The New Jersey Department of Health’s Environmental and Occupational Health Assessment Program is proposing amendments, repeals and new rules to N.J.A.C. 8:50 Standards for Indoor Environment Certification and for Licensure of Indoor Environmental Consultants. These rules ensure that child care centers and educational facilities are safe for children and staff to occupy. Additionally, the rules also establish standards to license consultants who perform indoor environmental health assessments.
State law (N.J.S.A. 52:27D-130.4 et seq.,) requires the Department to establish procedures for the evaluation and assessment of the interior of buildings that are used for child care centers or for educational purposes. In addition, the Department must develop standards that establish maximum contaminant levels for these buildings’ interiors. The Department adopted existing rules, which are protective of all building occupants, on September 8, 2009. The rule requires certain childcare centers and educational facilities to obtain a Safe Building Interior Certification (SBIC) issued by the Department.
The proposed rule provides amendments throughout the Chapter to provide clarity and to codify procedures that were not included in the original text. The proposed rule does not change the current application process or increase fees for the initial or renewal of a SBIC. The proposed rule would, however, establish a new application process and fee when an application for an expansion to include additional rooms or buildings is received by the Department after a SBIC has been issued.
The proposed rule also provides the structure for waiving this fee for certain applications for expansion when submitted along with an application for the renewal of a SBIC. Since staff will be conducting a review and inspection at the time of renewal, there will be no fee for the expansion review and inspection as all the information will be reviewed at the same time and only one inspection will be needed.
Those wishing to comment on the proposal must submit written comments either electronically by November 4, 2017 to http://www.nj.gov/health/legal/ecomments.shtml or by regular mail postmarked on or before November 4, 2017 to Joy L. Lindo, Director, Office of Legal and Regulatory Compliance, New Jersey Department of Health, PO Box 360, Trenton, NJ 08625-0360.
LexisNexis provides free online access to the New Jersey Register at http://www.lexisnexis.com/njoal. An unofficial copy of the proposal is also available from the Department’s website at http://www.nj.gov/health/legal/rules/notice-of-rule-proposals/.
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