Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

67th Legislature                                                                                                       HB 121.1
                                                    HOUSE BILL NO. 121
                                                INTRODUCED BY D. BEDEY
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   A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: “AN ACT REVISING LAWS RELATED TO LOCAL BOARDS OF HEALTH;
   REQUIRING THAT CERTAIN RULES, REGULATIONS, AND FEES BE PROPOSED BY A LOCAL BOARD OF
   HEALTH AND ADOPTED BY THE GOVERNING BODY; ALLOWING A GOVERNING BODY TO AMEND A
   DIRECTIVE, MANDATE, OR ORDER GIVEN BY A LOCAL BOARD OF HEALTH DURING A TIME OF
   EMERGENCY OR DISASTER; ALLOWING A GOVERNING BODY TO AMEND AN ORDER GIVEN BY A
   LOCAL HEALTH OFFICER DURING A TIME OF EMERGENCY OR DISASTER; PROVIDING A DEFINITION;
   AND AMENDING SECTIONS 50-1-101, 50-2-116, 50-2-118, 50-2-124, AND 50-2-130, MCA.”
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   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
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              Section 1. Section 50-1-101, MCA, is amended to read:
              "50-1-101.   Definitions. Unless the context indicates otherwise, in chapter 2 and this chapter, the
   following definitions apply:
              (1)   "Communicable disease" means an illness because of a specific infectious agent or its toxic
   products that arises through transmission of that agent or its products from an infected person, animal, or
   inanimate reservoir to a susceptible host. The transmission may occur either directly or indirectly through an
   intermediate plant or animal host, a transmitting entity, or the inanimate environment.
              (2)   "Condition of public health importance" means a disease, injury, or other condition that is
   identifiable on an individual or community level and that can reasonably be expected to lead to adverse health
   effects in the community.
              (3)   "Department" means the department of public health and human services provided for in 2-15-
   2201.
              (4)   "Inanimate reservoir" means soil, a substance, or a combination of soil and a substance:
              (a)   in which an infectious agent normally lives and multiplies;
              (b)   on which an infectious agent depends primarily for survival; and
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              (c)   where an infectious agent reproduces in a manner that allows the infectious agent to be
   transmitted to a susceptible host.
              (5)   "Institutional controls" means legal or regulatory mechanisms designed to protect public health
   and safety that:
              (a)   limit access to or limit or condition the use of environmentally contaminated property or media;
              (b)   provide for the protection or preservation of environmental cleanup measures; or
              (c)   inform the public that property or media is or may be environmentally contaminated.
              (6)   "Isolation" means the physical separation and confinement of an individual or groups of individuals
   who are infected or reasonably believed to be infected with a communicable disease or possibly communicable
   disease from nonisolated individuals to prevent or limit the transmission of the communicable disease to
   nonisolated individuals.
              (7)   "Local board of health" or "local board" means a county, city, city-county, or district board of
   health.
              (8)   "Local governing body" or "governing body" means:
              (a)   the board of county commissioners that oversees a county local board of health;
              (b)   the elected governing body of a city that oversees a city local board of health;
              (c)   the board of county commissioners and the elected governing body of each city that oversee a
   city-county local board of health; or
              (d)   the board of county commissioners of each county and the elected governing body of each city
   that oversee a district local board of health.
              (8)(9)    "Local health officer" means a county, city, city-county, or district health officer appointed by a
   local board of health. With regard to the exercise of the duties and authorities of a local health officer, the term
   may include an authorized representative of the local health officer.
              (9)(10)    "Local public health agency" means an organization operated by a local government in the
   state, including local boards of health or local health officers, that principally acts to protect or preserve the
   public health.
              (10)(11) "Physician" has the meaning provided in 37-3-102.
              (11)(12) "Public health services and functions" means those services and functions necessary to
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67th Legislature                                                                                                     HB 121.1
   promote the conditions in which the population can be healthy and safe, including:
              (a)   population-based or individual efforts primarily aimed at the prevention of injury, disease, or
   premature mortality; or
              (b)   the promotion of health in the community, such as assessing the health needs and status of the
   community through public health surveillance and epidemiological research, developing public health policy,
   and responding to public health needs and emergencies.
