House File 2555

                                       HOUSE FILE       
                                       BY  COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

                                       (SUCCESSOR TO HF 2492)
                                       (SUCCESSOR TO HSB 626)


    Passed House, Date               Passed Senate,  Date             
    Vote:  Ayes        Nays           Vote:  Ayes        Nays         
                 Approved                            

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act providing for specified changes regarding programs under
  2    the purview of the department of public health, providing a
  3    penalty, and making an appropriation.
  4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
  5 TLSB 5217HZ 80
  6 rn/cf/24

PAG LIN

  1  1    Section 1.  NEW SECTION.  135.39A  GIFTS AND GRANTS FUND ==
  1  2 APPROPRIATION.
  1  3    The department is authorized to accept gifts, grants, or
  1  4 allotments of funds from any source to be used for programs
  1  5 authorized by this chapter or any other chapter which the
  1  6 department is responsible for administering.  A public health
  1  7 gifts and grants fund is created as a separate fund in the
  1  8 state treasury under the control of the department.  The fund
  1  9 shall consist of gift or grant moneys obtained from any
  1 10 source, including the federal government.  The moneys
  1 11 collected under this section and deposited in the fund are
  1 12 appropriated to the department for the public health purposes
  1 13 specified in the gift or grant.  Moneys in the fund shall not
  1 14 be subject to appropriation or expenditure for any other
  1 15 purpose.  Notwithstanding section 8.33, moneys in the public
  1 16 health gifts and grants fund at the end of each fiscal year
  1 17 shall not revert to any other fund but shall remain in the
  1 18 public health gifts and grants fund for expenditure for
  1 19 subsequent fiscal years.
  1 20    Sec. 2.  Section 135.103, Code 2003, is amended to read as
  1 21 follows:
  1 22    135.103  GRANT PROGRAM.
  1 23    The department shall implement a childhood lead poisoning
  1 24 prevention grant program which provides matching federal,
  1 25 state, or other funds to local boards of health or cities for
  1 26 the program after standards and requirements for the local
  1 27 program are developed.  The state shall provide funds to
  1 28 approved programs on the basis of three dollars for each one
  1 29 dollar designated by the local board of health or city for the
  1 30 program for the first two years of a program, and funds on the
  1 31 basis of one dollar for each one dollar designated by the
  1 32 local board of health or city for the program for the third
  1 33 and subsequent years of the program if such funding is
  1 34 determined necessary by the department for such subsequent
  1 35 years.  The department may also use federal, state, or other
  2  1 funds provided for the childhood lead poisoning prevention
  2  2 grant program to purchase environmental and blood testing
  2  3 services from a public health laboratory.
  2  4    Sec. 3.  Section 135.104, unnumbered paragraph 1, Code
  2  5 2003, is amended to read as follows:
  2  6    The program by a local board of health or city receiving
  2  7 matching funding for an approved childhood lead poisoning
  2  8 prevention grant program shall include:
  2  9    Sec. 4.  NEW SECTION.  135.105D  VOLUNTARY LEAD HAZARD
  2 10 REMEDIATION == LIABILITY.
  2 11    1.  The department shall adopt rules, pursuant to chapter
  2 12 17A, setting forth voluntary lead hazard remediation standards
  2 13 for an owner or managing agent of target housing or a child=
  2 14 occupied facility constructed prior to 1978.  In promulgating
  2 15 these rules, the department shall consult with state
  2 16 associations of real estate agents and landlords.
  2 17    2.  The department shall also adopt rules, pursuant to
  2 18 chapter 17A, setting forth the conditions under which an owner
  2 19 or managing agent of target housing or a child=occupied
  2 20 facility constructed prior to 1978 who has voluntarily
  2 21 completed lead hazard remediation and who is sued by a current
  2 22 or former occupant seeking damages for injuries allegedly
  2 23 arising from exposure to lead=based paint hazards shall be
  2 24 immune from liability.
