Senate Bill 2340
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Florida Senate - 1998 SB 2340
By Senator Forman
32-482A-98
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to indoor air quality; amending
3 s. 381.0101, F.S., relating to environmental
4 health professionals; defining the term "indoor
5 environmental evaluation"; providing duties of
6 the environmental health professionals advisory
7 board; amending standards for certification;
8 amending fees for certification; requiring the
9 administrators of certain health care
10 institutions and educational institutions, and
11 the operators of child care facilities,
12 annually to complete coursework in the
13 identification of indoor-air-quality problems
14 and measures for eliminating or reducing such
15 problems; requiring architects who submit
16 proposals for building or renovating health
17 care facilities and child care facilities to
18 complete such instruction; requiring the
19 Department of Health to provide the instruction
20 to certain administrators and architects;
21 requiring the Department of Education to
22 provide such instruction to heads of schools
23 and to presidents of colleges and universities,
24 or their designees, to risk managers and
25 maintenance supervisors in those educational
26 institutions, and to architects who submit
27 proposals for building or renovating
28 educational facilities; providing an effective
29 date.
30
31 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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Florida Senate - 1998 SB 2340
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1 Section 1. Section 381.0101, Florida Statutes, is
2 amended to read:
3 381.0101 Environmental health professionals.--
4 (1) LEGISLATIVE INTENT.--Persons responsible for
5 providing technical and scientific evaluations of
6 environmental health and sanitary conditions in business
7 establishments and communities throughout the state may create
8 a danger to the public health if they are not skilled or
9 competent to perform such evaluations. The public relies on
10 the judgment of environmental health professionals employed by
11 both government agencies and industries to assure them that
12 environmental hazards are identified and removed before they
13 endanger the health or safety of the public. The purpose of
14 this section is to assure the public that persons specifically
15 responsible for performing environmental health and sanitary
16 evaluations have been certified by examination as competent to
17 perform such work.
18 (2) DEFINITIONS.--As used in this section, the term:
19 (a) "Board" means the Environmental Health
20 Professionals Advisory Board.
21 (b) "Department" means the Department of Health.
22 (c) "Environmental health" means that segment of
23 public health work which deals with the examination of those
24 factors in the human environment which may compromise impact
25 adversely on the health status of an individual or the public.
26 (d) "Environmental health professional" means a person
27 who is employed to assess or is assigned the responsibility
28 for assessing the environmental health or sanitary conditions
29 within a building, on an individual's property, or within the
30 community at large, and who has the knowledge, skills, and
31 abilities to carry out these tasks.
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Florida Senate - 1998 SB 2340
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1 (e) "Certified" means a person who has displayed
2 competency to perform evaluations of environmental or sanitary
3 conditions through examination.
4 (f) "Registered sanitarian" or "R.S." means a person
5 who has been certified by either the National Environmental
6 Health Association or the Florida Environmental Health
7 Association as knowledgeable in the environmental health
8 profession.
9 (g) "Primary environmental health programs program"
10 means those programs determined by the department to be
11 essential for providing basic environmental and sanitary
12 protection to the public. At a minimum, these programs must
13 shall include food hygiene evaluations, indoor environmental
14 evaluations, and onsite sewage treatment and disposal system
15 evaluations.
16 (h) "Indoor environmental evaluation" means any
17 assessment or evaluation of the environmental conditions,
18 pollutants, and exposure mechanisms that may have, or are
19 suspected to have, acute or chronic adverse health effects on
20 the building occupants, except measurements for radon, lead,
21 or asbestos. Measurement, evaluation, or interpretation of
22 environmental conditions, pollutants, or exposure mechanisms
23 constitutes an indoor environmental evaluation.
24 (3) CERTIFICATION REQUIRED.--A No person may not shall
25 perform environmental health, indoor environmental, or
26 sanitary evaluations in any primary program area of
27 environmental health without being certified by the department
28 as competent to perform such evaluations. The requirements of
29 this section shall not be mandatory for persons performing
30 inspections of public food service establishments licensed
31 under chapter 509.
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1 (4) ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS ADVISORY
2 BOARD.--The State Health Officer shall appoint an advisory
3 board to assist the department in the adoption promulgation of
4 rules for certification, testing, establishing standards,
5 including establishing requirements for field standardizing of
6 environmental health professionals, and seeking enforcement
7 actions against certified professionals and uncertified
8 individuals who are performing environmental health or
9 sanitary evaluations without certification.
