BILL NUMBER: SB 21 CHAPTERED 09/29/02 CHAPTER 1075 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 29, 2002 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 29, 2002 PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 29, 2002 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 25, 2002 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 23, 2002 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 29, 2002 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 29, 2002 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 5, 2001 AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 4, 2001 AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 16, 2001 AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 30, 2001 AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 16, 2001 AMENDED IN SENATE FEBRUARY 13, 2001 INTRODUCED BY Senator Escutia (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Shelley) DECEMBER 4, 2000 An act to amend Section 17582 of, and to add Sections 17074.27, 17074.30, and 17584.2 to, the Education Code, relating to school facilities. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 21, Escutia. Lead-safe schools. Under existing law, known as the Lead-Safe Schools Protection Act, the State Department of Health Services is required to conduct a sample survey of public elementary schools, public preschools, and public day care facilities for the purpose of developing risk factors to predict lead contamination in those public schools. Existing law, the Class Size Reduction Kindergarten-University Public Education Facilities Bond Act of 1998, provides for the issuance, pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law, of state general obligation bonds in an amount not to exceed $9,200,000,000, exclusive of refunding bonds, to provide aid to school districts, county superintendents of schools, and county boards of education in accordance with prescribed provisions, including, but not limited to, the Leroy F. Greene State School Facilities Act of 1998. This bill would authorize state modernization funding for the identification, assessment, control, management, or abatement of lead. The bill would require any application for modernization funding after January 1, 2004, to certify that it has considered the potential for the presence of lead-containing materials in the modernization project and will follow all relevant standards. The bill would authorize the use of school district deferred maintenance funds for the inspection, identification, sampling, analysis, control, management, and removal of lead-containing material. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. (a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following: (1) Despite the fact that the environmental and educational communities have known for years that lead paint still exists in school buildings in the state, many of these lead hazards have not been mitigated and continue to pose a danger to the health and well being of children. (2) A survey of the State Department of Health Services found that, of 200 randomly selected California elementary schools, 77 percent have lead-based paint; 38 percent have lead-based paint that is deteriorating, exposing children to possible lead poisoning; 6 percent have soil lead levels greater than the Environmental Protection Agency's limit; and 18 percent have lead levels in drinking water in excess of the action level set by the Environmental Protection Agency. (3) Lead is a highly toxic heavy metal that adversely affects virtually every organ system in the body. (4) Most children with lead poisoning have no overt symptoms, but can suffer permanent neurological deficits and behavioral problems, including attention deficit disorder and loss of IQ points. (5) The United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention has found that "lead poisoning remains the most common and societally devastating environmental disease of young children." (6) Childhood lead poisoning has a significant financial cost, as lead poisoned children incur high medical and special education costs and have reduced lifetime earning potential. (b) Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature to encourage all public schools to identify all lead hazards as quickly as possible. SEC. 2. Section 17074.27 is added to the Education Code, to read: 17074.27. In addition to the uses specified in Section 17074.25, a modernization apportionment may also be used for the control, management, or abatement of lead. SEC. 3. Section 17074.30 is added to the Education Code, to read: 17074.30. Commencing with applications submitted after January 1, 2004, any school district applying for funding pursuant to this article shall certify that it has considered the potential for the presence of lead-containing materials in the modernization projects and will follow all relevant federal, state, and local standards for the management of any identified lead. SEC. 4. Section 17582 of the Education Code is amended to read: 17582. (a) The governing board of each school district may establish a restricted fund to be known as the "district deferred maintenance fund" for the purpose of major repair or replacement of plumbing, heating, air conditioning, electrical, roofing, and floor systems, the exterior and interior painting of school buildings, the inspection, sampling, and analysis of building materials to determine the presence of asbestos-containing materials, the encapsulation or removal of asbestos-containing materials, the inspection, identification, sampling, and analysis of building materials to determine the presence of lead-containing materials, the control, management, and removal of lead-containing materials, and any other items of maintenance approved by the State Allocation Board. Funds deposited in the district deferred maintenance fund may be received from any source whatsoever, and shall be accounted for separately from all other funds and accounts and retained in the district deferred maintenance fund for purposes of this section. The term "school building" as used in this article includes a facility that a county office of education is authorized to use pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 17280) of Chapter 3. (b) Funds deposited in the district deferred maintenance fund shall only be expended for maintenance purposes as provided pursuant to subdivision (a). (c) The governing board of each school district shall have complete control over the funds and earnings of funds once deposited in the district deferred maintenance fund, provided that no funds deposited in the district deferred maintenance fund pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 17584 may be expended by the governing board for any purpose except those specified in subdivision (a) of this section. SEC. 5. Section 17584.2 is added to the Education Code, to read: 17584.2. At the public hearing required pursuant to Section 17584.1, the governing board of the school district shall also address the use of deferred maintenance funds for the inspection, identification, sampling, and analysis of building materials to determine the presence of lead-containing materials and the control, management, and removal of lead-containing materials.