Asbestos School Hazard Abatement Act (ASHAA)
Title 15, Chapter 53, Subchapter 2, Sec.
2641.
(a) Findings
(1)
The Environmental Protection
Agency's rule on local educational agency inspection for, and notification of,
the presence of friable asbestos-containing material in school buildings includes
neither standards for the proper identification of asbestos-containing material
and appropriate response actions with respect to friable asbestos-containing material,
nor a requirement that response actions with respect to friable asbestos-containing
material be carried out in a safe and complete manner once actions are found to
be necessary. As a result of the lack of regulatory guidance from the Environmental
Protection Agency, some schools have not undertaken response action while many
others have undertaken expensive projects without knowing if their action is necessary,
adequate, or safe. Thus, the danger of exposure to asbestos continues to exist
in schools, and some exposure actually may have increased due to the lack of Federal
standards and improper response action.
(2)
There is no uniform
program for accrediting persons involved in asbestos identification and abatement,
nor are local educational agencies required to use accredited contractors for
asbestos work.
(3)
The guidance provided by the Environmental
Protection Agency in its ''Guidance for Controlling Asbestos-Containing Material
in Buildings'' is insufficient in detail to ensure adequate responses. Such guidance
is intended to be used only until the regulations required by this subchapter
become effective.
(4)
Because there are no Federal standards
whatsoever regulating daily exposure to asbestos in other public and commercial
buildings, persons in addition to those comprising the Nation's school population
may be exposed daily to asbestos.
(b) Purpose
(1)
to provide
for the establishment of Federal regulations which require inspection for asbestos-containing
material and implementation of appropriate response actions with respect to asbestos-containing
material in the Nation's schools in a safe and complete manner;
(2)
to mandate safe and complete periodic reinspection of school buildings following
response actions, where appropriate; and
(3)
to require the Administrator
to conduct a study to find out the extent of the danger to human health posed
by asbestos in public and commercial buildings and the means to respond to any
such danger.
