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Emergency
Powers: Isolation and Quarantine
Rules
adopted by the Board in December to clarify the processes for
instituting and enforcing isolation and quarantine orders have been
incorporated into the on line version of the
Washington
Administrative Code. The changes appear in sections 011 and 036
through 070 of
Chapter
246-100 WAC and in
WAC
246-101-505. Changes
to 246-100-036
WAC included
an incorrect publication date and edition number for the Control of
Communicable Disease Manual published by the American Public Health
Association. The Board has initiated expedited rule making to
correct this reference. It filed a CR-105 on April 15 as WSR 03-09-066. Objections to expedited rule making were due by June 24. No objections
were submitted. The Board is expected
to consider adoption at its July 9 meeting in Colville.
Background
After a December 10 public hearing, the State Board of Health
voted to revise its rules governing communicable disease reporting, disease
and contamination control measures, and the emergency powers of local
health officers. The proposed change appeared in the Washington State Register as WSR
02-22-107. The Board made minor changes to the text before final
adoption.
The new rules:
- Modernize existing law to require due process
protections during periods of isolation and quarantine.
- Consolidate in rule statutory requirements that law
enforcement agencies enforce, and members of the public comply with,
the orders of a local health officer and the rules of a state or local
board of health.
In November 2001, the Board adopted a final report on
Response Capacity During a Health Emergency--A Review of Selected
Issues. The report included in its recommendations:
- "The Board should initiate a review, in partnership with DOH,
local health jurisdictions, and other affected parties, of the
adequacy of current Board rules concerning reporting of notifiable
conditions, isolation and quarantine, and the emergency powers of
local health officers."
Acting on that recommendation, the Board filed a
"CR-101, Preproposal Statement of Inquiry" in December 2001 (WSR 01-24-102).
It subsequently held an advisory meeting of stakeholders and circulated
two discussion drafts for review and comment. It published an initial
draft in August (WSR
02-16-102) and held a hearing on September 11. After the hearing, it
revised and republished. The revision better differentiated between different types
of hearings, changed the burden of proof required at various hearings,
and included a right to government-funded counsel for people who are
indigent.
For more background on the Board's process and the
nature of the proposed rule, see the cover
letter that accompanied the initial discussion draft. Also available are a
flow
chart of how the draft procedures are intended to work and a
discussion of other
issues related to public health authority in the event of a health
emergency, issues that have been mentioned as areas of concern but are not
addressed in the current version of the discussion draft.
Most of the documents linked to above are provided in Adobe Acrobat format; please contact the Board to request
them in alternate formats.
Statutory Authority:
Chapter 43.20 RCW
Board Sponsor: Thomas Locke, MD, MPH
SBOH Contact:
Michelle Davis, (360) 236-4105
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