Bill Text: NJ S759 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires development and implementation of mitigation plans for radon contamination in certain child care centers; requires DOE to develop such plans for child care centers operating in public schools, request funding, and implement plans when funded.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-01-12 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Education Committee [S759 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2016-S759-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
217th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2016 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator BOB SMITH
District 17 (Middlesex and Somerset)
Senator JIM WHELAN
District 2 (Atlantic)
SYNOPSIS
Requires development and implementation of mitigation plans for radon contamination in certain child care centers; requires DOE to develop such plans for child care centers operating in public schools, request funding, and implement plans when funded.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning radon gas and radon progeny contamination in child care centers, and amending P.L.1997, c.44 and P.L.2000, c.122.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 3 of P.L.2000, c.122 (C.18A:20-40) is amended to read as follows:
3. a. Except as may be provided pursuant to subsection b. of this section, every public school building used as a public school in the State shall be tested for the presence of radon gas or radon progeny at least once every [five] three years. If the public school has been tested less than [five] three years prior to the effective date of [this act] P.L. , c. (C. ) (now before the Legislature as this bill), then the test shall be performed within [five] three years of that test and once every [five] three years thereafter.
b. The Commissioner of Education, in consultation with the Department of Environmental Protection, shall determine the extent of testing required and the locations for the testing, provided that at least every public school building used as a public school in which a child care center is operated by a nonprofit organization is tested by the school in which the child care center is operated for the presence of radon gas or radon progeny at least once every [five] three years. The superintendent of each school district in the State, in consultation with the Department of Environmental Protection and the principal of each school to be tested, shall determine the buildings to be tested, the locations within each building to be tested, the method of testing, and the procedures concerning notification and circulation of the testing results. Notwithstanding any such procedures concerning notification and circulation of the testing results, the principal of each school, within 30 days after receipt of the test results, shall:
(1) Submit the results of any testing for the presence of radon or radon progeny in the school to the Commissioner of Education and the Commissioner of Environmental Protection; and
(2) If the test results indicate in the lowest level of the building used by children a presence of radon gas or radon progeny equal to or greater than four picocuries per liter or the United States Environmental Protection Agency standard for indoor exposure to radon gas or radon progeny at the time of the testing, notify the parents or guardians of each child enrolled in the school of any such test results.
c. The Commissioner of
Education, in consultation with the
Department of Environmental Protection, shall determine the extent of the radon
contamination problem in public schools and the amount of funding required to
mitigate the contamination, and shall submit annually, as part of the
Department of Education annual budget request to the Governor, a request for
sufficient funding to develop and implement mitigation plans to reduce the
radon contamination to levels below four picocuries per liter or the United
States Environmental Protection Agency standard for indoor exposure to radon
gas or radon progeny at the time of the testing. Upon receipt of the required funding,
the Commissioner of Education, in consultation with the superintendent of each
affected school district, the principal of each affected school, and the
Department of Environmental Protection, shall develop mitigation plans for each
of the buildings with test results that indicate in the lowest level of the
building used by children a presence of radon or radon progeny in excess of
four picocuries per liter or the United States Environmental Protection Agency
standard for indoor exposure to radon gas or radon progeny at the time of the
testing. The Department of Education shall implement the plans within one year
after the appropriation of the funding to the department.
d. Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, each public school for which a mitigation plan has been required pursuant to subsection c. of this section shall be retested within one year after the mitigation plan has been implemented, and any presence of radon gas or radon progeny equal to or greater than four picocuries per liter or the United States Environmental Protection Agency standard for indoor exposure to radon gas or radon progeny at the time of the testing shall be reported to the Commissioner of Education and the Commissioner of Environmental Protection as soon as practicable after receipt of the test results.
e. Any mitigation required by any mitigation plan implemented pursuant to this section shall be performed by a person certified to provide for the mitigation of radon pursuant to P.L.1985, c.408 (C.26:2D-59 et seq.), and the rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto.
