Bill Text: NH SB125 | 2015 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Relative to certification for mold assessment services.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 3-1)
Status: (Passed) 2015-07-07 - Signed by the Governor on 07/06/2015; Chapter 0208; Effective 01/01/2016 [SB125 Detail]
Download: New_Hampshire-2015-SB125-Enrolled.html
SB 125-FN - VERSION ADOPTED BY BOTH BODIES
03/05/2015 0467s
03/19/2015 0808s
3June2015… 1931h
06/11/2015 2109EBA
2015 SESSION
15-0935
08/10
SENATE BILL 125-FN
AN ACT relative to certification for mold assessment services.
SPONSORS: Sen. Cataldo, Dist 6; Sen. Watters, Dist 4; Sen. Bradley, Dist 3; Sen. Stiles, Dist 24
COMMITTEE: Executive Departments and Administration
AMENDED ANALYSIS
This bill requires persons providing residential mold assessment services for mold contamination in residential dwellings be certified by certain professional organizations and requires the board of home inspectors to inform the public that mold assessment professionals are required to be certified.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
03/05/2015 0467s
03/19/2015 0808s
3June2015… 1931h
06/11/2015 2109EBA
15-0935
08/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Fifteen
AN ACT relative to certification for mold assessment services.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Section; Mold Assessment; Certification Required. Amend RSA 310-A by inserting after section 189-a the following new section:
310-A:189-b Mold Assessment Certification Required.
I. For the purposes of this section:
(a) “Mold assessment” means:
(1) An inspection, investigation, or survey of a dwelling or other structure to provide information to the owner regarding presence, identification, or evaluation of mold;
(2) The development of a mold remediation specification or protocol; or
(3) The collection of a mold sample for analysis.
(b) “Third party certification” means a certification approved by a national nonprofit organization whose programs are accredited by ANSI (American National Standards Institute), CESB (Council of Engineering and Scientific Specialty Boards), NCCA (National Commission for Certifying Agencies), or any other accrediting body that operates in compliance with the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) standard for accrediting organizations. Certifications are credentials of industry knowledge granted to individuals by a certification body for a limited time.
II. No person shall perform residential mold assessment services for remuneration unless that person possesses a valid national third party certification for mold assessment. The individual shall not own the designation; the designation shall be owned by the certifying body. Certification holders shall meet certain requirements set by third party certification organizations in order to be recertified.
III. The board of home inspectors shall inform the public through its website that persons engaged in residential mold assessment shall be certified under paragraph II and shall provide links to the websites of the certifying organizations.
IV. Any professional hired for remuneration by a homeowner, in which the primary work contracted for is not mold assessment, shall be exempt from this section.
V. Any person who offers mold assessment services for a fee but does not comply with this chapter shall be guilty of a violation if a natural person or guilty of a class B misdemeanor if any other person.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2016.
LBAO
15-0935
Amended 03/30/15
SB 125-FN - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT relative to certification for mold assessment services.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Joint Board of Licensure and Certification, Department of Justice, and Judicial Branch state this bill, as amended by the Senate (Amendment #2015-0808s), will increase state general fund revenue and expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2016 and each year thereafter. There will be no impact on county or local revenue and expenditures.
METHODOLOGY:
The Joint Board of Licensure and Certification states this bill establishes a mold remediation certification program, to be overseen by the Joint Board. Mold remediators conducting business within the State of New Hampshire will be required to become licensed, however the Joint Board has no information regarding the number of potential candidates that may be seeking licensure and paying licensure fees. General fund revenue and expenditures (in the form of the Joint Board’s administrative costs) will increase by an indeterminable amount depending on the fee established and the number of candidates for licensure. The fee established for licensure shall be sufficient to cover the direct cost of the program. The Joint Board also states the bill establishes a fine of $150 for unlicensed practice, but it is unable to determine the number of fines that may be issued or the cost to collect fines for unlicensed practice once mold remediation licensure is required.
The Department of Justice states the Joint Board will require approximately 20 hours from an assistant attorney general within the Department’s Civil Bureau to assist it with the promulgation of rules related to the program. Additional time will be required to assist the Joint Board with the enforcement of violations. In addition, the Civil Bureau will provide general legal counsel related to the new program. The Department estimates that, on average, the program will require between 50 and 100 hours of time of an assistant attorney general, depending on the number of administrative enforcement actions that may arise and the amount of general legal counsel the Joint Board may require. If the Administrative Prosecutions Unit investigates and prosecutes the administrative violations contained within the bill, the services of an assistant attorney general, investigator, and paralegal will be necessary to investigate and prosecute administrative violations. The Department states it is unable to determine how many cases will be generated, and therefore is unable to predict how much additional time will be necessary. The Department further states that criminal violations under the bill would typically be prosecuted by a county or local prosecutor. There may be some fiscal impact to the Department in instances when an appeal is taken to the New Hampshire Supreme Court. Because it is difficult to estimate how many cases will be generated, or if any of these cases will be appealed to the Supreme Court, the Department states the fiscal impact cannot be projected.
The Judicial Branch states the proposed RSA 310-C:2, IV will establish a violation-level offense with a fine of $150 for a person offering mold remediation services for a fee without complying with RSA chapter 310-C or rules adopted thereunder. As such, the bill may result in additional violation-level offenses brought in the circuit court. The Branch has no information on which to estimate how many cases will be brought as a result of the bill, but estimates that the average cost of processing a violation-level offense in the district division of the circuit court will be $46.86 in FY 2016 and $49.01 in FY 2017. The Branch states these cost estimates are based on studies of judicial and clerical weighted caseload time for processing the average case and these studies are now more than 9 years old. In addition, the Branch states there have been changes during that time span with respect to processing cases that could impact average processing times.
The New Hampshire Association of Counties states this bill will have no fiscal impact.
