Chapter
059
2003 -- H 6024
Enacted 06/027/03
A N A C T
RELATING
TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- LABORATORIES
Introduced
By: Representative Arthur J. Corvese
Date Introduced:
February 12, 2003
It
is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
SECTION
1. Sections 23-16.2-2, 23-16.2-3, 23-16.2-4, 23-16.2-7 and 23-16.2-8 of the
General
Laws in Chapter 23-16.2 entitled "Laboratories" are hereby amended to
read as follows:
23-16.2-2.
Definitions. -- When used in this chapter:
(1) "Analytical laboratory" means a facility for the biological,
microbiological, chemical,
physical,
and radiochemical examination of food, surface water, recreational water,
air,
wastewater,
sewage, swimming pools, solid waste, hazardous waste, minerals, soil, sediment,
potable
water, nonpotable water or other environmental matrices.
(2) "Clinical laboratory" means a facility for the biological,
microbiological, serological,
chemical,
immunohematological, hematological, radiobioassay, cytological, pathological,
or
other
examination of materials derived from the human body for the purposes of
providing
information
for the diagnosis, prevention, or treatment of any disease or impairment of or
the
assessment
of the health of human beings.
(3) "Director" means the director of the department of health.
(4) "Persons" means any individual, firm, partnership, corporation,
company,
association,
or joint stock association.
(5) "Station" means a facility for the collection, processing, and
transmission of the
materials
described in subdivisions (1) and (2) for the purposes described in
subdivisions (1) and
(2).
(6)
"Certification" means the determination by the department of health
that an analytical
laboratory
is capable of performing specific tests or analyses of environmental samples in
accordance
with the requirements of the regulations promulgated pursuant to this chapter.
23-16.2-3.
Application of law -- Exceptions. -- The provisions of this chapter
shall
apply
to all laboratories and stations performing analytical or clinical laboratory
services or
specimens
in this state except:
(1) A laboratory maintained by a hospital licensed under chapter 17 of title
23, or by
food
preparation or processing establishments performing analysis to determine the
quality of
their
own products,
or by a licensed physician or group of licensed physicians who make the tests
referred
to in section 23-16.2-2 personally and solely in connection with the treatment
of their
own
patients; however, an independent laboratory which makes the tests on its own
responsibility
for a
single physician or group of physicians is subject to this chapter; and.
(2) Any temporary or ad hoc health promotion or screening program conducted for
the
general
public which offers generally accepted mass screening procedures; provided the
health
promotion
or screening program is conducted pursuant to a permit issued by the department
of
health.
(3)
Any person performing only limited function tests as defined in regulation by
the
director.
23-16.2-4.
License required -- Term of license -- Application -- Fee. License
required
for clinical laboratories –Term of license -- Application -- Fee. -- (a) It shall be
unlawful
for any persons, corporation, or other form of business entity to perform
clinical or
analytical
laboratory services on specimens collected in this state or to own or maintain
a
laboratory
or station in this state without having a license issued by the department of
health
pursuant
to this chapter. A license, unless sooner suspended or revoked under the
provisions of
this
chapter, shall expire on the thirtieth (30th) day of December of every other
year following the
date
of license. This will be determined on an odd-even basis with respect to the
license number.
Each
license shall be issued only to conduct the tests approved and for the premises
and persons
named
in the application, and shall not be transferable or assignable. The fee for a
clinical
laboratory
license shall be five hundred dollars ($500) for each specialty for which the
laboratory
is
approved. The fee for a station license shall be five hundred dollars ($500). The
fee for an
analytical
laboratory shall be five hundred dollars ($500) for each category for which the
laboratory
is approved.
The fees shall be made payable to the general treasurer, state of Rhode
Island,
and submitted with the application to the department of health.
(b) It shall be unlawful for any persons, corporations, or other form of entity
to own,
operate,
maintain, conduct, or sponsor a temporary or ad hoc screening program without
having
obtained
a permit from the director of health. The fee for any permit shall be fifty
dollars
($50.00).
It is within the director's discretion to waive the fee. All fees shall be made
payable to
the
general treasurer, state of Rhode Island. Nothing contained in this section
shall require any
licensed
persons, corporations, or other entity to pay the permit fee, if the screening
program is
provided
free of charge to the public by the licensed persons, corporation, or entity.
23-16.2-7.
Suspension and revocation of license. -- (a) The department of health
may
revoke
or suspend the license or specific certification of any laboratory or
station for conduct by
or
chargeable to the laboratory or stations as follows:
(1) Failure to observe any term of the license or specific certification
issued under
authority
of this chapter by the department of health;
(2) Failure to observe any order made under authority of this chapter or under
the
statutory
authority vested in the department of health;
(3) Engaging in, aiding, abetting, causing, or permitting any action prohibited
under this
chapter;
(4) Failing to observe any regulations promulgated by the department of health.
