Existing law requires laboratories engaging in the performance of forensic alcohol analysis tests by or for law enforcement agencies on blood, urine, tissue, or breath for the purposes of determining the concentration of ethyl alcohol in persons involved in traffic accidents or in traffic violations to comply with various existing State Department of Public Health regulations regarding the inspection of laboratories, collection and handling of samples, methods of analysis, and laboratory records, until the time those regulations are revised, as specified. Existing regulations require each forensic alcohol laboratory to establish the concentration of each lot of secondary alcohol standards it uses, whether prepared or acquired, by an oxidimetric method that employs a primary standard. Existing regulations require analytical results to be reported to the 2nd decimal place. Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to establish a review committee, which is required to meet at least once in each 5-year period after its initial meeting, or within 60 days of receipt of a request by the department or a member of the review committee, to evaluate and determine revisions to relevant department regulations. Existing law requires the department to adopt regulations to incorporate the review committee’s revisions.

This bill would prohibit laboratories that are accredited in forensic alcohol analysis by the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board from being required to establish the concentration of each lot of secondary alcohol standards it uses, whether prepared or acquired, by an oxidimetric method that employs a primary standard, and would specify that those laboratories are not limited to reporting analytical results to the 2nd decimal place. The bill would instead require the review committee to meet at least once in each 3-year period after its initial meeting and would require the review committee, in determining revisions, to take into consideration the advancement and development of scientific processes, including the reporting of results with an estimated uncertainty measurement.

This bill would make an additional conforming change to existing law.