  2 25    3.  The department shall adopt rules, pursuant to chapter
  2 26 17A, to develop and administer a central registry of target
  2 27 housing or child=occupied facilities constructed prior to 1978
  2 28 that meet the lead hazard remediation standards promulgated by
  2 29 the department pursuant to subsection 1.  The department shall
  2 30 establish by rule fees in amounts sufficient to defray the
  2 31 costs of administering the central registry.  Fees received
  2 32 shall be considered repayment receipts as defined in section
  2 33 8.2.  The department shall consider providing internet access
  2 34 to the registry.
  2 35    4.  For purposes of this section, "child=occupied
  3  1 facility", "lead=based paint hazard", and "target housing"
  3  2 shall mean the same as defined in departmental rules.
  3  3    Sec. 5.  Section 136B.1, subsection 2, Code 2003, is
  3  4 amended to read as follows:
  3  5    2.  The department shall establish programs and adopt rules
  3  6 for the certification of persons who test for the presence of
  3  7 radon gas and radon progeny in buildings and for buildings,
  3  8 the credentialing of persons abating the level of radon in
  3  9 buildings, and standards for radon abatement systems.
  3 10    Sec. 6.  Section 136B.3, Code 2003, is amended to read as
  3 11 follows:
  3 12    136B.3  TESTING AND REPORTING OF RADON LEVEL.
  3 13    The department or its duly authorized agents shall from
  3 14 time to time perform inspections and testing of the premises
  3 15 of a property to determine the level at which it is
  3 16 contaminated with radon gas or radon progeny as a spot=check
  3 17 of the validity of measurements or the adequacy of abatement
  3 18 measures performed by persons certified or credentialed under
  3 19 section 136B.1.  Following testing the department shall
  3 20 provide the owner of the property with a written report of its
  3 21 results including the concentration of radon gas or radon
  3 22 progeny contamination present, an interpretation of the
  3 23 results, and recommendation of appropriate action.  A person
  3 24 certified or credentialed under section 136B.1 shall also be
  3 25 advised of the department's results, discrepancies revealed by
  3 26 the spot=check, actions required of the person, and actions
  3 27 the department intends to take with respect to the person's
  3 28 continued certification or credentialing.
  3 29    Sec. 7.  Section 139A.2, subsection 20, Code Supplement
  3 30 2003, is amended to read as follows:
  3 31    20.  "Quarantine" means the limitation of freedom of
  3 32 movement of persons or animals that have been exposed to a
  3 33 communicable quarantinable disease within specified limits
  3 34 marked by placards for a period of time equal to the longest
  3 35 usual incubation period of the disease in such manner as to
  4  1 prevent the spread of a communicable quarantinable disease
  4  2 which affects people.
  4  3    Sec. 8.  Section 148.3, subsection 3, Code 2003, is amended
  4  4 to read as follows:
  4  5    3.  Present to the medical examiners satisfactory evidence
  4  6 that the applicant has successfully completed one year of
  4  7 postgraduate internship or resident training in a hospital
  4  8 approved for such training by the medical examiners.
  4  9 Beginning July 1, 2006, an applicant who holds a valid
  4 10 certificate issued by the educational commission for foreign
  4 11 medical graduates shall submit satisfactory evidence of
  4 12 successful completion of two years of such training.
  4 13    Sec. 9.  Section 152.1, subsection 6, paragraph b, Code
  4 14 Supplement 2003, is amended to read as follows:
  4 15    b.  Execute regimen prescribed by a physician, an advanced
  4 16 registered nurse practitioner, or a physician assistant.
  4 17    Sec. 10.  Section 154A.18, Code 2003, is amended to read as
  4 18 follows:
  4 19    154A.18  DISPLAY OF LICENSE.
  4 20    A person shall not engage in business as a hearing aid
  4 21 dispenser, or display a sign, or in any other way advertise or
  4 22 claim to be a hearing aid dispenser after January 1, 1975,
  4 23 unless the person holds a valid license issued by the
  4 24 department as provided in this chapter.  The license shall be
  4 25 conspicuously posted in the person's office or place of
  4 26 business primary location of practice.  The department shall
