79R7087 UM-F
By: Hunter H.B. No. 2643
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a program of testing for childhood lead poisoning and
blood lead levels of concern.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 88.001, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subdivision (12) and adding Subdivision (13) to
read as follows:
(12) "Department" means the Department of State Health
Services [Board" means the Texas Board of Health].
(13) "Executive commissioner" means the executive
commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission.
SECTION 2. Section 88.002(d), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(d) The executive commissioner, the commissioner of state
health services, a regional director or other department employee,
a health authority or employee of a public health district, a health
authority or employee of a county or municipal health department,
or a public official of a county or municipality may not be examined
in a civil, criminal, special, or other proceeding as to the
existence or contents of pertinent records of or reports or
information about a child identified, examined, or treated for lead
poisoning or about a child possessing blood lead levels of concern
by the department, a public health district, a local health
department, or a health authority without the consent of the
child's parents, managing conservator, guardian, or other person
authorized by law to give consent.
SECTION 3. Section 88.0025, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 88.0025. CHILDHOOD LEAD POISONING PREVENTION. (a)
The executive commissioner [board] may implement policies and
procedures to promote the elimination of childhood lead poisoning
within the state. Subject to the appropriation of money for these
purposes, the executive commissioner shall [The board may] adopt
measures to:
(1) significantly reduce the incidence of childhood
lead poisoning throughout the state;
(2) improve public awareness of lead safety issues and
educate both property owners and tenants about practices that can
reduce the incidence of lead poisoning; and
(3) establish a program through the department for
[encourage] the testing of certain at-risk children younger than
six years of age and certain pregnant women likely to suffer the
consequences of lead poisoning so that prompt diagnosis and
treatment and the prevention of harm are possible.
(b) In establishing a program under this section, the
executive commissioner shall, after consultation with recognized
professional medical groups and other appropriate sources, adopt
rules governing:
(1) the methods and intervals for screening children
younger than six years of age for lead poisoning and blood lead
levels of concern; and
(2) guidelines for medical follow-up with children
found to have blood lead levels of concern.
(c) A program developed under this section must prioritize
the testing of the following groups:
(1) all children younger than six years of age and
enrolled in Medicaid;
(2) children younger than six years of age who exhibit
delayed cognitive development or other symptoms of lead poisoning;
(3) children younger than six years of age and
pregnant women who reside in the same household as another child or
pregnant woman with a blood lead level of 10 micrograms per
deciliter of blood or greater; or
(4) children younger than six years of age and
pregnant women residing, or who have recently resided in:
(A) a building or geographical area in which
significant numbers of cases of lead poisoning or blood lead levels
of concern have been reported;
(B) a building, if the building or a residential
unit in the building was the subject of an enforcement action
resulting from lead-based substance hazards within the last three
years; or
(C) a building or geographical area in which the
executive commissioner reasonably determines that there is a
significant risk of blood lead levels of concern.
(d) Under a program developed under this section, a child
described by Subsection (c)(1) must be tested at 12 and 24 months of
age. A child who has not been previously tested as specified by
this subsection must be tested before the child's sixth birthday.
(e) If the executive commissioner establishes a program
under Subsection (a)(3), the executive commissioner, with the
assistance of the department, shall submit an annual report to the
governor, the lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the house of
representatives regarding:
(1) the percentage of children and women described by
Subsection (c) who have been tested under the program;
(2) the extent to which health professionals have
complied with the requirements of this chapter;
(3) the effectiveness of the program in identifying
persons with lead poisoning or blood lead levels of concern;
(4) the effectiveness of the program in identifying
geographical areas with a high incidence of lead poisoning or blood
lead levels of concern; and
(5) any other information the executive commissioner
determines appropriate and relevant.
SECTION 4. Section 88.003, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (b) and (c) and adding Subsection
(d) to read as follows:
(b) The executive commissioner [board] by rule shall [may]
designate:
(1) blood lead concentrations in children that must be
reported; and
(2) the ages of children for whom the reporting
requirements apply.
(c) Subject to the appropriation of money for this purpose,
the executive commissioner shall [The board may] adopt rules that
establish a registry of children with blood lead levels of concern
and lead poisoning.
(d) In establishing the registry under Subsection (c), the
executive commissioner shall require the records to be indexed by
address and geographical location in order to determine the
location of areas with a relatively high incidence of lead
poisoning or blood lead levels of concern.
SECTION 5. Section 88.004, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (a), (b), and (c) and adding
Subsection (e) to read as follows:
(a) A person required to report childhood blood lead levels
of concern shall report to the department in the manner specified by
rules of the executive commissioner [board rule]. Except as
provided by this section, a person required by this section to
report must make the report immediately after the person gains
knowledge of the case or suspected case of a child with a blood lead
level of concern.
(b) A physician shall report a case or suspected case of
childhood lead poisoning or of a child with a blood lead level of
concern after the physician's first examination of a child for whom
reporting is required by rules of the executive commissioner [board
rule].
(c) A person in charge of an independent clinical
laboratory, a hospital or clinic laboratory, or other facility in
which a laboratory examination of a specimen derived from the human
body yields evidence of a child with a blood lead level of concern
shall report the findings to the department as required by rules of
the executive commissioner [board rule].
(e) The executive commissioner, with the assistance of the
department, may institute procedures to notify health
professionals of their obligations under this chapter. The
executive commissioner may refer a health professional who fails to
comply with this chapter to the appropriate licensing authority for
discipline or sanctions as authorized by law.
SECTION 6. Section 88.005, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 88.005. REPORTING PROCEDURES. (a) The executive
commissioner [board] shall prescribe the form and method of
reporting under this chapter, including a report in writing, by
telephone, or by electronic data transmission.
(b) The executive commissioner by rule [Board rules] may
require the reports to contain any information relating to a case
that is necessary for the purposes of this chapter, including:
(1) the child's name, address, age, sex, and race;
(2) the child's blood lead concentration;
(3) the procedure used to determine the child's blood
lead concentration; and
(4) the name of the attending physician.
(c) The executive commissioner may authorize an alternate
routing of information in particular cases if the executive
commissioner determines that the customary reporting procedure
would cause the information to be unduly delayed.
SECTION 7. The heading to Chapter 88, Health and Safety
Code, is amended to read as follows:
CHAPTER 88. [REPORTS OF] CHILDHOOD LEAD POISONING
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.