Toxic Mold Protection Act

The Toxic Mold Protection Act: State of California

SB 732

Status: Enacted Major Provisions Chapter 584, October 07, 2001 ( Senate Bill 732) This bill has been enacted as the California Toxic Mold Protection Act of 2001. Among other things, the bill requires the State Department of Health Services and their special task force to: 

1) Conduct studies to arrive, if feasible, at permissible exposure limits to mold to avoid adverse effects on health on the general public. 

2) Develop and adopt standards for the assessment of the health threat posed by the presence of molds, both visible and invisible or hidden, in indoor environments. 

3) Develop and adopt guidelines for the identification and the remediation of toxic mold. 

4) The bill provides for specific protocol to allow the public to be involved in the process to determine permissible exposure limits to mold, guidelines for identification and remediation of mold, and the guidelines for the assessment of mold. 

5) This bill requires the development of public education materials and resources to inform the public about the health effects of mold, methods of prevention, methods of identification and remediation of mold growth, and contact information to organizations or governmental entities to assist public concerns. 

6) The bill requires real estate (structure) owners, sellers, transferors, and leasers to provide a written disclosure to potential buyers, prospective tenants, renters, landlords, or occupants of any chronic water intrusion or flood condition, or of mold that is known to exceed the permissible exposure limits or poses a health threat. 

Today, the Toxic Mold Protection Act makes it the responsibility of anyone selling real property to disclose any and all water intrusion or mold growth issues related to the property being sold. Currently, the State of California still has not published any Permissible Exposure Limits (PEL) for mold in the indoor environment. Based on the published EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) guidelines, indoor mold spore levels should be similar to, and lower than those in the outdoor environment. To read the EPA's guidelines you can visit their website at: www.epa.gov.