H.B. No. 2850
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to the regulation of the indoor air quality of certain
    1-3  school district buildings.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  Subtitle C, Title 5, Health and Safety Code, is
    1-6  amended by adding Chapter 385 to read as follows:
    1-7     CHAPTER 385.  INDOOR AIR QUALITY IN SCHOOL DISTRICT BUILDINGS
    1-8        Sec. 385.001.  DEFINITIONS.  In this chapter:
    1-9              (1)  "Air contaminant" means a gaseous, liquid, or
   1-10  solid substance or combination of substances that is in a form that
   1-11  is transported by or in air and has the potential to be detrimental
   1-12  to human health.
   1-13              (2)  "Board" means the Texas Board of Health.
   1-14              (3)  "Indoor air pollution" means the presence, in an
   1-15  indoor environment, of one or more air contaminants in sufficient
   1-16  concentration and of sufficient duration to be capable of causing
   1-17  adverse effects to human health.
   1-18              (4)  "Public school" means a building owned by a public
   1-19  school district or leased by a public school district for three
   1-20  months or more that is used by the district for a purpose that
   1-21  involves regular occupancy of the building by students.
   1-22        Sec. 385.002.  POWERS AND DUTIES OF BOARD.  (a)  The board by
   1-23  rule shall establish voluntary guidelines for indoor air quality in
    2-1  public schools, including guidelines for ventilation and indoor air
    2-2  pollution control systems.  The board may adopt other rules
    2-3  necessary to implement this chapter.
    2-4        (b)  In establishing the guidelines, the board shall
    2-5  consider:
    2-6              (1)  the potential chronic effects of air contaminants
    2-7  on human health;
    2-8              (2)  the potential effects of insufficient ventilation
    2-9  of the indoor environment on human health;
   2-10              (3)  the potential costs of health care for the
   2-11  short-term and long-term effects on human health that may result
   2-12  from exposure to indoor air contaminants; and
   2-13              (4)  the potential costs of compliance with a proposed
   2-14  guideline.
   2-15        (c)  A guideline adopted under this chapter may include a
   2-16  contaminant concentration, a control method, a sampling method, a
   2-17  ventilation rate, design, or procedure, or a similar
   2-18  recommendation.
   2-19        (d)  The board's guidelines may differ for different
   2-20  pollution sources or different areas of the state.
   2-21        Sec. 385.003.  LIABILITY AND IMMUNITY.  This chapter does not
   2-22  create liability for a school board for an injury caused by the
   2-23  failure to comply with the voluntary guidelines established under
   2-24  Section 385.002.
   2-25        SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
    3-1        SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
    3-2  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
    3-3  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
    3-4  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
    3-5  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.