Existing law authorizes any city or county to establish a bacteriological and chemical laboratory for the examination of specimens and products for the purpose of protecting the community against infectious disease. Existing law requires that equipment and technical personnel employed by these laboratories be approved by the State Department of Health Services.

This bill would instead require the local health department of a city or county to have available the services of a public health laboratory for the examination of suspected cases of infectious and environmental diseases and would authorize the laboratory to include within its responsibilities the examination of, among other things, the environment and would require the performance of analyses required to assist in community disease surveillance and to meet the responsibilities and to support the programs of the local health department. This bill would make other conforming changes. By requiring local government entities to make the enumerated services of a public health laboratory available, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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, including the creation of a State Mandates Claims Fund to pay the costs of mandates that do not exceed $1,000,000 statewide and other procedures for claims whose statewide costs exceed $1,000,000.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.