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History
- Referred to education
Full text
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Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S2088
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 one 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.
Fiscal implications
Undetermined.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.