  4 27 issue duplicate licenses to valid license holders operating
  4 28 more than one office.  A license confers upon the holder the
  4 29 right to operate a business practice as a hearing aid
  4 30 dispenser.
  4 31    Sec. 11.  Section 155.9, subsection 3, unnumbered paragraph
  4 32 2, Code 2003, is amended to read as follows:
  4 33    The board may also accept the voluntary surrender of such
  4 34 license without necessity of a hearing.  In the event of the
  4 35 inability of the regular administrator of a nursing home to
  5  1 perform the administrator's duties or through death or other
  5  2 cause the nursing home is without a licensed administrator, a
  5  3 provisional administrator may be appointed on a temporary
  5  4 basis by the nursing home owner or owners, to perform such
  5  5 duties for a period not to exceed six months one year.
  5  6    Sec. 12.  NEW SECTION.  156.16  UNLICENSED PRACTICE ==
  5  7 INJUNCTIONS, CIVIL PENALTIES, CONSENT AGREEMENTS.
  5  8    1.  If the board has reasonable grounds to believe that a
  5  9 person or establishment which is not licensed under this
  5 10 chapter has engaged, or is about to engage, in an act or
  5 11 practice which requires licensure under this chapter, or
  5 12 otherwise violates a provision of this chapter, the board may
  5 13 issue an order to require the unlicensed person or
  5 14 establishment to comply with the provisions of this chapter,
  5 15 and may impose a civil penalty not to exceed one thousand
  5 16 dollars for each violation of this chapter by an unlicensed
  5 17 person or establishment.  Each day of a continued violation
  5 18 constitutes a separate offense.
  5 19    2.  The board may conduct an investigation as needed to
  5 20 determine whether probable cause exists to initiate the
  5 21 proceedings described in this section.  To aid in such an
  5 22 investigation or in connection with any other proceeding under
  5 23 this section, the board may issue subpoenas to compel
  5 24 witnesses to testify or persons to produce evidence consistent
  5 25 with the provisions of section 272C.6, subsection 3.
  5 26    3.  The board, in determining the amount of a civil penalty
  5 27 to be imposed, may consider any of the following:
  5 28    a.  Whether the amount imposed will be a substantial
  5 29 economic deterrent to the violation.
  5 30    b.  The circumstances leading to the violation.
  5 31    c.  The severity of the violation and the risk of harm to
  5 32 the public.
  5 33    d.  The economic benefits gained by the violator as a
  5 34 result of noncompliance.
  5 35    e.  The interest of the public.
  6  1    4.  The board, before issuing an order under this section,
  6  2 shall provide the person or establishment written notice and
  6  3 the opportunity to request a hearing.  The hearing must be
  6  4 requested within thirty days after receipt of the notice and
  6  5 shall be conducted in the same manner as provided for
  6  6 disciplinary proceedings involving a licensee under this
  6  7 chapter.
  6  8    5.  The board may request the attorney general to bring an
  6  9 action to enforce the subpoena.
  6 10    6.  A person or establishment aggrieved by the issuance of
  6 11 an order or the imposition of a civil penalty under this
  6 12 section may seek judicial review pursuant to section 17A.19.
  6 13    7.  If a person or establishment fails to pay a civil
  6 14 penalty within thirty days after entry of an order imposing
  6 15 the civil penalty, or, if the order is stayed pending an
  6 16 appeal, within ten days after the court enters a final
  6 17 judgment in favor of the board, the board shall notify the
  6 18 attorney general.  The attorney general may commence an action
  6 19 to recover the amount of the penalty, including reasonable
  6 20 attorney fees and costs.
  6 21    8.  An action to enforce an order under this section may be
  6 22 joined with an action for an injunction pursuant to section
  6 23 147.83.
  6 24    9.  The board, in its discretion and in lieu of issuing or
  6 25 enforcing an order or imposing a civil penalty for an initial
  6 26 violation under this section, may enter into a consent
  6 27 agreement with a violator, or with a person who aided or
  6 28 abetted a violator, which acknowledges the violation and the
  6 29 violator's agreement to refrain from any further violation.
  6 30 HF 2555
  6 31 rn/es/25