BILL NUMBER: AB 56 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Weber
JANUARY 7, 2013
An act to add Article 7 (commencing with Section 32080) to Chapter
1 of Part 19 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code,
relating to school facilities.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 56, as introduced, Weber. School facilities: carbon monoxide
devices.
Existing law, the Leroy F. Greene School Facilities Act of 1998,
requires certain new school facilities construction projects that
require the approval of the Department of General Services, as
specified, to include an automatic fire detection, alarm, and
sprinkler system. The act also requires certain modernization
projects that require the approval of the department to include an
automatic fire detection and alarm system, as specified.
Existing law requires an owner of a dwelling unit intended for
human occupancy to install a carbon monoxide device, as specified, in
each existing dwelling unit having a fossil fuel burning heater or
appliance, a fireplace, or an attached garage.
This bill would require any private or public school building used
for educational purposes for kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12,
inclusive, that is built or modernized on or after January 1, 2014,
and that has a furnace located inside the school building to have a
carbon monoxide device. The bill would require that the carbon
monoxide device be installed in close proximity to each furnace
located within the school building.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) (1) Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless gas produced
when fuel, such as gas, oil, kerosene, wood, or charcoal, is burned.
Carbon monoxide can cause harmful health effects by reducing the
delivery of oxygen to the body's organs, such as the heart, brain,
and tissues. The most common symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning
are headaches, dizziness, weakness, nausea, vomiting, chest pain, and
confusion. Long-term breathing of carbon monoxide can affect the
memory, brain function, behavior, and cognition. According to the
American Medical Association, carbon monoxide is the leading cause of
accidental poisoning deaths in the United States. Gas furnaces and
other fuel-burning appliances are common sources of carbon monoxide
poisoning.
(2) The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
estimate that each year more than 400 Americans die from
unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning, more than 20,000 visit the
emergency room, and more than 4,000 are hospitalized due to carbon
monoxide poisoning. According to the United States Environmental
Protection Agency, a person cannot see or smell carbon monoxide. At
high levels, carbon monoxide can kill a person in minutes.
(3) The State Air Resources Board estimates that every year carbon
monoxide accounts for between 30 and 40 avoidable deaths, possibly
thousands of avoidable illnesses, and between 175 and 700 avoidable
emergency room and hospital visits.
(4) There are well-documented chronic health effects of acute
carbon monoxide poisoning and prolonged exposure to carbon monoxide,
including, but not limited to, lethargy, headaches, concentration
problems, amnesia, psychosis, Parkinson's disease, memory impairment,
and personality alterations.
(b) (1) On December 3, 2012, Finch Elementary School in Atlanta
Georgia, was evacuated after firefighters discovered a carbon
monoxide leak from the school's furnace. Firefighters responded to
the school after reports came in that people at the school were
unconscious. Although no one was found unconscious, firefighters
found people sickened and, in total, 43 students and 10 adults were
taken to the local hospital.
(2) The firefighters detected high and unsafe levels of carbon
monoxide near a furnace, and detected up to 1,700 parts per million
of carbon monoxide in other areas, a very high level of the gas.
(3) The State of Georgia did not require school facilities to
have, and Finch Elementary School did not have, carbon monoxide
detectors. Two states, Maryland and Connecticut, have passed
legislation requiring carbon monoxide detectors in school facilities.
(c) Senate Bill 183 of the 2009-10 Regular Session (Chapter 19 of
the Statutes of 2010) requires a dwelling unit that is intended for
human occupancy and that has a fossil fuel burning heater or
appliance, a fireplace, or an attached garage to have a carbon
monoxide alarm, as specified.
(d) Carbon monoxide devices provide a vital, highly effective, and
low-cost protection against carbon monoxide poisoning and these
devices should be made available to every school in California to
help prevent students from being exposed to the effects of carbon
monoxide.
SEC. 2. Article 7 (commencing with Section 32080) is added to
Chapter 1 of Part 19 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code,
to read:
Article 7. Carbon Monoxide Devices
32080. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), any private or
public school building that is used for educational purposes for
kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, that is built or
modernized on or after January 1, 2014, and that has a furnace
located inside the school building shall have a carbon monoxide
device, as defined in Section 13262 of the Health and Safety Code,
installed in that building.
(b) This article shall not apply to a private or public school
building that has completed construction or modernization prior to
January 1, 2014.
(c) A private or public school used for educational purposes for
kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, that has a furnace
located inside the school building, and that was built or modernized
prior to January 1, 2014, is encouraged to have a carbon monoxide
device installed in the building.
32085. A carbon monoxide device installed pursuant to Section
32080 shall be installed in close proximity to each furnace located
within the public or private school building so that the device can
accurately detect the leakage of carbon monoxide.