California Senate Bill SB564 Latest Draft

 BILL NUMBER: SB 564AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 19, 2014 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 15, 2014 AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 16, 2013 AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 4, 2013 INTRODUCED BY Senator Monning FEBRUARY 22, 2013 An act to add Article 3 (commencing with Section 115815) to Chapter 4 of Part 10 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to recreational activities. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 564, as amended, Monning. Ski resorts: accident reports. Existing law regulates certain behavior related to recreational activities and public safety, including, among other things, playgrounds and wooden playground equipment. This bill would, among other things, require a ski resort, as defined, to submit a monthly summary accident report, as defined, to the State Department of Public Health, as provided. The bill would  authorize the department to request additional safety-related information, as provided, and would  require the department to post the reports and other information onto its publicly accessible Internet Web site. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated 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) Residents and visitors annually make five to six million daily visits to California's mountain ski  resorts,   resorts  and analysis of hospital discharge and emergency room visit data reveals over 11,500 ski and snowboard injuries are treated at California hospitals each year. (b) Ski resorts are not uniformly subject to any federal or state safety statutes, regulations, or reporting requirements and do not provide or make accessible accident, death, and injury statistics or other safety-related information to government or the public. (c) Resort patrons are required to agree to negligence waivers with the purchase of a resort lift ticket or season pass. (d) The State Department of Public Health has established branches and units to provide statewide surveillance and control of accidents and injuries. SEC. 2. Article 3 (commencing with Section 115815) is added to Chapter 4 of Part 10 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code, to read: Article 3. Ski Resorts 115815. For  the  purposes of this article, the following definitions shall apply: (a) "Accidents" means any occurrence resulting in a death or an injury or injuries other than those requiring only minimal first aid, such as minor abrasions and bruises. (b) "Department" means the State Department of Public Health. (c) "Ski resort" or "resort" means the operator of a snow sport facility. (d) "Skier day" means use of a snow sport facility by a patron who skis, snowboards, or engages in any other snow sport during a single calendar day of facility operations. The number of skier days are used to track use as well as to normalize other patron volume-related statistics over a defined period of facility operations. (e) "Snow sport facility" means a facility located in California, including any facility that operates on federal land in California, that is used by skiers, snowboarders, and persons engaged in other forms of gravity propelled, nonmotorized, and upright downhill sliding snow sports. (f) "Summary accident report" or "report" means a report that contains all of the following with respect to a snow sport facility: (1) The number of accidents reported to a resort during the reporting period that occurred on its lifts, slopes, or trails or after an intended or unintended egress from the slope and trail boundaries to adjacent terrain. (2) The number of accidents reported to a resort during the reporting period that resulted in a death, either at the site of the accident, during the subsequent emergency transport, or at a medical care facility. (3) The number of accidents reported to a resort during the reporting period that resulted in nonfatal injuries requiring transportation by air or ground ambulance to a medical care facility. (4) The number of skier days and the number of days of full or partial operation during the reporting period.  (5) A description of each accident that provides sufficient information to explain the severity of the accident.  115816. (a) By the 15th calendar day after the end of each full or partial calendar month that a facility is used as a snow sport facility, a resort shall submit to the Injury Surveillance and Epidemiology Unit of the Safe and Active Communities Branch within the department, or other division, branch, or unit, as specified by the department, an electronic summary accident report in a format acceptable to the department.  (b) As part of or in addition to the summary accident report, the department may request additional safety-related information as it deems necessary or desirable and is available to the resort. The resort shall respond to all such requests on a timely basis.   (c)   (b)  Any information relating to a victim's identity shall be redacted by the resort  prior to   before  submitting the report or other requested information to the department.  (d)   (c)  The department shall post all reports and information received pursuant to this section onto its publicly accessible Internet Web site.