Senate Education Committee reviews PCB testing, remediation and funding for pre‑1980 schools

State environmental officials told the Senate Education Committee on Tuesday that polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, remain detectable in indoor air at a number of Vermont schools built or renovated before 1980, and that the program to test and remediate those schools is paused pending additional funding.

Matt Chapman, director of the Waste Management and Prevention Division at the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, and Trish Capolino, senior program manager for the Contaminated Sites Program, told senators the department has been sampling and, in some cases, removing PCB‑containing building materials since a series of detections began during school renovations in 2020.

The discussion focused on the health risks of PCBs, the department’s testing and sampling approach, the number of schools affected, and the limits of current funding. “PCBs can cause serious health problems,” Capolino said, adding that exposure effects “depend on how much, how often and how long someone is actually exposed to them.” She said indoor air in schools can be the largest PCB exposure source for students and staff because PCBs can be emitted from building materials.

Why this matters: PCBs are persistent, were manufactured until 1979 and were widely used in building materials and electrical equipment before 1980. Vermont law requires testing of public and state‑recognized independent schools built or renovated before 1980; the committee was briefed on how that requirement has been implemented and how the state is prioritizing limited remediation funds.

Key facts, as stated in the hearing: - Target pool: 324 schools identified as built or renovated before 1980. - Sampling and results: speakers gave mixed figures when briefing the committee. At one point the department reported it had sampled 156 of the 324 schools; elsewhere the transcript records the figure as 56. From the sampled schools the department reported 102 had detections below the school action levels, 46 had concentrations above action levels, and 20 had concentrations at an “immediate action level” (approximately three times the action level) for which the department says those spaces should not be used. - Volume of data: the department said it has collected more than 5,963 indoor‑air samples statewide. - Notable measurements: Burlington High School initially tested at about 6,200 nanograms per cubic meter, the department said.

How testing and prioritization work: Capolino explained the department hires consultants to inventory building materials and group similar spaces in a school; consultants sample roughly 30% of rooms in each group and the department uses those samples to represent group‑level indoor‑air concentrations. The Department of Health established age‑specific school action levels the DEC uses: 30 ng/m3 for pre‑K, 60 ng/m3 for grades K–6 and 100 ng/m3 for grades 7–adult, reflecting the Health Department’s chosen exposure assumptions.

Capolino and Chapman told the committee that Vermont uses more conservative exposure assumptions than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for indoor‑air comparisons. Chapman said the EPA does not regulate indoor air and that the state’s Health Department based its numbers on a longer daily exposure window and an upper‑percentile (higher‑exposure) population to protect more‑exposed students and staff.

Remediation and interim measures: officials described a variety of mitigation steps already used in affected schools, including removal of PCB‑containing caulking and fireproofing, targeted removal of contaminated glazing and materials, relocation of classes or programs, use of temporary carbon filtration, and, in a few cases, off‑site relocation of activities. Twin Valley Elementary was cited as an example where removal of contaminated material, encapsulation of affected concrete and modifications to an air‑handling mezzanine were part of a mitigation plan; at one point the school paused use of a gym and used alternate facilities.

Funding and near‑term plans: Capolino said the program is currently paused for new sampling “due to lack of funding,” though the department continues to monitor schools with known impacts. Chapman told the committee the governor recommended $9.5 million in next fiscal year’s budget to support PCB mitigation and remediation work; he said that money is intended for cleanup and mitigation, not for expanding testing. The department said it is prioritizing sites with the highest exceedances and will complete final cost estimates for six named schools — North Country, Union High School, Green Mountain Union High School, Bell Falls Union High School, Twin Valley and Hartford High School — with the goal of having those cost packages by summer and starting work in the fall if funding is available.

Process questions and policy context: senators pressed officials about the decision to limit new testing while work continues at already‑identified sites. Chapman said the department prioritized addressing known exceedances before opening up additional testing so the state would not identify problems it could not afford to fix. Committee members also asked the department to clarify differences between EPA guidance and Vermont’s Health Department action levels; officials summarized the difference as primarily methodological — Vermont uses a longer exposure duration and an upper‑percentile approach to protect the most exposed students and staff.

What was not decided: the committee did not take formal action or vote on funding during the briefing. Officials described program priorities and the governor’s budget recommendation but said broader policy conversations about school construction and capital planning could affect future decisions on testing and remediation.

The department asked the committee to consider how PCB mitigation fits with larger school capital planning and governance discussions so the state can avoid investing in facilities that local school districts may later replace or reorganize.