SB 20

Bill Subjects

Occupational Safety Fabrication Activities On Stone Slab Products

Abstract

Existing law establishes the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board within the Department of Industrial Relations to promulgate and enforce occupational safety and health standards for the state, including standards dealing with exposure to harmful airborne contaminants. Existing law requires the Division of Occupational Safety and Health within the department to enforce all occupational safety and health standards, as specified. A violation of these standards and regulations under specific circumstances is a crime. This bill would impose restrictions on specified fabrication activities on certain stone slab products that are used for countertop installation or customization. Specifically, a person or entity engaged in those fabrication activities would be prohibited from using dry methods, and would be required to use effective wet methods, as specified. The bill would make a violation of these provisions grounds for, among other disciplinary action, an immediate order by the Division of Occupational Safety and Health prohibiting continued fabrication activities on those stone slab products. Existing law establishes the State Department of Public Health, which is led by the State Public Health Officer, within the California Health and Human Services Agency. Existing law vests the department with certain duties, powers, functions, jurisdiction, and responsibilities over specified public health programs. The bill would require, on or before July 1, 2026, the State Department of Public Health to consult with representatives of approved apprenticeship programs to adopt a training curriculum regarding the safe performance of fabrication activities on stone slab products that meets specified requirements, including classroom instruction, and to certify an individual who has completed that curriculum. Beginning July 1, 2027, the bill would require certain individuals, including an owner or operator of a stone slab product fabrication shop, to be enrolled in or have completed the training curriculum, except as specified, before fabrication activity or employment begins, as described. The bill would require, on or before January 1, 2027, the department to develop an application and certification process for fabrication shops to lawfully engage in stone slab product fabrication activities. The bill would authorize fabrication shops to engage in those fabrication activities during the pendency of the application development and licensing process. The bill would require the department to develop an initial deposit process for fabrication shops to, during the pendency of the application development and certification process, submit a deposit fee for the application and certification subject to specified requirements, including that the deposit amount goes towards the initial certification fee collected by the department. The bill would require the department to create a statewide tracking system to track the number of fabrication shops that have submitted a deposit subject to specified requirements, including that the statewide tracking system is posted on the department's internet website and is made available to the public. The bill would require, beginning January 1, 2027, the department to grant a 3-year certification to a fabrication shop that demonstrates satisfaction of specified criteria involving workplace safety conditions and precautions, and would authorize certification renewal, as specified. Among other conditions, the bill would establish certain regulatory fees in amounts to be determined and adjusted by the department, as specified, for the certification and renewal thereof. The bill would authorize the department to suspend or revoke a certification in certain cases, including for gross negligence, as specified. The bill would require the department, in consultation with the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, to track and keep a record of specified information on fabrication shops, including the number of violations issued to any of the fabrication shops for failure to comply with any temporary or future standards relating to respirable crystalline silica, as specified. The bill would prohibit a person or entity, or an employee thereof, from engaging in fabrication activities on stone slab products unless the person or entity has a certification. The bill would prohibit, beginning January 1, 2027, a person from supplying a slab solid surface product directly to a person or entity engaged in fabrication activities on those products if the person or entity does not have a valid certification. The bill would require a person that, among other things, supplies a slab solid surface product to a person or entity engaged in fabrication activities on those products to verify the person or entity has a certification, as specified. The bill would require a person that supplies a slab solid surface product to a person or entity that is not engaged in fabrication activities to rely on written certification issued under penalty of perjury that, among other things, they will not directly engage in fabrication activities with the product without a certification. By expanding the scope of the crime of perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would specify that a violation of any of the above-described provisions may be grounds for disciplinary action, as specified, but is not a crime. The bill would establish the Slab Fabrication Activity Account in the Occupational Safety and Health Fund in the State Treasury, and require all fees, penalties, or other moneys collected by the department under the above-described provisions to be deposited into the account. The bill would authorize moneys in the account to be expended by the department for the purposes of administering the above-described provisions, and would make that authorization contingent on an appropriation of funds for that express purpose. The bill would require, beginning January 1, 2027, the State Public Health Officer to maintain a publicly accessible database on the department's internet website that includes, among other things, information on any active orders issued by the department in the prior 12 months prohibiting an activity at a fabrication shop, as specified. The bill would define various terms for these purposes. The bill would make findings and declarations related to these provisions. 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. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.