Meeting Minutes
June 9
Air Resources Board Headquarters
L Street, Sacramento, CA
AGENCY REPORTS ON CURRENT IAQ ACTIVITIES
American Lung Association of Los Angeles County (ALA-LAC)
California Air Resources Board / IAQ & Personal Exposure Assessment Program
California Department of General Services / Building & Property Management
California Department of General Services / Energy Assessment
California Department of Health Service / Environmental Health Investigations Branch
California Department of Health Service / Indoor Air Quality Section
California Department of Health Service / Occupational Health Branch
California Department of Industrial Relations (Cal/OSHA)
Hal Levin, Research Architect
Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment / Indoor Air Risk Assessment Group
Dennis Shusterman, MD, MPH
U.S. EPA Region IX / Indoor Environment Team
Indoor Environmental Quality of Schools
Building Design and Operations
MEMBERS PRESENT/AFFILIATIONS PRESENT AT MEETING
Richard Teramoto,
California Department of General Services, Real Estate Services
Division
"Update on the Capitol Area East End Project --
Energy Efficiency, Green Building, and Other Issues"
Mr. Teramoto works in the DGS' Project Management Branch (PMB), which provides project management services for complex real estate projects. PMB manages the design and construction process on behalf of state agencies and departments, and assists state agencies and departments in developing conceptual documents for cost and budget control, programming, site planning and master planning, and other documents for conceptualizing capital outlay projects that are necessary to obtain legislative authorization and funding projects.
His presentation provided an overview of the Capitol Area East End Project. This project will entail ~1½ million square feet of office and commercial space and will house 6300 employees of the Departments of Education, General Services, and Health Services. The total project has been funded at $397 million, and the complex is scheduled to be completed in March. The project will incorporate the latest green construction features into an energy-efficient and sustainable building design. It will use a modified ("best value) design/build approach in which a set of potential bidders will selected by review of qualifications, which will include expertise and experience in IAQ and green construction.
The project's environmentally friendly highlights include: (a) 30% more energy efficient than reuqire by Title 24 of the CA Building Code; (b) use of smart light controls, high-efficiency fluorescent lamps and window glazing, and open workstation design for maximum use of daylight; (c) use of building products containing recycled materials, including recovered construction and demolition wastes; (d) re-use of 30,000 square feet of marble recovered from the historic Library and Courts Buildings; (e) recharging stations for electric vehicles, designated parking for car pools, and shower/locker facilities for bicycle commuters; (f) low flow irrigation systems and plumbing fixture flow restrictors; and (g) recycling centers on each floor. Additional info can be found at and
SIDEBAR: Letter of Understanding has been co-signed by DGS, CIWMB, DHS, CEC and ARB to recognize that it is significant for state facilities to be models of energy efficiency and indoor air quality and utilize sustainable building measures as inherent features in future State construction projects. These parties agreed to work in a collaborative fashion in order to institutionalize this commitment on the Capitol Area East End Project, including work on the Request for Qualifications, Request for Proposals, Life Cycle Analysis, and Design and Construction Oversight.
AGENCY REPORTS ON CURRENT IAQ ACTIVITIES
American
Lung Association of Los Angeles County (ALA-LAC)
- David Berger ()
State ALA. The State office sponsored a number of CA legislation addressing air quality and health and is actively supporting SB 1111 (Sher) and SB 25 (Escutia). The majority of the bills are focused on ambient air concerns.
IAQ TFS Program. We are wrapping up the initial year of its IAQ TFS Mentor Program and considering whether the program will continue. A meeting will be held June 30th with the volunteer mentors to assess interest as well as commitment of the Southern California section of the American Industrial Hygiene Association. As of June, seven sites become to implement various stages of the IAQ TFS program while three had completed a site walkthrough. During the initial year, the ALA-LAC developed a number of organizational, monitoring and evaluation tools for the program including application forms, a mentor and coordinator resource binder, a baseline IAQ site survey, monthly mentor report forms and final evaluation instruments.
Over 252 school personnel were trained through the mentor program about IAQ issues and Tools for Schools, while ALA-LAC staff and mentors reached an additional 460 persons through community presentations and conferences. Finally, media outreach resulted in two press articles and one television interview on school environmental issues. The press circulation totaled 259,693 and the television story reached an estimated audience of 400,000 persons.
