1     
LOCAL HEALTH DEPARTMENT AMENDMENTS

2     
2015 GENERAL SESSION

3     
STATE OF UTAH

4     
Chief Sponsor: Ralph Okerlund

5     
House Sponsor: Edward H. Redd

6     

7     LONG TITLE
8     General Description:
9          This bill amends provisions related to local health departments.
10     Highlighted Provisions:
11          This bill:
12          ▸     establishes a committee within the Department of Environmental Quality that
13     reviews matters affecting the Department of Environmental Quality and local health
14     departments.
15     Money Appropriated in this Bill:
16          None
17     Other Special Clauses:
18          None
19     Utah Code Sections Affected:
20     AMENDS:
21          19-1-201, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2012, Chapter 360 and last amended by
22     Coordination Clause, Laws of Utah 2012, Chapter 360
23     

24     Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
25          Section 1. Section 19-1-201 is amended to read:
26          19-1-201. Powers and duties of department -- Rulemaking authority --
27     Committee.
28          (1) The department shall:
29          (a) enter into cooperative agreements with the Department of Health to delineate

30     specific responsibilities to assure that assessment and management of risk to human health
31     from the environment are properly administered;
32          (b) consult with the Department of Health and enter into cooperative agreements, as
33     needed, to ensure efficient use of resources and effective response to potential health and safety
34     threats from the environment, and to prevent gaps in protection from potential risks from the
35     environment to specific individuals or population groups;
36          (c) coordinate implementation of environmental programs to maximize efficient use of
37     resources by developing, in consultation with local health departments, a Comprehensive
38     Environmental Service Delivery Plan that:
39          (i) recognizes that the department and local health departments are the foundation for
40     providing environmental health programs in the state;
41          (ii) delineates the responsibilities of the department and each local health department
42     for the efficient delivery of environmental programs using federal, state, and local authorities,
43     responsibilities, and resources;
44          (iii) provides for the delegation of authority and pass through of funding to local health
45     departments for environmental programs, to the extent allowed by applicable law, identified in
46     the plan, and requested by the local health department; and
47          (iv) is reviewed and updated annually; and
48          (d) make rules, in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative
49     Rulemaking Act, as follows:
50          (i) for a board created in Section 19-1-106, rules regarding:
51          (A) board meeting attendance; and
52          (B) conflicts of interest procedures; and
53          (ii) procedural rules that govern:
54          (A) an adjudicative proceeding, consistent with Section 19-1-301; and
55          (B) a permit review adjudicative proceeding, consistent with Section 19-1-301.5.
56          (2) The department shall establish a committee that consists of:
57          (a) the executive director or the executive director's designee;

58          (b) two representatives of the department appointed by the executive director; and
59          (c) three representatives of local health departments appointed by a group of all the
60     local health departments in the state.
61          (3) The committee established in Subsection (2) shall:
62          (a) review the allocation of environmental quality resources between the department
63     and the local health departments;
64          (b) evaluate department policies that affect local health departments;
65          (c) consider policy changes proposed by the department or by local health departments;
66          (d) coordinate the implementation of environmental quality programs to maximize
67     environmental quality resources; and
68          (e) review each department application for any grant from the federal government that
69     affects a local health department before the department submits the application.
70          (4) The committee shall create bylaws to govern the committee's operations.
71          [(2)] (5) The department may:
72          (a) investigate matters affecting the environment;
73          (b) investigate and control matters affecting the public health when caused by
74     environmental hazards;
75          (c) prepare, publish, and disseminate information to inform the public concerning
76     issues involving environmental quality;
77          (d) establish and operate programs, as authorized by this title, necessary for protection
78     of the environment and public health from environmental hazards;
79          (e) use local health departments in the delivery of environmental health programs to
80     the extent provided by law;
81          (f) enter into contracts with local health departments or others to meet responsibilities
82     established under this title;
83          (g) acquire real and personal property by purchase, gift, devise, and other lawful
84     means;
85          (h) prepare and submit to the governor a proposed budget to be included in the budget

86     submitted by the governor to the Legislature;
87          (i) (i) establish a schedule of fees that may be assessed for actions and services of the
88     department according to the procedures and requirements of Section 63J-1-504; and
89          (ii) in accordance with Section 63J-1-504, all fees shall be reasonable, fair, and reflect
90     the cost of services provided;
91          (j) prescribe by rule reasonable requirements not inconsistent with law relating to
92     environmental quality for local health departments;
93          (k) perform the administrative functions of the boards established by Section 19-1-106,
94     including the acceptance and administration of grants from the federal government and from
95     other sources, public or private, to carry out the board's functions;
96          (l) upon the request of any board or a division director, provide professional, technical,
97     and clerical staff and field and laboratory services, the extent of which are limited by the funds
98     available to the department for the staff and services; and
99          (m) establish a supplementary fee, not subject to Section 63J-1-504, to provide service
100     that the person paying the fee agrees by contract to be charged for the service in order to
101     efficiently utilize department resources, protect department permitting processes, address
102     extraordinary or unanticipated stress on permitting processes, or make use of specialized
103     expertise.
104          [(3)] (6) In providing service under Subsection [(2)] (5)(m), the department may not
105     provide service in a manner that impairs any other person's service from the department.