Gov. Bush Vetos Toxic Mold & Inspector Bill

[hausdok]

Tampa Florida/June 23, 2005

Governor Jeb Bush of Florida. In a letter to the Florida Secretary of State the governor stated that the state was not prepared to limit the current practices for the mold inspectors practicing mold investigations. The Mycological Institute for Fungal Mold in Human Habitations supports the Governor's position that the Florida legislature bill can be considered worse than nothing since it causes more problems than it solves.

In quoting the Institute's medical mycologist and aerobiologist Professor Josef Doumanov "Clearly standards must be set out in detail but rushing out licensing and regulations in what is clearly a professional practice without a complete training and standards program outling the same is unacceptable".

In asking what should be the minimum standards for a mold inspectors the Professor went on to say "Mold is not a nail or brick. It is a living breathing reproducing potentially pathogenic toxic biological entity and must be studied as such. If you have a health or high value property concern it requires nothing less than full and definitive scientific inquiry. The state of Florida I believe in time will develope an appropriate program in concert with the building and insurance industry with guidance from associations such as the American Industrial Hygienist Association and the Indoor Air Quality Association since theses association clearly are at the front of addressing the education and training requirements for professionals in this area of human concern."

Letter of Veto to the Florida Secretary of State

June 22, 2005

Ms. Glenda E. Hood Secretary of State Department of State

R.A. Gray Building 500 South Bronough Street Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0250

Dear Secretary Hood:

By the authority vested in me as Governor of Florida, under the provisions of Article III, Section 8, of the Constitution of Florida, I do hereby withhold my approval of and transmit to you with my objections, House Bill 315, enacted during the 107 th Session of the Legislature of Florida since statehood in 1845, during the Regular Session of 2005, and entitled:

An act relating to building assessment and remediation . . .

This bill seeks to provide public protection against the possibility of fraudulent practices in the unregulated fields of home inspection, mold assessment, and mold remediation. It provides education requirements and requires liability insurance for home inspectors, mold assessors, and mold remediators, prohibits certain acts which could lead to fraudulent practices, and provides penalties for those acts.

I support efforts to protect the public from unscrupulous business practices and I believe providing strict standards for home inspectors, mold assessors, and mold remediators is warranted.

However, I am concerned that this bill will have unintended consequences, including putting some legitimate and responsible employees out of business..........

Because I agree with the bill's sponsors that additional consumer protection is warranted in these fields.

For the reasons enunciated, I withhold my support for House Bill 315, and do hereby veto the same.

Sincerely,

Jeb Bush

[Norm]

Mike,

Where can I find the letter or statement issued by Prof. Josef Doumanov to read in it's entirety?

NORM SAGE

[hawkihi]

How soon do you think a bill will pass and we all in Fl. need to achieve a state license for home inspections?

[Scottpat]

The Gov said a license law will be passed the legislative session. So I would say you have about a year or so.

[kurt]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like their approach to the mold conundrum is reasonable, i.e., let's have scientists determine what is appropriate & keep it out of the domain of the quick buck artist(s).

Did I get that right?

[hausdok]

Yep,

That's the way I read it. However, the way it reads, it looks like they're also piggybacking an HI licensing law on top of the mold law.

OT - OF!!!

M.

[Norm]

Actually they piggybacked the mold bill onto the HI bill at the last minute. The mold bill sponsors were convinced the HI bill would finally pass after over ten years of attempts. The easiest way to get a bill passed is to attach it to another one which looks like a sure thing. The sponsors of both bills are working on the latest versions which will be introduced in the next session of the legislature after the first of the year. No word yet whether piggybacking will occur again or if each will stand alone.

NORM SAGE

[Les]

Michigan bypassed the "Mold Gold" in the proposed license bill(s) by passing an ammendment to the Uniform Disclosure requirement for the sale and transfer of Real Property, by adding "a requirement for all real estate agents to recommend air quality and mold inspections" Guess who will be doing those inspections? Not us! But we will lose tens of thousands of dollars until the real estate community wakes up. This situation is worst than all the other "environmental" issues I have dealt with for the past thirty years. Does anyone remember the XRF70 for lead detection?

[kurt]

Originally posted by Les

Does anyone remember the XRF70 for lead detection?

Yeah, that was a wonderful thing wasn't it? I came so close to dropping $15,000 on one of those things, it makes me shiver.

[hausdok]

Yeah,

I took a lead inspectors class with a local guy who had one. His company was a franchise and was called American Lead Consultants or something like that. Kurt, you would have like that. I passed the state test and got qualified to do lead inspections in, of all places,...Illinois! I never did get into that and bother to follow up by getting the Illinois license (What would have been the point?) and the guy with the XRF70? He's been lost to obscurity.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[Scottpat]

I almost fell into the XRF70 hole. I was about 1 day from buying that thing when I had a dentist appointment. For some reason when they draped that lead cape over my body to take an x-ray of a tooth I started to think about the XRF70! Did I really want a radioactive device riding around in the back of my truck? Why did I not need to have a lead suit on when I used the XRF70? My wife and I were thinking about another child?

It's funny what your mind will do if you allow it!