Full Text of HB4223 96th General Assembly
HB4223enr 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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HB4223 Enrolled |
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LRB096 09709 NHT 19872 b |
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| AN ACT concerning radon.
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| WHEREAS, The Surgeon General of the United States issued a | 3 |
| Health Advisory in 2005 warning Americans about the health risk | 4 |
| from exposure to radon in indoor air; and | 5 |
| WHEREAS, Indoor radon is the second-leading cause of lung | 6 |
| cancer in the United States, and breathing it over prolonged | 7 |
| periods can present a significant health risk to families all | 8 |
| over the country; and | 9 |
| WHEREAS, The nation's chief physician urged Americans to | 10 |
| test their homes to find out how much radon they might be | 11 |
| breathing; and | 12 |
| WHEREAS, The United States Environmental Protection | 13 |
| Agency, National Academy of Sciences, and the Surgeon General | 14 |
| estimate that 21,000 radon-related lung cancer deaths occur | 15 |
| annually in the United States, as many as 1,100 of those in | 16 |
| this State; and | 17 |
| WHEREAS, Results of 96,000 home measurements conducted by | 18 |
| professional contractors and homeowners between 2003 and 2008 | 19 |
| submitted to the Illinois Emergency Management Agency show that | 20 |
| 40% of homes tested in this State had radon levels above the | 21 |
| 4.0 picocuries per liter (pCi/L) action level; therefore |
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HB4223 Enrolled |
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LRB096 09709 NHT 19872 b |
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The School Code is amended by adding Sections | 4 |
| 10-20.46 and 34-18.37 as follows: | 5 |
| (105 ILCS 5/10-20.46 new) | 6 |
| Sec. 10-20.46. Radon testing. | 7 |
| (a) It is recommended that every occupied school building | 8 |
| of a school district be tested every 5 years for radon pursuant | 9 |
| to rules established by the Illinois Emergency Management | 10 |
| Agency (IEMA). | 11 |
| (b) It is recommended that new schools of a school district | 12 |
| be built using radon resistant new construction techniques, as | 13 |
| shown in the United States Environmental Protection Agency | 14 |
| document, Radon Prevention in the Design and Construction of | 15 |
| Schools and Other Large Buildings. | 16 |
| (c) Each school district may maintain, make available for | 17 |
| review, and notify parents and faculty of test results under | 18 |
| this Section. The district shall report radon test results to | 19 |
| the State Board of Education, which shall prepare a report | 20 |
| every 2 years of the results from all schools that have | 21 |
| performed tests, to be submitted to the General Assembly and | 22 |
| the Governor. |
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HB4223 Enrolled |
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LRB096 09709 NHT 19872 b |
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| (d) If IEMA exempts an individual from being required to be | 2 |
| a licensed radon professional, the individual does not need to | 3 |
| be a licensed radon professional in order to perform screening | 4 |
| tests under this Section. A school district may elect to have | 5 |
| one or more employees from the district attend an | 6 |
| IEMA-approved, Internet-based training course on school | 7 |
| testing in order to receive an exemption to conduct testing in | 8 |
| that school district. These school district employees must | 9 |
| perform the measurements in accordance with procedures | 10 |
| approved by IEMA. If an exemption from IEMA is not received, | 11 |
| the school district must use a licensed radon professional to | 12 |
| conduct measurements. | 13 |
| (e) If the results of a radon screening test under this | 14 |
| Section are found to be 4.0 pCi/L or above, the school district | 15 |
| may hire a licensed radon professional to perform measurements | 16 |
| before any mitigation decisions are made. If radon levels of | 17 |
| 4.0 pCi/L or above are found, it is recommended that affected | 18 |
| areas be mitigated by a licensed radon mitigation professional | 19 |
| with respect to both design and installation. IEMA may provide | 20 |
| the school district with a list of licensed radon mitigation | 21 |
| professionals. | 22 |
| (f) A screening test under this Section may be done with a | 23 |
| test kit found in a hardware store, department store, or home | 24 |
| improvement store or with a kit ordered through the mail or | 25 |
| over the Internet. However, the kit must be provided by a | 26 |
| laboratory licensed in accordance with the Radon Industry |
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HB4223 Enrolled |
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LRB096 09709 NHT 19872 b |
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| 1 |
| Licensing Act. | 2 |
| (105 ILCS 5/34-18.37 new) | 3 |
| Sec. 34-18.37. Radon testing. | 4 |
| (a) It is recommended that every occupied school building | 5 |
| of the school district be tested every 5 years for radon | 6 |
| pursuant to rules established by the Illinois Emergency | 7 |
| Management Agency (IEMA). | 8 |
| (b) It is recommended that new schools of the school | 9 |
| district be built using radon resistant new construction | 10 |
| techniques, as shown in the United States Environmental | 11 |
| Protection Agency document, Radon Prevention in the Design and | 12 |
| Construction of Schools and Other Large Buildings. | 13 |
| (c) The school district may maintain, make available for | 14 |
| review, and notify parents and faculty of test results under | 15 |
| this Section. The district shall report radon test results to | 16 |
| the State Board of Education, which shall prepare a report | 17 |
| every 2 years of the results from all schools that have | 18 |
| performed tests, to be submitted to the General Assembly and | 19 |
| the Governor. | 20 |
| (d) If IEMA exempts an individual from being required to be | 21 |
| a licensed radon professional, the individual does not need to | 22 |
| be a licensed radon professional in order to perform screening | 23 |
| tests under this Section. The school district may elect to have | 24 |
| one or more employees from the district attend an | 25 |
| IEMA-approved, Internet-based training course on school |
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HB4223 Enrolled |
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LRB096 09709 NHT 19872 b |
|
| 1 |
| testing in order to receive an exemption to conduct testing in | 2 |
| the school district. These school district employees must | 3 |
| perform the measurements in accordance with procedures | 4 |
| approved by IEMA. If an exemption from IEMA is not received, | 5 |
| the school district must use a licensed radon professional to | 6 |
| conduct measurements. | 7 |
| (e) If the results of a radon screening test under this | 8 |
| Section are found to be 4.0 pCi/L or above, the school district | 9 |
| may hire a licensed radon professional to perform measurements | 10 |
| before any mitigation decisions are made. If radon levels of | 11 |
| 4.0 pCi/L or above are found, it is recommended that affected | 12 |
| areas be mitigated by a licensed radon mitigation professional | 13 |
| with respect to both design and installation. IEMA may provide | 14 |
| the school district with a list of licensed radon mitigation | 15 |
| professionals. | 16 |
| (f) A screening test under this Section may be done with a | 17 |
| test kit found in a hardware store, department store, or home | 18 |
| improvement store or with a kit ordered through the mail or | 19 |
| over the Internet. However, the kit must be provided by a | 20 |
| laboratory licensed in accordance with the Radon Industry | 21 |
| Licensing Act.
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