Terminating the School PCB Testing Program (H.542) - Overview & Analysis

The bill would end the State’s current broad program of indoor air testing for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in Vermont schools while clarifying when the State will pay for PCB investigation and cleanup at schools that already tested positive and directing remaining funds and future planning toward long-term remediation, education facility health, environmental safety, and state budgeting for school infrastructure.

The Details:

• Ends the Agency of Natural Resources’ (ANR) obligation to conduct indoor air PCB testing in public schools and approved and recognized independent schools, and requires ANR to cease any scheduled or ongoing PCB testing in these schools.

• Requires that PCB testing continue, at State expense, in any school where ANR previously completed testing and the school tested positive at a level that triggers continued testing obligations under State or federal law.

• Directs the State of Vermont to pay the costs of investigation, remediation, and removal of PCBs at any public or approved/recognized independent school where ANR had previously completed testing and results exceeded the State school action levels.

• Provides that a school with PCB levels above State school action levels is not required to start or continue interim remedial measures (such as temporary ventilation or restricted space use) if:

  • The State is not fully funding those interim measures

  • Replacing the school building is the most viable and effective remediation

  • Federal law does not require immediate remediation

• Requires that any remaining funds previously appropriated for PCB indoor air testing in schools may no longer be used for testing and must instead be used to pay for investigation, remediation, and removal of PCBs at schools that have already tested above the State school action levels.

• If available funds are not sufficient for the activities listed above, the bill requires the Secretary of Natural Resources to report to the legislature the additional amount that should be appropriated to ANR or the Agency of Education to fully fund this work.

• Clarifies that Vermont will not pay the investigation, remediation, and removal costs for PCBs when such work is part of a planned renovation or construction project at a school and not undertaken in response to the mandated indoor air testing program, except for the previously reserved $16 million for the Burlington School District.

• Directs the Secretary of Natural Resources, by January 15, 2027, after consulting the Secretary of Education, school representatives, and other stakeholders, to submit a long-term remediation plan for PCB contamination in Vermont public and approved/recognized independent schools.

• Beginning January 15, 2027, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of Natural Resources (in consultation with the Secretaries of Education and Administration) is required to submit a report on:

  • The status of PCB testing in schools (number tested, number remaining, schools above action levels, remedial measures taken and planned, and total State spending on testing and cleanup).

  • Remaining funds at ANR or the Agency of Education for testing and grants for PCB work.

  • Estimated additional funds needed to complete investigation, remediation, and removal at schools above State school action levels.

Analysis:

This bill attempts to reconcile two competing realities: a genuine concern about PCB exposure in aging school buildings, and a lack of dedicated, long-term funding to complete statewide testing and fully remediate every potential problem discovered. The Legislature has already invested roughly $44 million in this effort, yet legislative hearings have highlighted that remaining funds are insufficient to fulfill the existing 2027 testing mandate and the remediation obligations that widespread testing would likely generate. In that context, the bill’s core move (to end the broad State-run testing program and concentrate scarce dollars on schools with known high PCB levels) is framed by its supporters as a necessary step to avoid an open-ended unfunded mandate.

From an educational quality and equity perspective, this reorientation raises difficult questions. Students and staff in schools that were tested early and found to exceed action levels may benefit from re-focused State support for cleanup or building replacement, while those in similar (but untested) buildings could be left with unknown risks and fewer resources. Districts with the tax base and administrative capacity to pursue their own testing and capital projects may be better positioned to address PCBs than small or fiscally stressed communities, potentially widening disparities in the safety and quality of learning environments. That dynamic is particularly sensitive in Vermont, where the Education Fund and the Brigham decision underscore constitutional expectations for equitable access to education.

From a fiscal perspective, the bill is designed to protect the State from large, unbudgeted liabilities and to prevent sudden, widespread impacts on property tax rates that could result if the State fully funded testing and remediation across all older schools at once. By channeling remaining PCB-program funds into known sites and requiring ANR to quantify any additional needs, the legislation supports more deliberate, data-driven budgeting in the future.

In terms of transparency and accountability, the bill moves in mixed directions. Ending ANR’s broad testing mandate reduces the flow of new data about PCB prevalence across Vermont’s school system, making it harder to know where problems may still exist. At the same time, the required long-term remediation plan and annual reports on testing status, remedial actions, and spending create a more structured oversight framework for the schools that have already been identified.

Reasonable people may disagree on whether this trade-off is acceptable: some will view the bill as a pragmatic, fiscally responsible pause until sustainable funding is in place, while others will see it as prematurely curtailing a health-protective program in a way that could leave vulnerable students and staff in unassessed or under-remediated buildings.

Current Status:

The bill has been passed by the House Education Committee and is likely to move through other committees on its way to the floor.

Last updated: 2/25/2026

DISCLAIMER: Generative AI used to assist in the production of this report.