The initial year provided many challenges and learning opportunities for improving environmental quality at local schools and implementing the program. During the pilot year, ALA-LAC conducted an extensive amount of outreach to recruit sites with varying degrees of success. Further, once sites were secured there were a number of challenges for program execution. The experience of this program echoes many of the concerns seen nationally. Namely, that for IAQ TFS implementation to be fully carried out requires commitment and participation of school stakeholders at the local level - administration, teachers, and staff - as well as cooperation from district facility staff. Regardless of the level of support, establishing the pilot program took much more time than originally envisioned, the bulk of time spent in site recruitment. Even sites that were interested in the program would cancel meetings, delay presentations, and not respond to repeated communication attempts. School staff also confront a number of competing pressures and demands on their time and energies which limit the level of IAQ TFS participation.
The most successful sites were those that worked with District staff's active participation. Sites without this support had to selectively implement the program and could only execute the checklists for which on-site, or internal, controls were available. For instance, coordinators who lacked district support typically focused activities on 1) teacher education; 2) limited checklist distribution, and; 3) a minimal site walkthrough that did not include inspection of ventilation systems under the domain of district staff.
The offering of an environmental health professional to mentor school sites did not guarantee that the program would be implemented. Indeed, several of the trained mentors were not matched with any sites because of a lack of interest from school districts. However, those sites that worked with mentors indicated strong support of the program and stated that they would not have implemented mentors. The mentors paired with sites were able to educate staff in about the importance of indoor air quality. The mentors effectively trained school coordinators and staff how to use the Action Kit. Finally, the mentors assisted school staff to communicate with district level staff about promoting and achieving indoor air quality.
Healthy Schools Bill. The Lung Association joined the Healthy Schools coalition in support of AB 1207 (Shelly). Staff participated in regional planning sessions, outreach to press, and met with Assembly Representatives and their staff.
KickAsthma LA. A collaborative partnership between the ALA-LAC, the City of Los Angeles' Environmental Affairs Office and Mothers of East L.A to Keep Improving Control of Kids' Asthma (K.I.C.K. Asthma L.A.) by addressing pediatric asthma and environmental contaminants.
ALA-LAC hired a project manager who will begin in August. In addition, Mathematica Policy has been secured as the program evaluator.
California Air Resources Board / Indoor Air Quality & Personal Exposure Assessment Program
- Peggy Jenkins (
and Steve Hui ()
Lloyd Confirmed as ARB Chair. Dr. Alan Lloyd was confirmed as the new Chair for the ARB. Dr. Lloyd's welcoming remarks can be found at .
Opening for in IAQ Program. The program is recruiting an Air Pollution Specialist to serve as project manager on ARB-funded projects as well as other duties. Applications will be due around September 1st.
Other Openings at ARB. Dr. John Holmes was recently promoted to head ARB's Office of Science and Advance Technology and will serve as Science Advisor to Chairman Alan Lloyd. John was the Research Division Chief for more than 20 years. ARB is currently recruiting for this position ( as well as the Chief of the Planning & Technical Support Division.
Capitol East End Project. Working with other state departments, ARB staff (Steve Hui and Tom Phillips) provided many recommendations in developing the selection criteria and building specifications for the issuance of Request for Qualifications and Request for Proposals. Some of ARB's recommendations included the use of zero-emission paints and low-VOC emission carpets. The staff also recommended the requirements of preoccupancy "flush-out", completing all wet product applications (e.g. painting) before working on furnishings (e.g.carpet), and a detailed building commissioning protocol including verification mechanism and maintenance plan development.
UL Task Force on IAQ. ARB staff (Peggy Jenkins and Tom Phillips) is serving on the technical committee for the UL Task Force on developing test methods for consumer products and appliances. The goal is to make sure that these products and appliances would not cause indoor air quality problems. However, the progress is exceedingly slow.
New Report. The LBL reports on testing building materials and furnishings are now available.
New Project. We will have our kick off meeting next week for the contract to improve the California Population Indoor Exposure Model. Our Statistician, Susan Lum, is the contract manager.
