Guest guest Posted March 7, 2002 Report Share Posted March 7, 2002 Again for the March 26 review. Ken From : KENHMOULTON@... To : ealbrigo@... Subject : Federal Mold Law - Part 1 Date : Wed, 6 Mar 2002 10:59:44 EST AN ACT TO ENHANCE THE EFFECTS OF REGULATIONS AND LAWS AIMED AT THE PROTECTION OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY IN REGARDS TO TOXIC MOLD. Be it enacted by the United States Senate and House of Representatives in Session Assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: Chapter 1. Toxic Mold Article 1. General Provisions 12669.0. This Chapter shall be known, and may be cited. as the Moulton Toxic Mold Protection Act for America. 12669.1. For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply: (a) " Affect " means to cause a condition by the presence of mold in the dwelling, unit, building, appurtenant structure, common wall, heating system or ventilating and air-conditioning system that affects the indoor air quality of a dwelling unit or building. ( " Authoritative bodies " means any recognized national or international entities with expertise on public health, mold identification and remediation, or environmental health, including, but not limited to, other states, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the World Health Organization, the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists, the New York City Department of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Industrial Hygiene Association. © " Certified Industrial Hygienist " means a person who has met the education, experience and examination requirements of an industrial hygiene certification organization as defined in the each States Business and Professions Code. (d) " Code enforcement officer " means a local official responsible for enforcing housing codes and maintaining public safety in buildings using an interdepartmental approach at the local level. (e) " Department " means the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare, designated as the lead agency in the adoption of permissible exposure limits to mold in indoor environments, mold identification and remediation efforts, and the development of guidelines for the determination of what constitutes mold infestation. (f) " Indoor environments " means the affected dwelling unit or affected commercial or industrial building. (g) " Mold " means any form of multicellular fungi that live on plant or animal matter in indoor environments. Types of mold include, but are not limited to, Cladosporium, Penicillium, Alternaria, Aspergillus, Fuarim, Trichoderma, Memnoniella, Mucor, and Stachybotrys chartarum, often found in water-damaged building materials. (h) " Person " means an individual, corporation, company, association, partnership, limited liability company, municipality, public utility, or other public body or institution. (i) " Federal health officer " means a Federal health officer appointed pursuant to the governing Federal Laws or a Federal comprehensive health agency designated by the Federal governing body pursuant to carrying out the drinking water program. 12669.2. All standards that the department develops pursuant to this chapter shall be in accordance with existing administrative law procedures applicable to the development of regulations. 12669.3. The department shall convene a task force which shall advise the department on the development of standards pursuant to Sections 12669.5, 12669.7, 12669.8, 12669. 10, and 12669.16. The task force shall be comprised of representatives of Federal health officers, environmental health officers, code enforcement officers, experts on the health effects of molds, medical experts, certified industrial hygienists, mold abatement experts, representatives of government-sponsored enterprises, representatives of the United States Department of Education, and scores of affected consumers, which include but are no limited to, residential, commercial and industrial tenants, homeowners, environmental and consumer groups and attorneys, and affected industries, which include, but are not limited to, residential, commercial and industrial building proprietors, managers or landlords, builders, realtors, suppliers of building materials and suppliers of furnishings and insurers. Task force members shall serve on a voluntary basis and shall not be responsible for any costs associated with their participation in the task force. The department shall be responsible for travel costs incurred by task force members or otherwise compensating task force members for costs associated with their participation in the task force. 12669.4. The department shall consider the feasibility of adopting permissible exposure limits to mold in indoor environments. 