or environment.
(3) "Chemical" has the same meaning as a chemical substance, as
defined in Section 2602 of Title 15 of the United States Code.
(4) "Manufacturer" means a person who produces a chemical in this
state or who imports a chemical into this state for sale in this
state.
(5) "Matrix" includes, but is not limited to, water, air, soil,
sediment, sludge, chemical waste, fish, blood, adipose tissue, and
urine.
(6) "Octanol-water partition coefficient" means the ratio of the
concentration of a chemical in octanol and in water at equilibrium
and at a specified temperature.
(7) "State agency" means the State Air Resources Board, the
Department of Toxic Substances Control, the Integrated Waste
Management Board, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard
Assessment, the State Water Resources Control Board, and the
California Environmental Protection Agency. "State agency" does not
include the Department of Pesticide Regulation.
SEC. 3. Section 57019 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
57019. (a) The California Environmental Protection Agency shall
coordinate all requests for information from manufacturers made
pursuant to this section on behalf of the state agencies.
(b) In coordinating the requests made pursuant to this section,
the California Environmental Protection Agency shall seek to
accomplish the following objectives:
(1) Minimize or eliminate duplicate requests for the same or
similar information.
(2) Coordinate with manufacturers of the same chemical to develop
and submit the requested information in an equitable and
resource-efficient manner.
(3) To the extent practicable minimize the cost burden on
individual manufacturers.
(4) Maintain a record of requests made pursuant to this section.
(c) A state agency, before requesting any information from a
manufacturer pursuant to subdivision (d), shall do all of the
following:
(1) Post on its Internet Web site and the Internet Web site of the
California Environmental Protection Agency an announcement that it
seeks information pursuant to subdivision (d), including the chemical
for which it seeks information, the type of information it is
seeking, and the reason for seeking the information.
(2) Conduct a search for the information it seeks of all known
public sources of information on the chemicals for which an
announcement has been posted pursuant to paragraph (1). All known
public sources include public and electronically searchable databases
maintained by the federal government, state governments, and
intergovernmental organizations.
(3) Make reasonable attempts to contact all manufacturers of
chemicals listed for which an announcement has been posted pursuant
to paragraph (1) to obtain any relevant information that may be held
by those manufacturers but is not publicly available.
(4) Make reasonable attempts to consult with all manufacturers of
chemicals listed for which an announcement has been posted pursuant
to paragraph (1) to determine what additional information, if any,
those manufacturers need to develop to assist the state agency in
evaluating the fate and transport of those chemicals in the relevant
matrices.
(5) Make reasonable attempts to consult with all manufacturers to
evaluate the technical feasibility of developing the information
requested by the agency.
(d) (1) A state agency may request a manufacturer to provide
additional information on a chemical for which an announcement has
been posted pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (c).
(2) Upon request of a state agency, the manufacturer, within one
year, shall provide the state agency with the additional information
requested for the specified chemical.
(3) The information that the state agency requests may include,
but is not limited to, any of the following:
(A) An analytical test method for that chemical, or for
metabolites and degradation products for that chemical that are
biologically relevant in the matrix specified by the state agency.
(B) The octanol-water partition coefficient and bioconcentration
factor for humans for that chemical.
(C) Other relevant information on the fate and transport of that
chemical in the environment.
(4) The manufacturer responding to a request pursuant to this
subdivision shall collaborate and cooperate with the state agency
making the request to the extent practicable for the following
purposes:
(A) To ensure that the information being provided meets the needs
of the state agency.
(B) To reduce disagreements over the information being provided.
(C) To decrease to the maximum extent possible the effort and
resources the state agency must expend to verify and validate the
information provided.
(e) The definitions in Section 57018 apply to this section.
(f) This section shall not be construed to limit the authority of
a state agency to obtain information pursuant to any other provision
of law.
SEC. 4. Section 57020 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
57020. (a) Notwithstanding Section 6254.7 of the Government Code,
if a manufacturer believes that information provided to a state
agency pursuant to Section 57019 involves the release of a trade
secret, the manufacturer shall make the disclosure to the state
agency and notify the state agency in writing of that belief. In its
written notice, the manufacturer shall identify the portion of the
information submitted to the state agency that it believes is a trade
secret and provide documentation supporting its conclusion.
(b) Subject to this section, the state agency shall protect from
disclosure a trade secret designated as such by the manufacturer, if
that trade secret is not a public record.
(c) Upon receipt of a request for the release of information to
the public that includes information that the manufacturer has
notified the state agency is a trade secret and that is not a public
record, the following procedure applies:
(1) The state agency shall notify the manufacturer that disclosed
the information to the state agency of the request, in writing by
certified mail, return receipt requested.
(2) The state agency shall release the information to the public,
but not earlier than 30 days after the date of mailing the notice of
the request for information, unless, prior to the expiration of the
30-day period, the manufacturer obtains an action in an appropriate
court for a declaratory judgment that the information is subject to
protection under this section or for a preliminary injunction
prohibiting disclosure of the information to the public and promptly
notifies the state agency of that action. In order to prevent the
state agency from releasing the information to the public, the
manufacturer shall obtain a declaratory judgment or preliminary
injunction within 30 days of filing an action for a declaratory
judgment or preliminary injunction.
(d) This section does not authorize a manufacturer to refuse to
disclose to the state agency information required by Section 57019.
(e) Any information that a court, pursuant to this section,
determines is a trade secret and not a public record, or pending
final judgment pursuant to subdivision (c), shall not be disclosed by
the state agency to anyone, except to an officer or employee of a
city or county, the state, or the United States, or to a contractor
with a city or county, or the state, and its employees, if, in the
opinion of the state agency, disclosure is necessary and required for
the satisfactory performance of a contract, for the performance of
work, or to protect the health and safety of the employees of the
contractor.
(f) The definitions in Section 57018 apply to this section.