Conference Attendance. Tom Phillips has recently attended two national conferences. The first one was in Denver on indoor air health, with the focus on nonresidential buildings. The second conference was in North Carolina on particulate matter and health, with the focus on the national ambient air quality standards for PM2.5.
California
Department of General Services / Building & Property Management
- Vincent Paul
Vince described BPM's responsibilities for investigations of IAQ complaints at DGS-owned buildings. Their involvement is initiated from a contact by a DGS health & safety officer. BPM will then contact the building manager, and conduct a preliminary investigation. If warranted, monitoring of air and/or surface dust will be done. Typically, his unit may get 2-4 calls per month.
California
Department of General Services / Energy Assessment
- Doug Grandy (
Doug described the activities of his unit. He indicated that there are 100's of new construction projects in the "pipeline" in which some would be appropriated to address energy and IAQ issues together. He will be drawing upon members of the CIWG-IAQ to give guidance on selecting and working on the most promising projects.
California
Department of Health Service / Environmental Health Investigations Branch
- Sandra McNeel (
New E-mail Addresses. The folks at EHIB are finally on a new server. The new domain is , and most user names are the same as the old PROFS.
Consultations. Staff provided consultation to Alameda County Housing Inspection Service regarding health risks in a 54 unit apartment complex extensively contaminated by mold. Alameda County officials are interested in working with DHS to obtain training for their housing inspection staff regarding indoor molds. EHIB and DHS IAQ sections plan to work closely with Alameda Co. in the next several months to define objectives, provide training and assist with community awareness and public information materials.
Staff have also been asked to provide assistance to the Saugus Union School District regarding an elementary school where alleged exposure to toxic materials in a portable classroom may have led to health problems in several students.
Bill Analyses. Debra Gilliss has been extensively involved with
reviewing and analyzing several bills currently in the legislature that
involve schools and environmental quality issues. These include AB 1207
(Shelly), SB 993 (Hayden), SB 162 (Escutia), AB 387 (Wildman) and AB 137
(Firebaugh). Julie Von Behren has analyzed SB 1111 (Sher), a bill charging
DHS to develop an asthma surveillance, prevention and control program.
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California
Department of Health Service / Indoor Air Quality Section
- Jed Waldman ()
Unvented Gas Heater - Standards Development. Greg Traynor, the CDHS contractor, is currently preparing a final report on all SB 798-related activities. This report will include revisions to the earlier report (Evaluation Report of Technical Literature, Indoor Air Pollutant Modeling, and Options for California Standards, draft: 11/23/98) and submitted comments and responses. In addition, Greg is working with CDHS staff on revisions to the Proposed Standards. The comments on the February draft will be included with responses, in the contract final report. The contract with T. Marshall Associates ends June 30,, and subsequent rulemaking activities will be carried out by CDHS staff.
Coincidently, a field study of unvented heaters was completed this winter in Los Angeles area homes and funded by So.Cal.Gas Co. This Vent-Free Hearth Products Field Evaluation was performed by A.L. Wilson (Wilson Environmental Associates, ). The program had two phases: I - User Satisfaction, and II - IAQ Impact Evaluation. The study report is posted on the web at .
Radon Studies. The CDHS approved release of our report, Survey of Indoor Radon Concentrations in California Elementary Schools, in April. The report includes results of a statewide survey conducted by the Department in1991-92, with joint support from U.S. EPA. This report is a follow-up, produced under a grant in -98 from the U.S. EPA, to conduct statistical analyses needed to ascertain the scope of radon exposures in the state's public schools. We determined that about 5% of the schools statewide have one or more classrooms with concentrations at or above the U.S. EPA action level for radon mitigation, with about 1% of all classrooms are at or above this level. The proportion was notably higher in areas with certain geologic formations, such as Santa Barbara and Ventura counties and the Sierra foothill region. The action level is a voluntary guideline, based on U.S. EPA goals to reduce the population attributable risk associated with radon concentrations above 4 picoCuries per liter.
Research Grant on ETS Funded. The Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program awarded a grant, The Effectiveness of Designated Smoking Rooms in Relation to AB 13, PI: Leon Alevantis), submitted by DHS-IAQ and LBNL staff through the Public Health Institute. This is a 3-year grant for approximately $450,000.
