AB2137 - Occupational safety and health: fabrication activities: slab solid surface products.

Amended IN Assembly April 15, 2026 Amended IN Assembly March 19, 2026 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Assembly Bill No. 2137 Introduced by Assembly Member Chen February 18, 2026 An act to amend Section 6359.1 of, and to add Sections 6359.6, 6359.6.5, 6359.7, 6359.7.5, and 6359.8 to, the Labor Code, relating to occupational safety and health. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2137, as amended, Chen. Occupational safety and health: fabrication activities: slab solid surface products. Existing law establishes the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board within the Department of Industrial Relations to adopt occupational safety and health standards for the state, including standards dealing with exposure to harmful airborne contaminants. Existing law requires the Division of Occupational Safety and Health within the department to enforce all occupational safety and health standards, as specified. Existing law imposes restrictions on specified high-exposure trigger tasks on artificial stone, as those terms are defined. Specifically, a person or entity engaged in high-exposure trigger tasks is prohibited from using dry methods, and is required to use effective wet methods when engaging in any high-exposure trigger tasks. Existing law requires the owner or operator of a fabrication shop, or any individual who will employ another individual to perform high-exposure trigger tasks in a fabrication shop, to ensure that an employee who will perform high-exposure tasks receives specified training and to annually attest to the division that these employees have been trained. Existing law requires the division to enforce these provisions by issuing a citation alleging a violation and a notice of civil penalty. This bill would require, on or before January 1, 2028, the department to develop an application and certification process for fabrication shops to lawfully engage in slab solid surface product fabrication activities. The bill would authorize fabrication shops to engage in those fabrication activities during the pendency of the application development and certification process. The bill would require the department to develop an initial deposit process for fabrication shops to, during the pendency of the application development and certification process, submit a deposit fee for the application and certification subject to specified requirements, including that the deposit amount goes towards the initial certification fee collected by the department. This bill would require, beginning July 1, 2028, the department to grant a 3-year certification to a fabrication shop that demonstrates satisfaction of specified criteria involving workplace safety conditions and precautions, and would authorize certification renewal, as specified. Among other conditions, the bill would establish certain regulatory fees in amounts to be determined and adjusted by the department, as specified, for the certification and renewal thereof. The bill would authorize the department to suspend or revoke a certification in certain cases, including for gross negligence, as specified. The bill would require the department, in consultation with the division and the State Department of Public Health, to track and keep a record of specified information on fabrication shops, including the number of citations issued to any of the fabrication shops for failure to comply with any temporary or future standards relating to respirable crystalline silica, as specified. This bill would prohibit a person or entity, or an employee thereof, from engaging in fabrication activities, as defined, on slab solid surface products unless they conduct the fabrication activities at a fabrication shop that has submitted a valid initial deposit to the department, or, after July 1, 2028, has submitted an application for initial certification or renewal and the application is pending or has a valid certification, as provided. The bill would require the division to enforce this prohibition by issuing a citation alleging a violation and a notice of civil penalty. This bill would prohibit, beginning July 1, 2028, a person from supplying a slab solid surface product directly to a person, entity, or business engaged in fabrication activities on those products if the person, entity, or business does not have a valid, or pending application for, certification. The bill would require a person that supplies a slab solid surface product to a person, entity, or business engaged in fabrication activities on those products to verify that the person, entity, or business has a certification, or a pending application for certification, as specified. The bill would require a person that supplies a slab solid surface product to a person, entity, or business that is not engaged in fabrication activities to rely on written certification issued under penalty of perjury that, among other things, they will not directly engage in fabrication activities with the product without a certification. By expanding the scope of the crime of perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require a person that seeks services that require fabrication activities and enters into a contract with a person, entity, or business to undertake fabrication activities to verify that the person, entity, or business has a valid certificate before engaging with and providing slab solid surface products to that person, entity, or business. The bill would require the division to enforce these requirements by issuing a citation alleging a violation and a notice of civil penalty. The bill would establish the Slab Fabrication Activity Account in the Occupational Safety and Health Fund in the State Treasury, and would require all fees, penalties, or other moneys collected by the department under the bill and under the above-described provisions relating to high-exposure trigger tasks to be deposited into the account. The bill would authorize moneys in the account to be expended by the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purposes of administering the bill and other provisions related to silicosis risk exposure in fabrication shops. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YES Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. Section 6359.1 of the Labor Code is amended to read: 6359.1. For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply: (a) “Artificial stone” means any reconstituted, artificial, synthetic, composite, engineered, or manufactured stone product. It is commonly made by combining natural stone or other crystalline silica-containing materials with adhesives, polymers, epoxies, resins, or other binding materials to form a slab. Fired ceramic and porcelain tiles and panels are not artificial stone. (b) “Department” means the Department of Industrial Relations. (c) “Director” means the Director of Industrial Relations. (d) “Division” means the Division of Occupational Safety & Health. (e) “Dry methods” means the undertaking of high-exposure trigger tasks without the use of wet methods that effectively suppress dust. (f) (1) “Fabrication shop” means a person, entity, business, or location where high-exposure trigger tasks are undertaken. (2) “Fabrication shop” does not include quarries, concrete and cement