California Legislature to Consider Silicosis Bill
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – For the second time in as many years, California lawmakers will consider legislation concerning stoneworkers and silicosis.
Senate Bill 20, submitted by state Sen. Caroline Menjivar (D-San Fernando Valley) would prohibit dry fabrication of stone slabs, and set up a mandatory certification process for fabricators statewide.
Called the Silicosis Training, Outreach, and Prevention, or STOP Act, the measure is in response to the growing number of silicosis cases in the state. The bill will be considered during the 2025-2026 session of the state legislature.
Read SB 20 in full here.
“The people of Burbank, City of San Fernando, and San Fernando Valley demand a STOP to this fully preventable disease afflicting their fathers, husbands, sons, and neighbors,” Sen. Menjivar said when unveiling the legislation in early December. Shameful industry practices neglect to protect workers or even educate them on safety standards, exploit those who cannot afford to leave their jobs, and callously puts undue strain on our local community health clinics and hospitals.”
Requirements of the proposed legislation, which include the effective licensing of slab fabrication in California, would take effect in July 2027.
Senate Bill 20 calls for the state’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, along with “approved apprenticeship programs,” to adopt a training program by July 2026 on safe fabrication of “slab solid surface products” to reduce worker exposure to respirable crystalline silica.
The bill also requires a state-authorized certification process, where fabrication businesses would need to have owners and employees complete the safety training. Certification would be effective for three years before needing to be renewed.
The measure also sets up a database of certified shops and prohibits the supply to uncertified businesses of any “supply” of slab products for fabrication.
Senate Bill 20 also defines “slab solid surface product” as “a hard stone-like substance, including, but not limited to, artificial, engineered, or natural stone, including granite or marble, that is used for countertop installation or customization.”
It also defines artificial stone as “any reconstituted, artificial, synthetic, composite, engineered, or manufactured stone involving the binding of “crushed or pulverized stone, quartz, porcelain, or other crystalline silica-containing materials with adhesives, polymers, epoxies, resins, or other binding materials to form a slab.”
The legislation also mandates the use of “effective wet methods” of fabrication. Working dry won’t be a criminal activity, but the state’s labor-standards-enforcement division could shut a shop down and issue fines and penalties.
Senate Bill 20 is the second try introduced this year to regulate fabricators on silicosis safety issues. AB 3043, which included many of the provisions of Senate Bill 20, passed the lower house of the California legislature unanimously earlier in 2024, but state Assemblywoman Luz Rivas (D-San Fernando Valley) withdrew the measure when state regulators balked at enforcement requirements.
In November, Rivas was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for California’s 29th District.
