The department shall do all of the following:
(a) Design and implement a strategy for identifying the characteristics of high-risk schools and provide a basis for statewide estimates of the presence of lead in schools attended by young children.
(b) Conduct a sample survey, as described in Section 32241, to determine the likely extent and distribution of lead exposure to children from paint on the school, soil in play areas at the school, drinking water at the tap, and other potential sources identified by the department for this purpose. To the maximum extent possible, limited sample testing shall be used to validate survey results. The department shall compile and summarize the results of that survey and report those results to the Legislature and the State Department of Education.
(c) Within 60 days of the completion of testing a schoolsite, the department shall notify the principal of the school or director of the schoolsite of the survey results. Within 45 days of receiving the survey results, the principal or director, as the case may be, shall notify the teachers and other school personnel and parents of the survey results.
(d) Make recommendations to the Legislature and the State Department of Education, based on the survey results and consideration of appropriate federal and state standards, on the feasibility and necessity of conducting statewide lead testing and any additional action needed relating to lead contamination in the schools.
(e) As deemed necessary and appropriate in view of the survey results, develop environmental lead testing methods and standards to ensure the scientific integrity of results, for use by schools and contractors designated by schools for that purpose.
(f) Evaluate the most current cost-effective lead abatement technologies.
(g) Work with the State Department of Education to develop voluntary guidelines for distribution to requesting schools to ensure that lead hazards are minimized in the course of school repair and maintenance programs and abatement procedures.
(Amended by Stats. 1993, Ch. 589, Sec. 36. Effective January 1, 1994.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018