H. B. 4697
(By Delegates Manuel, Beach, Williams, Anderson,
Stemple, Osborne and Hubbard)
[Originating in the Committee on Education]
[March 4, 1998]
A BILL to amend chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia,
one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding
thereto a new article, designated article nine-e, relating
to air quality in new school construction; short title;
definitions; standards; tests; and school building authority
guidelines and report to legislative oversight commission on
education accountability.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by
adding thereto a new article, designated article nine-e, to read
as follows:
ARTICLE 9E. AIR QUALITY IN NEW SCHOOLS ACT.
§18-9E-1. Short title.
This article is titled and may be cited as the "Air Quality
in New Schools Act of 1998."
§18-9E-2. Definitions.
For the purposes of this article, "new school building"
means any public school in the state for which design and
construction begin after the first day of July, one thousand nine
hundred ninety eight, for the education of students in grades
kindergarten through twelfth.
§18-9E-3. Air Quality in New Schools.
(a) In an effort to create well ventilated school
environments, and notwithstanding any other provision of this
code to the contrary, any new school building designed and
constructed in the state by a county board after the first day of
July one thousand nine hundred ninety eight, regardless of the
funding source, shall be designed and constructed in compliance
with the current standards of the American society of heating,
refrigerating and air conditioning engineers handbook (ASHRAE),
the national fire protection association code (NFPA) and the code
of the building officials and code administrators (BOCA).
Prior to construction of any new school building in this
state, tests, as required by the school building authority
guidelines developed under the provisions of subsection (b) of
this section, shall be conducted to determine if radon is present
at the proposed construction site. If radon is detected,
additional tests shall be performed within thirty days to confirm
the results. If radon is found in an amount greater than that
which is acceptable by industry standards during both tests, any
new school building constructed on that site shall incorporate an
active soil depressurization system to divert radon from the building site, or utilize any other industry accepted mitigation
technique to minimize exposure to radon.
(b) The school building authority shall develop guidelines
to assure that any new school building designed after the
effective date of this article is designed and constructed in
accordance with the ASHRAE, NFPA and BOCA standards, as well as
for the required radon testing for new school building
construction sites. The school building authority shall submit
the guidelines for approval to the legislative oversight
commission on education accountability on or before the first day
of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety eight. The guidelines
shall include the requirement that county boards submit all
designs to the school building authority for review and approval
prior to preparation of final bid documents.
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