(b) Whenever the director shall have reason to believe that any laboratory or
station, for
the
maintenance of which the director has issued a license or specific
certification as provided for
in
section 23-16.2-4, is being maintained in violation of the rules and
regulations provided in
section
23-16.2-5, the director may, pending an investigation and hearing, suspend for
a period
not
exceeding thirty (30) days, any license or specific certification issued
under authority of this
chapter
and may, after due notice and hearing, revoke the license or specific
certification if the
director
finds that the laboratory or station is being maintained in violation of the
rules and
regulations.
The holder of a license shall upon its revocation promptly surrender the
license or
specific
certification
to the director.
23-16.2-8.
Judicial review of license action. -- Any person aggrieved by a
decision of
the
director refusing to grant an application for a license to maintain a
laboratory or station or
suspending
or revoking a license or specific certification already issued, may
appeal the decision
to
the superior court which shall have power to review the entire proceedings of
any hearing
before
the department of health in the manner provided in chapter 35 of title 42.
SECTION
2. Section 23-24.5-14 of the General Laws in Chapter 23-24.5 entitled
"Asbestos
Abatement" is hereby amended to read as follows:
23-24.5-14.
Training, curricula, and certification. -- (a) (1) The director shall
establish
procedures
and regulations for the following procedures:
(i) For the certification of a competent person, of designated public
maintenance
employees,
of designated teacher and parent representatives, of in-state
laboratories performing
analysis
of asbestos in air or building materials, and of private consultants or inspectors;
(ii) Establish standards and specifications for training courses based upon,
but not
limited
to, those included in this chapter and to certify that training;
(iii) To train directly or by contract maintenance personnel or competent
persons;
(iv) To certify and train designated public maintenance personnel and workers
in the
private
sector, including but not limited to electricians, contractors, plumbers, in safe
techniques
of
spot asbestos repair.
(2) Each trained and certified person shall be issued an "asbestos
certified" photo identity
card,
and only those carded persons shall be permitted to do spot repairs on asbestos
in the
buildings
of their jurisdiction. Any person certified for spot repair but not as an
asbestos
"contractor"
shall not undertake any asbestos abatement project larger than the size limits
of a
spot
repair as defined by the director and shall follow all safe work practices for
spot repair work
as
required by the director. Those employees in violation of these provisions
and/or their
employer
shall be subject to a fine of no more than five hundred dollars ($500) per
violation.
(b) As a guideline for approval of a certified training program for asbestos
contractors,
the
director shall give due consideration to a course of thirty-two (32) hours of
instruction
covering
the following topics:
(1) The nature of asbestos hazards and a review of improper abatement
procedures such
as
dry removal, lack of protective barriers, and poor respirator fit problems;
(2) The medical effects of asbestos exposure, the mechanics of human
respiration, the
nature
of asbestos disease conditions, their diagnosis and evaluation, and medical
asbestos
surveillance
methods in exposed populations;
(3) Federal and state asbestos regulations including OSHA and EPA regulations,
Right-
to-Know
laws, and this chapter;
(4) Current protection standards, including the role of respirators,
appropriate
housekeeping
procedures, appropriate hygiene, the synergism effects of asbestos with
smoking,
and
the importance of decontamination procedures;
(5) The proper preparation of the work area including, but not limited to, the
proper
repair
and removal abatement techniques, sealing and isolation methods in the work
environment,
the
use of negative pressure air filtration barriers, the avoidance of power tools,
the need for
wetting
down of asbestos materials, bagging and labeling of asbestos materials, proper
waste
storage,
and removal of material;
(6) Identifying asbestos containing materials, study of decision protocol for
evaluation
and
prioritizing of abatement, air sampling and other monitoring techniques, negative
air pressure
filtration
system and high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter systems.
(c) The director may assess fees for certifications issued in accordance with
rules or
regulations
promulgated pursuant to the authority conferred by this section, provided that
those
fees
are assessed only after procedures in accordance with chapter 35 of title 42
have been
followed.
(d) Notwithstanding the requirements contained in subsections (a) and (b) of
this section,
the director
may also establish procedures or regulations for reciprocal recognition of
training
courses
and/or certification programs for asbestos contractors, site supervisory
personnel and/or
asbestos
abatement workers. The director may assess fees for reciprocal recognition of
training
courses
and/or certification programs for asbestos contractors, site supervisory
personnel and/or
asbestos
abatement workers issued in accordance with rules or regulations promulgated
pursuant
to
the authority conferred by this section, provided that these fees are assessed
only after
procedures
in accordance with chapter 35 of title 42 have been followed.
