CA Governor Signs Senate Bill 823 And SB 1397 And SB 1474

Article Source: CA State Senator Jerry Hill

Governor Brown Signs Legislation by Senator Jerry Hill to Require Alcohol and Drug Rehab Facilities to Use Evidence-Based Standards for Treatment in Order to Be Licensed in California

Governor Also Signs Hill Bills to Require AED Installation in High-Occupancy Buildings Undergoing Major Renovations and to Give the CPUC More Muscle to Impound Unlicensed Limos and Other Charter-Party Vehicles

SACRAMENTO – Governor Brown signed legislation Wednesday by state Senator Jerry Hill to set an evidence-based standard for the treatment provided by drug and alcohol rehab facilities that are licensed in California.

Senate Bill 823 is aimed at increasing oversight of a burgeoning addiction recovery industry with widely divergent methods of treatment and no current requirement for licensed facilities to use a uniform, evidence-based standard of care. The legislation addresses problems exposed by a 2017 investigative series by the Orange County Register.

“Patients, families and insurers who use and pay for services from these facilities need to know that the state has ensured that the facilities are providing fact-based, evidence-proven treatment,” said Senator Hill, D-San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties.

SB 823 requires the Department of Health Care Services to adopt by January 1, 2023, the American Society of Addiction Medicine’s treatment criteria, or an equivalent evidence-based standard, as the minimum standard of care for licensed adult alcoholism or drug abuse recovery and treatment facilities. Under SB 823, the facilities must meet the standard in order to obtain a license or renew it.

“By requiring nationally recognized evidence-based treatment criteria, like that of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, for licensure of these facilities, we will ensure that their clients receive the best care available and not be subject to expensive anecdotal treatment options with no proven efficacy,” Senate Hill said.

Increasing Availability of AEDs

Governor Brown also signed SB 1397 by Senator Hill to require an automated external defibrillator, an emergency device better known as an AED, be installed in high-occupancy structures that undergo modifications, renovations, or tenant improvements amounting to $100,000 or more in a single calendar year.

SB 1397 takes effect January 1, 2020. Its AED installation requirement applies to commercial, educational, institutional and factory buildings with occupancy for 200 or more people, and to residential buildings with the same occupancy range, but does not apply to single-family or multifamily dwelling units.

The requirement for AED installation also applies to assembly buildings, including auditoriums and theaters, with an occupancy of greater than 300 people. In the case of places of assembly, there is no dollar-threshold for improvements made by building tenants.

Buildings that already have an AED in a common area and structures owned or operated by local government are exempt from SB 1397.

“The life-saving potential of an AED is clear,” said Senator Hill. “Sudden cardiac arrest kills nearly 1,000 people a day in the United States. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere and at any age. Only 10 percent of the people who experience cardiac arrest outside a hospital-setting survive. Among young victims, the survival rate is about 5 percent. The single most effective intervention during sudden cardiac arrest is the use of an AED.”

Existing law requires most newly constructed high-occupancy buildings to have an AED. But AED installation is not required in high-occupancy buildings that undergo substantial modifications, renovations or improvements.

SB 1397 builds on earlier AED legislation, including two 2015 bills. SB 287 by Senator Ben Hueso required an AED to be installed in any high-occupancy building constructed on or after January 1, 2017. Senator Hill’s SB 658 updated and streamlined the training and maintenance requirements for AEDs in commercial buildings and K-12 schools.

Impounding Limos, Chartered Buses and Other Charter-Party Vehicles

SB 1474 enables the California Public Utilities Commission to better pursue enforcement actions against unlicensed transportation carriers. The bill allows the CPUC to contract with the CHP or sheriff’s departments to assist in impounding vehicles -- such as limos, chartered buses and other charter-party vehicles -- that are under the CPUC’s jurisdiction.

“The CPUC has repeatedly said current statutes are insufficient to properly enforce carriers,” said Senator Hill. “SB 1474 helps ensure that illegal carriers no longer flout the law.”

SB 1474 takes effect January 1, 2019.

Leslie Guevarra, 415-298-3404, leslie.guevarra@sen.ca.gov

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Robert Riechel

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Source Credit: CA State Senator Jerry Hill

Web Site: http://sd13.senate.ca.gov/

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