EPA: Students can breathe heavy sigh of relief

[Guest guest]

News for Release: Thursday, Dec. 7, 2006

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Students Can Breathe Heavy Sigh of Relief

Contact: Roxanne , (202) 564-4355 / smith.roxanne@...

(Washington, D.C. - Dec. 7, 2006) No, it's not less homework, it's better

indoor air quality. With more than 53 million children spending a significant

portion of their days in 120,000 public and private schools, the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency is working with schools to improve indoor air

quality. EPA presented the Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools national awards

to

schools and school districts that have exemplary indoor air quality

management programs. Poor indoor air quality can pose health risks in schools

for

both students and staff, causing asthma attacks, decreased performance and

diminished concentration.

" Schools that have indoor air quality management programs see improvements

in student health, " said Bill Wehrum, EPA's acting assistant administrator of

Air and Radiation. " These award-winning schools have tackled tough issues and

put in place great programs to resolve and prevent indoor environmental

risks. I congratulate them on making remarkable progress toward safer and

healthier learning environments. "

At the Tools for Schools national symposium, EPA presented the 2006 Model of

Sustained Excellence Award to four school districts for their enduring

exemplary efforts to improve indoor air quality in our nation's schools. The

Model

of Sustained Excellence Award winners are Westborough Public Schools,

Westborough, Mass.; Jefferson County Public Schools, Louisville, Ky.; Saugus

Unified School District, Santa Clarita, Calif.; and Visalia Unified School

District, Visalia, Calif.

EPA also presented the Excellence Award, which recognizes comprehensive

programs that include activities ranging from designing a new school building

free of toxins and other hazards to developing district-wide policies for

continuous training and maintenance. The 2006 Excellence Award winners are Amity

Regional School District No. 5, Woodbridge, Conn.; Omaha Public Schools, Omaha,

Neb.; and Portland Public Schools, Portland, Ore.

Since the creation of the Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools program,

nearly 30,000 schools across the country have adopted indoor air quality

management programs consistent with EPA guidance. The program promotes indoor

air

quality management, facility planning and maintenance, and effective

communications and teaches schools how to identify, resolve, and prevent indoor

air

quality problems through low and no-cost measures.

Information on Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools Excellence Awards:

_http://www.epa.gov/iaq/schools/tfsawards2006.html_

(http://www.epa.gov/iaq/schools/tfsawards2006.html)

[Guest guest]

It's nice that the EPA is encouraging schools to clean up their air.

But its astonishing that given what we know, they have to ASK and that they

don't TELL.

Am I right in reading in this that there are NO LAWS that schools MUST

follow on IAQ?

That all programs that they 'might' undertake are voluntary (as in voluntary

decisions made by school administratirs and not the students or the students

parents) and are NOT REQUIRED?