§ 24-1000 Declaration of policy.
AC § 24-1000
It is hereby declared that asthma and other respiratory conditions have increased significantly in the United States and that evidence suggests that indoor environments, where most people spend a majority of their time, play an important role in predisposing vulnerable populations to asthma and other respiratory diseases. The National Academy of Sciences found that there was sufficient evidence to establish a causal link between a number of respiratory conditions and the presence of asthma triggers, irritants, pathogens, fungi and mold, including stachybotrys chartarum, soot from severe smoke or fire damage and flood damage, mold or environmental pathogens including bird or bat droppings or potentially infectious materials as defined by 29 CFR 1910, including H1N1, viruses, bacteria, blood borne pathogens, chemical spills, and sewage. Vulnerable populations such as those with profound immune-suppression, obstructive or cavity lung diseases, allergic rhinoconjunctivitis, asthma exacerbated by moldy materials, pneumonitis, are at particular risk. A highly trained workforce with skills across individual hazard and remediation method techniques will help to address multiple and common hazards in a safe manner. Further, in times of crisis, both natural and man-made, profiteers and other unscrupulous persons have historically taken advantage of victims. An approved master environmental hazard remediation technician registration program would result in a uniform standard of training that would allow the citizens of New York city to have confidence that environmental hazard remediation is done efficiently, effectively and safely. Therefore, the council finds that it is in the best interests of the city to create a voluntary master environmental hazard remediation technician registration program which would recognize those who are sufficiently trained to hold themselves out as a master environmental hazard remediation technician.
