This bill would require the department to consider the feasibility
of adopting permissible exposure limits to molds in indoor
environments. If it is determined to be feasible, the department
would be required to adopt, in consultation with the task force,
permissible exposure limits to mold for indoor environments that
avoid adverse health effects. The department would be required to
report its progress on developing the permissible exposure limits
for molds by July 1, 2003. This bill would require that, in the
process of adopting the permissible exposure limits, the department
would be required to conduct studies, consider specific delineated
criteria, and consult with the task force to arrive at both
permissible exposure limits to mold to avoid adverse effects on
health on the general public and alternative permissible exposure
limits to avoid adverse health effects for hospitals, child care
facilities, and nursing homes, whose primary business is to serve
members of a subgroup that is a meaningful portion of the general
population. This bill would also require the department, in
consultation with the task force, to develop and adopt guidelines
for the identification and the remediation of toxic molds. This bill
would require that, after the adoption of permissible exposure
limits to molds, the department review and revise the exposure
limits at least once every 5 years and consider any new
technological or treatment techniques or new scientific evidence
that indicates that molds may present a different health risk than
was previously determined. This bill would also require the
department to develop and adopt standards for the assessment of the
health threat posed by the presence of molds, both visible and
invisible or hidden, in indoor environments. The department would be
required to consider specific delineated criteria in developing the
assessment standard including the balancing of the protection of
public health with technological and economic feasibility. The
department would also be authorized to adopt alternative assessment
standards for hospitals, child care facilities, and nursing homes.
The department would be required to report its progress on
developing the assessment standards for molds by July 1, 2003. After
the adoption of mold assessment standards, the department would
review and revise the exposure limits at least once every 5 years
and consider any new technological or treatment techniques or new
scientific evidence that indicates that molds may present a
different health risk than was previously determined. The bill would
provide for specific protocol to allow the public to be involved in
the process to determine permissible exposure limits to mold,
guidelines for identification and remediation of mold, and the
guidelines for the assessment of molds. This bill would require the
department to develop public education materials and resources to
inform the public about the health effects of molds, methods of
prevention, methods of identification and remediation of mold
growth, and contact information to organizations or governmental
entities to assist public concerns. This bill would, except under
specified circumstances, also require that any person who sells,
transfers, or rents residential, commercial, or industrial real
property or a public entity that owns, leases, or operates a
building who knows, or in specified instances has reasonable cause
to believe, that mold is present that affects the unit or building,
and the mold exceeds the permissible exposure limits to molds, would
be required to provide a written disclosure to potential buyers,
prospective tenants, renters, landlords, or occupants of the mold
conditions. However, this bill would not require a landlord, owner,
seller, or transferor to conduct air or surface tests to determine
whether the presence of molds exceeds the permissible exposure
limits or for mold remediation. These disclosure duties and
requirements would not apply until the January 1 or July 1 that
occurs at least 6 months after the department adopts the requisite
standards, and guidelines, as provided in the bill. This bill would
authorize the enforcement of all conditions of this bill, including
the disclosure provisions, by designated enforcement officers. The
implementation of this bill would depend on the extent to which the
department determines funds are available for its implementation.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 1102.6 of the Civil Code is amended to read:
1102.6. The disclosures required by this article pertaining to the
property proposed to be transferred are set forth in, and shall be
made on a copy of, the following disclosure form:
[DISCLOSURE FORM NOT SHOWN HERE]
Click here for SDAR Realtor®
disclosure form. PDF format.
SEC. 2. Chapter 18 (commencing with Section 26100) is added to
Division 20 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:
CHAPTER 18. TOXIC MOLD Article 1. General Provisions
26100. This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the Toxic
Mold Protection Act of 2001.
26101. 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.
(b) ‘‘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.
(c) ‘‘Certified Industrial Hygienist’’ means a person who has met
the education, experience, and examination requirements of an
industrial hygiene certification organization as defined in Section
20700 of the 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
government level.
(e) ‘‘Department’’ means the State Department of Health Services,
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 and in indoor environments. Types of mold
include, but are not limited to, Cladosporium, Penicillium,
Alternaria, Aspergillus, Fuarim, Trichoderma, Memnoniella, Mucor,
and Stachybotryschartarum, 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) ‘‘Public health officer’’ means a local health officer appointed
pursuant to Section 101000 or a local comprehensive health agency
designated by the board of supervisors pursuant to Section 101275 to
carry out the drinking water program.
26101.5. 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.
26101.7. The department shall convene a task force which shall
advise the department on the development of standards pursuant to
Sections 26103, 26105, 26106, 26120, and 26130. The task force shall
be comprised of representatives of public 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 from school
districts or county offices of education, representatives of
employees and representatives of employers, and affected consumers,
which include, but are not limited to, residential, commercial and
industrial tenants, homeowners, environmental 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 be responsible
for any costs associated with their participation in the task force.
The department shall not 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.
26102. The department shall consider the feasibility of adopting
permissible exposure limits to mold in indoor environments.
26103.
(a) If the department finds that adopting permissible exposure
limits to mold in indoor environments is feasible, the department,
in consultation with the task force convened pursuant to Section
26101.7, 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 and economic feasibility when it adopts
permissible exposure limits.
(3) Utilize and include the latest scientific data or existing
standards adopted by authoritative bodies.
(4) Develop permissible exposure limits that target the general
population.
(b) 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 molds.
(2) The standards for molds, if any, adopted by authoritative
bodies.
(3) The technological and economic feasibility of compliance with
the proposed permissible exposure limit for molds. For the purposes
of determining economic feasibility pursuant to this paragraph, the
department shall consider the costs of compliance to tenants,
landlords, homeowners, and other affected parties.
(4) Toxicological studies and any scientific evidence as it relates
to mold.
(c) 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 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.
(d) The department shall report to the Legislature on its progress
in developing the permissible exposure limit for molds by July 1,
2003.
26104.
(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 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
the 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 considerit in the preparation of the permissible exposure limits,
and that all information submitted will be made available to any
member of the public who makes the request.
(b) 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 made less stringent and the amendment is made
consistent with Section 26103.
(c) 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
molds.
(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 (b) of Section 26103, 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.
26105.
(a) The department, in consultation with the task force convened
pursuant to Section 26101.7, 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.
(b) 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 and economic feasibility when it adopts
assessment standards.
(3) Utilize and include the latest scientific data or existing
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 posed by the presence of mold, both visible and
invisible or hidden, in an indoor environment.
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