BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1292
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 20, 2005
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Jackie Goldberg, Chair
AB 1292 (Evans) - As Amended: April 11, 2005
SUBJECT : School Facilities: Air Quality
SUMMARY : Requires a school district to ensure that facilities,
including, but not limited to, classrooms for pupils, have
heating and ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems that
meet the minimum requirements of indoor air quality regulations
pursuant to Labor Code Section 142.3. Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes the following findings and declarations:
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:
i) 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.
ii) 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.
iii) Formaldehyde levels in four 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
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individuals. Formaldehyde levels in virtually all
classrooms exceeded the guideline level for preventing
chronic effects.
iv) 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
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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.
2)Requires the schoolsite council to develop guidelines 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
pursuant to Labor Code Section 142.3.
3)Requires the guidelines, upon approval by the local governing
board, to be distributed to all teachers at the schoolsite and
be made available to any member of the public.
4)Requires a school district to use contractors that have been
certified in providing for the inspection, maintenance, and
repair of HVAC systems by a nationally recognized organization
in carrying out the requirements of this bill.
5)Authorizes school districts to use funds from the district
maintenance of facilities account (MFA) for repairs or
renovations to prevent poor indoor air quality conditions in
school facilities.
6)Authorizes school districts to use Deferred Maintenance Funds
(DMF) for repairs or renovations to prevent poor indoor air
quality conditions in school facilities.
EXISTING LAW
1)Designates the California Occupational Safety and Health
Standards Board (Cal/OSHA) as the only agency in the state
authorized to adopt occupational safety and health standards
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and requires the board to adopt standards that are at least as
effective as federal standards.
2)Requires a schoolsite council to develop a school plan that
includes curricula, instructional strategies and materials,
instructional and auxiliary services to meet the needs of
non-English speaking pupils, staff development program for
teachers and other school personnel, ongoing evaluation of the
school's educational program, and other activities and
objectives established by the council.
3)Requires the schoolsite council to annually review the school
plan, establish a new budget, and if necessary, make other
modifications in the plan and requires the district governing
board to review and approve or disapprove the school plans.
4)Requires, under the Leroy F. Greene School Facilities Act of
1998, the State Allocation Board (SAB) to allocate 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.
5)Requires the SAB to require a school district to make all
necessary repairs, renewals and replacements to ensure that a
school facilities project funded under the Leroy Green School
Facilities Act is at all times kept in good repair working
order and condition.
6)Requires the SAB to ensure compliance with maintenance
requirements by requiring a facility project applicant school
district to establish an MFA and agree to deposit into the
MFA, in each fiscal year for 20 years after receipt of
construction funds, a minimum amount equal to or greater than
3% of the applicant school district's total general fund
expenditures for that fiscal year. Requires County Offices of
Education (COEs) to calculate MFA contributions based upon the
COE general fund, less any restricted accounts.
7)Allows school districts to establish a DMF for specified 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, the
encapsulation or removal of asbestos-containing materials, the
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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 item of maintenance
approved by the SAB. Requires the SAB to apportion, utilizing
a specified formula, matching funds to school districts for
DMF.
8)Requires schools, generally, to comply with environmental
protection laws in the same manner as is required of other
persons, businesses, institutions and governmental entities.
There are limited provisions that protect students and
teachers from exposures to hazardous substances (e.g.,
asbestos).
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown.
COMMENTS :
Background . AB 2872 (Shelley), Chapter 144, Statutes of 2000
required the State Air Resources Board (ARB) and the Department
of Health Services (DHS) to conduct a comprehensive study and
review of the environmental health conditions in portable
classrooms and offer actions that can be taken to remedy and
prevent any unhealthful conditions identified by the study. On
November 2003, a report titled, "Environmental Health Conditions
in California's Portable Classrooms" was submitted to the
Legislature. The study was based on a mail survey of 1000
randomly selected schools and collection of chemical, biological
and environmental measurements obtained in 201 classrooms at 67
randomly selected schools. Both portable and traditional
classrooms were evaluated. Some of the findings are
incorporated in the findings and declarations section of this
bill.
