HF 3126

as introduced - 82nd Legislature (2001 - 2002) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to education; requiring the commissioner to 
  1.3             provide diesel fuel emissions information to local 
  1.4             school districts; requiring local school districts to 
  1.5             provide diesel fuel emissions information to parents; 
  1.6             proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, 
  1.7             chapters 121A; 123B. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  [121A.305] [DIESEL FUEL EMISSIONS NOTICE.] 
  1.10     Each school district must provide notice, by September 15 
  1.11  of each year, to parents about the risks of diesel fuel 
  1.12  emissions and the actions that have been taken to protect school 
  1.13  children from exposure.  The notice must contain the following 
  1.14  information: 
  1.15     "Diesel exhaust emissions from school buses includes over 
  1.16  40 substances that are listed by the United States Environmental 
  1.17  Protection Agency as hazardous air pollutants including mercury 
  1.18  and lead, which are known neurotoxins.  Fifteen of these 
  1.19  substances are described as potentially carcinogenic to humans, 
  1.20  including benzene, dioxin, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. 
  1.21  Over 30 health studies on human exposure to diesel exhaust have 
  1.22  been conducted, and, on average, have found that long-term 
  1.23  exposure to diesel exhaust was associated with a 40 percent 
  1.24  increase in the relative risk of lung cancer. 
  1.25     Additionally, a number of noncancerous adverse short- and 
  1.26  long-term health effects have been associated with human 
  2.1   exposures to diesel exhaust.  These include: 
  2.2      (1) increased coughing; 
  2.3      (2) labored breathing; 
  2.4      (3) chronic bronchitis; 
  2.5      (4) allergic reactions; 
  2.6      (5) inflammation of lung tissue; and 
  2.7      (6) airway constriction. 
  2.8      Diesel exhaust can become concentrated within diesel school 
  2.9   buses, thereby increasing the potential for exposure for 
  2.10  students who ride these buses.  As a result, the state of 
  2.11  Minnesota and this school district take the potential health 
  2.12  impact on these students seriously, and have taken the following 
  2.13  steps to safeguard your children:" 
  2.14     The notice may be included with other notices provided by 
  2.15  the school, but must be separately identified and clearly 
  2.16  visible to the reader. 
  2.17     Sec. 2.  [123B.915] [SCHOOL BUSES; DIESEL FUEL EMISSIONS 
  2.18  INFORMATION AND REDUCTION.] 
  2.19     Subdivision 1.  [DIRECTION TO COMMISSIONER.] (a) The 
  2.20  commissioner of children, families, and learning must provide 
  2.21  information to local school districts, by January 31 of each 
  2.22  year, on the health risks to school children of diesel fuel 
  2.23  emissions from school buses and ways in which these risks may be 
  2.24  reduced, including, but not limited to: 
  2.25     (1) reducing or eliminating idling of buses; 
  2.26     (2) parking buses away from areas where children are 
  2.27  gathered; 
  2.28     (3) parking buses away from school building air intake 
  2.29  valves; 
  2.30     (4) encouraging children to sit in the front of buses, 
  2.31  where exhaust concentrations are lower; 
  2.32     (5) requiring school bus contractors to provide inspection 
  2.33  and maintenance of concentrations of biodiesel to reduce 
  2.34  emissions; and 
  2.35     (6) retrofitting older buses or purchasing new buses that 
  2.36  use cleaner technologies. 
  3.1      (b) The commissioner, in consultation with transportation 
  3.2   professionals throughout the state, must make recommendations to 
  3.3   the legislature, by January 31, 2003, on providing incentives 
  3.4   for districts and school bus contractors to retrofit older buses 
  3.5   with cleaner technologies or to purchase new buses that use 
  3.6   cleaner fuels and technologies. 
  3.7      (c) The commissioner must develop sample school bus 
  3.8   contracts, by January 31, 2003, for school districts to use with 
  3.9   school bus contractors to reduce diesel fuel emissions.