BILL NUMBER: AB 1292 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 28, 2005
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 11, 2005
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Evans
FEBRUARY 22, 2005
An act to amend Section 52853 of, and to add Sections 17070.756,
17584.4, 17591.5, and 52854 to, the Education Code, relating to
school facilities.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1292, as amended, Evans. School facilities: air quality.
Existing law requires schoolsite councils, at schools
participating in school-based program coordination, to develop a
school plan including specified components.
This bill would require schoolsite councils to include in their
school plans guidelines for the improvement of indoor air quality.
This bill would require that the guidelines describe the actions that
district staff, teachers, and schoolsite staff plan to take to
ensure good indoor air quality. This bill would require that, once
approved by the school district's governing board, the guidelines be
distributed to all teachers at the schoolsite and to members of the
public upon request.
Existing law, the Leroy F. Greene School Facilities Act of 1998
(the Greene Act of 1998), requires the State Allocation Board to
apportion to applicant school districts, prescribed
per-unhoused-pupil state funding for construction and modernization
of school facilities, including hardship funding, and supplemental
funding for site development and acquisition. Existing law requires
the board to require school districts that receive funding under the
Greene Act of 1998 to establish a restricted account within the
school district's general fund and to deposit an amount equal to 3%
of the school district's general fund, including other financing
uses, into the account for maintenance of school facilities.
This bill would allow school districts to use the funds in the
account for repairs or renovations to prevent poor indoor air quality
conditions in school facilities.
Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district
to establish a restricted deferred maintenance fund, provides for the
deposit of prescribed local funds, and provides for the deposit of
matching state funds. Existing law requires the State Allocation
Board to apportion to school districts the state matching funds for
deferred maintenance, and establishes the maximum required local
deferred maintenance budget.
This bill would allow school districts to use the matching funds
apportioned by the State Allocation Board for repairs or renovations
to prevent poor indoor air quality conditions in school facilities.
This bill would impose a state-mandated local program by requiring
school districts to ensure that school facilities have heating,
ventilation, and air-conditioning systems that meet the minimum
requirements of regulations enacted by the Division of Industrial
Safety that govern the quality of air provided to employees in places
of employment. This bill would require school districts to use
contractors who have been certified by a nationally recognized
organization for the implementation and maintenance of heating,
ventilation and air-conditioning systems.
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.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) In November of 2003, the California Air Resources Board and
the State Department of Health Services issued a report to the
Legislature detailing the adverse impact that poor indoor air quality
is having on California schools. The report found significant
indoor air quality problems, including problems with ventilation,
temperature and humidity, air pollutants, floor dust contaminants,
moisture, mold, noise, and lighting. Specifically, the report found
all of the following:
(1) Ventilation with outdoor air was inadequate during 40 percent
of classroom hours and seriously deficient during 10 percent of
classroom hours in both portable classrooms and traditional
classrooms.
(2) 21 percent of portables and 35 percent of traditional
classrooms had visible water stains on the ceiling and three percent
of portables had visible mold on the ceiling. Many classrooms do not
meet workplace regulations for ventilation and moisture intrusion
developed by the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board.
(3) Formaldehyde levels in 4 percent of classrooms, which contain
a minimum of 214,000 pupils, exceeded the guideline level established
by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to prevent
short-term adverse health effects in sensitive individuals.
Formaldehyde levels in virtually all classrooms exceeded the
guideline level for preventing chronic effects.
(4) All classrooms, both portable and traditional, exceeded the
recently developed acoustic standard of the American National
Standards Institute and the World Health Organization guideline of 35
decibels for unoccupied classrooms, and 50 percent of portables and
38 percent of traditional classrooms exceeded 55 decibels, which is
commonly used for outdoor nuisance noise regulations in California
communities.
(b) Heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems are
a primary source of excess noise in classrooms. Problems with noisy
ventilation systems in classrooms have led to the underutilization of
ventilation systems, which causes increased indoor air quality
problems.
(c) Asthma in pupils and teachers can be exacerbated by poor
indoor air quality in schools. Known asthma triggers include airborne
particulate matter, chemical contaminants, and allergens, including
dust mites and mold.
(d) In February 2005, the California Air Resources Board approved
an indoor air quality report which cites proven health and economic
benefits to reducing indoor air pollution, which is estimated to cost
California $45 billion per year. The report noted that children are
particularly vulnerable to poor indoor air quality. According to the
report, children under the age of 12 spend about 86 percent of their
time indoors with 21 percent of the time being spent in schools.
