BILL NUMBER: AB 1173 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 987
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 27, 2002
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 27, 2002
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 30, 2002
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 29, 2002
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 27, 2002
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 13, 2002
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 17, 2002
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 8, 2002
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Keeley
FEBRUARY 23, 2001
An act to add Section 39930 to the Health and Safety Code,
relating to air pollution.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1173, Keeley. Air pollution: indoor air pollution.
Under existing law, the State Air Resources Board is the state
agency charged with coordinating efforts to attain and maintain
ambient air quality standards. Existing law requires the state board
to identify toxic air contaminants that are emitted into the ambient
air of the state. Existing law also requires the state board to
adopt airborne toxic control measures to reduce the emissions of
toxic air contaminants from nonvehicular sources.
This bill would require the state board, by January 1, 2004, in
consultation with the State Department of Health Services, the Office
of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, the State Energy
Resources and Development Commission any other state agency the state
board determines appropriate, affected indoor emission sources, and
interested members of the public, to provide a report to the
Legislature summarizing the best scientific information available on
indoor air pollution, the potential adverse effects of indoor air
pollution on public health in the state, readily available
information about the effects of existing regulations, and current
industry practices in mitigating those exposures, and listing the
biological and radiological substance work performed by other state
and federal entities. The bill would require the state board to
contract with the National Academy of Sciences, the University of
California, the California State University, or a similar
institution of higher learning with scientific expertise, or with a
scientist or group of scientists of comparable stature that is
recommended by the President of the University of California, to
conduct an external peer review of the report. The bill would
require that peer review process to be completed, and the state board
to present and review the contents of the report at a public
meeting, prior to the state board providing the report to the
Legislature.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Public health, safety, and welfare may be endangered by the
emission of pollutants into the indoor air.
(b) According to the United States Environmental Protection
Agency, pollutant levels indoors can be significantly higher than
levels outdoors.
(c) Californians have been found to spend about 87 percent of
their time indoors. Vulnerable populations, including, but not
limited to, the elderly and children, may spend even more time
indoors.
(d) Indoor air pollutants can cause cancer, respiratory disease,
and other adverse health effects, as well as trigger allergies and
asthma attacks.
(e) Exposure patterns among infants and children are likely to
result in disproportionately high exposure to indoor air pollutants
in comparison to the general population.
(f) Infants and children may be more susceptible to indoor air
pollutants in comparison to the general population.
(g) The effects of exposure to toxic air contaminants and other
substances that have a common mechanism of toxicity on infants and
children should be addressed.
(h) The interaction of multiple indoor air pollutants on infants
and children, including the interaction between criteria air
pollutants and toxic air contaminants, should be addressed.
(i) In 1996, the federal General Accounting Office found that
California's schools ranked as the worst in the nation for indoor
environmental conditions, including lighting, heating, noise, and air
quality. Twenty-nine percent of California schools were reported as
having unsatisfactory ventilation and 22 percent were reported as
having unsatisfactory air quality.
(j) A statewide report on indoor air pollution is necessary and
desirable to determine the public health hazards caused by indoor air
contaminants and potential mitigation measures to resolve those
hazards.
SEC. 2. Section 39930 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
39930. (a) The state board shall, not later than January 1, 2004,
in consultation with the State Department of Health Services, the
Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, the State Energy
Resources Conservation and Development Commission, any other state
agency the state board determines is appropriate, affected indoor
emission sources, and interested members of the public, provide a
report to the Legislature summarizing all of the following:
(1) The best scientific information available including, but not
limited to, the most recent empirical data, on indoor air pollution
including, but not limited to, air contaminants that have been
identified as toxic air contaminants pursuant to Sections 39655,
39657, or 39660, or air contaminants for which the state board has
adopted ambient air quality standards.
(2) The potential adverse effects of indoor air pollution exposure
on public health in the state, including, but not limited to,
vulnerable populations, including, but not limited to, elderly
persons, infants, and children, based upon the information described
in paragraph (1).
(3) Readily available information about the effects of existing
regulations and current industry practices in mitigating those
exposures.
(4) A listing that references work performed by other state or
federal entities regarding biological and radiological substances,
including a summary of activities conducted by the State Department
of Health Services pursuant to Chapter 18 (commencing with Section
26100) of Division 20.
(b) The report described in subdivision (a) shall include all of
the following:
(1) A list of indoor air pollutants that are described in the
summaries provided pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (4) of subdivision
(a).
(2) A list of indoor air pollutants, as defined in Section 39013,
ranked in groups designated as high, medium, and lower priorities,
that the state board has determined, based upon empirical data or
other scientific information, are likely to have the most significant
adverse impacts on human health through exposures in schools,
nonindustrial workplaces, homes, and other indoor locations, and the
probable source categories for these pollutants.
(3) An analysis of the indoor emissions, indoor exposures, and
potential health effects from the indoor source categories described
in paragraph (1), and options for mitigating those health effects in
schools, nonindustrial workplaces, homes, and other indoor locations,
including, but not limited to, a discussion of the feasibility and
public health effects of implementing each option.
(4) A description of options for schools and school districts to
improve indoor air quality in public schools. The state board shall
develop these options in consultation with representatives from
school district facility departments, school district maintenance
departments, and statewide educational organizations.
(c) (1) The state board shall enter into an agreement with the
National Academy of Sciences, the University of California, the
California State University, or a similar institution of higher
learning that has scientific expertise, any combination of those
entities, or with a scientist or group of scientists of comparable
stature and qualifications that is recommended by the President of
the University of California, to conduct an external scientific peer
review of the scientific basis for the report described in
subdivision (a).
(2) The state board may not submit the report to the Legislature
until all of the following conditions are met:
(A) The draft report is submitted to the external scientific peer
review entity described in paragraph (1) for evaluation.
(B) The external scientific peer review entity, within the
timeframe agreed upon by the board and the external scientific peer
review entity, prepares written comments that contain an evaluation
of the scientific basis for the draft report. If the state board
disagrees with any aspect of the findings of the external scientific
peer review entity, the state board shall include as part of the
final report, an explanation of its basis for arriving at that
determination, including, but not limited to, the reasons that the
state board determined that the report was based on sound scientific
knowledge, methods, and practices.
(d) The state board shall present and review the content of the
report described in subdivision (a) at a public meeting prior to
providing the report to the Legislature.