wa-law.org > bill > 2025-26 > HB 2241 > Original Bill
The legislature finds that:
The department of health is the designated state radiation control agency and has the authority to establish regulations relating to control of sources of ionizing radiation. Using that authority, in December 2024, the department of health issued rules that, among other changes, limited the screening capabilities of correctional facilities. This included requiring body scanners to operate at one-eighth of their previous imaging power, resulting in unclear images that diminish the ability of correctional staff to identify concealed narcotics potentially leading to dangerous health and safety impacts, including overdose;
Effective screening is essential to protecting the health and safety of all incarcerated individuals, facility staff, and the public visiting in correctional facilities;
This reduction in imaging capability has already contributed to serious health and safety incidents and nearly an overdose death. These incidents underscore the urgent need to restore screening effectiveness to prevent further harm to individuals' health and safety;
The dose levels restored by this act remain well below widely accepted public and occupational health limits for ionizing radiation; and
Correctional facilities must have access to screening technologies capable of detecting hidden narcotics and other contraband that endanger lives. Overdose incidents within jails have increased statewide, and reduced scanning effectiveness poses a growing risk to both incarcerated individuals and correctional staff.
Therefore, the legislature intends to require the department of health to revise radiation dose thresholds for contraband screening in correctional facilities to restore the operational effectiveness of body scanners while maintaining safe exposure limits. This change will balance health protections for incarcerated individuals with the urgent need to prevent lethal drugs and other dangerous contraband from entering secure facilities, thereby safeguarding the lives of those who live and work within them.
The department of health as the designated state radiation control agency may not establish effective dosage limits or other restrictions intended to reduce the effective radiation dose through rule making or other means for ionizing radiation screening systems used in correctional facilities, detention facilities, or jails that conflict with this section. The department of health may not establish a limit on the:
Total effective radiation dose delivered by an ionizing radiation screening system per screening that is less than 2 µSv (0.2 mrem);
Total effective dose per calendar year for an individual who has been committed to a correctional facility or who has been presented for confinement in a jail or detention facility that is less than 0.25 mSV (25 mrem); and
Level of radiation in the area outside the radiation screening zone in any one hour that is less than 20 µSv (2 mrem). When installed and operated according to manufacturer specifications, an ionizing radiation screening system meeting the standards in this section is deemed compliant with the radiation limits for the area outside the radiation screening zone.
An ionizing radiation screening system must be permitted to operate at an effective dose of at least 2 μSv (0.2 mrem) per screening.
For the purposes of this section:
"Correctional facility" has the same meaning as "correctional institution" in RCW 9.94.049;
"Detention facility" means a county facility, paid for by the county, for the physical confinement of a juvenile alleged to have committed an offense or an adjudicated offender subject to a disposition or modification order. "Detention facility" includes county group homes, inpatient substance abuse programs, juvenile basic training camps, and electronic monitoring;
"Ionizing radiation screening system" means a system that intentionally exposes an individual to ionizing radiation for imaging purposes in a correctional facility, detention facility, or jail and is regulated by the department of health;
"Jail" means any holding, detention, special detention, or correctional facility as defined in RCW 70.48.020; and
"Radiation screening zone" means the general area established for the purpose of limiting or controlling access to the area where screening will be performed.
The department of health is designated as the state radiation control agency, hereinafter referred to as the agency, and shall be the state agency having sole responsibility for administration of the regulatory, licensing, and radiation control provisions of this chapter.
The secretary of health shall be director of the agency, hereinafter referred to as the secretary, who shall perform the functions vested in the agency pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
The agency shall appoint a state radiological control officer, and in accordance with the laws of the state, fix his or her compensation and prescribe his or her powers and duties.
The agency shall for the protection of the occupational and public health and safety:
Develop programs for evaluation of hazards associated with use of ionizing radiation;
Develop a statewide radiological baseline beginning with the establishment of a baseline for the Hanford reservation;
Implement an independent statewide program to monitor ionizing radiation emissions from radiation sources within the state;
Develop programs with due regard for compatibility with federal programs for regulation of by-product, source, and special nuclear materials;
Conduct environmental radiation monitoring programs which will determine the presence and significance of radiation in the environment and which will verify the adequacy and accuracy of environmental radiation monitoring programs conducted by the federal government at its installations in Washington and by radioactive materials licensees at their installations;
Except as provided in section 2 of this act, formulate, adopt, promulgate, and repeal codes, rules, and regulations relating to control of sources of ionizing radiation;
Advise, consult, and cooperate with other agencies of the state, the federal government, other states and interstate agencies, political subdivisions, and with groups concerned with control of sources of ionizing radiation;
Have the authority to accept and administer loans, grants, or other funds or gifts, conditional or otherwise, in furtherance of its functions, from the federal government and from other sources, public or private;
Collect and disseminate information relating to control of sources of ionizing radiation; including:
Maintenance of a file of all license applications, issuances, denials, amendments, transfers, renewals, modifications, suspensions, and revocations;
Maintenance of a file of registrants possessing sources of ionizing radiation requiring registration under the provisions of this chapter and any administrative or judicial action pertaining thereto; and
Maintenance of a file of all rules and regulations relating to regulation of sources of ionizing radiation, pending or promulgated, and proceedings thereon;
Collect and disseminate information relating to nonionizing radiation, including:
Maintaining a state clearinghouse of information pertaining to sources and effects of nonionizing radiation with an emphasis on electric and magnetic fields;
Maintaining current information on the status and results of studies pertaining to health effects resulting from exposure to nonionizing radiation with an emphasis on studies pertaining to electric and magnetic fields;
Serving as the lead state agency on matters pertaining to electric and magnetic fields and periodically informing state agencies of relevant information pertaining to nonionizing radiation;
In connection with any adjudicative proceeding as defined by RCW 34.05.010 or any other administrative proceedings as provided for in this chapter, have the power to issue subpoenas in order to compel the attendance of necessary witnesses and/or the production of records or documents.
In order to avoid duplication of efforts, the agency may acquire the data requested under this section from public and private entities that possess this information.