Radon Legislation Might be Drafted : State Sen. Ed Davis Considers Bill That Could Make New Houses Safer

State Sen. Ed Davis plans to meet with his legislative aides later this week to discuss drafting legislation aimed at making new homes safer from the potential dangers of cancer-causing radon gas.

Davis, a Republican who represents much of northern Los Angeles County and southern Ventura County, would like to fashion legislation that requires builders to determine their land’s susceptibility to radon gas before they’re allowed to build new homes. He also wants builders to adopt construction techniques that can limit radon’s intrusion into new houses.

Radon is a colorless, ordorless, naturally occuring gas caused by the radioactive decay of uranium in soil. The gas can seep into homes and, as the gas itself decays, particles can lodge in the occupants’ lungs.

Radon is believed to account for between 5,000 and 20,000 lung-cancer deaths each year, second only to cigarette smoking.

If Davis eventually introduces a bill and it’s signed into law by Gov. George Deukmejian, it would be the first California legislation requiring builders to take steps to mitigate potential problems posed by radon.

Davis disclosed his plans just days after The Times published the results of a yearlong survey of 436 Southland homes owned by the newspaper’s employees.

Results of the survey--which was the largest radon study ever conducted in California--indicate that only about 50,000 homes, or 1.2% of all houses in the five-county region surveyed, have levels of radon above those recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

However, the study found that the chances of exceeding the EPA’s recommended radon limits were much higher than the Southland average in an area that cuts through southeastern Ventura County and includes Simi Valley, Moorpark and Thousand Oaks.

“A lot of my area . . . seems to have a problem,” said Davis.

If possible, Davis said, he’d like his proposed measure to require builders to disclose “the potential or actual radon level” of the land they want to develop as a condition of getting a building permit.

But William Young, a radon researcher and director of consumer affairs for the National Assn. of Home Builders, says there currently is no reliable way of testing soil to see whether homes built on the site will likely develop radon problems. “It’s dependent on a variety of factors, including design, insulation, and whether the homeowner tends to keep windows and doors open more often than his neighbors do,” Young said.

However, builders might be able to meet Davis’ soil-testing requirements by surveying many homes of similar design in the same area.

The senator’s hopes of getting builders to adopt construction techniques that reduce a home’s chances of developing radon problems “are more workable,” Young said.

Many builders in other states already include simple “sub-slab ventilation systems” in their new houses to reduce the amount of radon gas that can seep into living areas, Young said. The systems add about $200 to $300 to a builder’s per-unit costs, he said.

Other builders simply put extra gravel under their slabs, or install a thick, plastic-like sheet to keep radon from getting into the houses.

Although all three preventive measures are relatively inexpensive, Davis said any radon bill that he may eventually introduce would likely be opposed by builder trade groups. Builder lobbyists often fight legislation that has the potential to delay the development process or add to their construction costs.

Officials from the Building Industry Assn. of Ventura County and the Building Industry Assn. of Los Angeles County did not return a reporter’s telephone calls concerning Davis’ proposals.

“I’m sure the builders would be after my bill,” said Davis. “The developers will oppose it because it’ll cost money.

“But if you’re putting people into a house, you don’t want to put them in a death trap.”

Officials at the California Assn. of Realtors, another powerful trade group, said they were pleased that results of The Times’ survey indicate that the Southland doesn’t have widespread, serious radon problems.

The CAR has supported two different bills that called for surveys of hundreds of California homes in an effort to determine the extent of potential radon problems, said Dwayne Bartek, a realtor who chairs the trade group’s Environmental Hazards Task Force.

One of the bills was approved by the state Legislature but vetoed by Gov. George Deukmejian last year; the other failed to gain approval this year.

Bartek said it’s “premature” to say whether his trade group would back the type of bill that Davis is considering. “We’d like to have more information about the extent of radon problems,” he said.

However, some realtors privately fret that elected officials in areas suspected of having serious radon problems might enact ordinances mandating testing of homes before they’re sold, or that similar legislation may be approved statewide.

This so-called “point-of-sale” testing could result in costly escrow delays and fewer home sales, some realtors said.

The state Department of Health Services has already announced plans for a follow-up study to better assess the extent of radon in a broader area that includes southeastern Ventura County, Oxnard, Ventura, Santa Paula, Simi Valley and homes in and near the Santa Monica Mountains.

A Simi Valley home had the highest radon level found in The Times’ survey, with a reading five times that of the EPA’s recommended levels. However, realtors in that area said last week that the newspaper’s report had generated little discussion among home-buyers.

“I don’t think these surveys are going to have any real effect on our market,” said Chuck Milleneau, manager of Lamb Realty in Simi Valley.

“Home prices here are 25% to 50% below prices in Thousand Oaks, the Conejo Valley or the San Fernando Valley. That makes this area very attractive to home-buyers.

“Unless these tests show something that’s really, really serious,” he said, “I don’t think it’s going to keep people from moving here.”