In most buildings we have investigated, the best solution to the complaints and/or health problems is usually not focusing on a single source, but involves the proper design, installation, operation and maintenance of the ventilation system permitted or banned. whether smoking is Our conclusion has been affirmed by the findings of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) which also found that the majority of indoor air quality complaints stem from the inadequate operation, maintenance or design of ventilation systems. NEMI understands that while environmental tobacco smoke is the only visible indoor air constituent, making it an easy target for legislative action such as H.R.3434, NIOSH finds that environmental tobacco smoke makes up only 2 percent of indoor air constituents. Our concern is that the broader issue of comprehensive indoor air quality legislation is being ignored. Based on our practical experience, NEMI believes Americans would be better served by enacting legislation that calls for a comprehensive answer to all indoor airborne constituents and one that relies on effective ventilation system design, installation, operation and maintenance. For example, NEMI recently worked with the American Federation of Government Employees in the Social Security Administration building in Richmond, California, where 2 smoking has been banned for many years. We became involved after a lethal outbreak of Legionnaire's disease in 1991 killed two people and rendered several others severely ill due to exposure to the Legionnella bacteria a deadly, invisible airborne agent -- attributed to lax maintenance practices. This and other similar experiences have led us to conclude that in banning smoking alone we often neglect the larger comprehensive problems of poor indoor air quality. In 1986, the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board adopted a requirement that ventilation systems be maintained and operated to provide at least the original volume of outside air required by their state building code, in effect at the time the building permit was issued. In addition, the CAL-OSHA ruling requires that the ventilation system be continuously operated during the facility's normal working hours and requires an annual inspection of the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system with written documentation of the findings. NEMI believes that this type of regulatory activity should be the basis for truly effective national indoor air quality legislation. It should also be noted that the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published a Request for Information in 1991 on the indoor air quality issue and received more than 1,200 submissions. Many of these were in support of comprehensive solutions rather than contaminant-by-contaminant bans. OSHA has stated that it will come forward with a directive based on this material, and this ruling could provide Americans with comprehensive indoor air quality protection. NEMI hopes that this body will direct attention to this federal rule-making process. In addition, NEMI works with many labor unions across the country. Many in the labor community agree with the AFL-CIO resolution that suggests that these types of issues should remain within collective bargaining guidelines. Management and labor have successfully worked through this issue in the past, and we have every confidence that they can continue to do so in the future. NEMI is looking forward to working with the Subcommittee on Health and Environment in developing legislation that will address effective ventilation strategies that result in improved air quality for all Americans. Thank you. ENVIRONMENTAL TOBACCO SMOKE THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 1994 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m., in room 2253, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Henry A. Waxman (chairman) presiding. Mr. WAXMAN. I welcome all of you to our subcommittee today. I apologize for the room. This is not the usual room our committee meets in. Our usual room is larger. Now it is being occupied by another subcommittee. I hope you all heard me. Well, I want to welcome you to our hearing. This is our second hearing on the Smoke-Free Environment Act of 1993, or H.R. 3434. The issue of regulating tobacco environmental tobacco smoke has received an enormous amount of attention in the past few months. We have seen major chain restaurants such as McDonald's and others announce smoke-free policies in their establishments. Our Nation's largest employer, the Defense Department, announced last week that it, too, was going to go smoke-free. We know the health effects of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, and we know that this legislation will save our country billions of dollars in reduced health care costs, lost earnings and building maintenance expenses. More importantly, the public is asking for this legislation. We all receive a great deal of mail on the major issues before the Congress, and much of this is computer-generated, postcards and form letters on this issue. However, real people are writing real and heartfelt letters. I have heard from a grandmother in Ohio, a blackjack dealer in Nevada and the father of an asthmatic child in Tennessee. This issue cuts across ideological lines and political lines as well. In fact, I wanted to share a letter I received from Ronald K. Leon, who describes himself as a Rush Limbaugh-loving, staunch conservative. Mr. Leon's letter reads: “Usually I am against almost all Government intrusions in the life of the American people. However I am going to give you 110 percent of my support for your goal of a smoke-free society, because I do not consider this an intrusion. Quite the contrary. The Government puts controls on auto and factory pollution and none on tobacco pollution. Sir, I am nauseated by the foul stench of tobacco smoke. I am sick to death of going to a restaurant and having my meal ruined by-because I am choking on smoke. I am tired of going to a shopping mall and having to wade through clouds of smoke. I would love to be able to go to a (243) |