Title: An act relating to reducing the environmental health impact of cleaning in state facilities.

Brief Description: Reducing the environmental impact of cleaning state facilities.

Sponsors: Representatives Simpson, Hudgins, Wood, Campbell, Morrell and Hasegawa.

Brief History:

Select Committee on Environmental Health: 1/30/07, 2/1/07 [DPS].

HOUSE SELECT COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

Majority Report: The substitute bill be substituted therefor and the substitute bill do pass. Signed by 9 members: Representatives Campbell, Chair; Hudgins, Vice Chair; Newhouse, Ranking Minority Member; Sump, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Chase, Hailey, Hunt, Morrell and Wood.

Staff: Brad Avy (786-7289).

Background:

The Department of General Administration (Department) coordinates state agencies' purchases and sales of goods and services. The Director of the Department must establish overall state policy for determining where and when an item in the state supply system should be stocked. In addition, the Director of the Department must develop state goals for using recycled or environmentally preferable products.

The Secretary of the Department of Health (DOH) must periodically review personal health and sanitation conditions at state-owned or contracted institutions and facilities. The Department of Ecology (DOE) is established as the state agency with the authority to carry out an integrated and coordinated program of pollution prevention and control.

Summary of Substitute Bill:

All state agencies must purchase and use cleaning products having properties that minimize potential impacts to human health and the environment. The Department, in consultation with the DOH and the DOE, must consider nationally recognized accrediting information and provide guidance to state agencies to:

• select and purchase products and use practices that reduce or minimize the risks of harmful effects to employees, custodial workers, visitors, and other building occupants, and to the environment;
• promote adoption of cleaning practices that reduce or minimize these risks;
• recognize state agencies that adopt and implement environmentally beneficial facility and workplace management policies and practices;
• encourage contractors supplying goods and services to state agencies to use such products; and
• encourage lessors and building managers who provide leased space to state agencies to select and use such products.

The Department, upon renewal of a lease and for all new leases, must require lessors and building managers who provide leased space to state agencies to use environmentally preferred products and practices.

State agencies must purchase environmentally preferred products or document the reasons for selecting alternative products. Preferred products must conform to guidance for environmentally preferred purchasing of cleaning products developed by the Department. State agencies must transition to approved cleaning products within six months of the effective date of the bill in a manner that avoids waste of existing inventories, and allows for proper establishment of supplies and training.

State agencies must prepare a report and list on the Department website the products purchased that are not on the preferred list, along with reasons why they were not selected. A state agency that purchases and uses only environmentally preferred products during the biennium is not required to submit the report.

Local governments and school districts are encouraged to review their purchasing and use of cleaning products and select those products having properties that minimize potential impacts to human health and the environment. The Department must encourage local government and school purchasing of preferred products if the entity is part of the Department's purchasing pool.

Substitute Bill Compared to Original Bill:

The substitute bill provides for consideration of nationally recognized accrediting information to help inform the consultation and guidance provided by the Department to state agencies on selecting and procuring environmentally preferred products. Directs the Department to require use of environmentally preferred products upon renewal of leases and for all new leases.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Available.

Effective Date of Substitute Bill: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Staff Summary of Public Testimony:

(In support) This bill will have a positive impact on the human health environment for state building and school occupants, cleaning workers, as well as the external environment. This bill works hand-in-hand with what the Department of General Administration is already accomplishing on a voluntary basis. General Administration prefers to include the new requirements into leases on a phased-in basis as the leases expire.

(In support with concerns) There is a distinction between cleaning and disinfecting or sanitizing products. Third party certification requirements may have the unintended consequence of limiting needed access to disinfectants. Flexibility is needed by the Department of General Administration for certifying environmentally preferred cleaning products.

(Opposed) None.

Persons Testifying: (In support) Representative Simpson, prime sponsor; Ruth Sheaner, retired toxicologist; Robert Bippert and Pattie Williams, General Administration; and Darin Rice, Department of Ecology.

(In support with concerns) Dave Ducharme, Rickett Benckiser; Andrew Hackman, The Consumer Specialty Products Association.

Persons Signed In To Testify But Not Testifying: None.