H. B. 4605

(By Delegates Manuel, Fleischauer,
Fragale, Doyle, Mahan and Browning)

[Introduced February 22, 2002 ; referred to the

Committee on Education then Finance.]

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 generally to indoor air quality in schools; requiring the school building authority to promulgate rules for testing and correcting systems in new and renovated schools; directing the state department of education to train county maintenance personnel; and directing the state department of education to forward to the school building authority copies of all complaints regarding indoor air quality.

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, 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 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) On or before the first day of July, two thousand three, the school building authority shall promulgate rules to establish a process for independent testing, adjusting, and balancing (TABS) HVAC systems in school buildings prior to occupancy. The process shall be consistent with current ASHRAE standards and shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
(1) Requirement that HVAC designers must be professional engineers registered in the state of West Virginia in the specific discipline associated with the system being designed;
(2) A process to ensure the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system has been installed in the prescribed manner and will operate within the performance guidelines;
(3) Ensure the TAB process includes participation of the design engineer to verify the design intent;
(4) Ensure the TAB agent is qualified to perform the desired services and performs testing and balancing procedures or other SBA approved certification according to the procedures contained in the associated air balanced council (AABC), national standards, the national environmental balancing bureau (NEBB), procedural standards and/or the environment engineering consultants (EEC) standards for testing, adjusting and balancing of environmental systems;
(5) Ensure that the independent TAB agent directly represents the building owner and is contracted to the building owner;
(6) Ensure that sufficient documentation is provided to the owner to facilitate control and maintenance of the systems;
(7) Ensure sufficient training is provided to those who will operate and maintain the systems, including at least one full day follow-up training between six and eight months after the facility has been occupied;
(8) Certification of successful completion of the TBA process by the independent TBA agent.
(f) To assure proper maintenance and operation of new and replacement HVAC equipment, the state department of education shall, provide county maintenance personnel additional training on the equipment and its controls at the site of the installation. Such training shall occur within one year after student occupation of any new school facility or at any existing school facility where the HVAC system has been replaced or generally rehabilitated. Additionally the state department of education's facility staff shall provide on site training at any facility that has been determined to have problematic indoor air quality as identified through the state board of education's policy 6202.
(g) Beginning the first day of July, two thousand two and every three months thereafter the state department of education will forward to the school building authority copies of all complaints received by the state department of education of indoor air quality problems identified through the state board of education policy 6202.
(g) (h) 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 authorize the use of any appropriate floor covering in public school buildings, based on user needs and performance specifications. The state board shall submit the rules to the legislative oversight commission on education accountability on or before the first day of July, two thousand three.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish guidelines related to indoor air quality (IAQ) for new construction and renovation of school buildings that require all new or restored buildings to have their heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems balanced prior to initial occupancy; to require the Department of education to provide ongoing training for the county board employees who operate HVAC systems; and to require the interagency distribution of IAQ complaints.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.