Plain English Breakdown
The official status indicates the bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, but no specific effective date is listed in the provided metadata.
Tracking and Disposal Rules for Needle Exchange Programs
This law requires needle exchange programs to put unique serial numbers on every syringe, track where they go, report the data quarterly, and face fines if needles are found abandoned or records are faked.
What This Bill Does
- Requires each needle or syringe given out by an exchange program to have a unique serial number.
- Mandates that programs keep detailed records of every needle dispensed, returned, destroyed, and disposed of.
- Orders programs to send a searchable list of these serial numbers to the state health department and local officers every three months.
- Sets fines for entities found lying in their reports or if needles with unique IDs are found abandoned in public places.
- Creates a new fund called the Needle and Syringe Disposal Fund to hold money collected from penalties.
Who It Names or Affects
- Entities authorized by the state to provide needle and syringe exchange services.
- The State Department of Public Health, which oversees reporting and issues fines.
- Local health officers in cities and counties who must check reported data against found needles.
Terms To Know
- Needle and syringe exchange services
- Programs authorized to provide hypodermic needle and syringe exchange services where conditions exist for the rapid spread of infections like HIV or viral hepatitis.
- Administrative penalty
- A fine issued by a government agency, such as $25,000 for lying in reports or $1,000 per needle found abandoned.
Limits and Unknowns
- The bill does not state when it will officially take effect.
- Money from the new fund can only be spent if the Legislature approves an appropriation later.
- Reimbursement to local agencies for costs depends on a future decision by the Commission on State Mandates.