BP BHEAD INT S

AN ACT Relating to the education and certification of paint or coating applicators; adding a new chapter to Title 18 RCW; creating a new section; and prescribing penalties.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that materials inherent to the application and removal of paint and coatings present potential dangers to the environment, the public, and workers using the materials and that the dangers can be substantially reduced or eliminated through proper education and training of workers handling the materials.

The legislature further finds that substantial benefits including reduction in air, land, and water pollution, reductions in health risks to the general public and improved workplace safety can be obtained at minimal cost by the training; and, that the public has a right to certainty that workers handling the common potentially hazardous materials are properly and thoroughly trained.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.

(1) "Commission" means the commission appointed by the governor to develop a program to educate, test, and certify paint or coating applicators. The commission shall also advise the department on the application and administration of any regulations applicable to the paint and coating application industry as may be required by federal or state legislative or regulatory actions.

(2) "Department" means the department of ecology.

(3) "Director" means the director of the department or his or her designee.

(4) "Paint or coating application" means the application of a substance in atomized, liquid, or particulate form that will adhere to or coat a surface and generally protect or preserve the surface, or the removal or treatment of painted or coated surfaces.

(5) "Paint or coating applicator" means a person directly engaged in painting or coating application, removal, or treatment of painted or coated surfaces for compensation, including those employees directly supervising such employees.

(6) "Employer" means a natural person, corporation, trust, unincorporated association or partnership that hires paint or coating applicators, contracts to provide painting services to other persons, or both.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The commission shall develop and the department shall adopt a program to educate, test, and certify paint and coating applicators in handling hazardous materials applicable to paint or coating application. The program shall include:

(1) A certification application form;

(2) Standards for certifying, recertifying, and temporary certification;

(3) Rules for revoking a certification;

(4) A definition of the relationship of training programs to the certification program; and

(5) Notification procedures to ensure that painting and coating applicators and employers are notified in a timely manner of the requirements of this chapter.

A paint or coating applicator shall obtain a certification issued by the department after completing an approved training program. Employees who do not apply paint or coatings as their primary employment responsibility and who are not employed by businesses whose primary activity is painting and coating application are exempt from the provisions of this chapter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A paint or coating applicator's course of education shall include an understanding of materials applied, removed, or treated as they affect the applicator, the workers around the applicator, the general public, and the environment; methods of preparation, application, and knowledge of the equipment used in painting or coating; understanding of all pertinent federal and state safety laws and administrative rules; and any additional safety rules required by the industry.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. The commission shall comprise nine members:

(1) Three from organizations or associations whose primary purpose is to represent employers of paint or coating applicators. Every effort shall be made to ensure that at least one member in this category represents employers of ten or fewer paint or coating applicators on an annual full-time equivalent basis;

(2) Three from organizations or associations whose primary purpose is to represent paint or coating applicators;

(3) Two representing the painting or coating industry at large; and

(4) One representing the consumer.

The governor shall appoint the consumer representative to a three-year term, and the three paint or coating employee representatives and the three paint or coating employer representatives to one, two, and three year terms respectively. One at-large industry representative shall be appointed to a one-year term, and the other to a two-year term. Subsequent employee, employer, and at-large representatives shall serve for three years each. The governor shall consider recommendations from paint or coating organizations or associations whose primary purpose is to represent paint or coating employees and employers. The governor shall strive to make the commission appointments reflect the demographics of the state and reflect the make-up of the paint and coating industry. The director or the director's designee shall serve on the commission as an ex officio, nonvoting member. Each member of the commission shall be reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060 for each day in which the member is actually engaged in the business of the commission. The department shall provide staff support to the commission.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. The department shall certify as meeting the requirements of this chapter, training programs of an employer or organization, that meet or exceed the standards established under section 3 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. The department shall charge fees for training and issuance, renewal, and reinstatement of all certifications and examinations required by this chapter. The department shall set the fees by rule. The fees shall cover the full cost of administering and enforcing this chapter and shall include travel, per diem, and administrative support costs.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. Authorized representatives of the department shall investigate alleged or apparent violations of this chapter and upon presentation of credentials may inspect a worksite for the purpose of determining compliance with this chapter. The department shall also promptly investigate alleged violations of this chapter based on a written complaint. The department shall notify the complainant, in writing, within sixty days of the action taken on all the complaints.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. Each day in which a paint or coating applicator works without a valid certification is a separate infraction. Each worksite at which a painting or coating applicator works in violation of this chapter is a separate infraction. Each day in which an employer employs such person is a separate infraction.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. An authorized representative of the department may issue a notice of an infraction if a person who is doing paint or coating application, removal, or treatment to painted or coated surfaces fails to produce a certification issued by the department in accordance with this chapter. A notice of an infraction issued under this section must be personally served on the person named in the notice by an authorized representative of the department. However, no penalties may be assessed for notices of infraction issued for one year after the adoption of rules under section 3 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. The department shall establish monetary penalties for employee infractions, with the advice of the commission, not less than:

(1) For the first offense, a sum of two hundred fifty dollars;

(2) For the second offense, a sum of five hundred dollars;

(3) For the third offense and subsequent offenses, a sum of one thousand dollars.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. The department shall establish monetary penalties for employer infractions, with the advice of the commission, not less than:

(1) For the first offense, a sum of two hundred fifty dollars;

(2) For the second offense, a sum of five hundred dollars;

(3) For the third offense and subsequent offenses, a sum of one thousand dollars.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 13. The supreme court shall prescribe the form of the notice of an infraction issued under this chapter following consultation with the department. To the extent practicable, the notice of an infraction issued under this chapter must conform to the notice of traffic infraction prescribed under RCW 46.63.060. The department shall, with the assistance of the commission, establish by rule necessary procedures for handling infractions similar to those established in chapter 18.106 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 14. The paint and coating applicators account is created in the custody of the state treasurer. All receipts from the fees charged for training, certifying, and examining paint and coating applicators and fines collected under the authority of this chapter shall be deposited into the account. Expenditures from the account may be used only for the purposes of the commission and other expenditures approved by the director or the director's designee. Only the director or the director's designee may authorize expenditures from the account. The account is subject to allotment procedures under chapter 43.88 RCW, but no appropriation is required for expenditures.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 15. Sections 2 through 14 of this act shall constitute a new chapter in Title 18 RCW.