Relevant State Regulations . The report identified several
regulations adopted by the Cal/OSHA relevant to schools as
workplaces. Pursuant to Labor Code 142.3, California Code of
Regulations (CCR) Title 8, Section 3362 requires workplaces to
be maintained in a sanitary condition; Section 3203 requires
development of a plan and training of appropriate staff to
assure the health and safety of the school employees; and
Section 5142 requires ventilation systems to be operated
continuously and maintained as they were designed to be in order
to provide sufficient fresh outdoor air and provides
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recommendations on the operation, inspection and maintenance,
and designs of HVAC systems. This bill requires school
districts to ensure that they have HVAC systems that meet the
minimum requirements of Section 5142. The report states:
"Schools, districts, and the state should assure that all school
buildings meet all relevant State regulations, particularly
those related to operation and maintenance. Many classrooms do
not meet various existing State standards, and meeting those
regulations would go far to provide healthful conditions in
classrooms."
Other Report Recommendations . The report also offers a number
of other low cost actions that can be accomplished immediately,
including urging schools and districts to conduct
"self-assessments" of base safety and health conditions,
requiring districts and schools to develop an Indoor
Environmental Quality Management Plan, and establishing a "best
practices" policy for the design, construction, operation, and
maintenance of new schools, including guidelines developed by
the Collaborative for High Performance Schools; and longer term
recommendations that require increases in resources such as
developing training programs, implementing an integrated pest
management program, retiring older portable classrooms, and
developing state-level chemical exposure guidelines or standards
for classrooms. The author chose the issues of installing,
monitoring, and maintenance of HVAC systems and providing
direction to schools to address indoor air quality because the
ARB report cited these two issues as low-cost initial approaches
the state could promote in improving indoor air quality in our
schools.
Are schoolsite councils the most appropriate body to develop
guidelines pursuant to Cal/OSHA standards ? School site councils
must be established as a condition of receiving categorical
funds. Their charge is to develop a school plan around
education programs and budgeting. This bill requires schoolsite
councils to develop guidelines that meet the minimum
requirements of Title 8, Section 5142, portions of which are
mechanical and technical recommendations. Is it appropriate to
have schoolsite councils address mechanical functions of a HVAC
system? The author states that the intent is to have councils
develop non-technical guidelines, such as how often HVAC system
would be monitored, how to ensure that contractors who install
and maintain the systems are certified, and how to monitor
problems with the systems in the classrooms. Staff recommends
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an amendment to strike reference to Labor Code 142.3:
Page 6, beginning line 3:
(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 .
Will districts be able to find certified contractors ? This bill
requires school districts to use contractors that have been
certified by a nationally recognized organization in inspecting,
maintaining and repairing HVAC systems. According to the
National Energy Management Institute, the U.S. Army Corp. of
Engineers requires HVAC contractors to be certified. There are
three national organizations with certification programs, the
Testing, Adjusting and Balancing Bureau (TABB), the National
Environmental Balancing Bureau (NEBB), and the Associated Air
Balance Council. All three are professional organizations
comprised of heating, ventilation and air conditioning
professionals, and all three certification programs require
minimum education, training, and testing for technicians and
supervisors. It is not known what percentage of technicians in
California is certified.
Arguments in Support . The author states, "AB 1292 is needed to
establish a fundamental first step to improving the indoor air
quality in California's public schools. For example, existing
law does not direct schools to address indoor air quality in
required school plans when allocating any school improvement
funds. Additionally, while existing law under California Code
of Regulation, Title 8, section 5142 requires ventilations
systems to be operated continuously and maintained in a
sufficient manner, existing law fails to give schools any
direction on how to best comply with existing State regulations.
As a result, most schools throughout the state fail to meet
State indoor air quality standards."
Related legislation . AB 315 (Hancock), pending in the Assembly
Appropriations Committee, requires the State Allocation Board
(SAB) to adopt regulations for design standards for school
facilities built with state funds that meet the minimum design
and construction criteria established by the Collaborative for
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High Performance Schools (CHPS) and makes receipt of any school
construction bond funds passed by the voters after January 1,
2006 contingent upon meeting the standards.
Prior legislation . AB 2863 (Pavley), held by the Assembly
Appropriations Committee in 2004, was also introduced in
response to the ARB and DHS report. The bill requires school
districts applying for state school bond funds to develop an
indoor air quality construction plan, authorizes school
districts to use DMF funds for repairs or renovations to prevent
indoor air quality problems, and requires school districts to
include procedures for preventing indoor air quality problems in
the DMF 5-year deferred maintenance plan.
AB 2367 (Chan), held by the Assembly Appropriations Committee in
2004, requires a school district to maintain an asthma action
plan submitted by a parent or guardian of a pupil on file and
provide the plan and information on treating an asthma attack to
each teacher of the pupil. The bill also requires a school
district to provide annual training on asthma.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Association of Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning
Contractors' National Association
California League of Conservation Voters
San Diego County of Education
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087