Senate Bill No. 248
(By Senators Hunter, Bailey, Oliverio,
Boley, Jackson,
Mitcehll, Redd, Unger, McCabe and Ball)
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[Introduced January 28, 1999;
referred to the Committee
on Education; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section three, article nine-e,
chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to further amend
said article by adding thereto two new sections, designated
sections four and five, all relating to eliminating the
requirement of preconstruction site testing for radon;
requiring post-construction testing for radon; requiring the
state board to promulgate rules that minimizes the use of
carpeting; requiring the state board to promulgate rules
that address the employment of heating, ventilating and air- conditioning technicians; and requiring the state board to
promulgate rules that would set forth a procedure for the
investigation and the addressing of indoor air quality
complaints.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section three, article nine-e, chapter eighteen of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted; and that said article be
further amended by adding thereto two new sections, designated
sections four and five, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 9E. AIR QUALITY IN NEW SCHOOLS ACT.
§18-9E-3. Air quality in new schools.
(a) In an effort to create well ventilated school
environments, and notwithstanding any other provision of this
code to the contrary, any new school building designed and
constructed in the state by a county board after the first day of
July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight, regardless of the
funding source, shall be designed and constructed in compliance
with the current standards of the American society of heating,
refrigerating and air conditioning engineers handbook (ASHRAE),
the national fire protection association code (NFPA) and the code
of the building officials and code administrators (BOCA).
Prior to construction of any new school building in this state, tests, as required by the school building authority rules
promulgated under the provisions of subsection (b) of this
section, shall be conducted to determine if radon is present at
the proposed construction site. If radon is detected, additional
tests shall be performed within thirty days to confirm the
results. If it is determined that radon is present in amounts
greater than the amount determined to be acceptable by the rules
promulgated by the school building authority, pursuant to
subsection (b) of this section, during both tests, any new school
building constructed on that site shall incorporate an active
soil depressurization system to divert radon from the building
site, or utilize any other industry accepted mitigation technique
to minimize exposure to radon.
Radon testing shall be conducted in all public schools
within the first year after occupancy and at least every five
years thereafter. The radon testing shall include all major
student occupied areas at or below grade level. If it is
determined that radon is present in amounts greater than the
amount determined to be acceptable by the rules promulgated by
the school building authority, pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, any industry accepted mitigation technique shall be
utilized to reduce the radon level to the level or below the
level determined acceptable by the school building authority.
(b) The school building authority shall promulgate rules
pursuant to article three-a, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code
to assure that any new school building designed after the
effective date of this article is designed and constructed in
accordance with the current ASHRAE, NFPA and BOCA standards. The
school building authority shall promulgate rules, pursuant to
article three-a, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code that
establish standards for safe levels of radon for public school
buildings. The school building authority shall submit the rules
for approval to the legislative oversight commission on education
accountability on or before the first day of July, one thousand
nine hundred ninety-eight. The rules shall include the
requirement that county boards submit all new school designs to
the school building authority for review and approval for
compliance with current education standards and design
efficiencies prior to preparation of final bid documents.
(c) The state board shall promulgate rules, pursuant to article three-b, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, in
consultation with the division of health that minimizes the use
of carpeting in public school buildings. The state board shall
submit the rules to the legislative oversight commission on
education accountability on or before the first day of July, one
thousand nine hundred ninety-nine.
§18-9E-4. Heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning
technicians.
(a) Subject to appropriation by the Legislature therefor,
the state board, in consultation with the division of health,
shall promulgate rules pursuant to article three-b, chapter
twenty-nine-a of this code that will address servicing public
school buildings by heating, ventilation and air-conditioning
(HVAC) technicians. The rules shall set forth a job description
for the HVAC technician. At the discretion of the state board,
HVAC technicians may be employed by the county board of
education, by the regional educational service agency servicing
the county or by the department of education using the funds
allocated by this subsection. The hiring entity shall set a
salary for the HVAC technician that is competitive with other
employers of HVAC technicians in the region after accounting for annual leave, sick leave, insurance benefits, retirement benefits
and any other benefits provided. Existing employees who have
advanced HVAC skills or existing employees who receive
appropriate HVAC training may be utilized as HVAC technicians.
The rules also shall provide for sufficient continuing education
training for HVAC technicians to keep up with the changing
technologies in the field. The rules shall be submitted to the
legislative oversight commission on educational accountability
prior to the first day of September, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-nine.
(b) County boards, regional educational service agencies and
the department of education shall have the option to contract for
HVAC services from prequalified vendors if this option is more
cost effective than using existing employees or creating a new
position: Provided, That an existing employee shall not be
displaced by contracting for HVAC technician services: Provided
further, That HVAC services that have been performed in the past
or which require knowledge and experience the employer does not
have access to, may be contracted out to a pre-qualified vendor.
(c) Funds appropriated for the purpose of hiring HVAC technicians shall be appropriated originally to the state board.
The state board then may allocate the funds to the regional
educational service agencies or to the counties, depending upon
who the rule specifies is to employ the HVAC technician.
§18-9E-5. Investigation of indoor air quality complaints in
existing schools and schools subsequently
constructed.
(a) The state board, in consultation with the division of
health, shall promulgate rules pursuant to article three-b,
chapter twenty-nine-a of this code that requires each county
board of education to investigate all reports of indoor air
quality problems within the county. The rules shall set forth a
designated official or officials within the county school system
to be responsible for addressing, pursuant to this section, any
indoor air quality complaints. The rules also shall set forth a
procedure for any party to file a complaint with the designated
official or officials. Any indoor air quality complaints found
to be valid by the designated official or officials shall be
addressed by forming a plan of correction. Each county board of
education addressing an indoor air quality complaint is
encouraged to seek any available assistance from local, state and federal agencies investigating the complaint and in forming the
plan of correction. In forming the plan of correction for any
school building, the county board of education shall consider any
documented plans of closure of the school building. The rules
shall be submitted to the legislative oversight commission on
education accountability prior to the first day of September, one
thousand nine hundred ninety-nine. Additionally, the rules shall
set an appropriate cost for a plan of correction over which all
such plans of correction shall be reported to the legislative
oversight commission on education accountability. Based upon the
legislative oversight commission on education accountability's
experience in receiving the complaints, the commission shall
submit a recommendation for funding the plans of correction.
(b) Furthermore, each plan of correction shall be
incorporated into each county board's ten-year county-wide major
improvement plan set forth in section sixteen, article nine-d of
this chapter. Also pursuant to section sixteen, article nine-d
of this chapter, the state board may restrict the use of the
necessary funds or otherwise allocate funds from moneys
appropriated by the Legislature for those purposes set forth in section nine, article nine-a of this chapter.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to eliminate the
requirement of preconstruction site testing for radon, to require
postconstruction testing for radon, to require the state board to
promulgate certain rules, as follows: Rules that minimize the
use of carpeting, rules that address the employment of heating,
ventilating and air-conditioning technicians, and rules that
would set forth a procedure for the investigation and addressing
of indoor air quality complaints.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.
§§18-9E-4 and 5 are new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.