Title 22: TRSA Clears Committee in Updating CA Reg
Shasta Linen Supply President & CEO Noel Richardson looks on as Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA) speaks to TRSA members during a recent Leadership & Legislative Conference meeting.
Noel Richardson, president & CEO of Shasta Linen Supply Inc., Sacramento, CA, recently testified in front of the California State Assembly Committee on Health in favor of Assembly Bill 2679 (AB 2679). The legislation, if enacted, would require the California Department of Health (CDH) to update the antiquated Title 22 healthcare laundry regulation that requires a prescribed method of processing linens for healthcare facilities.
Due to Richardson’s testimony and the significant grassroots support of the TRSA membership contacting respective legislators, the measure received a unanimous vote of approval by the committee.
Currently, Title 22 requires any facility processing healthcare linens to wash at a water temperature of 160 degrees for 24 minutes. Advancements in technologies in the commercial laundry process have created alternative means to the same end. These include extensively researched and documented improvements in the way washing machines perform mechanical action, the heat of dryers and ironers, and the evolution of wash chemicals to be more effective at lower temperatures.
To give the linen, uniform and facility services industry more flexibility in how they process linens, TRSA is forcing the CDH to update the regulation to utilize widely accepted laundering practices to produce safe hygienically clean linens.
“TRSA has been working with the CDH for over five years to update Title 22, it is time for them to get extra encouragement in the form of legislation,” said Kevin Schwalb, TRSA’s vice president of government relations.
Richardson testified that, “We have strived as a business and as an industry to become more efficient with our water use while also reducing our emissions footprint in the process. As we strive to make more sustainable business choices we need a partner in government that allows us to do so. This is a win-win for my business, the environment and the state of California.”
The next stop for AB 2679 is the Assembly Appropriation Committee where TRSA will testify once again.