Senate Bill sb3074
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Florida Senate - 2004 SB 3074
By Senator Atwater
25-1658-04
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to educational facilities;
3 creating s. 1013.135, F.S.; requiring each
4 district school board or other entity that is
5 in operational control of an educational
6 facility to adopt and implement an indoor air
7 quality program for educational facilities;
8 requiring semiannual reports to the Department
9 of Education; requiring uniform air quality
10 inspections and evaluations; providing
11 requirements for educational facility sites and
12 project plans; providing requirements for
13 heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning
14 systems; requiring the maintenance of records;
15 requiring educational facility indoor air
16 quality committees; requiring indoor
17 environmental quality training programs for
18 staff; providing violations; providing
19 penalties; providing for voucher transfer of
20 affected students and staff; providing an
21 effective date.
22
23 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
24
25 Section 1. Section 1013.135, Florida Statutes, is
26 created to read:
27 1013.135 Indoor air quality of educational
28 facilities.--
29 (1) Each district school board or other entity in
30 operational control of an educational facility (hereinafter,
31 responsible authority) shall adopt and implement an indoor air
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1 quality program using the guidelines of the Indoor Air Quality
2 Tools for Schools Program of the United States Environmental
3 Protection Agency (hereinafter, the EPA) to provide for
4 ongoing maintenance and facility reviews necessary for the
5 improvement and proper maintenance of the indoor air quality
6 of its educational facilities.
7 (2) Each responsible authority shall semiannually
8 report to the Department of Education on the condition of the
9 air quality of its educational facilities and the action taken
10 to correct deficiencies. The report must be certified by a
11 professional licensed under chapter 471 or chapter 458. The
12 professional certifying the results (hereinafter, the
13 certifier) may not be an employee of the responsible
14 authority. The certifier may not be a member of any elected or
15 appointed board within the jurisdiction of the responsible
16 authority which is related to education. The responsible
17 authority shall perform tests, have tests performed by others,
18 monitor facilities, have facilities monitored by others,
19 modify facilities, have facilities modified by others, operate
20 facilities, have facilities operated by others, and provide to
21 the certifier any relevant documentation that the certifier
22 considers necessary to complete and certify the accuracy of
23 the report. The report must include, but need not be limited
24 to, the numbers, locations, and symptoms of occupants of
25 educational facilities reporting symptoms of sick building
26 syndrome.
27 (a) The certifier shall provide for anonymous
28 reporting of violations of this section.
29 (b) Deficiencies include, but are not limited to:
30 1. Deviations from the EPA Tools for Schools
31 guidelines.
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Florida Senate - 2004 SB 3074
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1 2. Improper operation of the heating, ventilating, and
2 air-conditioning system.
3 3. Roof leaks, excessive moisture, or excessive
4 relative humidity.
5 4. Harmful biological contaminants or chemical
6 contaminants, or both.
7 5. Harmful temperature, noise, electromagnetic, or
8 other physical irritants.
9 6. Any other harmful effect identified by the
10 Department of Health in the jurisdiction of the responsible
11 authority.
12 (3) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, any room
13 in an educational facility in which one or more persons report
14 symptoms of sick building syndrome for 3 consecutive days is
15 deficient.
16 (4) All occupants, or legal guardians of the
17 occupants, of an educational facility that has been found to
18 be deficient must be notified in writing of any deficiency or
19 deficiencies. Vouchers must be provided to students or staff
20 persons in a deficient educational facility to allow those
21 persons to move to a facility that is compliant with indoor
22 air quality standards as required under this section. The
23 certificate of occupancy of an educational facility found
24 deficient in two consecutive reports submitted under
25 subsection (2) must be revoked, and the facility may not be
26 used for educational purposes until compliance with the
27 required indoor air quality standards has been achieved and
28 certified by the certifier.
29 (5) Each responsible authority shall direct each
30 educational facility health nurse, or equivalent, if any, to
31 establish and maintain a record of the effects of sick
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1 building syndrome on the occupants of the facility, as defined
2 by prevailing standards. The record must be available for
3 public inspection at the educational facility. The record must
4 include, but need not be limited to, occupant room number,
5 occupant age, date of symptoms, occupant symptoms, severity of
6 symptoms, and treatment and disposition of the occupant.
7 (6) The Department of Education shall penalize the
8 responsible authority for deficiencies in air quality, in the
9 amount of $1,000 per deficiency per facility per period.