              (12)(13) "Public health system" means state and local public health agencies and their public and
   private sector partners.
              (13)(14) "Quarantine" means the physical separation and confinement of an individual or groups of
   individuals who are or may have been exposed to a communicable disease or possibly communicable disease
   and who do not show signs or symptoms of a communicable disease from nonquarantined individuals to
   prevent or limit the transmission of the communicable disease to nonquarantined individuals.
              (14)(15) "Screening" means diagnostic or investigative analysis or medical procedures that determine
   the presence or absence of or exposure to a condition of public health importance or the condition's precursor
   in an individual.
              (15)(16) "Testing" has the same meaning as screening."
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              Section 2. Section 50-2-116, MCA, is amended to read:
              "50-2-116.    Powers and duties of local boards of health. (1) In order to carry out the purposes of
   the public health system, in collaboration with federal, state, and local partners, each local board of health shall:
              (a)   appoint and fix the salary of a local health officer who is:
              (i)   a physician;
              (ii) a person with a master's degree in public health; or
              (iii) a person with equivalent education and experience, as determined by the department;
              (b)   elect a presiding officer and other necessary officers;
              (c)   employ qualified staff;
              (d)   adopt bylaws to govern meetings;
              (e)   hold regular meetings at least quarterly and hold special meetings as necessary;
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67th Legislature                                                                                                        HB 121.1
              (f)   identify, assess, prevent, and ameliorate conditions of public health importance through:
              (i)   epidemiological tracking and investigation;
              (ii) screening and testing;
              (iii) isolation and quarantine measures;
              (iv) diagnosis, treatment, and case management;
              (v)   abatement of public health nuisances;
              (vi) inspections;
              (vii) collecting and maintaining health information;
              (viii) education and training of health professionals; or
              (ix) other public health measures as allowed by law;
              (g)   protect the public from the introduction and spread of communicable disease or other conditions of
   public health importance, including through actions to ensure the removal of filth or other contaminants that
   might cause disease or adversely affect public health;
              (h)   supervise or make inspections for conditions of public health importance and issue written orders
   for compliance or for correction, destruction, or removal of the conditions;
              (i)   bring and pursue actions and issue orders necessary to abate, restrain, or prosecute the violation
   of public health laws, rules, and local regulations;
              (j)   identify to the department an administrative liaison for public health. The liaison must be the local
   health officer in jurisdictions that employ a full-time local health officer. In jurisdictions that do not employ a full-
   time local health officer, the liaison must be the highest ranking public health professional employed by the
   jurisdiction.
              (k)   subject to the provisions of 50-2-130, adopt propose for adoption by the local governing body
   necessary regulations that are not less stringent than state standards for the control and disposal of sewage
   from private and public buildings and facilities that are not regulated by Title 75, chapter 6, or Title 76, chapter
   4. The regulations must describe standards for granting variances from the minimum requirements that are
   identical to standards promulgated by the board of environmental review and must provide for appeal of
   variance decisions to the department as required by 75-5-305. If the local board of health regulates or permits
   water well drilling, the regulations must prohibit the drilling of a well if the well isolation zone, as defined in 76-4-
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   102, encroaches onto adjacent private property without the authorization of the private property owner.
              (2)   Local boards of health may:
              (a)   accept and spend funds received from a federal agency, the state, a school district, or other
   persons or entities;
              (b)   adopt propose for adoption by the local governing body necessary fees to administer regulations
   for the control and disposal of sewage from private and public buildings and facilities;
              (c)   adopt propose for adoption by the local governing body regulations that do not conflict with 50-50-
   126 or rules adopted by the department:
              (i)   for the control of communicable diseases;
              (ii) for the removal of filth that might cause disease or adversely affect public health;
              (iii) subject to the provisions of 50-2-130, for sanitation in public and private buildings and facilities that
   affects public health and for the maintenance of sewage treatment systems that do not discharge effluent
   directly into state water and that are not required to have an operating permit as required by rules adopted
   under 75-5-401;
              (iv) subject to the provisions of 50-2-130 and Title 50, chapter 48, for tattooing and body-piercing
   establishments and that are not less stringent than state standards for tattooing and body-piercing
   establishments;
              (v)   for the establishment of institutional controls that have been selected or approved by the:
              (A)   United States environmental protection agency as part of a remedy for a facility under the federal
   Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, 42 U.S.C. 9601, et seq.; or
              (B)   department of environmental quality as part of a remedy for a facility under the Montana
   Comprehensive Environmental Cleanup and Responsibility Act, Title 75, chapter 10, part 7; and
              (vi) to implement the public health laws; and
              (d)   promote cooperation and formal collaborative agreements between the local board of health and
   tribes, tribal organizations, and the Indian health service regarding public health planning, priority setting,
   information and data sharing, reporting, resource allocation, service delivery, jurisdiction, and other matters
   addressed in this title.
