Pa. radon laws are few
Pa. radon laws are few
Here in Pennsylvania, radon bills have been introduced many times but few have become law. According to the state Department of Environmental Protection, Pennsylvania has no state law requiring that homes, schools or other buildings be tested for radon. However, DEP recommends all be tested.
Most recently, state Rep. Russ Diamond, R-Lebanon, on Feb. 3 introduced House Bill 448 to amend the 1987 Radon Certification Act. The measure would allow previous property owners to access radon test results for properties they’ ve sold.
Diamond said the impetus of the bill came after a constituent came to him and explained that in the course of treatment for lung cancer, her doctor asked if she had ever been exposed to radon. She wanted to examine the radon test results of a home she previously owned but was thwarted by privacy laws.
“ If people need to go back and see what happened, I don’ t see any reason for them not to be able to do that,” Diamond said.“ This is common sense stuff.”
State Sen. Devlin Robinson, R-Allegheny County, introduced a bill to the state Senate in October that would have made radon testing mandatory in schools, but the bill was sent to the education committee, where it died. He said he’ s recently circulated a memo seeking co-sponsors to reintroduce it; he has nine bipartisan co-sponsors so far, he said in a recent email.
“ Most schools in Pennsylvania do not perform testing despite estimates that 40 % of school buildings have unhealthy levels of radon,” Devlin said.“ Radon gas inhalation is... especially harmful to children who are still developing and growing. It can cause permanent damage to lungs, and it also increases the risk of certain other cancers like leukemia.”