10 (a) The board shall consist be comprised of the
11 Division Director for Environmental Health or his or her
12 designee, one individual for each primary area who will be
13 certified under this section, three individuals who are one
14 individual not employed in a governmental capacity who will or
15 does employ a certified environmental health professionals in
16 each primary area professional, three individuals one
17 individual whose businesses are business is or will be
18 evaluated by a certified environmental health professional,
19 and a resident citizen of the state who neither employs nor is
20 routinely evaluated by a person certified under this section.
21 (b) The board shall advise the department as to the
22 minimum standards of competency and proficiency which are
23 necessary for obtaining to obtain certification in a primary
24 area of environmental health practice.
25 1. The board shall recommend primary areas of
26 environmental health practice in which environmental health
27 professionals should be required to obtain certification.
28 2. The board shall recommend minimum standards of
29 practice which the department shall incorporate into rule.
30 3. The board shall evaluate and recommend to the
31 department existing registrations and certifications which
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1 meet or exceed minimum department standards and should,
2 therefore, exempt holders of such certificates or
3 registrations from compliance with this section.
4 4. The board shall hear appeals of certificate
5 denials, revocation, or suspension and shall advise the
6 department as to the disposition of such an appeal.
7 5. The board shall meet as often as necessary, but no
8 less than semiannually, handle appeals to the department, and
9 conduct other duties of the board.
10 6. Members of the board shall receive no compensation
11 but shall be reimbursed for per diem and travel expenses in
12 accordance with s. 112.061.
13 (5) STANDARDS FOR CERTIFICATION.--The department shall
14 adopt rules that establish minimum standards of education,
15 training, or experience for those persons subject to this
16 section. The rules shall also address ethical standards of
17 practice for the profession.
18 (a) Persons employed as environmental health
19 professionals shall exhibit a knowledge of rules and
20 principles of environmental and public health law in Florida
21 through examination. No person shall conduct environmental
22 health evaluations in a primary program area unless he or she
23 is currently certified in that program area or works under the
24 direct supervision of a certified environmental health
25 professional.
26 1. All persons who begin employment in a primary
27 environmental health program on or after September 21, 1994,
28 must be certified in that program within 6 months after
29 employment.
30 2. Persons employed in a primary environmental health
31 program prior to September 21, 1994, shall be considered
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1 certified while employed in that position and shall be
2 required to adhere to any professional standards established
3 by the department pursuant to paragraph (b), complete any
4 continuing education requirements imposed under paragraph (d),
5 and pay the certificate renewal fee imposed under subsection
6 (7).
7 3. Persons employed in a primary environmental health
8 program prior to September 21, 1994, who change positions or
9 program areas and transfer into another primary environmental
10 health program area on or after September 21, 1994, must be
11 certified in that program within 6 months after employment
12 such transfer, except that they will not be required to
13 possess the college degree required under paragraph (e).
14 4. Registered sanitarians shall be considered
15 certified in the primary areas of food hygiene and onsite
16 sewage treatment and disposal and shall be required to adhere
17 to any professional standards established by the department
18 pursuant to paragraph (b).
19 (b) At a minimum, the department shall establish
20 standards for professionals in the areas of food hygiene,
21 indoor environmental evaluation, and onsite sewage treatment
22 and disposal.
23 (c) Those persons conducting primary environmental
24 health evaluations shall be certified by examination to be
25 knowledgeable in any primary area of environmental health in
26 which they are routinely assigned duties.
27 (d) Persons who are certified shall renew their
28 certification biennially by completing not less than 24
29 contact hours of continuing education in courses approved by
30 the advisory board for each program area in which they
31 maintain certification.
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1 (e) Applicants for certification shall have graduated
2 from an accredited 4-year college or university with major
3 coursework in environmental health, environmental science,
4 engineering, industrial hygiene, or a physical or biological
5 science.
6 (f) Public sector employees who perform indoor
7 environmental evaluations as part of their assigned duties are
8 subject to all provisions of this section except examination
9 costs. Employees of county health department environmental
10 health sections, as part of the indoor air assistance program,
11 are exempt from examination fees. Public employees of state
12 agencies, counties, or municipalities who perform indoor
13 environmental evaluations as a service to the public shall be
14 certified and are subject to all applicable fees.
