BILL ANALYSIS
AB 80
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 3, 2001
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AND TOXIC MATERIALS
Hannah-Beth Jackson, Chair
AB 80 (Havice) - As Amended: March 27, 2001
SUBJECT : School safety: lead.
SUMMARY : Establishes a training requirement for school
district maintenance personnel and a process for reducing risk
of lead exposure at schools. Specifically, this bill , for
public schools, kindergarten through sixth grade, and public day
care centers:
1)Requires school district level maintenance supervisors to
participate in training by the State Department of Health
Services (DHS) through its California Lead-Safe Schools
Project. These supervisors would be required to then train
the district's maintenance employees.
2)Requires the State Department of Education (DOE) to establish
the position of ombudsperson to help direct school districts
to the appropriate state agencies for help in dealing with
lead contamination or other environmental hazards.
3)Requires the DOE to allocate funds for testing drinking water
for the presence of lead.
EXISTING LAW prohibits the use of lead-based paint, lead
plumbing and lead solders in new construction and renovation of
old schoolsites. Any actions taken to test for the presence of
lead, or to abate a lead source at a public schoolsite, must be
carried out by trained personnel. If a school is specifically
identified to have significant risk factors that could lead to
lead exposure, it is supposed to notify the parents.
FISCAL EFFECT : None because each of these actions are
predicated on the Legislature making a specific appropriation to
fund the requirement.
COMMENTS :
1)Although California has a law requiring that new and renovated
facilities not include potential sources of lead exposure,
recent news stories have revealed that many school children
AB 80
Page 2
still face a significant risk of exposure to lead from school
buildings built before 1992. Legislatively mandated surveys
of representative public school and day care sites have
revealed that there is a lot of work to be done before the
risk of lead exposure is eliminated. In 1998, a survey found
that lead-containing paint posed a potential hazard in
one-third of the public elementary schools and childcare
centers. Eighteen percent of schools had drinking water lead
levels in excess of US Environmental Protection Agency action
levels. Even school playground soils can have lead in them
from paint peeling off playground structures.
2)Studies have shown that elevated blood levels in children can
have a direct effect on their learning abilities. Ingestion
of dust, peeling paint or lead contaminated drinking water is
the most common pathway. The source of lead is from
lead-based paint (no longer in use), lead pipes and lead
solder.
3)In 1998, DHS established a California Lead Safe Schools
Program to conduct surveys of lead in public schools and day
care centers. This program is due to expire this year. In
December of 2000 a Superior Court judge issued an order to DHS
to write new regulations that ensured testing for all children
at risk for lead poisoning.
4)The author is seeking to minimize the exposure to lead that
can occur in the ordinary course of maintenance and minor
repairs at schools. The manner in which peeling paint is
removed and patched can greatly affect the risk of exposure to
children. This measure would require that district level
maintenance supervisors receive training by DHS in how to
handle lead properly. The supervisor is then supposed to
pass that training on to the local district maintenance
personnel.
5)Furthermore, in order to assure that district personnel can
properly handle potential lead exposure situations, or other
environmental hazards, this bill directs the DOE to establish
a position for an ombudsperson that can be called buy district
personnel and can refer them to the appropriate department or
agency that has the relevant expertise.
6)As plumbing fixtures in old drinking water fountains can
contain lead, this bill would also direct DOE to allocate
AB 80
Page 3
funds to schools to test their drinking water for lead.
7)All of the measures proposed by the author are subject to
being funded by subsequent specifically directed
appropriations from the General Fund.
8)The State Superintendent of Public Schools has suggested that
the measure be amended to only require one designated person
at each school needs to be trained to reduce the cost of
training for the district.
Related Legislation:
AB 51 (Shelley) declares the intent that all lead hazards in
state schools be identified and mitigated as quickly as
possible.
SB 80 (Escutia) requires districts to inspect all schools built
before 1992 for lead hazard and abate those hazards. Districts
must also train its maintenance personnel to be able to identify
and to properly mitigate lead hazards. (In Senate Environmental
Quality Committee).
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Association of Regional Center Agencies
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
California League of Conservation Voters
California School Employees Association
AB 80
Page 4
Natural Resources Defense Council
Regional Center of the East Bay
Sierra Club California
California Teachers Association
Delaine Eastin, State Superintendent of Public Instruction (if
amended)
Cal Pirg
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Michael B. Endicott / E.S. & T.M. /
(916) 319-3965