manufacturing facilities, or fired ceramic or fired porcelain tiles or panels manufacturing facilities that do not manufacture, fabricate, or finish artificial stone products. (g) (1) “Fabrication activities” means machining, crushing, cutting, drilling, abrading, abrasive blasting, grinding, chiseling, carving, gouging, polishing, buffing, fracturing, intentional breaking, or intentional chipping of slab solid surface products. (2) “Fabrication activities” does not include onsite construction work covered by Section 1532.3 of Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations or facilities where slab solid surface products are manufactured, including, but not limited to, quarries, concrete manufacturing facilities, or fired ceramic or fired porcelain tiles or panels manufacturing facilities. (h) “High-exposure trigger task” means machining, crushing, cutting, drilling, abrading, abrasive blasting, grinding, chiseling, carving, gouging, polishing, buffing, fracturing, intentional breaking, or intentional chipping of artificial stone that contains more than 0.1 percent by weight crystalline silica, or other silica containing products, including natural stone, that contain more than 10 percent by weight crystalline silica. High-exposure trigger tasks also include clean up, disturbing, or handling of wastes, dusts, residues, debris, or other materials created during the above-listed tasks. High-exposure trigger tasks do not include tasks other than the fabrication of countertops, backsplashes, walls, flooring, waterfall countertop edges, and other products from slabs or panels. (i) “Respirable crystalline silica” means quartz, cristobalite, or tridymite contained in airborne particles that are determined to be respirable by a sampling device designed to meet the characteristics for respirable-particle-size-selective samplers specified in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 7708:1995 Air Quality — Particle Size Fraction Definitions for Health-Related Sampling. (j) (1) “Slab solid surface product” means a hard stone-like substance containing crystalline silica, including, but not limited to, artificial, engineered, or natural stone, including granite or marble, that is used for countertop installation or customization and surface applications. (2) For purposes of paragraph (1), “artificial stone” means any reconstituted, artificial, synthetic, composite, engineered, or manufactured stone product. It is commonly made by combining natural stone or other crystalline silica-containing materials with adhesives, polymers, epoxies, resins, or other binding materials to form a slab. Fired ceramic and porcelain tiles and panels are not artificial stone. (k) “Wet methods” means effectively suppressing dust by one of the methods listed below, such that exposures do not exceed the action level at any time. Regardless of the method used, water shall cover the entire surface of the work object where a tool, equipment, or machine contacts the work object. (1) Applying a constant, continuous, and appropriate volume of running water directly onto the surface of the work object. When water flow is integrated with a tool, machine, or equipment, water flow rates shall equal or exceed manufacturer recommendations and specifications to ensure effective dust suppression. Any water that is recycled must be filtered to remove silica prior to reuse. (2) Submersing the work object underwater. (3) Water jet cutting or the use of high-pressure water to cut material. SEC. 2. Section 6359.6 is added to the Labor Code, to read: 6359.6. (a) (1) On or before January 1, 2028, the department shall do all of the following: (A) Develop an application and certification process for a “slab solid surface product fabrication activity” certification to authorize fabrication shops to engage in fabrication activities. (B) Develop an initial deposit process for fabrication shops to, during the pendency of the application development and certification process, submit a deposit fee for the application and initial certification subject to all of the following requirements: (i) The deposit fee amount shall be in an amount as the department deems necessary to implement this chapter and shall not exceed the reasonable regulatory cost. (ii) The deposit fee amount collected by the department shall be used towards the initial certification fee collected pursuant to subdivision (b), and the applicable amount shall be returned to a fabrication shop if the deposit amount exceeds the initial certification fee or if the application is denied. (C) (i) Determine the initial certification fee and the renewal fee to be collected pursuant to subdivision (b), which shall be in amounts as the department deems necessary to implement this chapter and shall not exceed the reasonable regulatory cost. (ii) The department, in determining the fee amounts described in clause (i), may establish different fees for large or small fabrication shops in the state as the department deems necessary for regulatory purposes. The department shall, in determining the sizes of the fabrication shops and the fee amounts, consult with relevant stakeholders, including owners and operators of fabrication shops. (2) (A) Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter to the contrary, a fabrication shop may continue to engage in fabrication activities during the pendency of the application development and certification process. (B) This paragraph shall become inoperative on July 1, 2028. (b) (1) Commencing July 1, 2028, the department shall accept an application for and grant a certification to a fabrication shop that demonstrates to the department’s satisfaction of all of the following workplace safety conditions and precautions: (A) Evidence of a legally obtained and valid business license and applicable state contractor’s license. (B) Evidence of satisfactory workers’ compensation insurance coverage. (C) Documentation of compliance with Section 6359.3. 6359.2. (D) Implementation of an air quality monitoring program and documentation of certified air quality monitoring results consistent with any occupational safety and health standards and orders that are adopted by the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board pursuant to Section 142.3. (2) The department, or a third party certified by the department for this purpose, shall inspect a fabrication shop before the issuance of the certification to verify that the equipment and procedures of the fabrication shop are in compliance with any occupational safety and health standards and orders that are adopted by the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board pursuant to Section 142.3. (3) (A) An applicant for a certification shall submit to the department an initial certification application, including an initial certification fee in the amounts determined by the department, which shall be deposited in the Slab Fabrication Activity Account in the Occupational Safety and Health Fund for the purposes of administering this chapter. (B) Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter to the contrary, a fabrication shop may continue to engage in fabrication activities if it has submitted an initial certification application and the application fee pursuant to subparagraph (A) while it awaits inspection pursuant to [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]