(e) Because a child's immune system is not fully developed, a
child's body is more susceptible to chemicals that may affect lung
development and function. Because children and infants inhale more
air and tend to be more active than adults in the same environment
those factors put children at greater risk.
(f) There are many sources of indoor air pollution, including
biological contaminants, building materials and furnishings,
secondhand smoke, consumer products, pesticides, combustion
appliances, household and office equipment, air cleaners that emit
ozone, architectural coatings, chlorinated water, and soil containing
radon gas.
(g) There are many simple things that can be done, most at little
or no cost, that can quickly improve indoor air quality. These
include better ventilation, operation, and cleaning practices, proper
building maintenance, and professional training and education.
(h) It is the policy of this state that school facilities be
designed and operated using reasonably available measures to provide
a healthy indoor environment for pupils including, but not limited
to, healthy indoor air quality, and adequate ventilation with outdoor
air.
SEC. 2. Section 52853 of the Education Code is amended to read:
52853.
(a) The schoolsite council shall develop a school plan which shall
include all of the following:
(1) Curricula, instructional strategies and materials responsive
to the individual needs and learning styles of each pupil.
(2) Instructional and auxiliary services to meet the special needs
of non-English-speaking or limited-English-speaking pupils,
including instruction in a language these pupils understand;
educationally disadvantaged pupils; gifted and talented pupils; and
pupils with exceptional needs.
(3) A staff development program for teachers, other school
personnel, paraprofessionals, and volunteers, including those
participating in special programs. Staff development programs may
include the use of program guidelines that have been developed by the
Superintendent for specific learning disabilities, including
dyslexia, and other related disorders. The strategies included in the
guidelines and instructional materials that focus on successful
approaches for working with pupils who have been prenatally substance
exposed, as well as other at-risk pupils, may also be provided to
teachers.
(4) Ongoing evaluation of the educational program of the school.
(5) Other activities and objectives as established by the council.
(6) The proposed expenditures of funds available to the school
through the programs described in Section 52851. For purposes of
this subdivision, proposed expenditures of funds available to the
school through the programs described in Section 52851 shall include,
but not be limited to, salaries and staff benefits for persons
providing services for those programs.
(7) The proposed expenditure of funds available to the school
through the federal Improving America's Schools Act of 1994 (IASA)
(20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.) and its amendments. If the school
operates a state-approved schoolwide program pursuant to Section 6314
of Title 20 of the United States Code in a manner consistent with
the expenditure of funds available to the school pursuant to Section
52851, employees of the schoolwide program may be deemed funded by a
single cost objective.
(8) Guidelines, adopted by January 1, 2007, and each year
thereafter, that describe the actions that district staff, teachers,
and schoolsite staff plan to take to ensure good indoor air quality
. that meets the minimum requirements of indoor
air quality regulations enacted pursuant to Section 142.3 of the
Labor Code.
(b) The schoolsite council shall annually review the school plan,
establish a new budget, and if necessary, make other modifications in
the plan to reflect changing needs and priorities.
SEC. 3. Section 17070.756 is added to the Education Code, to
read:17070.756. School districts may use funds in the account
established pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section
17070.75 for repairs or renovations to prevent poor indoor air
quality conditions in school facilities.
SEC. 4. Section 17584.4 is added to the Education Code, to
read:17584.4. School districts may use funds apportioned pursuant to
Section 17584 for repairs or renovations to prevent poor indoor air
quality conditions in school facilities.
SEC. 5. Section 17591.5 is added to the Education Code, to read:
17591.5.
(a) A school district shall ensure that facilities, including, but
not limited to, classrooms for pupils, have heating, ventilation and
air-conditioning (HVAC) systems that meet the minimum requirements
of indoor air quality regulations enacted pursuant to Section 142.3
of the Labor Code, in order to prevent pupils from being exposed to
poor indoor air quality conditions.
(b) In carrying out the requirements of subdivision (a), a school
district shall utilize contractors that have been certified in
providing for the inspection, maintenance, and repair of HVAC systems
by a nationally recognized organization.
SEC. 6. Section 52854 is added to the Education Code, to read:
52854.
Upon approval of the guidelines for indoor air quality by the
school district's governing board, the guidelines should be
distributed to all teachers at the schoolsite. The indoor air quality
guidelines shall be made available to any member of the public upon
their request.
SEC. 7.
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.