ANR seeks $10 million for PCB remediation in schools; Moore warns House cut limits reach

Secretary Julie Moore told senators on April 17 that the governor’s recommended initiative includes $10,000,000 for mitigation and remediation of polychlorinated biphenyls — PCBs — in Vermont school buildings and that $480,000 would fund a health‑department staff position to review data and develop occupancy recommendations.

"This money is all intended to be used for mitigation and remediation. It is not planned to support additional testing other than what's needed to confirm the success of the mitigation and remediation measures we propose to implement," Moore said.

Moore described two exposure thresholds used by the health department: an "immediate action level" that requires vacating a space until remediation occurs, and a "school action level" for conditions associated with longer‑term health risk. She said the state has found exceedances of both thresholds in classrooms and in places such as hallways, bathrooms and closets where ventilation is poorer.

Moore said full remediation of the priority schools could cost as much as $30,000,000. She urged restoring funds the House removed: "The 40% reduction proposed by the House would limit our ability to address all of these schools. Our best estimate is the amount that remains would largely be taken up with finishing work underway at York County Union High School."

Moore said remediation work targets primary instructional spaces in the schools where indoor air testing has already shown elevated PCB concentrations. She said the program would prioritize schools where testing has shown concentrations at or above the immediate action level.

When senators asked whether the $9.5 million ask included follow‑up testing, Moore said it did: "No. That's all included in this. So this would be remediation, mitigation, and follow test to be, like, we went to good work. Correct."

Moore described common PCB sources the agency has found, principally caulk around windows and expansion joints. She said some samples have shown concentrations as high as 300,000 parts per million (30 percent) in caulk material; in several cases the caulk adjoined air intakes.

On scope, Moore said the agency has tested roughly 150 schools and that about one‑third of schools built during the period when PCB‑containing materials were in use show elevated PCB levels, with a smaller subset having highly elevated concentrations in primary instructional spaces. She said a separate memo outlines recommended prioritization criteria and the agency’s tiered approach.

Senators on the committee supported restoring funding. One senator said they had spoken with Senator Gulick, who urged support for the full request. Committee staff and agency officials discussed adding $4,000,000 back into a committee budget letter to reflect that request.

Moore also urged prioritizing existing statutory obligations and staffing needs — including Act 181 and climate Superfund work — when lawmakers consider new initiatives in the budget.

There was no formal vote in the committee on funding; senators asked ANR to supply its prioritization memo and to coordinate budget‑letter language.