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Committee delays vote on H.542 that would end state school PCB air‑testing program
Summary
A House committee discussed H.542, which would end Vermont's state-run PCB air-testing program for schools established in 2020–21, highlighted a funding shortfall (about $4.5 million remaining), and agreed to postpone a scheduled vote to allow further review and refer funding questions to appropriations.
Speaker 1, an unidentified participant in the committee, opened debate on H.542 and said the bill would end the state’s air-quality PCB testing program set up in 2020–21 while preserving federal‑law requirements tied to major renovation, demolition or construction projects. "The main motivation here is because there's no money to pay for it, and there has been no money asked for by the administration," Speaker 1 said, adding that "there's simply the remaining 4 and a half million from the DEC's special fund" to address current needs.
The committee heard that H.542 would not remove federal obligations under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for pre‑1980 buildings. Speaker 2 explained that construction projects on pre‑1980 buildings require environmental assessments that include PCB monitoring and, if…
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