VOC Emissions Testing. We are starting VOC emissions testing of building materials, as part of IAQ modeling for the DHS Richmond Laboratory Facility under construction. A summer intern, Sonny Li, and he is setting up small-chamber testing protocols.
IEQ in Schools. This area continues to be a substantial focus of activities, including providing advise to school districts, teachers and parents. For more information, refer to the Committee report.
IAQ Planning for Capitol East End Project. See the notes under Building Design and Operations Committee
California
Department of Health Service / Occupational Health Branch
- Jim Cone ()
and Liz Katz ()
n-Hexane. OHB continues to investigate serious illness in two brake mechanics, apparently caused by n-hexane in brake cleaners. n-Hexane has long been known to cause peripheral nerve damage. Now there appears to be an increasing trend to use this solvent as a substitute for ozone-damaging solvents in brake cleaning sprays widely used by vehicle mechanics. There is some concern that n-hexane may also be placed in a variety of other formulations, such as paints and adhesives, as a substitute for restricted ozone-damaging ingredients. OHB activities include contacting physicians, unions/union members, manufacturers and employers; surveying mechanics and machinists for symptoms and for use of n-hexane; and composing a HESIS factsheet for workers.
Molds in the Workplace. HESIS is developing a factsheet for workers who are exposed to mold as an air quality problem. The HESIS factsheet is intended to complement the Molds in My Home: What Do I Do? information sheet from the Indoor Air Quality Group.
California
Department of Industrial Relations (Cal/OSHA)
- Jim Lim (
Asbestos Training Approval Program. The Division is hiring personnel and establishing operational procedures needed to implement a program to approve asbestos training based on regulations that became effective on January 2,. The new program will approve AHERA and other asbestos training courses which are required in existing Cal OSHA Title 8 regulations. The program will also establish and maintain a roster listing trained individuals validated by the Division. The aim of the new program is to assure high quality trained individuals for working with asbestos, and to eliminate fraudulent asbestos training certificates which are presently in use. This new program will employ 2 additional professional staff and one clerk. The program will be entirely supported by fees that will be collected by the program. One new industrial hygienist has been hired thus far for this new program.
Airborne Contaminants (8 CCR 5155). After completing a series of ad hoc advisory committee meetings on the subject, the Division has completed a proposal to update the PELs of 8 CCR 5155. The proposal has been transmitted to the Standards Board for their consideration and adoption.
Development of a Heat Stress Standard. The Division has taken preliminary steps toward the development of a much needed heat stress standard. The Division is presently gathering data on the subject, and will be assembling an ad hoc advisory committee to assist in developing a proposed standard.
Division Evaluation of Petitions. The Division has completed it's evaluation of two petitions which were submitted to the Standards Board by the public. One petition requested that tobacco smoking in bars and taverns be permitted when certain ventilation control equipment is in use. The second petition is proposing a tracer gas test requirement for monitoring the performance of laboratory fume hoods. The Board concurred with the Division's recommendation that the laboratory fume hood proposal be further studied by an ad hoc advisory committee and has granted the petitioner's request to that extent. The Board will consider the tavern smoking petition during it's June 17, meeting.
Hal Levin, Research Architect ().
Indoor Air Conference in. With Indoor Air '99 just around the corner in Edinburgh, Scotland this August, planning for the next triennial Indoor Air 'XX is underway. Hal Levin put together a successful proposal to bring this meeting to California. The conference will take place June 30 to July 5, at the Monterey Conference Center. Hal Levin will serve as conference President and will preside over all organizational activities and committees. Joan Daisey and William Nazaroff have agreed to serve as Vice-Presidents. The Organizing Committee of Indoor Air '02 will have overall responsibility for the conference and will participate together with the conference President in planning, organizing, and managing the conference. In addition to Levin, Daisey and Nazaroff, the Organizing Committee includes William Fisk (LBNL, Berkeley), Kirk Smith (UCB-SPH), and Jed Waldman (CDHS). A U.S. Scientific Committee will oversee the review of papers and make recommendations for the structure and leadership of the scientific sessions.