              (3)   A local board of health may provide, implement, facilitate, or encourage other public health
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   services and functions as considered reasonable and necessary.
              (4)   A directive, mandate, or order issued by a local board of health in response to a declaration of
   emergency and/or disaster by the governor as allowed in 10-3-302 and 10-3-303 or by the principal executive
   officer of a political subdivision as allowed in 10-3-402 and 10-3-403 remains in effect until the majority of the
   governing body moves to amend, rescind, or otherwise change the directive, mandate, or order."
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              Section 3. Section 50-2-118, MCA, is amended to read:
              "50-2-118.    Powers and duties of local health officers. (1) In order to carry out the purpose of the
   public health system, in collaboration with federal, state, and local partners, local health officers or their
   authorized representatives shall:
              (1)(a) make inspections for conditions of public health importance and issue written orders for
   compliance or for correction, destruction, or removal of the condition;
              (2)(b)   take steps to limit contact between people in order to protect the public health from imminent
   threats, including but not limited to ordering the closure of buildings or facilities where people congregate and
   canceling events;
              (3)(c)   report communicable diseases to the department as required by rule;
              (4)(d)   establish and maintain quarantine and isolation measures as adopted by the local board of
   health; and
              (5)(e)   pursue action with the appropriate court if this chapter or rules adopted by the local board or
   department under this chapter are violated.
              (2)   A directive, mandate, or order issued by a local health officer in response to a declaration of
   emergency and/or disaster by the governor as allowed in 10-3-302 and 10-3-303 or by the principal executive
   officer of a political subdivision as allowed in 10-3-402 and 10-3-403 remains in effect until the majority of the
   governing body moves to amend, rescind, or otherwise change the directive, mandate, or order."
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              Section 4. Section 50-2-124, MCA, is amended to read:
              "50-2-124.    Penalties for violations. (1) A person who does not comply with rules adopted by a local
   board and the local governing body is guilty of a misdemeanor. On conviction, the person shall be fined not less
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   than $10 or more than $200.
              (2)   Except as provided in 50-2-123 and subsection (1) of this section, a person who violates the
   provisions of this chapter or rules adopted by the department under the provisions of this chapter is guilty of a
   misdemeanor. On conviction, the person shall be fined not less than $10 or more than $500 or be imprisoned
   for not more than 90 days, or both.
              (3)   Each day of violation constitutes a separate offense.
              (4)   Fines, except justice's court fines, must be paid to the county treasurer of the county in which the
   violation occurs."
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              Section 5. Section 50-2-130, MCA, is amended to read:
              "50-2-130.   Local regulations no more stringent than state regulations or guidelines. (1) After
   April 14, 1995, except as provided in subsections (2) through (4) or unless required by state law, the local board
   may not adopt propose for adoption by the local governing body a rule under 50-2-116(1)(k), (2)(c)(iii), or
   (2)(c)(iv) that is more stringent than the comparable state regulations or guidelines that address the same
   circumstances. The local board may incorporate by reference comparable state regulations or guidelines.
              (2)   The local board may adopt propose for adoption by the local governing body a rule to implement
   50-2-116(1)(k), (2)(c)(iii), or (2)(c)(iv) that is more stringent than comparable state regulations or guidelines only
   if the local board makes a written finding, after a public hearing and public comment and based on evidence in
   the record, that:
              (a)   the proposed local standard or requirement protects public health or the environment; and
              (b)   the local board standard or requirement to be imposed can mitigate harm to the public health or
   environment and is achievable under current technology.
              (3)   The written finding must reference info