BILL NO. 365

(b) "Minister" means the Minister of Health and Wellness.

3 (1) The Indoor Air Advisory Committee is established.

(2) The Minister shall appoint members of the Committee for a term of one year.

(3) Appointments to the Committee must reflect the diversity of the Province and must include, to the greatest extent possible, representation from

(a) immunocompromised persons;

(b) seniors;

(c) Indigenous persons;

(d) African Nova Scotians;

(e) other racialized communities;

(f) persons with disabilities;

(g) persons living with, or who have experienced, homelessness;

(h) persons who work in industries that require close physical contact with other people;

(i) persons living in rural and remote areas;

(j) persons living in long-term care or supportive living facilities;

(k) persons who work in long-term care facilities, residential care facilities, youth and correctional services facilities, supportive living facilities, homeless shelters or similar congregate settings;

(l) essential workers;

(m) migrant workers and their legal representatives;

(n) individuals with professional expertise and experience working in epidemiology;

(o) healthcare providers with demonstrated experience working with members of marginalized communities;

(p) frontline unionized public education workers;

(q) occupational hygienists;

(r) small business owners;

(s) frontline service-sector workers from public and private unions;

(t) engineers, architects, building ventilation specialists and energy efficiency specialists;

(u) indoor air quality researchers and aerosol scientists;

(v) medical professionals specializing in infectious diseases, medical microbiology and infection prevention and control;

(w) healthcare workers, including personal support workers and developmental services workers;

(x) communications professionals with experience in public health communications, behaviour change and harm reduction; and

(y) other individuals who the Minister believes will make useful contributions to the Committee's work.

(4) The Minister shall appoint a member of the Committee as its Chair and a member as its Vice-chair.

(5) A quorum of the Committee is a majority of its members.

(6) The Committee may create panels or subcommittees consisting of members of the Committee with expertise or experience in a topic being considered by the Committee.

(7) Subject to Section 5, the Governor in Council may pay remuneration and reimburse expenses of members of the Committee.

(8) The Department of Health and Wellness shall provide any administrative and technical support required for the Committee to conduct its business.

4 (1) The Committee shall make recommendations to the Minister respecting improvements to the Province's infrastructure, legislation and standards relating to indoor air quality in non-residential workplaces and public settings.

(2) Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), the Committee shall inquire into and make recommendations on

(a) how to modify maintenance standards, public health recommendations and legislation to ensure that public settings have an appropriate combination of ventilation, filtration and other air cleaning methods to reduce the transmission of airborne disease;

(b) how to educate the public about indoor air quality in public settings, including requirements for monitoring and reporting indoor air quality and real-time public display of indoor air quality;

(c) how to ensure that the Province has adequate incentives and subsidies in place to mitigate, reduce or cover the costs of measures to improve indoor air quality incurred by small businesses and other private institutions with public spaces, including consideration of grants to subsidize the cost of upgrading air quality systems;

(d) how to ensure equitable protection from respiratory illness for Nova Scotians facing marginalization, including being low-income, disabled, Indigenous, homeless, a sex worker, racialized, immunocompromised or a frontline worker;

(e) how to expand workplace insurance coverage to reflect the hazard of frontline workers being exposed to airborne diseases;

(f) how to ensure, guided by the precautionary principle, that personal protective equipment, high-quality respiratory protection, such as N95 respirators, and layered prevention controls are available to workers, students, patients and customers exposed to airborne disease transmission during future pandemics;

(g) how to ensure that regulations addressing airborne disease transmission are in place for hazard assessments, infection transmission and control measures, investigations and contact tracing;

(h) how to ensure that public and workplace airborne disease transmission data is collected, transparent and communicated regularly to the public to inform workplace transmission prevention and public health measures; and

(i) how to ensure that joint health and safety committees comprehensively review how to mitigate airborne disease spread during a public health emergency.

(3) In performing its functions, the Committee shall consult with

(a) healthcare providers, including

(i) community health and wellness centres,

(ii) Tajikeimik, and

(iii) collaborative family practice teams;

(b) Engineers Nova Scotia;

(c) the Canadian Aerosol Transmission Coalition;

(d) the Nova Scotia Federation of Labour;

(e) unions representing workers involved in healthcare, trades and other relevant fields;

(f) the Construction Association of Nova Scotia;

(g) public education workers in primary, secondary and post-secondary educational institutions;

(h) child-care and day-care administrators and workers;

(i) small business associations;

(j) the Canadian Committee on Indoor Air Quality;

(k) the Workers' Compensation Board of Nova Scotia; and

(l) any other stakeholders with whom the Committee determines it is appropriate to consult.

(4) On or before the day that is one year after the day the Committee is established, the Committee shall report its recommendations to the Minister.

(5) On or before the day that is 90 days after the day the Committee reports its recommendations to the Minister under subsection (4), the Minister shall inform the House of Assembly of the recommendations of the Committee and which of those recommendations that the Minister recommends the Government implement.

(6) On or before the day that is one year after the day the Minister informs the House of Assembly of the recommendations under subsection (5), the Minister shall report to the House on the progress the Government has made in implementing the recommendations.

5 The money required for the purpose of this Act must be paid out of money appropriated for that purpose by the Legislature.

 

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