General - Radiation Control Law - Health & Safety - CA

Section § 114960

This law is officially called the Radiation Control Law.

This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the Radiation Control Law.

Radiation Control law name official title ...

Section § 114965

The State of California aims to protect public health and safety by regulating sources of ionizing radiation. The law seeks to ensure that California's rules match federal standards, work effectively within the state, and align with regulations in other states as much as possible.

It is the policy of the State of California, in furtherance of its responsibility to protect the public health and safety, to institute and maintain a regulatory program for sources of ionizing radiation so as to provide for: (a) compatibility with the standards and regulatory programs of the federal government, (b) an integrated effective system of regulation within the State, and (c) a system consonant insofar as possible with those of other states.

public health ionizing radiation regulatory program ...

Section § 114970

This section aims to ensure safety from ionizing radiation by setting up effective regulations to protect workers and the public. It seeks to create a streamlined regulatory system that aligns state, other states, and federal government efforts, reducing overlapping rules. The section also establishes how certain regulatory duties will be managed regarding nuclear materials and ensures that sources of ionizing radiation are used as much as possible without compromising public health and safety.

It is the purpose of this chapter to effectuate the policies set forth in Section 114965 by providing for programs to:

(a) Effectively regulate sources of ionizing radiation for the protection of the occupational and public health and safety.

(b) Promote an orderly regulatory pattern within the State, among the states, and between the federal government and the State, and facilitate intergovernmental co-operation with respect to use and regulation of sources of ionizing radiation to the end that duplication of regulation may be minimized.

(c) Establish procedures for assumption and performance of certain regulatory responsibilities with respect to byproduct, source, and special nuclear materials.

(d) Permit maximum utilization of sources of ionizing radiation consistent with the health and safety of the public.

ionizing radiation regulation occupational health and safety intergovernmental cooperation ...

Section § 114975

This law section says that any rules and regulations created under this chapter must follow specific legal procedures outlined in another part of California's Government Code and other sections of this code.

Rules and regulations adopted under this chapter shall be adopted in accordance with Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, and Sections 25733 and 114920 of this code.

rules and regulations adoption process Chapter 3.5 procedures ...

Section § 114980

This law establishes the Radiation Control Fund as a special fund in California's State Treasury. Money from fees, penalties, and interest collected under related regulations is deposited into this fund. The fund is used to cover costs related to enforcing radiation control laws and can only be used by the department with the legislature's approval. All interest earned on this fund is also deposited back into it.

The Radiation Control Fund is hereby created as a special fund in the State Treasury. All moneys, including fees, penalties, interest earned, and fines, collected under Sections 107100, 107160, 114872, 115045, 115065, and 115080, Article 5.5 (commencing with Section 107115) of Chapter 4 of Part 1, and the regulations adopted pursuant to those sections, shall be deposited in the Radiation Control Fund to cover the costs related to the enforcement of this chapter, including, but not limited to, implementation of Section 114872, Section 115000, Article 6 (commencing with Section 107150) of Chapter 4 of Part 1, and the Radiologic Technology Act (Section 27), and Article 5.5 (commencing with Section 107115) of Chapter 4 of Part 1, and shall be available for expenditure by the department only upon appropriation by the Legislature. In addition to any moneys collected by, or on behalf of, the department for deposit in the Radiation Control Fund, all interest earned by the Radiation Control Fund shall be deposited in the Radiation Control Fund.

Radiation Control Fund State Treasury fees ...

Section § 114985

This section defines terms related to ionizing radiation and nuclear materials. It specifies what "ionizing radiation" includes, like gamma rays and nuclear particles, but not sound or light waves. Various roles and entities are explained, such as "Secretary" and "Department." It differentiates between types of nuclear materials: byproduct, source, and special nuclear materials, as well as their associated licenses. Registration requirements are set for possessing radiation sources. "Low-level waste" and terms like "high-level radioactive waste," "spent nuclear fuel," and "transuranic waste" are clarified. It also covers mammography, outlining standards for equipment and quality assurance.

