Green Cleaning Products for a Clean Green Iowa

A bill sponsored by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (D-Des Moines) will arrive in the House from the bill drafters in the next day or two. Generally, the bill provides for public school districts and state buildings to use environmentally preferable – or green – cleaning products. A similar bill, House File 199, did not make it out of committee earlier this year.

The revised bill accomplishes several things:

1) Moves Iowa forward towards using environment and kid friendly cleaning
products;
2) Provide several easy avenues for implementation;
3) Achieves use of green cleaning products without increasing costs;
4) Has the support of legislative leaders who believe this is a positive move
for Iowa and is important enough to necessitate passage yet this session.

Specifically, the sections break down as follows:

Section 1: School Cleaning and Maintenance: Environmentally Preferable Cleaning Products

• Findings and Intent
o Children are vulnerable to and can be adversely affected by cleaning products
o The EPA estimates that human exposure to indoor pollution can be many times higher than out of doors
o Children, teachers, janitors, and other staff spend a significant amount of time in doors exposed to harmful cleaning products

• Use of Environmentally Preferable Cleaning Products
o Public school districts and state buildings will be required to use environmentally preferable cleaning products
o Existing cleaning products may be used up before green cleaning products are obtained

• Policy Guidelines and Specifications
o The Iowa Department of Public Health will maintain a list of approved cleaning products
o A cleaning product will be approved for use if it has been deemed environmentally preferable by one of several agencies including
- EPA’s Design for the Environment program,
- EcoLogo program administered by TerraChoice,
- Green Seal, or
- Alternative qualification by an accredited third-party verifying that the product meets certain recognized standards
o This bill does not preclude the use of disinfecting cleaners, sanitizers, or any other antimicrobial product when necessary to protect public health

Section 2: State Mandate Funding

• No additional state funding for cleaning products will be needed.