HBA-DMH C.S.H.B. 640 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 640 By: Turner, Sylvester Public Health 4/17/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The Texas Department of Health (TDH) establishes sanitation standards for public restrooms in public buildings. Currently, schools are exempt from the standards established by TDH which maintain restrooms in good order to preclude the probability of disease transmission. C.S.H.B. 640 requires TDH to adopt reasonable rules regarding sanitation in public school restrooms and provides minimum requirements. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking authority is expressly delegated to the Texas Department of Health in SECTION 1 (Section 341.065, Health and Safety Code) of this bill. ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 640 amends the Health and Safety Code to require the Texas Department of Health (TDH) to adopt reasonable rules regarding sanitation in public school restrooms. The bill provides that the rules must require at a minimum that students have access to hand cleaner, a sanitary method to dry hands, and running water. The bill requires TDH to send any such proposed rules to the Texas Education Agency for review and comment. The bill requires TDH or local health department to inspect each public school for compliance with adopted rules at least once every three years. The bill requires TDH to allow school districts reasonable time to comply with adopted rules. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 640 differs from the original bill by providing that the public school restroom sanitation rules must require that students have access to, rather than that a restroom provide, the minimum requirements. The substitute provides that the rules must require that students have access to running water, rather than hot and cold running water. The substitute modifies the provisions regarding public school restroom inspection to provide that a local health department may perform such inspections.