Iowa Legislators To Negotiate Radon Testing in Schools

April 8, 2014- Radon — the dangerous, naturally occurring, invisible and odorless gas derived as the uranium in soil decays over time — is again in the news.

As a follow-up to our blog post on the danger of radon exposure in our nation's schools, "The ABCs of the EPA's National Radon Action Month," we spotted a DesMoinesRegister.com (DMR) article about weakened legislation efforts to test for radon in Iowa Schools.

Here are some of the highlights from the article, "Iowa House Approves Scaled-Back Bill On Radon In Schools":

• The Iowa House has passed a scaled-back version of a bill regarding radon testing in Iowa schools. An Iowa House-Senate conference committee will now negotiate the issue.

• The DMR writes that the Iowa House completely rewrote Senate File 366 to "direct the state Department of Education to encourage school districts to test for the presence of cancer-causing radon gas in school buildings and to address high concentrations."

• The bill, which passed 98-1, has no mandates that districts perform radon testing, only that school officials notify the department about the existence of a radon testing and mitigation plan, or if they plan to adopt one in the future.

• The bill's sponsor, Matt Windschitl, R-Missouri Valley, tells the DMR he’s received a positive response from school superintendents. "Many of them said this was a good first step, helping us understand what the risks may be," Windschitl said. "Then we can come back and look at addressing any problems that may arise after we get all the facts and information."

School officials had opposed more stringent radon testing and mitigation measures in schools, arguing they represented an unfunded mandate.

Read the full DesMoinesRegister.com post here.

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