Office
of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment / Indoor Air Risk Assessment
Group
- Richard Lam ()
Document under Review. The Indoor Air Risk Assessment Group submitted the document Draft Reference Manual for Selected Indoor Air Contaminants: Inhalation Toxicity Criteria to ARB for review. This document includes relevant exposure information including acute and chronic reference exposure levels for various airborne toxicants.
Gas Additives. OEHHA is working with ARB on the health effects of ethanol in gasoline in view of the phase out of MTBE. This project will be completed by the end of the year. It will look at tailpipe products from the combustion of ethanol, and other oxygenated and non-oxygenated additives (and percentage in gasoline) and will include modeling under various use conditions. For the longer term, OEHHA is funded for two years for a project to characterize the toxicological interactions between the individual components of mixtures associated with gasoline. This project will review the toxicological literature on complex mixtures and individual components associated with gasoline and their interactions. Based on these review and analyzes, predictions will be made on the toxicity expected from current and feasible alternative fuels and estimates made on the statewide population-weighted health (e.g., cancer) risks resulting from fuel exposures.
Bill Analyses. Bill analyses on bills related to children's health and/or schools. We did analyse on a number of bills including SB 25, AB 1207 and SB 993. Also keeping close watch on other important related bills like AB 1680, SB 162, SB 280, SB 1111, SB 1300, AB 137, etc.
Other. The release of the EWG document on portable classrooms generated a lot of public attention. We answered numerous calls from school officials, concerned parents and the press.
Research Findings of Note for IAQ. In mid-1998, I published a report in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology showing that subjects with seasonal allergic rhinitis ("hay fever") had more of a tendency to congest after nasal challenge with low-level chlorine than did non-allergic subjects.
At the Association for Chemoreception Sciences meeting, I reported on a pilot study looking at two different threshold measures of nasal irritant sensitivity (perceptual acuity). One measure asks subjects to identify odorless (but irritating) CO2 pulses vs. air pulses (serially presented), and the other asks subjects to distinguish a VOC stimulus presented to one nostril and a blank stimulus presented to the other (irritation being localizable, and odor not). There was a fairly good correlation between the two tests (r = 0.70), and, interestingly, gender appeared to be a stronger predictor of response than did allergy status (females and rhinitics showing lower thresholds).
At the American Thoracic Society meeting, I reported on a study in which we tried to correlate irritant-related changes in nasal airway resistance ("congestion") to changes in nasal mucosal bloodflow (measured by laser Doppler flowmetry). The test irritant in this study was high-level, pulsed CO2 (i.e., 20-50% vol/vol). Although we were not able to demonstrate our primary hypothesis, there was a remarkable degree of consistency in the degree of congestion to CO2 vs. Cl2 (among the 11 subjects who had previously been challenged with chlorine). In general, allergic subject congested to a similar degree to both test irritants, whereas non-allergic subjects showed only minor changes. This is the first time, to my knowledge, that the generalization of the congestive response (or any other physiologic reflex, for that matter) has be demonstrated across test compounds. The rationale for this line of investigation is to explain differences in symptom reporting patterns within exposed populations in polluted environments (e.g., problem buildings). The differences we have found in the lab are consistent with differences in reporting rates found in epidemiologic surveys.
Dennis is associate professor at UCSF Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine and Upper Airway Biology Laboratory, and he can be found at the UC Berkeley / Richmond Field Station, 1301 So. 46th Street, Bldg. 112, Richmond, CA 94804. Phone: ; FAX: , .
U.S.
EPA Region IX / Indoor Environment Team
- Barbara Spark (
Federal IAQ Activities. A new edition of Current Federal IAQ Activities (EPA-402-K-99-001) has been published. This 100-page document details the indoor air related activities in 15 federal agencies as of January. Copies may be obtained from the IAQ INFO Clearinghouse (800) 438-4318. Our office also has a supply: provide your name and mailing address by responding electronically to Louise or to me (after 9/9/99): . Please indicate whether book rate (slow) mailing is acceptable.
The Federal Committee on Indoor Air Quality (CIAQ) met in Washington, D.C. on April 28,. A draft set of meeting minutes summarize the various activities among CIAQ agencies. These have been posted separately at www.cal-iaq.org/CIAQ9904.htm.
