(a) On or before July 1, 2005, the department shall establish a review committee.
(b) The review committee shall have eight members, including one person representing each of the following:
(1) Prosecuting attorneys.
(2) Law enforcement agencies.
(3) Defense attorneys.
(4) Coroners, pathologists, or medical examiners.
(5) Criminalists.
(6) Toxicologists.
(7) Crime laboratory directors.
(8) The State Department of Public Health.
(c) The review committee shall meet at least once in each three-year period after its initial meeting, or within 60 days of receipt of a request by the department or a member of the review committee.
(d) The review committee shall evaluate Group 8 (commencing with Section 1215) of Subchapter 1 of Chapter 2 of Division 1 of Title 17 of the California Code of Regulations and determine revisions that will limit those regulations to those that the review committee determines are reasonably necessary to ensure the competence of the laboratories and employees to prepare, analyze, and report the results of the tests and comply with applicable laws. In determining revisions, the review committee shall also take into consideration the advancement and development of scientific processes, including the reporting of results with an estimated uncertainty measurement. The review committee shall submit a summary of revisions to the California Health and Human Services Agency.
(e) Within 90 days of receiving the review committee’s revisions, the California Health and Human Services Agency may disapprove of one or more of those revisions.
(f) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the department shall adopt regulations pursuant to this section that shall incorporate the review committee’s revisions. Nothing in this section shall be construed as exempting the regulations from the requirements of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
(2) The department shall not adopt regulations to incorporate any review committee revisions that were disapproved under subdivision (e).
(Amended by Stats. 2014, Ch. 570, Sec. 2. (AB 2425) Effective January 1, 2015.)