12669.5. (a) When the department adopts permissible exposure limits to mold in indoor environments is feasible, the department, in cooperation with the task force convened pursuant to Section 12669.3 shall: (1) Adopt permissible exposure limits to mold for indoor environments that avoid adverse effects on health, with an adequate margin of safety, and avoid any significant risk to public health. (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), balance the protection of public health with technological feasibility when it adopts permissible exposure limits. (3) Utilize and include the latest scientific data or existing standards adopted by authoritative bodies. (4) Develop a permissible exposure limit that targets the general population. ( The department shall consider all of the following criteria when it adopts permissible exposure limits for molds in indoor environments: (1) The adverse health effects of exposure to molds on the general population, including specific effects on members of subgroups that comprise a meaningful portion of the general population, which may include infants, children age 6 years and under, pregnant women, the elderly, asthmatics, allergic individuals, immune compromised individuals, or other subgroups that are identifiable as being at greater risk of adverse health effects than the general population when exposed to mold. (2) The standards for molds adopted by authoritative bodies. (3) When determining the technological and economic feasibility of compliance with the proposed permissible exposure limits for molds, the department may only consider the health and welfare of the citizens as the governing rule of law. (4) Toxicological studies and any scientific evidence as it relates to mold. a. The department may develop alternative permissible exposure limits applicable for facilities, which may include hospitals, child care facilities and nursing homes, whose primary business is to serve members of subgroups that comprise a meaningful portion of the general population and are at a greater risk of adverse health effects from molds than the general population. These subgroups may include infants, children age 6 years and under, pregnant women, the elderly, asthmatics, allergic individuals, or immune compromised individuals. b. The department shall report to Congress on its progress in developing the exposure limit for molds by July 1, 2003. 12669.6. (a) (1) The department shall, at the time it commences preparation of the permissible exposure limits to mold, provide notice electronically by posting on its Internet Web Site and by publication in newsprint and television broadcast, nationwide, a notice that informs interested persons that the department has initiated work on the permissible exposure limits to mold. (2) The notice shall also include a brief description or a bibliography of the technical documents or other information the department has identified to date as relevant to the preparation of permissible exposure limits. (3) The notice shall inform persons who wish to submit information concerning exposure to molds of the name and address of the person in the department to whom the information may be sent, the date by which the information must be received in order for the department to consider it in the preparation of the permissible exposure limits, and that all information submitted will be available to any member of the public who makes the request. ( The department may amend the permissible exposure limits to molds to make the limits less stringent if the department shows clear and convincing evidence that the permissible exposure limits to molds should be less stringent and the amendment is made consistent with Section 12669.5. © The department may review, and consider adopting by reference, any information prepared by, or on behalf of the United States Environmental Protection Agency or other authoritative bodies, for the purpose of adopting national permissible exposure limits to mold as long as they are not less stringent than those already defined. ( d) At least once every five years, after adoption of permissible exposure limits to molds, the department shall review the adopted limits and shall, consistent with the criteria set forth in subdivisions (a) and ( of section 12669.5, amend the permissible exposure limits if any of the following occur: (1) Changes in technology or treatment techniques that permit a materially greater protection of public health. (2) New scientific evidence that indicates that molds may present a materially different risk to public health than was previously determined. 12669.7 (a) The department, in consultant with the task force convened pursuant to Section 12669.3, shall adopt practical standards to assess the health threat posed by the presence of mold both visible and invisible or hidden, in an indoor environment. ( The department shall adopt assessment standards for molds that do the following: (1) Protect the public's health. (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), balance the protection of public health with technological feasibility when it adopts assessment standards. (3) Utilize and include the latest scientific data or existing highest standards for the assessment of molds adopted by authoritative bodies. (4) Develop standards that target the general population. (5) The department shall ensure that air or surface testing is not required to determine whether the presence of mold constitutes a health threat by the presence of the mold, both visible and invisible or hidden, in an indoor environment. ( The department shall consider all of the following criteria when it adopts standards for the assessment of molds in indoor environments: (1) The adverse health effects of exposure to molds on the general population, including specific effects on members of subgroups that comprise a meaningful portion of the general population, which may include infants, children 6 years and under, pregnant women, the elderly, asthmatics, allergic individuals, immune compromised individuals, or other subgroups that are identifiable as being at greater risk of adverse health effects that the general population when exposed to molds. (2) The standards of assessment of molds, if any, adopted by authoritative bodies. (3) Any toxicological studies or additional scientific evidence. © The department shall report to the Congress on its progress in developing the assessment standards for molds by July 1, 2003. 