H. B. 4787
(By Delegates Mezzatesta and Williams)
(Originating in the House Committee on Education)
[February 29, 2000]
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, relating to the school
building authority; air quality; radon testing; mitigation;
rules; heating, ventilating and air-conditioning; design and
construction of new schools; investigation; and authorizing
the use of any appropriate floor covering in public school
buildings.
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 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).
(b) Upon notice from the school building authority that a
new public school building is occupied, the division of health
shall perform radon testing in the school within the first year
after occupancy and at least every five years thereafter. The
county school board shall provide such reasonable assistance to
the division of health as may be necessary to perform the radon
testing. 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 (d) 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.
(c) If the school building authority determines that it is
feasible to test for radon prior to the construction of a school
building, the school building authority may cause preconstruction site testing for radon to be performed.
(d) 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-nine. 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.
(e) 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 minimize authorize
the use of carpeting any appropriate floor covering in public
school buildings, based on user needs and performance
specifications of the carpeting. 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 two thousand.