Bill Text: CA SB538 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Amended

California Senate Bill 538 (Prior Session Legislation)

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: Electronic cigarettes.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Vetoed) 2020-01-13 - Veto sustained. [SB538 Detail]

Download: California-2019-SB538-Amended.html

Amended IN Senate March 28, 2019

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 538

Introduced by Senator Rubio

February 21, 2019

An act to ~~amend Section 22950.5 of the Business and Professions~~ add Section 119407 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to ~~tobacco.~~ electronic cigarettes, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 538, as amended, Rubio. ~~STAKE Act: definitions.~~ Electronic cigarettes.

Existing law requires cartridges for electronic cigarettes and solutions for filling or refilling an electronic cigarette to be in child-resistant packaging, as defined.
This bill would require, commencing on April 1, 2020, a manufacturer of an electronic cigarette sold in the state to submit a written physical description and a photograph of each type of electronic cigarette sold by that manufacturer to the State Department of Public Health. For each new electronic cigarette manufactured for sale in the state after April 1, 2020, the bill would require the manufacturer to submit the written physical description and photograph of the electronic cigarette to the department within 30 days of making the electronic cigarette available for sale. The bill would require the department, commencing July 1, 2020, to post the description and photograph of each electronic cigarette on its internet website, and would require the department to conduct a public outreach campaign to notify school districts, charter schools, and parent organizations of that posting.
The bill would authorize the department to impose a fee on manufacturers of electronic cigarettes sold in the state for each electronic cigarette manufactured, in an amount to cover the reasonable costs to the department to comply with the requirements of the bill.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law, the Stop Tobacco Access to Kids Enforcement (STAKE) Act, requires the State Department of Public Health to establish and develop a program to reduce the availability of tobacco products to persons under 21 years of age through specified enforcement activities. For purposes of this act, “tobacco product” means, in part, a product containing, made, or derived from tobacco or nicotine that is intended for human consumption, whether smoked, heated, chewed, absorbed, dissolved, inhaled, snorted, sniffed, or ingested by any other means, including cigarettes and cigars. The act also defines a “tobacco product,” in part, as an electronic device that delivers nicotine or other vaporized liquids to the person inhaling from the device, including an electronic cigarette.
~~This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to that provision.~~

Vote: ~~MAJORITY~~2/3 Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: NOYES Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nicotine is highly addictive and can harm brain development, which continues until about 25 years of age. The use of any tobacco product, including electronic cigarettes, is unsafe for young people.
(b) The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has stated that new and highly disturbing data plainly demonstrates that electronic cigarettes are creating an epidemic of regular nicotine use among teenagers. In recent years, the FDA has increasingly expressed alarm over the prevalence of vaping among youth in high school and even middle school.
(c) According to data confirmed by the FDA, the number of high school students who reported that they used electronic cigarettes within the past 30 days has risen roughly 75 percent since 2017 to approximately 3 million students.
(d) An increasing number of electronic cigarettes are developed to resemble otherwise innocuous items, such as USB flash drives or pens. This makes it difficult for parents and educators to identify these electronic cigarettes when they are used by students.
(e) Parents and educators can help prevent and reduce the use of electronic cigarettes by young people if they are better informed about the different shapes and types of electronic cigarettes.

SEC. 2.

Section 119407 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

119407.
(a) For purposes of this section, “electronic cigarette” means an electronic device that delivers nicotine or other vaporized liquids to a person inhaling from the device, including, but not limited to, an electronic cigarette, cigar, pipe, or hookah.
(b) Commencing on April 1, 2020, a manufacturer of an electronic cigarette sold in the state shall submit a written physical description and a photograph of each electronic cigarette sold by that manufacturer to the State Department of Public Health. For each new electronic cigarette manufactured for sale in the state after April 1, 2020, the manufacturer shall submit a written physical description and photograph of the electronic cigarette to the department within 30 days of making the electronic cigarette available for sale.
(c) Commencing July 1, 2020, the department shall post the physical description and photograph of each electronic cigarette received pursuant to subdivision (b) in a prominent location on its internet website.
(d) The department shall conduct a public outreach campaign to notify school districts, charter schools, and parent organizations that physical descriptions and photographs of electronic cigarettes are available on its internet website.
(e) The department may impose a fee on manufacturers of electronic cigarettes sold in the state for each electronic cigarette manufactured, in an amount to cover the reasonable costs to the department to comply with this section.

SEC. 3.
This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the California Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to address the rapid increase in the number of youth using electronic cigarettes and to assist parents and educators in identifying electronic cigarette devices as quickly as possible, it is necessary for this act to take effect immediately.

SECTION 1.Section 22950.5 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:
22950.5.
~~For purposes of this division, the following terms have the following meanings:~~
~~(a)“Department” means the State Department of Public Health.~~
(b)“Enforcing agency” means the State Department of Public Health, another state agency, including, but not limited to, the office of the Attorney General, or a local law enforcement agency, including, but not limited to, a city attorney, district attorney, or county counsel.
(c)“Smoking” means inhaling, exhaling, burning, or carrying a lighted or heated cigar, cigarette, or pipe, or any other lighted or heated tobacco or plant product intended for inhalation, whether natural or synthetic, in any manner or in any form. “Smoking” includes the use of an electronic smoking device that creates an aerosol or vapor, in any manner or in any form, or the use of an oral smoking device for the purpose of circumventing the prohibition of smoking.
~~(d)(1)“Tobacco product” means any of the following:~~
(A)A product containing, made, or derived from tobacco or nicotine that is intended for human consumption, whether smoked, heated, chewed, absorbed, dissolved, inhaled, snorted, sniffed, or ingested by other means, including, but not limited to, cigarettes, cigars, little cigars, chewing tobacco, pipe tobacco, or snuff.
~~(B)An electronic device that delivers nicotine or other vaporized liquids to the person inhaling from the device, including, but not limited to, an electronic cigarette, cigar, pipe, or hookah.~~
~~(C)Any component, part, or accessory of a tobacco product, whether or not sold separately.~~
(2)“Tobacco product” does not include a product that has been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for sale as a tobacco cessation product or for other therapeutic purposes where the product is marketed and sold solely for this approved purpose.