10 (7) Each responsible authority shall make available
11 for public inspection at each educational facility for 3 years
12 the results of the report required under subsection (2) as it
13 applies to that facility, findings by the certifier of any
14 deficient conditions, a record of fines paid, a record of the
15 cause for each fine, and a record of the individuals by
16 occupation who left the facility as a result of deficient
17 conditions. Records that are more than 3 years old must be
18 made available for public inspection for another 3 years at
19 another location within the jurisdiction of the responsible
20 authority.
21 (8) The Department of Health, or its equivalent within
22 the jurisdiction of the responsible authority, shall, upon
23 request, be provided with the names and addresses of, and any
24 other relevant information regarding, any occupant of an
25 educational facility. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary,
26 the Department of Health or its equivalent shall:
27 (a) In accordance with prevailing standards, establish
28 or adopt standards for indoor air pollutants, including mold
29 and fungi, which are appropriate to the age and size of the
30 occupants of an educational facility. Based on information
31 developed or acquired through consultation with experts, state
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1 agencies, or federal agencies, the requirements and standards
2 must identify acceptable and safe levels of contact with known
3 air contaminants. The standards must incorporate applicable
4 standards of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating,
5 and Air-Conditioning Engineers.
6 (b) Provide for the anonymous reporting of violations
7 of this section.
8 1. The reports must be in writing and may request
9 inspection by the Department of Health or its equivalent.
10 2. The Department of Health or its equivalent must
11 respond in writing to each request for inspection and must act
12 in a timely manner. Notification need not be given to the
13 responsible authority before conducting an inspection.
14 Inspections may not unduly disrupt operations of the
15 responsible authority.
16 (c) In the absence of a standard, assume detectable
17 limits as the standard of exposure.
18 (d) Within 120 days after the effective date of this
19 section, create a standardized inspection form for use in
20 educational facilities. The inspection form must include, but
21 need not be limited to:
22 1. A description of any indoor air quality issues
23 identified by the inspections.
24 2. A description of the specific remedies that were
25 applied to address the indoor air quality issues.
26 3. The name of entities performing the inspections and
27 the time, date, location, and purpose of the inspections.
28 (e) Jointly with the responsible authority, develop
29 and produce an informational brochure and training program for
30 educational facilities regarding inspections of educational
31 facilities conducted by the department or its equivalent. The
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1 responsible authority shall ensure that this information is
2 included in the training in indoor environmental quality which
3 is required under this section.
4 (f) Provide copies of any inspection to the
5 responsible authority within 15 days. Copies of inspection
6 reports, tests, or any other documentation of action taken in
7 an educational facility by the department or its equivalent
8 must be available for public inspection upon written request.
9 (g) Based upon the results of an inspection, require
10 the abatement of all nuisances and may require the removal or
11 correction of all conditions detrimental to health or
12 well-being which were found upon or in an educational
13 facility, by serving an order upon the responsible authority
14 or any other entity responsible for the corrective action. The
15 corrective action must be taken within a reasonable but fixed
16 time. The department or its equivalent may order immediate
17 action as necessary.
18 1. The department or its equivalent may conduct
19 additional inspections to verify compliance with its orders.
20 2. The department or its equivalent may require that
21 the responsible authority bear the burden of reasonable air
22 quality testing.
23 3. The responsible authority shall bear the cost of
24 compliance with orders relating to this section which are
25 issued by the department or its equivalent.
26 (h) Act to protect the occupants of an educational
27 facility as they would any public building. During an epidemic
28 or threatened epidemic, when a dangerous communicable disease
29 is unusually prevalent, or when there is a nuisance due to bad
30 indoor air quality affecting the health and physical function
31 of the occupants of an educational facility, the Department of
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1 Health or its equivalent may close all or any portion of an
2 educational facility and may prohibit public gatherings in the
3 facility for such time as necessary.
4 (i) Appoint, as necessary, appropriate individuals
5 licensed under chapter 471 or chapter 458 as inspectors of
6 educational facilities to carry out the requirements of this
7 section.
8 (9) Before approval may be given for new construction,
9 renovation, or repair of an educational facility, a
10 responsible authority must provide for an environmental site
11 assessment relating to air quality pursuant to s. 1013.365.