Asthma Workshops. USEPA's Office of Research and Development provided a joint ORD/Regional workshop, Asthma: The Regional Science Issues on June 15-17 in Washington, DC, one in a series of ORD-sponsored New Directions in EPA Science workshops focused on high priority topics of interest to the EPA Regions. This event brought together leading ORD scientists and participants from a variety of regional programs, to work towards a better understanding by all participants of the science related to asthma, as well as the establishment of a network of EPA scientists who will continue to exchange information on this topic as EPA "moves forward in planning asthma education, research, and risk management programs."
The Region 9 office held a half-day workshop on Asthma, to discuss the potential for our programs to participate in Asthma activities. Mike Lipsett and Julie Von Behren spoke, as did Bob Axelrad of EPA's Office of Children's Health Protection.
Indoor Air Quality in Schools. We are providing some detailed information on this subject, because it is quickly becoming the highest profile and most demanding programmatic area regarding IAQ in the state, and can provide IWG members with an unusual opportunity to make significant contributions at both statewide and local levels.
There has been a sea-change with regard our activities addressing school indoor air quality. At first this was at our own initiative, when we decided to focus on IAQ Tools for Schools implementation training for potential "pilot schools" instead of school district representatives. This was motivated by our observation that while prior training workshops aimed at school district-level personnel have been well-attended, this training rarely results in IAQ Tools for Schools implementation at the school site level. Rather, individual program "tools" and checklists may be used by facilities personnel without the actual full program implementation which invites the important and necessary involvement by the entire school community.
We successfully piloted the new approach when workshops providing orientation to the IAQ Tools for Schools Action Kit program were provided in Oakland on May 10, and San Francisco on May 14,, co-sponsored by the Oakland and San Francisco Unified School Districts. With the assistance of district administration, the May workshops invited participation by potential site IAQ Coordinators - school Principals, Vice-Principals, or their designated representatives. While the end of the school year delayed next steps in most cases, we anticipate that between 10-15 or more pilot implementation schools will be on board in the fall. These schools have been promised Mentors. CIWG members are once again invited to consider volunteering to mentor a school site for this breakthrough program.. We also provided a half-day IAQ Tools for Schools workshop at the Monterey County Office of Education on behalf of the local American Lung Association chapter.
External events and initiatives have recently created a new environment for school IAQ outreach in some communities and with certain stakeholders, in which demand for IAQ information and IAQ Tools for Schools guidance has virtually overwhelmed our program. The process surrounding AB1207 (Shelly) has been a major driving force, particularly regarding the release of the Environmental Workshop group report, Reading, Writing and Risk: Air Pollution Inside California's Portable Classrooms. This publication had a particularly high profile in the LA metro area, due to a tie-in with media interest in purported medical finding of toxic exposures of students in the Saugus Union School District. Alarmed parent groups have become mobilized not only in Saugus Union SD, but also in Beverly Hills USD, both of which districts have voted to fully implement the IAQ Tools for Schools Action Kit program (to our knowledge, the first two school districts to do so). We've been intensely engaged in lending technical assistance to these two school districts, and will report further at the September meeting.
Other School Activities. School IAQ Walk-Throughs: With consultant Dr. Richard Shaughnessy, IAQ walk-through were conducted at IAQ TFS pilot schools in the Novato and Oakland school districts.
The Indoor Environments Division (at HQ) sponsored a one-day IAQ Tools for Schools stakeholders' meeting in DC on April 13,, in between one-day segments of the IED HQ-Regional National Meeting. The IAQ TFS stakeholders' meeting was very successful, with over 80 in attendance, including representatives from 15 schools. Region 9 schools were not represented, since travel was not meaningfully subsidized. At the meeting, TFS partners and school representatives reviewed and elaborated on a variety of proposals to enhance, promote, and provide incentives for IAQ TFS implementation. More details are provided in the April CIAQ minutes.
Conference Attendance. Barbara Spark attended a four-day national conference on Pediatric Environmental Health presented by the Children's Environmental Health Network in San Francisco, June 4-7,. We used the opportunity to raise awareness of the mold issue as well as IAQ Tools for Schools. We had a booth at the Public Risk Management Convention in San Diego on June 7-8, where we provided outreach materials to school risk managers on the IAQ "Tools for Schools" program.
