Finance committee advances S.42 to postpone school PCB testing deadline and create special fund

The finance committee voted to advance S.42, as amended, which postpones the state deadline for mandated PCB testing at schools to 2035 and creates a special fund designed to receive litigation recoveries to support further testing and remediation, committee members said.

The move does not include a new appropriation in the bill. An agency official told the committee the 2021 session law contained an original $4.5 million appropriation but the current bill contains no fresh funding; instead, the amendment establishes a special fund that could draw on future litigation recoveries to pay for testing and cleanup.

Why it matters: Committee members warned that testing can trigger requirements to remediate hazardous materials and that identifying contaminated school sites without clear funding could prompt urgent demands for expensive removal work. Staff told the panel there are still dozens of schools that need testing: roughly 170 schools remain to be sampled and about 145 still need the presampling 'inventory' visit.

Cost and logistics: A staff member provided per-school estimates for the testing work the agency uses: the average inventory (presampling assessment) for a small school is $7,918 and the average sampling cost is $13,270. An agency official explained "inventory is the presampling assessment" — a site visit to identify sampling locations — and that the two figures together represent the testing cost, not remediation.

Use of contingency funds: Committee members asked whether unobligated money in the environmental contingency fund could be used. A staff member said $3.17 (unobligated available funds) exists in that contingency account but cautioned the full fund has other reserved uses. An agency official added the environmental contingency fund is authorized for response to PCB releases and likely for investigation when a release is known, but much of the fund is already allocated.

Liability and reimbursement: Committee members pressed whether testing obligates the state to pay remediation. An agency official said statutory requirements can create an obligation to pay for testing or remediation after testing identifies materials above federal action levels; one committee member noted that testing often leads to immediate calls for remediation and asked whether schools that already paid privately are eligible for reimbursement. The agency official said reimbursement is available only for testing and responses carried out under the state-required program; privately initiated testing that subsequently finds elevated levels would not necessarily be reimbursed under the state program.

Health context and precedent: The agency official and others noted litigation is ongoing in some cases alleging health effects from PCB exposure among school employees, and that PCBs are longstanding contaminants with known health risks; committee discussion referenced past settlements handled outside public record.

Procedure and next steps: The chair entertained a motion to pass the bill as amended by other committees (discussed in the hearing as S.42). Members expressed support for postponing the deadline to 2035 while preserving testing. The transcript records multiple members giving assent during a roll-call-style check; the committee moved on to other items and indicated it would resume additional bills the next day.

The committee did not add a specific appropriation in S.42; rather, it created a fund mechanism and postponed the deadline. The bill will proceed to the next legislative steps as determined by the committee and legislative process.