Registered environmental health specialists.

Assembly Members Addis and Valencia propose comprehensive updates to California's environmental health specialist registration system, modifying educational requirements, expanding practice areas, and restructuring oversight mechanisms. The legislation extends the maximum supervision period for environmental health specialist trainees from three to five years while adding body art and medical waste to their scope of practice.

The bill revises educational pathways to registration by eliminating the requirement that basic science coursework mirror approved environmental health degree programs. New standards emphasize laboratory experience in science courses and maintain core requirements in epidemiology, statistics, and environmental health science. Applicants who fail the registration examination must now wait 90 days before retaking it, replacing previous reexamination restrictions.

The Environmental Health Specialist Registration Committee receives several operational changes under the legislation. The State Environmental Health Director becomes the executive officer, and the committee must meet quarterly rather than biannually. Committee membership expands to include representatives from both public and private sectors, academia, and the California Environmental Health Association. The department must publish its registry of registered specialists and trainees online within 90 days after examinations, enhancing transparency in the certification process.