15 (6)(a) EXEMPTIONS.--A person who conducts primary
16 environmental evaluations in food hygiene and onsite sewage
17 treatment and disposal evaluation activities and maintains a
18 current registration or certification from another state
19 agency that has which examined the person's knowledge of the
20 primary program areas of food hygiene and onsite sewage
21 treatment and disposal area and requires comparable continuing
22 education to maintain the certificate shall not be required to
23 be certified by this section. Examples of Persons who are not
24 subject to certification in the primary areas of food hygiene
25 and onsite sewage treatment and disposal include are
26 physicians, registered dietitians, certified laboratory
27 personnel, and registered nurses.
28 (b) All individuals who perform indoor environmental
29 evaluations must be certified. The advisory board may adopt
30 rules that exempt specific groups of professionals on a
31 case-by-case basis.
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1 (7) FEES.--The department shall charge fees in amounts
2 necessary to meet the cost of providing each certification.
3 Fees for certification in the primary food program areas of
4 food hygiene and onsite sewage treatment and disposal must
5 shall be no less than $25 nor more than $300 and must shall be
6 set by rule. Fees for certification in the primary program
7 area of indoor environmental evaluation must be no less than
8 $100 nor more than $600. Application, examination, and
9 certification costs must shall be included in this fee. Fees
10 for renewal of a certificate must shall be no less than $25
11 nor more than $500 $150 per biennium.
12 (8) PENALTIES.--The department may deny, suspend, or
13 revoke a certificate or impose an administrative fine of up to
14 $500 for each violation of this section or a rule adopted
15 under this section or may pursue any other enforcement action
16 authorized by law. Any person who has had a certificate
17 revoked may not conduct environmental health evaluations in a
18 primary program area for a minimum of 5 years after from the
19 date of revocation.
20 Section 2. Instruction in indoor-air-quality problems
21 required.--
22 (1) The chief administrator of each health care
23 institution and of each educational institution specified in
24 this section shall annually complete 8 contact hours of
25 instruction in the identification of indoor-air-quality
26 problems and measures for eliminating or reducing such
27 problems.
28 (2) The Department of Health shall provide the
29 instruction required under subsection (1) to:
30 (a) The administrator of each hospital licensed in
31 this state or his or her designee.
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1 (b) The administrator of each nursing home licensed in
2 this state or his or her designee.
3 (c) The administrator of an assisted living facility
4 or his or her designee.
5 (d) The administrator of an ambulatory surgical center
6 or an outpatient clinic or his or her designee.
7 (e) The operator of a child care facility or his or
8 her designee.
9 (f) Architects who submit proposals for building or
10 renovating hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living
11 facilities, ambulatory surgical centers, outpatient clinics,
12 or child care facilities in this state. Beginning July 1,
13 1999, an architect must have completed 8 hours of such
14 instruction during the 12 months before he or she is awarded a
15 contract for building or renovating any structure described in
16 this paragraph.
17 (3) The Department of Education shall provide the
18 instruction described in subsection (1) to the principal or
19 headmaster or headmistress of each public or private school in
20 this state or to his or her designee, to the president of each
21 public or private college or university in this state or to
22 his or her designee, and to the risk manager and the person
23 responsible for supervising maintenance personnel in each of
24 those schools, colleges, and universities. The Department of
25 Education shall also provide such instruction to architects
26 who submit proposals for building or renovating facilities for
27 a school, college, or university in this state, and, beginning
28 July 1, 1999, an architect must have completed 8 hours of such
29 courses, or of the similar courses offered by the Department
30 of Health, in the 12 months before he or she is awarded a
31 contract to build or renovate any such school facility.
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1 Section 3. This act shall take effect October 1, 1998.
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4 SENATE SUMMARY
5 Amends standards and fees charged for the certification
of environmental health professionals. Adds provisions
6 relating to indoor environmental evaluations, as defined
in this act. Requires administrators of certain health
7 care, child care, and educational facilities, and risk
managers and maintenance supervisors for educational
8 facilities, to complete 8 hours per year of coursework in
identifying and eliminating or reducing
9 indoor-air-quality problems. Requires the Department of
Health to offer such coursework to health care
10 administrators and architects who bid on health care or
child care facilities. Requires the Department of
11 Education to offer the coursework to specified educators,
to architects who bid on educational facilities, and to
12 risk managers and maintenance supervisors for those
facilities.
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