House panel approves Iowa school radon testing mandate despite funding concern

DES MOINES - Iowa school boards told lawmakers Wednesday they can't afford a mandate that every school building be tested for radon.

'When you look at all of the things that schools are being asked to do, this probably does not rise to a top priority,” Emily Piper, lobbyist for the Iowa Association of School Boards, told a House Local Government subcommittee Wednesday.

Lawmakers say House Study Bill 178 includes funding for schools to test for radon, the clear, odorless gas is believed to be a leading cause of lung cancer. It allows school boards to spend physical plant and equipment levy (PPEL) and the 1-cent school improvement sales tax revenue for radon testing.

'You can say it's not an unfunded mandate, but you are just authorizing us to spend money we are already spending on other priorities,” Piper said.

It's clear school districts won't test for radon unless it is mandated, said Jen Schulte of the American Cancer Society.

According to an Iowa Department of Education survey, only 18 percent of districts tested for radon gas and 59 percent said they would not unless testing was mandated.

Schulte said it cost the Cedar Falls district about $700 per building for testing.

A nationwide survey found that one in five school buildings has at least one room with a short-term radon gas level above what the Environmental Protection Agency recommends.

The three-member panel forwarded HSB 178 to the full House Local Government Committee. It is similar to bills approved by the full Senate and the House Education Committee last year

Chairman Kevin Koester, R-Ankeny, plans to bring the bill up for debate Wednesday.

'It's less of a mandate than it was last year,” he said, referring to the funding mechanism in the bill. 'And it's a clear health risk.”