ISSA Director of Legislative Affairs Bill Balek has been appointed to serve on the Missouri Green Cleaning Committee, a group tasked with developing guidelines and specifications for that state’s law mandating green cleaning for schools.

On July 10, Missouri Governor Matt Blunt signed into law an act that requires the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to establish guidelines and specifications for green cleaning programs, including “environmentally sensitive” cleaning and maintenance products, janitorial paper supplies, and cleaning equipment. By law, the department is required to provide “multiple avenues” by which cleaning products may be determined to be environmentally sensitive under the guidelines. These guidelines are scheduled to be completed “no later than 180 days after August 28, 2008.”

With the enactment of the Missouri law, there are now a total of 16 state governments that have adopted a green cleaning procurement policy and program of one kind or another. ISSA has summarized all state-, local-, and federal-government green cleaning procurement policies and mandates in a document entitled Green Cleaning Product Procurement Policies, Initiatives, and Requirements in the U.S. (www.issa.com/greenprocure).

Moreover, it is estimated that a dozen more states are poised to introduce similar legislation in the near future. That will be the focus of the Green Clean Schools National Summit, hosted by the Healthy Schools Campaign (www.healthyschoolscampaign.org) on November 12, 2008, in Washington, D.C. ISSA is a sponsor of this event and will participate in the program. ISSA members are also encouraged to attend. Please click here for more information.