12669.8. The department may develop alternative assessment standards applicable for facilities, which may include hospitals, child care facilities and nursing homes, whose primary business is to serve members of subgroups that comprise a meaningful portion of the general population and are at a greater risk of adverse health effects to molds than the general population. These subgroups may include infants, children 6 years and under, pregnant women, the elderly, asthmatics, allergic individuals, or immune compromised individuals. 12669.9 (a) (1). The department shall, at the time it commences preparation of the permissible exposure limits to mold, provide notice electronically by posting on its Internet Web Site and by publication in newsprint and television broadcast, nationwide, a notice that informs interested persons that the department has initiated work on the permissible exposure limits to mold. (2) The notice shall also include a brief description or a bibliography of the technical documents or other information the department has identified to date as relevant to the preparation of permissible exposure limits. (3) The notice shall inform persons who wish to submit information concerning exposure to molds of the name and address of the person in the department to whom the information may be sent, the date by which the information must be received in order for the department to consider it in the preparation of the permissible exposure limits, and that all information submitted will be available to any member of the public who makes the request. ( The department may review, and consider adopting by reference, any information prepared by, or on behalf of the United States Environmental Protection Agency or other authoritative bodies, for the purpose of adopting national permissible exposure limits to mold as long as they are not less stringent than those already defined. © At least once every five years, after adoption of permissible exposure limits to molds, the department shall review the adopted limits and shall, consistent with the criteria set forth in subdivisions (a) and ( of section 12669.7, amend the permissible exposure limits if any of the following occur: (1) Changes in technology or treatment techniques that permit a materially greater protection of public health. (2) New scientific evidence that indicates that molds may present a materially different risk to public health than was previously determined. Article 2. Guidelines for Identification of Molds 12669.10. The department, in consultation with the task force convened pursuant to Section 12669.3, shall adopt mold identification guidelines for the recognition of mold, water damage, or microbial volatile organic compounds in indoor environments. 12669.11. Identification guidelines shall include scientifically valid methods to identify the presence of mold including elements for collection of air, surface and bulk samples, visual identification. Olfactory identification, laboratory analysis, measurements of amount of moisture and presence of mold and other recognized analytical methods used for the identification of molds. 12669.12 (a) Identification guidelines developed by the department shall do all of the following: (1) Avoid adverse effects on the health of the general population, with an adequate margin of safety, and avoid any significant risk to public health. (2) Utilize and include the latest scientific data or existing standards adopted by authoritative bodies. (b)The department shall consider all of the following criteria when it develops identification guidelines for mold: (1) Permissible exposure limits to molds developed by the Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to subdivisions (a) and ( of Section 12669.5, or what constitutes a health threat posed by the presence of mold, both visible and invisible or hidden, in an indoor environment, according to the departments standards as developed pursuant to Section 12669.7. (2) Standards for mold identification adopted by authoritative bodies. (3) Professional judgment and practicality. (4) Toxicological reports or additional scientific evidence. © The department shall require a commercial, industrial, or residential landlord or a public entity that rents or leases a unit or building to conduct air or surface tests of units or buildings to determine whether the presence of molds exceeds the permissible exposure limits to mold established by subdivisions (a), (, and © of Section 12669.5. (d) The department shall report to the Congress on its progress in developing the assessment standards for molds by July 1, 2003. 12669.13. The department may review, and consider adopting by reference, any information prepared by, or on behalf of the United States Environmental Protection Agency or other authoritative bodies, for the purpose of adopting national identification standards for mold as long as they are not less stringent than those already defined. 12669.14 (a) The department shall, at the time it commences preparation of identification guidelines for mold, provide notice electronically by posting on its Internet Web Site and by publication in newsprint and television broadcast, nationwide, a notice that informs interested persons that the department has initiated work on the identification guidelines for mold. _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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