Indoor
Environmental Quality of Schools
- Jed Waldman ()
Report Status. The report entitled: Indoor Environmental Quality in Schools: Critical Needs (August draft) was circulated by DHS to the directors of ARB, CDE, CEC, DGS, DHCD and OEHHA. The cover letter, signed by former DHS Chief Deputy Director Joseph Munso, asked for their comments and stated that DHS would like to forward this report to the Governor's Office. Furthermore, it said DHS would plan to ask for the formation of a Blue Ribbon Healthy Schools Working Group to include representatives from these Departments to fully investigate these issues statewide and to develop policy recommendations on school facility design, construction, and maintenance, as well as staff training.
Environmental Working Group Report. The EWG released their report, Reading, Writing and Risk Air Pollution Inside California's Portable Classrooms, in May. The report says an estimated 86,500 portable classrooms are in use across the state as a result of class-size reduction mandates. EWG's exhaustive review of scientific literature shows that long-term exposure to airborne chemicals in concentrations that have been measured in California portable classrooms may increase a child's lifetime risk of cancer by two to three times the level deemed acceptable under federal law. Short-term exposure to chemicals or toxic molds commonly found in portables can cause nausea, headaches, diarrhea and other health effects. The report can be found on-line at .
Assembly Bill 1207. Assembly Bill (AB) 1207 was passed by the Assembly Floor and moving through the Senate. Various amendments have been made to the bill, and these can be found on the California LegInfo web site under "Bill Information".
Building
Design and Operations
- Leon Alevantis (cal-iaq.org/)
Capitol East End Project. DHS and ARB staff provided input to DGS and Johnson Fain Associates, the architectural firm retained by DGS, on indoor air quality specifications to be included in the RFP for the Capitol Area East End Complex. We were successful in incorporating a number of OAQ specifications in the RFP. Below is a summary of these specifications:
HVAC System Design Features
Senate Bill 280. SB 280 would require all new state buildings and public schools designed and constructed after January to exceed the minimum building energy-efficiency standards mandated by the California Building Standards Code and to also follow green building measures. Indoor air quality is mentioned in the bill as well as the use of low-emitting building materials. The bill would amend the California Government Code (Section 15814.30 et seq.), requiring the California Integrated Management Board in consultation with DGS, CEC, and DHS to promulgate regulations prescribing green building measures and the control of indoor air quality. The text of the bill as well its current status can be found at
Upcoming meetings of the CIWG-IAQ are scheduled as follows:
Ellen Aasletten / CA Dept. of Ed. School Facilities PlanningJed Waldman chaired the meeting, which lasted from 10 am to 12:30 pm
Leon Alevantis / CA DHS IAQ Program
Larry Bellani / CA DGS Real Estate & Design Services
Rachel Broadwin / OEHHA ATES
Doug Grandy / CA DGS Energy Assessments
Jennifer Hartle / CA DHS IAQ Program
Steve Hui / CARB IAQPE Program
Peggy Jenkins / CARB IAQPE Program
Diane Kihara / Cal/EPA Integrated Waste Management Board
Michael Langley / CA DGS Energy Assessment
Jim Lim / Cal/OSHA Standards
Richard Lam / OEHHA ATES
Susan Lum / CARB IAQPE Program
Andy Marino / CalEPA Integrated Waste Mgmt Board
Atho Mok / Cal/EPA Integrated Waste Management Board
Brian Nielsen / Bay Point Control HVAC Contractor
Obed Odoemelam / California Energy Commission
Steve Ostermeyer / California Integrated Waste Management Board
Sandra McNeel / CA DHS EHIB
Vincent Paul / CA DGS Building and Property Management Branch
Tom Phillips / CARB IAQPE Program
Mike Rothenberg / BAAQMD
Richard Terramoto / CA DGS Project Management Branch
Ben Venktash / Marina Mechanical Inc., HVAC Contractor
Jed Waldman / CA DHS IAQ Program
file: E:\DISK\PROJECTS\CIWG-IAQ\Minutes\MIN_9906.WPD
printed: August 6, (4:30PM)
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