12 The responsible authority may not approve an educational
13 facility site or project plan if:
14 (a) The site is an area of moderate to high radon
15 potential, unless the project plan incorporates construction
16 techniques to mitigate radon levels in the air of the
17 facility;
18 (b) The site contains chemicals, pesticide, petroleum,
19 asbestos, or any other harmful agent listed as such by the
20 EPA, or identified as such by the Department of Health or its
21 equivalent, or both, unless the project plan incorporates
22 construction techniques to mitigate effects to the occupants
23 of the facility; or
24 (c) Provisions to minimize the ingestion of vehicle
25 exhaust emissions into the facility have not been made.
26 (10) Each responsible authority shall ensure that the
27 heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning systems in each
28 educational facility are:
29 (a) Maintained and operated in accordance with the
30 prevailing maintenance standards, such as the standards of the
31 American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and
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1 Air-Conditioning Engineers, at the time of installation or
2 renovation of the system.
3 (b) Operated continuously during periods of
4 occupation, so as to maintain design standards within the
5 educational facility, including, but not limited to, standards
6 for temperature, relative humidity, and carbon dioxide; or, if
7 the heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning systems are not
8 thus operated continuously, the responsible authority must
9 demonstrate that design standards are being maintained.
10 (c) Operated during unoccupied periods so as to cause
11 the relative humidity to be maintained at or below design
12 standards.
13 (11) Each responsible authority shall maintain a
14 record of the maintenance of its heating, ventilating, and
15 air-conditioning systems for 5 years. The maintenance record
16 for an educational facility must be available for public
17 inspection at the educational facility. During each 6-month
18 period, a minimum of 10 percent of all rooms used for
19 educational purposes in an educational facility must be
20 monitored for relative humidity continuously for a minimum of
21 7 days. The results of the humidity monitoring must be part of
22 the record required under this subsection. The method for
23 testing humidity must conform with prevailing standards.
24 Monitoring must be alternated among rooms. If the occupants of
25 a room have reported symptoms of sick building syndrome, the
26 room must be continuously monitored.
27 (12) Each responsible authority shall establish an
28 indoor air quality committee for its district or for each
29 facility, and the committee must, using the guidelines
30 established by the EPA Tools for Schools Program, increase
31 staff and student awareness of environmental factors that
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1 affect the health of the occupants of the facility, including,
2 but not limited to, the air quality and the presence of radon.
3 At least 50 percent of the committee members must be the legal
4 guardians of persons attending the educational facility.
5 (13) Each responsible authority shall develop an
6 indoor environmental quality training program for contract
7 labor, maintenance workers, custodial workers, administrators,
8 part-time help, volunteers, and faculty personnel. The program
9 must use the guidelines established by the EPA Tools for
10 Schools Program which are relevant to the individual receiving
11 the training. New employees must complete the training program
12 within the first 60 days following employment. Volunteer or
13 contract workers must complete the training before beginning
14 work. Existing employees must complete the training within 180
15 days after implementation of the program.
16 (14) If new construction, extension, renovation, or
17 replacement of an educational facility takes place, staff
18 responsible for the operation of the facility must be trained
19 in the appropriate areas of facility operations and
20 environmental quality maintenance before the facility is
21 occupied. Facility environmental quality maintenance training
22 must be made part of the training manual for certification of
23 master custodians.
24 (15) A person may not be subjected to disciplinary,
25 civil, or criminal action for exercising rights under this
26 section.
27 (16) A person may not conceal or attempt to conceal
28 the presence, cause, or effect of poor indoor air quality in
29 an educational facility. A person may not coerce others to
30 conceal the presence, cause, or effect of poor indoor air
31 quality in an educational facility. A violation of this
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1 subsection is a felony of the third degree, punishable as
2 provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
3 (17) A violation of subsection (4) which affects an
4 adult constitutes felony battery as described in s.
5 784.03(1)(a) and is a felony of the third degree, punishable
6 as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
7 (18) A violation of subsection (4) which affects a
8 minor constitutes battery of a child and is a felony of the
9 third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s.
10 775.083, or s. 775.084.
11 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2004.
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14 SENATE SUMMARY
15 Requires each district school board or other entity that
is in operational control of an educational facility to
16 adopt and implement an indoor air quality program for
educational facilities. Requires semiannual reports to
17 the Department of Education. Requires uniform air quality
inspections and evaluations. Provides requirements for
18 educational facility sites and project plans. Provides
requirements for heating, ventilating, and
19 air-conditioning systems. Requires the maintenance of
records for a specified period of time. Requires
20 educational facility indoor air quality committees to be
formed. Requires indoor environmental quality training
21 programs for staff. Provides violations. Provides
penalties. Provides for the voucher transfer of affected
22 students and staff.
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