2019 District of Columbia Code
Title 48 - Foods and Drugs.
Chapter 1 - Adulteration.
§ 48–104. Enforcement measures; rules and regulations.

(a) It shall be the duty of the Mayor to adopt such measures as may be necessary to facilitate the enforcement of this chapter with regard to the proper method of collecting and examining drugs and articles of food in the District of Columbia.

(b) The Mayor of the District of Columbia, with the approval of the Council, is authorized to adopt the United States Food and Drug Administration’s Model Food Code, with any necessary amendments, to:

(1) Control and regulate the retail sale, commercial and institutional service, and vending of food;

(2) Establish standards for employee food safety practices and training;

(3) Regulate food sources, preparation, holding temperatures, and protection;

(4) Regulate equipment, utensils, and linens, their design, construction, number and capacity, location and installation, maintenance and operation, cleaning, and sanitization;

(5) Regulate the use of water and the treatment of liquid and solid wastes;

(6) Regulate facilities construction and maintenance, storage and use of poisonous and toxic materials;

(7) Establish license requirements for the operation of food establishments;

(8) Restrict or exclude employees;

(9) Examine, embargo, and condemn food or food products, equipment, utensils, and linens to protect the public health.

(c) The Mayor shall submit the United States Food and Drug Administration’s Model Food Code, with any necessary amendments, to the Council for a 45-day period of review, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, legal holidays, and days of Council recess. If the Council does not approve or disapprove the proposed regulations, in whole or in part, by resolution, within this 45-day review period, the proposed regulations shall be deemed disapproved.

(Feb. 17, 1898, 30 Stat. 247, ch. 25, § 4; Aug. 1, 1950, 64 Stat. 393, ch. 513, § 1; May 2, 2002, D.C. Law 14-116, § 2(c), 49 DCR 1945.)

1981 Ed., § 33-104.

1973 Ed., § 33-104.

D.C. Law 14-116 rewrote the section which had read as follows: “It shall be the duty of the Director of Public Health of the District of Columbia, under the direction of the Mayor of said District, to adopt such measures as may be necessary to facilitate the enforcement of this chapter, and of the Council of the District of Columbia to prepare rules and regulations with regard to the proper method of collecting and examining drugs and articles of food in said District.”

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2(c) of Food Regulation Emergency Amendment Act of 2001 (D.C. Act 14-128, August 3, 2001, 48 DCR 7939).

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2(c) of Food Regulation Legislative Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2001 (D.C. Act 14-147, October 23, 2001, 48 DCR 10183).

For temporary (225 day) amendment of section, see § 2(c) of Food Regulation Temporary Amendment Act of 2001 (D.C. Law 14-55, December 6, 2001, law notification 49 DCR 356).

Office of Director of Public Health abolished: Section 1 of the Act of August 1, 1950, 64 Stat. 393, ch. 513, provided that the Health Officer of the District of Columbia would be known as the Director of Public Health. The Health Department of the District of Columbia, including the office of the head thereof, was abolished and the functions thereof transferred to the Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia by Reorganization Plan No. 5 of 1952. Reorganization Order No. 57 of the Board of Commissioners, dated June 30, 1953, and Reorganization Order No. 52, dated June 30, 1953, combined and redesignated Organization Order No. 141, dated February 11, 1964, established, under the direction and control of a Commissioner, a Department of Public Health headed by a Director, for the purpose of planning, implementing, and directing public health and hospital care programs, and for performing certain other allied medical and paramedical functions. The Anatomical Board was established under the direction and control of the Director of Public Health consisting of members as prescribed in the D.C. Code. The Order prior to redesignation abolished the previously existing Health Department, Gallinger Hospital, Glenn Dale Sanatorium, and the Anatomical Board and transferred their functions and positions to the new Department. The organization of the new Department was set out in the Order. The executive functions of the Board of Commissioners were transferred to the Commissioner of the District of Columbia by § 401 of Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1967. Functions stated in Organization Order No. 141 were transferred to the Director of the Department of Human Resources by Commissioner’s Order No. 69-96, dated March 7, 1969, as amended by Commissioner’s Order No. 70-83, dated March 6, 1970. Functions stated in Organization Order No. 141 were transferred to the Department of Environmental Services by Commissioner’s Order 71-255, dated July 27, 1971, as amended by Commissioner’s Order 72-96, dated April 18, 1972. Functions stated in Commissioner’s Order 71-255 were transferred to the Director of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs by § III B. (9) of Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1983.

Delegation of Authority Pursuant to the Food Regulation Amendment Act of 2002, see Mayor’s Order 2002-103, June 28, 2002 ( 49 DCR 6000).

This section originated at a time when local government powers were delegated to a Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia (see Acts Relating to the Establishment of the District of Columbia and its Various Forms of Governmental Organization in Volume 1). Section 402(258) of Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1967 (see Reorganization Plans in Volume 1) transferred all of the functions of the Board of Commissioners under this section to the District of Columbia Council, subject to the right of the Commissioner as provided in § 406 of the Plan. The District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act, 87 Stat. 818, § 711 ( D.C. Code, § 1-207.11), abolished the District of Columbia Council and the Office of Commissioner of the District of Columbia. These branches of government were replaced by the Council of the District of Columbia and the Office of Mayor of the District of Columbia, respectively. Accordingly, and also pursuant to § 714(a) of such Act ( D.C. Code, § 207.14(a)), appropriate changes in terminology were made in this section.

Resolution 14-613, the “Food Code Approval Resolution of 2002”, was approved effective November 22, 2002.