SECTION
3. Sections 23-24.6-12 and 23-24.6-21 of the General Laws in Chapter 23-
24.6
entitled "Lead Poisoning Prevention Act" are hereby amended to read
as follows:
23-24.6-12.
Comprehensive environmental lead inspections. [Effective until July 1,
2007.]
--
The department shall develop and promulgate regulations for:
(1) Conducting comprehensive environmental lead inspections, which regulations
shall,
at a
minimum, include procedures for:
(i) Inspecting, testing, and/or sampling of drinking water, household dust,
painted
surfaces,
soil, and/or other appropriate fixed surfaces that may contain lead;
(ii)
Notification of owners, occupants, and mortgagees and lienholders and/or the
posting
of
warnings when unacceptable environmental lead levels are identified during an
inspection; and
(iii)
Notifying the department of the results of inspections; and
(2)
For other inspections necessary to accomplish the purposes of this chapter.;
and
(3)
Collection of environmental media samples, including, but not limited to, dust,
soil,
paint,
pewter, pottery, and water, and field analysis of their lead content.
23-24.6-12.
Comprehensive environmental lead inspections. [Effective July 1, 2007.]
-- The department shall
develop and promulgate regulations for conducting comprehensive
environmental
lead inspections. These regulations shall, at a minimum, include procedures
for:
(1)
Inspecting, testing, and/or sampling of drinking water, household dust, painted
surfaces,
soil, and/or other appropriate fixed surfaces that may contain lead;
(2)
Notification of owners, occupants, and mortgagees and lienholders and/or the
posting
of
warnings when unacceptable environmental lead levels are identified during an
inspection; and
(3)
Notifying the department of the results of inspections.; and
(4)
Collection of environmental media samples, including, but not limited to, dust,
soil,
paint,
pewter, pottery, and water, and field analysis of their lead content.
23-24.6-21.
Laboratory certification. Laboratory testing and reporting requirement
certification.
--
(a) The department shall develop and promulgate regulations for analysis of
lead
in
blood and in environmental media including but not limited to dust, soil,
paint, pewter, pottery,
and
water. Laboratory
analyses of all clinical and environmental media samples collected to
demonstrate
compliance with this act or with regulations promulgated pursuant to this act
shall
only
be conducted by a laboratory which has been licensed or certified (as
appropriate) by the
director
pursuant to chapter 16.2 of title 23 entitled "Laboratories."
(b) The department shall certify laboratories performing lead analyses under
the
department's
laboratory improvement program to ensure that the laboratories comply with the
regulations
for analysis of lead in blood and in environmental media. All laboratories
performing
blood
lead analyses on samples taken from children under six (6) years of age shall
report the
results
of such analyses to the department in accordance with regulations promulgated
by the
department.
(c) All certified laboratories shall report blood lead testing results to
the department as
required
by department regulations.
SECTION
4. Section 23-61-5 of the General Laws in Chapter 23-61 entitled "Radon
Control"
is hereby amended to read as follows:
23-61-5.
Licensing and certification. -- (a) All persons providing or offering
to provide
the
following services must be certified or licensed in accordance with regulations
adopted
pursuant
to the authority conferred by this chapter:
(1) Screening sampling/testing of air or water for radon/radon progeny;
(2) Diagnostic sampling/testing of air or water for radon/radon progeny;
(3) Mitigation planning services for radon/radon progeny;
(4) Training courses offered for the purpose of meeting any of the licensing
and/or
certification
requirements mandated by this chapter.
(b) The director may assess fees for licenses and certifications issued in
accordance with
regulations
promulgated pursuant to the authority conferred by this section, provided that
those
fees
are assessed only after procedures in accordance with chapter 35 of title 42
have been
followed.
The fees collected shall be deposited in a restricted receipt account as
provided for
under
section 23-61-8 of this chapter.
SECTION
5. Chapter 23-16.2 of the General Laws entitled "Laboratories" is
hereby
amended
by adding thereto the following section:
23-16.2-4.1.
Certificate required for analytical laboratories -- Term of certificate --
Fee.
– It
shall be unlawful for any analytical laboratory to perform testing or analyses
of samples
originating
in this state, for which the department of health requires certification,
without having
a
certificate issued by the department of health pursuant to this chapter.
Certificates for specific
analyses
and methods for laboratory testing of potable water, nonpotable water, and
environmental
samples for lead content are hereby required. The department is authorized to
require
certification for other types of environmental testing and to set fees for
certificates in
regulation.
Certificates, unless sooner suspended or revoked under the provisions of this
chapter,
shall
expire on the thirtieth (30th) day of December of every year following the date
of the
certificate.
SECTION
6. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2005.
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LC02361
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