Article 2 - Occupational Lead Poisoning Prevention - California Health and Safety Code

Sections (3)

Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 710, Sec. 1. (AB 35) Effective January 1, 2020.

(a)The department shall establish and maintain an occupational lead poisoning prevention program, including, but not limited to, the following:

(1)Developing a system for monitoring laboratory reports of cases of adult lead toxicity, to create an occupational lead poisoning registry.

(2)Following up reported cases of occupational lead poisoning to ascertain the source of lead exposure.

(3)Conducting investigations in cases where take-home exposure may be occurring, where there is a likelihood of identifying additional

cases, or where a previously unidentified risk factor may be present.

(4)Conducting training of employers, employees, and health professionals regarding prevention of occupational lead poisoning.

(5)Making recommendations for the prevention of lead poisoning.

(b)In any situation where the activities specified in subdivision (a) may duplicate or overlap the activities of any other state department or agency, including the Department of Industrial Relations, the department shall coordinate with the other departments or agency and take actions to avoid program and service duplication.

(c)As part of the department’s Occupational Lead Poisoning Prevention

Program, the department shall consider a report from a laboratory of an employee’s blood lead level at or above 20 micrograms per deciliter to be injurious to the health of the employee and shall report that case within five business days of receiving the report to the Division of Occupational Safety and Health.

(d)The department may adopt regulations to implement this section and Sections 105190 and 105195. Any regulations adopted shall be considered and adopted as emergency regulations in accordance with Section 11346.1 of the Government Code.

(e)The employee blood lead level established by this section is not intended to supersede any lower blood lead level that may be actionable under the Division of Occupational Safety and Health’s lead standards in its general industry safety

order (Section 5198 of Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations) or construction safety order (Section 1532.1 of Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations). For purposes of this subdivision, an actionable employee blood lead level means a level that triggers an employer obligation to reduce lead exposure in the workplace or an investigation by the division.

§ 105190

Added by renumbering Section 429.14 (as amended by Stats. 1995, Ch. 630) by Stats. 1996, Ch. 720, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 1997.

(a)A fee shall be paid annually to the State Board of Equalization by employers in industries identified by the four-digit Standard Industrial Classification (S.I.C., 1987 Edition) established by the United States Department of Commerce and for which the State Board of Equalization has received information from the department of documented evidence of potential occupational lead poisoning.

(b)The department shall provide to the State Board of Equalization on or before the first day of November of each year, all information for the prior three-year period obtained by the California Blood Lead Registry, regarding evidence of potential occupational lead poisoning by the Standard Industrial Classification. Based on this information, the State Board of Equalization shall determine whether an employer is within Category A of the Standard Industrial Classification or within Category B of the Standard Industrial Classification and shall implement the fee schedule set forth in subdivision (c). For the purpose of this subdivision and subdivision (c), a Category A Standard Industrial Classification code is a Standard Industrial Classification code listed in Section 105195 for which there have been fewer than 20 persons with elevated blood lead levels reported to the California Blood Lead Registry in the prior three-year period. A Category B Standard Industrial Classification code is a Standard Industrial Classification code listed in Section 105195 for which there have been 20 or more persons with elevated blood lead levels reported to the California Blood Lead Registry in the prior three-year period. An elevated blood lead level is a level greater than or equal to 25 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood.

(c)For employers with 10 or more employees, but less than 100 employees, in a Category A Standard Industrial Classification code, the annual fee shall be one hundred ninety-five dollars ($195). For employers with 100 or more employees, but fewer than 500 employees, in a Category A Standard Industrial Classification code, the annual fee shall be three hundred ninety dollars ($390). For employers with 500 or more employees in a Category A Standard Industrial Classification code, the annual fee shall be nine hundred seventy-five dollars ($975). For employers with 10 or more employees, but fewer than 100 employees, in a Category B Standard Industrial Classification code, the annual fee shall be two hundred seventy-nine dollars ($279). For employers with 100 or more employees, but fewer than 500 employees, in a Category B Standard Industrial Classification code, the annual fee shall be seven hundred eighty-one dollars ($781). For employers with 500 or more employees in a Category B Standard Industrial Classification code, the annual fee shall be two thousand two hundred thirty-two dollars ($2,232). For the purpose of this subdivision, an employer is any person defined in Section 25118 of the Health and Safety Code. Employers with fewer than 10 employees are not subject to any fees pursuant to this section.

(d)The fees imposed in subdivision (c) are the rates for calendar year 1995 and shall be adjusted annually by the State Board of Equalization to reflect increases or decreases in the cost of living during the prior fiscal year as measured by the Consumer Price Index issued by the Department of Industrial Relations, or a successor agency. This adjustment of fees shall not be subject to the requirements of Chapter 2.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

(e)In no event shall the annual fee exceed the cost of the program described in Section 105185. The department may exempt from payment of fees those employers who demonstrate that lead is not present in their places of employment. The cost of the program described in Section 105185 shall not exceed the amount of revenue collected from the annual fee.

(f)The fee imposed pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be paid by each employer which is identified in the schedule in accordance with Part 22 (commencing with Section 43001) of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code and shall be deposited in the Occupational Lead Poisoning Prevention Account of the General Fund, which is hereby created, to be expended for the purposes of the Occupational Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, including the cost of administering the fees by the State Board of Equalization, upon appropriation by the Legislature.

§ 105191

Added by Stats. 1996, Ch. 720, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 1997.

(a)The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(1)There are some employers who use or disturb very small amounts of lead in ways that pose a very minimal potential for lead poisoning of employees.

(2)These users of de minimis amounts of lead are not currently eligible for a waiver of the Occupational Lead Poisoning Fee.

(b)The State Department of Health Services shall adopt regulations that define a de minimis amount of lead use or disturbance. Any employer who is within the requirements of this definition shall be exempt from payment of the Occupational Lead Poisoning Fee.