BILL NUMBER: AB 821 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Brownley
FEBRUARY 26, 2009
An act to add Article 5 (commencing with Section 17615) to Chapter
5 of Part 10.5 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code,
relating to school facilities.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 821, as introduced, Brownley. School facilities: maintenance.
(1) Existing law requires the governing board of any school
district to give diligent care to the health and physical development
of pupils.
This bill would create the Clean and Healthy Schools Act, and
would make findings and declarations regarding indoor air quality and
cleaning products. The bill would require, when it is economically
feasible, but not later than the 2010-11 school year, all school
districts and all nonpublic elementary and secondary schools with 50
or more pupils to purchase and use exclusively environmentally
preferable cleaning and maintenance products, as specified. The bill
would require a school district or school to provide written
notification that it will not purchase and use environmentally
preferable cleaning and maintenance products to the State Department
of Education, annually, if it determines that it is not economically
feasible to purchase and use those products, until it is feasible to
do so. The bill also would require the Department of General Services
and the State Department of Education to post on their Internet Web
sites information to assist school districts and schools to comply
with these provisions. Because this bill would require school
districts to perform new duties, the bill would impose a
state-mandated local program.
(2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Article 5 (commencing with Section 17615) is added to
Chapter 5 of Part 10.5 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education
Code, to read:
Article 5. Clean and Healthy Schools Act
17615. This article may be cited as the Clean and Healthy Schools
Act.
17615.1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Children are vulnerable to, and may be severely affected by,
exposure to chemicals, hazardous waste, and other environmental
hazards. The Federal Environmental Protection Agency estimates that
human exposure to indoor air pollutants can be two to five times and
up to 100 times higher than outdoor levels, and that half of schools
in the United States have poor indoor air quality. The California Air
Resources Board has found significant indoor air quality problems in
California's portable and traditional classrooms.
(b) Pupils, teachers, janitors, and other staff members spend a
significant amount of time inside school buildings, during which time
they are exposed to cleaners and maintenance products. Cleaners and
maintenance products contain known carcinogens, reproductive toxins,
chemicals that cause asthma, and other hazardous ingredients.
(c) Asthma is the primary cause of school absences due to chronic
disease in the United States, and is the leading cause of
hospitalization for children under 15 years of age in California.
(d) Section 12400 of the Public Contract Code defines
"environmentally preferable purchasing" as the procurement or
acquisition of goods and services that have a lesser or reduced
effect on human health and the environment when compared with
competing goods or services that serve the same purpose.
(e) The benefits of cleaner indoor air in schools have been shown
to reduce the incidence of asthma, allergies, and absenteeism in
pupils, as well as increase teacher retention rates and reduce worker
compensation claims. The use of environmentally preferable cleaning
and maintenance products contributes to cleaner indoor air quality.
(f) Third-party, independent, voluntary certification programs
exist that set standards for, and evaluate, environmentally
preferable cleaning and maintenance products, including Green Seal
GS-37 and EcoLogo CCD-146. The current standards establish
environmental requirements for industrial and institutional
general-purpose, restroom, glass, and carpet cleaners, intended for
routine cleaning of offices, schools, and institutions, and include
consideration of vulnerable populations in institutional settings,
such as schools and day-care facilities. Products certified under
these standards cannot contain carcinogens, mutagens, reproductive
toxins, ingredients that cause asthma, ingredients that are corrosive
to skin and eyes, heavy metals, including lead, hexavalent chromium,
or selenium, either in elemental form or compounds, 2-butoxyethanol,
alkylphenol ethoxylates, phthalates, ozone-depleting chemicals, or
optical brighteners. The standards also establish specific limits on
ingredients for acute toxicity, skin absorption, volatile organic
compound content, inhalation toxicity, toxicity to aquatic life,
bioaccumulating compounds, biodegradability, eutrophication,
combustibility, and fragrances. The standards define requirements for
concentrates, dispensing systems, packaging, recycleability,
labeling, and training. Standards are revised periodically and may
apply to additional categories of products. The standards do not
apply to cleaners for household use, food preparation operations, or
medical facilities, and do not apply to air fresheners, enzymatic, or
microbially active products required to be registered under the
federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, such as those
making claims as sterilizers, disinfectants, or sanitizers.
(g) Existing law establishes the public school system, imposes
various safety requirements, and provides state funding to school
districts that contribute to operating budgets that already include
janitorial programs. Schools are encouraged to use the State of
California Procurement Contract to purchase environmentally
preferable cleaning and maintenance products to maximize the
available discounts and avoid developing their own separate bids.
17615.2. As used in this article:
(a) "Economically feasible" means that there is no net increase in
the cleaning costs of a school.
(b) "Environmentally preferable cleaning and maintenance product"
means a product that meets independent, third-party certification
criteria for lesser or reduced effects on human health and
environment compared with competing goods or services that serve the
same purpose.
(c) "Third-party certification" means certification by an
established and legitimate, independent, nationally recognized
program developed for the purpose of identifying environmentally
preferable products, such as Green Seal or EcoLogo. Any third-party
certification program shall meet all of the following criteria:
(1) Have an open, transparent process for setting standards that
involves the public and key stakeholders.
(2) Clearly defines the fees a manufacturer must pay for
certification.
(3) Clearly avoids conflicts of interest in the standard setting
and product evaluation process.
(4) Have a criteria for certification that is available publically
and is transparent.
(5) Bases certification of the product and its packaging on
criteria for reducing effects on human health and safety, ecological
toxicity, other environmental impacts, and resource conservation,
including, at a minimum, consideration of chemicals that cause
cancer, mutagenic and reproductive harm, organ and nervous system
damage, asthma, smog, ozone depletion, aquatic toxicity,
bioaccumulation, and eutrophication.
(6) Requires periodic revisions and updates of the standards.
(7) Monitors and reinforces the standards, provides for the
authority to inspect the manufacturing facilities, and periodically
does so.
(8) Have a registered, legally protected certification mark.
(9) Makes the standards easily accessible to purchasers and
manufacturers, for example, making them available on the program's
Internet Web site.
(10) If possible, is developed by consensus.
(11) Establishes leadership levels in standards for products.
(12) Provides a list of certified products that meet the
standards.
(13) Requires that product manufacturers or distributors provide
training on the appropriate and safe use of their certified products.
17615.3. (a) When it is economically feasible, but not later than
the 2010-11 school year, all school districts, and all nonpublic
elementary and secondary schools with 50 or more pupils, shall
purchase and use exclusively environmentally preferable cleaning and
maintenance products if an environmentally preferable cleaning and
maintenance product exists.
(b) A school may deplete its existing cleaning and maintenance
supply stocks and implement the new requirements in the next
procurement cycle.
(c) If a school district or school determines that it is not
economically feasible to purchase and use environmentally preferable
cleaning and maintenance products, the school district or school
shall provide written notification that it will not purchase and use
environmentally preferable cleaning and maintenance products to the
State Department of Education annually, until it is feasible to do
so.
17615.4. The Department of General Services and the State
Department of Education shall post information on their Internet Web
sites to assist school districts and schools in complying with
Section 17615.3.
17615.5. This article sets minimum standards for cleaning
products used in schools. Nothing in these article shall prevent
local jurisdictions from adopting guidelines that are more stringent
that those defined in this article.
SEC. 2. If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local
agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant
to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Government Code.