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Committee hears bill to extend PCB school testing deadline but finds no funding
Summary
Lawmakers and agency officials debated a bill that preserves a requirement for PCBs testing in pre‑1980 schools and creates a special remediation fund that currently has no appropriation; agency analysts said roughly half the state’s schools were tested and more than 30% of those had issues, while committee members pressed for health testimony and clarity on funding.
A legislative committee on Aug. 1 reviewed a bill that would extend the deadline for indoor air‑quality testing for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in schools and create a special fund to pay for investigation, mitigation and remediation. The bill keeps the testing requirement on the books but contains no immediate appropriation for the tests or cleanup.
The presenter (speaker 1) told the panel the special fund would receive reimbursements when school districts recover money from litigation against PCB manufacturers and that any state recoveries would be deposited there. "If a school does receive a recovery from litigation, they will be required to reimburse the state 100% of the grant that they received from the state for their investigation," the presenter said, explaining the bill would prevent schools from "double counting" state grants and private recoveries.
An agency director responsible for waste management and prevention (speaker 7) told the committee the agency has tested about half of the state's schools and found issues in more than 30% of those tested. "Of that half of the schools that we've tested, over 30% of them had issues that need to be able to progress," the director said, estimating remediation costs range from under $5,000 in confined cases to millions of dollars at some high schools.
Joint Fiscal Office and fiscal staff emphasized the bill extends ANR’s testing deadline to Aug. 1, 2031, "but there is no appropriation included in this bill for the testing," leaving it unclear how the requirement would be funded. Cameron Wood of the Office of Legislative Counsel (speaker 5) and fiscal staff said the statute would create the fund and make the state’s commitments more transparent, but repeatedly noted the special fund currently has no balance.
Committee members debated the practicality and fairness of requiring testing while lacking funding. One member (speaker 2) said the state must either fully fund remediation and support schools through disruptions — "we have to fund it and say we're doing it" — or focus first on finishing the testing and cleanup already underway. Another member asked for health‑agency testimony, citing uncertainty over whether measured PCB concentrations present acute or long‑term health risks for children.
The committee also discussed whether litigation recoveries and Attorney General settlements could realistically capitalize the special fund. Speaker 1 said the Attorney General's Office suggested limiting which recoveries are deposited into the fund and JFO recommended changing statutory language from "appropriated" to "transferred," reflecting accounting practice.
The committee paused the bill's progression to schedule further witness testimony, including the Attorney General's Office and the Department of Health, and to allow officials to provide data on remediation outcomes, litigation recoveries and the health evidence that would inform any funding or rulemaking decisions.
