§2644 Requirements if EPA fails to promulgate regulations

Summary

If the EPA does not create required rules on time for asbestos inspection, response, or transport and disposal, or if the EPA’s rules are made but a court stops them for more than 30 days, local school districts must follow the EPA’s most current guidance instead. Those duties stay in effect until the EPA issues the rules or the court lift the stay. Within 540 days after October 22, 1986, each school district must inspect every school building for asbestos using accredited inspectors and labs, unless a qualifying inspection was already done before that date. Within 720 days they must start an operation and maintenance plan for friable asbestos (asbestos that can crumble and release fibers) and train maintenance staff. They must send a management plan to the Governor within 810 days, begin putting it into action within 990 days, and finish implementation in a timely way. The plan must follow EPA guidance, include required elements like warning labels, and include an inspection statement covering work done before October 22, 1986. That statement must give inspection dates, inspector names and qualifications, areas checked, lab names and qualifications, results, and details of any actions taken (where, how, and who did them). After cleanup actions (except certain types), indoor asbestos levels must not be higher than outdoor levels when measured by a scanning electron microscope or transmission electron microscope; if no reliable outdoor test exists, assume outdoor is <0.003 fibers/cc for SEM and <0.005 fibers/cc for TEM. The management plan must be kept in the school district office for public review, and parents, teachers, and employee groups must be notified it is available. Schools must protect building occupants during every activity and must transport and dispose of asbestos under the latest EPA Asbestos Waste Management Guidance.