(cf:P.L.2000, c.122, s.3)
2. Section 1 of P.L.1997, c.44 (C.30:5B-5.2) is amended to read as follows:
1. a. Except as provided in subsection c. of this section, within six months of the effective date of [this act] P.L.1997, c.44 (C.30:5B-5.2), the owner of any building in which a child care center licensed pursuant to the provisions of P.L.1983, c.492 (C.30:5B-1 et seq.) is located shall test or cause to be tested the space in the building in which the child care center is located for the presence of radon gas and radon progeny. The owner of such a building, upon receipt of the test results, shall report them to the Department of Environmental Protection, the Department of Human Services, and the owner or operator of the child care center operated in the building. The test shall be conducted at least once every [five] three years. If the building has been tested less than [five] three years prior to the effective date of [this act] P.L. , c. (C. ) (now before the Legislature as this bill), then the test shall be performed within [five] three years of that test and once every [five] three years thereafter.
b. The provisions of section 4 of P.L.1986, c.83 (C.26:2D-73) to the contrary notwithstanding, any owner of a building who tests for the presence of radon gas and radon progeny pursuant to this act or who has performed the test within [five] three years prior to the effective date of [this act] P.L. , c. (C. ) (now before the Legislature as this bill) shall post, within 30 days of the completion of the testing procedures, or within 30 days of the effective date of [this act] P.L. , c. (C. ) (now before the Legislature as this bill) if the test has been performed prior thereto, the results of the test, and any measures taken or proposed to mitigate the presence of radon gas or radon progeny, at a location in the building which is readily visible to persons having responsibility for any child that attends the child care center.
c. The provisions of [P.L.1997, c.44 (C.30:5B-5.2)] this section shall not apply to a child care center operated by a nonprofit organization in a public school building used as a public school, until September 1, 2001.
d. In addition to the requirements in subsection b. of this section, whenever a test required pursuant to this section indicates in the lowest level of the building used by children a presence of radon or radon progeny equal to or greater than four picocuries per liter or the United States Environmental Protection Agency standard for indoor exposure to radon gas or radon progeny at the time of the testing, the owner of the building shall contract with a person certified to provide for the mitigation of radon pursuant to P.L.1985, c.408 (C.26:2D-59 et seq.), and the rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto, to mitigate the radon contamination to levels below four picocuries per liter or the United States Environmental Protection Agency standard for indoor exposure to radon gas or radon progeny at the time of the testing. The owner of the building shall contract with such a person to implement within one year the mitigation of the radon contamination. Within one year after the mitigation has been implemented, the owner of the building shall retest, or cause to be retested, the building for the presence of radon gas or radon progeny and shall notify the owner or operator of the child care center, the Department of Environmental Protection, and the Department of Human Services of the test results as soon as practicable after receipt thereof.
No child care center may operate in a building where the radon contamination has not been successfully mitigated one year after the mitigation has been implemented, as indicated by the test results of the retest required by this subsection, and continuing to operate under such conditions may be grounds for revocation of the license of the child care center. Prior to renewing a license for a child care center, the Department of Human Services shall confirm that any mitigation required pursuant to this subsection has been successfully implemented, and if the child care center is continuing to operate in a building in which the radon contamination has not been successfully mitigated, the Department of Human Services may consider such circumstances grounds for denying the license renewal.
(cf: P.L.2000, c.122, s.1)
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill addresses mitigation for the presence of radon gas or radon progeny in a child care center or in a public school.
Specifically, the bill requires the owner of the building in which a child care center is located to contract for the mitigation of radon contamination that, in the lowest level of a building where children are supervised, is equal to or greater than four picocuries per liter or the United States Environmental Protection Agency standard at the time of testing. The bill requires that the Department of Education, in consultation with the Department of Environmental Protection, develop mitigation plans for such a presence of radon gas or radon progeny in public schools, determine the extent of the problem, request sufficient State funding for mitigating the problem, and implement the mitigation plans in public schools within one year after the funding is appropriated to the department. The bill also specifies that any required mitigation be performed by a person properly certified by law.
In addition to these requirements, the bill shortens the interval for testing currently required by law from every five years to every three years. In the case of a public school, the principal of the public school is required within 30 days of receiving a test result to: 1) submit the results to the Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Education; and 2) if the test result is equal to or greater than the standard specified, notify the parents or guardians of each of the children enrolled in the school of the test results. Within the year after a mitigation plan has been implemented in a public school, the public school must be retested and the results of the testing submitted to the Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Education.
Under the bill, the owner of a building in which a licensed child care center is located must notify the owner or operator of the child care center, the Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Human Services of any test results concerning the presence of radon gas or radon progeny. Whenever the test results for such a building show, in the lowest level of a building where children are supervised, a presence of radon gas or radon progeny equal to or greater than four picocuries per liter or the United States Environmental Protection Agency standard at the time of testing, the building owner is required to contract for mitigation of the radon contamination and retest within the year after the mitigation is implemented. Child care centers are prohibited from operating in buildings that have not been successfully mitigated, and continuing such operations are grounds for revocation of the center's license. Finally, the bill requires the Department of Human Services, prior to the renewal of a license for a child care center, to confirm that required mitigation has been successfully implemented; and if it has not, the bill provides that the department may consider such circumstances as grounds for denying license renewal to the center.
