CA Title 22 Update: From the Five-Yard Line to One Foot Away

Thanks to the efforts of those TRSA members who attended TRSA’s California Legislative Conference, the association’s initiative to reform the onerous Title 22 regulation, AB 2679 sponsored by assembly member Patrick O’Donnell, only has one more step to become law. The California State Senate voted unanimously to approve the measure, which was then quickly voted on in the assembly to concur. California Gov. Jerry Brown’s (D) signature is all that is left for this effort to become law.

Throughout the process, there has not been a single vote cast against the bill. TRSA has been working on reforming the Title 22 regulation, which requires any healthcare linens to be processed at 160 degrees for 24 minutes. At the time the Title 22 regulation was developed, this prescriptive method was the best way to ensure safe, hygienically clean linens. However, due to advances in chemical technology and improvements in the mechanical action of the laundry process, linens can be processed at a lower temperature and less time while still being safe.

The original version of AB 2679 simply required the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) to update the Title 22 regulation, allowing for flexibility in the laundering process by Jan. 1, 2020. However, throughout the legislative process, the bill was amended to a better outcome for laundry operators. Instead of waiting for the CDPH to rewrite the regulation, healthcare linen processing will be tied to the processing standards of the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC). The flexibility to decrease temperature and time will occur much sooner.

Stay tuned for more information in an upcoming edition of Textile Services Weekly.