As used in this chapter:

(a) “Secretary” means the Secretary of the Resources Agency.

(b) “Ionizing radiation” means gamma rays and X-rays; alpha and beta particles, high-speed electrons, neutrons, protons, and other nuclear particles; but not sound or radio waves, or visible, infrared, or ultraviolet light.

(c) “Person” means any individual, corporation, partnership, limited liability company, firm, association, trust, estate, public or private institution, group, agency, political subdivision of this state, any other state or political subdivision or agency thereof, and any legal successor, representative, agent, or agency of the foregoing, other than the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the United States Department of Energy, or any successor thereto, and other than federal government agencies licensed by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, under prime contract to the United States Department of Energy, or any successor thereto.

(d) “Byproduct material” means any radioactive material, except special nuclear material, yielded in, or made radioactive by exposure to the radiation incident to, the process of producing or utilizing special nuclear material.

(e) “Source material” means (1) uranium, thorium, or any other material which the department declares by rule to be source material after the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or any successor thereto, has determined the material to be such; or (2) ores containing one or more of the foregoing materials, in such concentration as the department declares by rule to be source material after the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or any successor thereto, has determined the material in such concentration to be source material.

(f) “Special nuclear material” means (1) plutonium, uranium 233, uranium enriched in the isotope 233 or in the isotope 235, and any other material which the department declares by rule to be special nuclear material after the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or any successor thereto, has determined the material to be such, but does not include source material; or (2) any material artificially enriched by any of the foregoing, but does not include source material.

(g) “General license” means a license, pursuant to regulations promulgated by the department, effective without the filing of an application, to transfer, acquire, own, possess or use quantities of, or devices or equipment utilizing, byproduct, source, or special nuclear materials or other radioactive material occurring naturally or produced artificially.

(h) “Specific license” means a license, issued after application, to use, manufacture, produce, transfer, receive, acquire, own, or possess quantities of, or devices or equipment utilizing, byproduct, source, or special nuclear materials or other radioactive material occurring naturally or produced artificially.

(i) “Registration” means the reporting of possession of a source of radiation and the furnishing of information with respect thereto, in accordance with subdivision (b) of Section 115060.

(j) “Department” means the State Department of Health Services.

(k) “Director” means the State Director of Health Services.

( l) “Federal research and development activity” means any activity of the Secretary of Energy conducted at any research facility owned or operated by the United States Department of Energy.

(m) “Low-level waste” means radioactive waste not classified as high-level radioactive waste, transuranic waste, spent nuclear fuel, or the byproduct material defined in Section 11(e)(2) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 2014 (e)(2)). For purposes of this subdivision, the following definitions shall apply:

(1) “High-level radioactive waste” means either of the following:

(A) The highly radioactive material resulting from the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel, including liquid waste produced directly in reprocessing and any solid material derived from this liquid waste that contains fission products in sufficient concentrations.

(B) Other highly radioactive material that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, consistent with existing law, determines by rule requires permanent isolation.

(2) “Spent nuclear fuel” means fuel that has been withdrawn from a nuclear reactor following irradiation, the constituent elements of which have not been separated by reprocessing.

(3) “Transuranic waste” means any waste containing more than 100 nanocuries of alpha emitting transuranic nuclides with half-life greater than five years per gram of waste material.

(n) “Mammogram” means an X-ray image of the human breast.

(o) “Mammography” means the procedure for creating a mammogram.

(p) “Mammography quality assurance” means the detection of a change in X-ray and ancillary equipment that adversely affects the quality of films and the glandular radiation dose, and the correction of this change.

(q) “Mammogram certification” means a certification, issued by the department after registration, that the equipment dedicated to or used for mammography meets the standards prescribed pursuant to this chapter.

ionizing radiation gamma rays nuclear materials ...