HF 3126

as introduced - 93rd Legislature (2023 - 2024) Posted on 03/27/2023 01:33pm

A bill for an act
relating to education; establishing a fund to promote healthy environments for
learning and teaching; appropriating money.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1. new text begin HEALTHY LEARNING AND TEACHING ENVIRONMENTS.
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new text begin (a) Beginning in the 2023-2024 school year and later, the commissioner of education
must establish a fund to promote a healthy learning and teaching environment for students,
teachers, and educational staff; reduce absenteeism due to illness; improve staff morale;
increase teacher and staff retention; and improve overall student performance in kindergarten
through grade 12 schools.
new text end

new text begin (b) money from the fund must be used specifically to procure and install in-ceiling active
upper-room ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) devices, to remove virus, bacteria,
fungus, and mold from indoor spaces where people gather.
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new text begin (c) The devices must:
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new text begin (1) demonstrate an effective removal of on average 80 to 88 percent of the total bacteria
measured in the air and an average 64 percent on non-high-touch surfaces in representative
field studies. In addition, laboratory studies of the product must include gram-negative
bacteria, gram-positive bacteria, fungi, viral surrogates, and SARS-CoV-2, which are
representative of the most common airborne pathogens such as COVID-19, influenza, RSV,
and rhinovirus;
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new text begin (2) focus on room-level disinfection or treatment and must operate independently from
the HVAC system, not as part of the central HVAC system;
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new text begin (3) continuously and safely draw in-room air through a series of fans into a sealed
chamber where pathogens are neutralized using UVGI. Clean, treated air must be returned
directly back to the same room in less than one second;
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new text begin (4) not generate or add chemicals or ions to the environment;
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new text begin (5) have the capability for tracking and monitoring maintenance requirements,
performance, and additional environmental conditions, such as CO2, VOCs, CO, or particles,
as appropriate. The system must have the capability to operate independently, via the Internet,
or integrate with common building maintenance systems; and
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new text begin (6) include maintenance parts for at least five years of operation and must be serviced
at a minimum of 12-month intervals.
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Sec. 2. new text begin APPROPRIATION; FUNDING HEALTHY LEARNING AND TEACHING
ENVIRONMENTS.
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new text begin $20,000,000 in fiscal year 2024 is appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner
of education to fund school districts who apply to procure and install approved active
upper-room UVGI pathogen removal devices.
new text end