NY State Senate Bill 2009-S4331

Senate Bill S4331

2009-2010 Legislative Session

Requires school districts in a city with one million or more to investigate and report on the status of PCBs in school buildings

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Education Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 06, 2010	referred to education
Apr 22, 2009	referred to education

2009-S4331 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Education
Law Section:: Education Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §3641, Ed L
Versions Introduced in 2011-2012 Legislative Session:: S1944

2009-S4331 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires school districts in a city with one million or more to investigate and report on the status of PCB's in school buildings; report to be submitted to the commissioner by January 1, next succeeding the close of the school year in which the inspection was conducted with all buildings being inspected by January 1, 2012.

2009-S4331 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S4331

 TITLE OF BILL :
An act to amend the education law, in relation to requiring school
districts in a city of one million or more to investigate and report
on the status of polychlorinated biphenyls


 PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL :
To require school districts in a city of one million or more to test
and submit a report to the commissioner about the status of
polychlorinated biphenyls in buildings constructed or renovated prior
to 1977.

 SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS :
Section 1 amends subdivision 4 of section 3641 of the education law by
adding a new paragraph e to require school districts of one million or
more to test for the presence of polychlorinated biphenyls and to
submit a report to the commissioner on the status of PCBs in schools
constructed or renovated prior to 1977.

 JUSTIFICATION :
On April 7, 2008, the New York Daily News reported on the presence of
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in hundreds of New York City public
schools. Despite requests from parents, teachers, elected officials,
and other community members for a comprehensive testing and

remediation, the New York City Department of Education (DOE) and the
New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene have repeatedly
refused to address the situation beyond the initial tests conducted on
the schools following the Daily News story.

PCBs are prohibited by the u.s. Toxic Substances Control Act, but
persist in many school buildings that were constructed or renovated
prior to 1977, when the federal ban on PCBs went into effect. The New
York State Department of Education (NYSED) published protocols for
addressing PCBs during school renovations in June 2007, but school
districts are currently not required to follow these recommended
guidelines; this bill would make the state's protocols a requirement.
This bill would require the DOE to test for the presence of PCBs and
to report these findings to NYSED on an annual basis, with all
inspections completed by 2011. NYSED is required to publish the
findings on its website in a timely manner for public access.

 PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :
This is a new bill.

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :
Undetermined.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect immediately.

2009-S4331 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  4331

                       2009-2010 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                             April 22, 2009
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen.  KRUGER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Education

AN ACT to amend the education  law,  in  relation  to  requiring  school
  districts  in  a city of one million or more to investigate and report
  on the status of polychlorinated biphenyls

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1.  Subdivision  4  of  section  3641 of the education law is
amended by adding a new paragraph e to read as follows:
  E. SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN A CITY OF ONE MILLION OR MORE  SHALL  TEST  FOR
THE  PRESENCE  OF  POLYCHLORINATED  BIPHENYLS (PCBS) CONTAINED IN SCHOOL
BUILDINGS AND SHALL SUBMIT TO THE COMMISSIONER A REPORT ON  THE  STATUS.
SUCH  REPORT  SHALL  BE  IN  THE FORM PRESCRIBED BY THE COMMISSIONER AND
SHALL MEET THE PROTOCOL FOR ADDRESSING POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS ADOPTED
BY THE DEPARTMENT IN JUNE TWO THOUSAND SEVEN. THE REPORT  SHALL  REFLECT
THE  RESULTS OF INSPECTIONS OF ALL SCHOOL BUILDINGS CONSTRUCTED OR RENO-
VATED PRIOR TO NINETEEN HUNDRED EIGHTY AND SHALL INCLUDE THE TESTING  OF
ALL  BUILDING  SYSTEMS AND MATERIALS INSTALLED PRIOR TO NINETEEN HUNDRED
NINETY-SEVEN, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ALL  TRANSFORMERS,  TRANSIS-
TORS,  CAPACITORS,  LIGHT  BALLASTS,  HEAT  TRANSFER EQUIPMENT, HEATING,
VENTILATING, AND AIR CONDITIONING EQUIPMENT AND SYSTEMS,  PAINT,  EXPAN-
SION  JOINT CAULKING AND DOOR AND WINDOW CAULKING AND MORTAR AND MASONRY
ADJACENT TO CAULKING, AS WELL AS SOIL IN AND  AROUND  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS.
SUCH TESTING SHALL BE CONDUCTED BY A LABORATORY CERTIFIED BY THE DEPART-
MENT OF HEALTH PURSUANT TO SECTION FIVE HUNDRED TWO OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH
LAW.  THE  STATE  SHALL  REIMBURSE  EACH  SCHOOL  IN THE AMOUNT OF FIFTY
DOLLARS PER SAMPLE.  SUCH REPORT SHALL BE SUBMITTED TO THE  COMMISSIONER
BY  JANUARY  FIRST NEXT SUCCEEDING THE CLOSE OF THE SCHOOL YEAR IN WHICH
THE INSPECTION WAS CONDUCTED, WITH  ALL  BUILDINGS  BEING  INSPECTED  BY
JANUARY  FIRST,  TWO  THOUSAND  TWELVE.    THE DEPARTMENT SHALL POST THE
REPORT PROVIDED BY THE  SCHOOL  DISTRICT  IN  A  TIMELY  MANNER  ON  ITS

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD06631-01-9

S. 4331                             2

WEBSITE.    THE  DEPARTMENT  SHALL  ALSO  MAKE  AVAILABLE ON ITS WEBSITE
INSPECTION AND TEST RESULTS FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL SCHOOL BUILDING  AS  THE
TESTS  ARE  COMPLETED  ON A SCHOOL-BY-SCHOOL BASIS. PCB RESULTS SHALL BE
SENT  TO  STATE  DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION, DEPARTMENT OF
HEALTH, THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, THE SCHOOL'S ADMINISTRATION
AND THE PARENTS OF THE STUDENTS WHO ATTEND SUCH SCHOOL.
  S 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

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