The Senate agreed to the full title.
Senator Chang asked and was granted unanimous consent to make a statement and moved that the statement be printed in the Journal.
The motion prevailed.
Senator Chang’s statement is as follows:
Asbestos exposure increases a person’s chances of lung cancer, mesothelioma—which is a rare cancer of the membrane that envelops the lungs and chest cavity. It’s possible that sometimes symptoms of mesothelioma may not appear until 30 or 40 years after exposure. When a person’s lungs are exposed to asbestos, they may breathe in these fibers which can cause scarring of the lungs and make it very hard for them to breathe. In August 2017, the Auditor General released an audit of the then-MDEQ Air Quality Division’s asbestos program. It found that the department at the time was not able to properly monitor building demolitions and renovations in which asbestos could be released or reported violations. It had found that asbestos-accepting landfills also were not being properly monitored. It became clear that EGLE—or, at the time, DEQ—had insufficient staffing levels and still does to have enough oversight to properly inspect, report on inspections, and keep track of violations. That same year, in 2017, the Detroit Free Press reported that multiple places were actually hiring contractors who had multiple violations, sometimes multiple criminal convictions involving workplace or public safety or public health issues in regard to asbestos abatement.
As more asbestos abatement projects and demolitions happen across our state, let’s make sure we’re doing these properly and with the companies that are following the rules. Today we are taking important steps to ensure that asbestos abatement is done properly to protect the health and safety of workers and the public. Back in 2018, Representatives VanderWall, VanSingel, Howell, Garrett, Sowerby, and I worked cooperatively to develop a bipartisan package of bills to address these issues with accountability and transparency with asbestos abatement. Many years later, I’m proud of the work that we did with my colleague from the 1st District as well as our colleagues in the House on this bipartisan package that will help address public health. The Senate and House bills all work together to address proper vetting of asbestos abatement contractors, ensure worker safety, help protect our municipalities and our residents and asbestos abatement workers from the health hazards that can occur when asbestos removal is handled improperly. The bills ensure that EGLE will have greater resources, funding for inspectors to conduct proper inspections to ensure safety for our residents, gives municipalities greater ability to hold contractors accountable, and puts in place the tools necessary to find out what violations or convictions have occurred in the past. Finally, it also ensures that penalties are appropriately set for workplace safety violations.
I encourage your support for this commonsense bipartisan public health legislation.
The following bill was read a third time:
House Bill No. 4186, entitled
A bill to allow local governments and certain authorities to withhold payment under certain conditions to contractors on an asbestos abatement project; to provide for mandatory contract conditions on certain asbestos abatement projects; to provide for certain disclosures; and to prescribe the powers and duties of certain local officials.
The question being on the passage of the bill,
The bill was passed, a majority of the members serving voting therefor, as follows: