HB628 Board of Public Works – Relocatable Classrooms – Indoor Air Quality Requirements has passed both houses and is on the road to final passage.  HB 628 will resolve current law to allow indoor air quality regulations for relocatable classrooms go into effect prospectively.  The bill also extends regulatory protection to volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

MACo supported the legislation, stating,

The safety of students is important to MACo. . . The law which created the regulatory authority for indoor air quality, Chapter 223, Laws of 2007, states in an uncodified portion that the Act “shall be construed to apply only prospectively.” There was a delay in issuing the indoor air quality regulations required under Chapter 223 and when the draft regulations were issued in 2013, they were initially made retroactive to 2007. This legislation clarifies that the indoor air-quality requirements apply only to relocatable classrooms purchased after July 1, 2014. . . HB 628 will allow the indoor air quality regulations to protect the health and safety of our school children.

At the hearing, MACo joined the Executive Director of the Interagency Committee on School Construction Dr. David Lever, bill sponsor Delegate Shane Robinson, and Chris Parts of the Maryland US Green Green Building Council Chapter.

For more information, see the bill information page, the bill text, the fiscal note and our previous post on Conduit Street, Regs Held On Relocatable Classroom Air Quality.