PRIA Logo™
Take the PRIA Score
Title 20 — EducationRelease 119-73

§3602 Asbestos Hazards School Safety Task Force

Title 20 › Chapter CHAPTER 49— - ASBESTOS SCHOOL HAZARD DETECTION AND CONTROL › § 3602

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Sets up a 10-member Asbestos Hazards School Safety Task Force. The Secretary must appoint the members within 30 days after June 14, 1980. Members include representatives from Education, Health and Human Services, the National Cancer Institute, the EPA, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, OSHA, and four people from education and health groups. The Secretary picks the chair. Members serve as long as the Task Force exists, and vacancies are filled the same way. The Task Force must meet within 30 days after appointments. Five members make a quorum. Nonfederal members are paid a daily rate set by the Secretary but not more than the daily equivalent of the highest GS‑16 pay, and all members get travel expenses under section 5703. The Department of Education must provide staff help if asked. The Task Force must collect and share medical, scientific, and technical information about asbestos risks and how to identify and test asbestos. It must give that information to state and local education agencies. The Task Force also reviews grant and loan applications under sections 3604 and 3605 and advises the Secretary, checks EPA guidelines on asbestos in schools and suggests changes, and helps the Secretary make standards under section 3606. The Task Force ends 180 days after the Secretary’s loan authority under section 3605 expires.

Full Legal Text

Title 20, §3602

Education — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)There is established a task force to be known as the Asbestos Hazards School Safety Task Force (hereinafter in this chapter referred to as “Task Force”). The Task Force shall be composed of ten members, who shall be appointed by the Secretary within 30 days after June 14, 1980, as follows:
(A)One representative of the Department of Education, recommended by the Secretary of Education.
(B)One representative of the Department of Health and Human Services.
(C)One representative of the National Cancer Institute.
(D)One representative of the Environmental Protection Agency, recommended by the Administrator of such agency.
(E)One representative of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
(F)One representative of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, recommended by the Secretary of Labor.
(G)Four representatives from among organizations concerned with education and health.
(2)The Secretary shall designate a chairman of the Task Force from among its members.
(3)Members shall be appointed for the life of the Task Force. Any vacancy in the Task Force shall be filled in the same manner in which the original appointment was made.
(b)(1)The Task Force shall meet, no later than 30 days after the appointment of its members, at the call of the chairman of the Task Force.
(2)Five members of the Task Force shall constitute a quorum for purposes of conducting the business of the Task Force, but a lesser number may hold hearings.
(c)(1)Members of the Task Force who are not full-time officers or employees of the Federal Government shall receive compensation at a rate determined by the Secretary, but not to exceed the daily equivalent of the maximum annual rate of pay in effect for grade GS–16 of the General Schedule, for each day (including traveltime) during which they are engaged in the performance of the duties of the Task Force.
(2)While away from their homes or regular places of business in the performance of the duties of the Task Force, all members of the Task Force shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in the same manner as persons employed intermittently in the Government service are allowed expenses under section 5703 of title 5.
(d)(1)Upon request of the Task Force, the Secretary shall make available to the Task Force personnel of the Department of Education to assist the Task Force in carrying out its duties.
(2)The Task Force may use the United States mails in the same manner and upon the same conditions as other departments and agencies of the United States.
(e)The duties of the Task Force shall include—
(1)the compilation of medical, scientific, and technical information explaining—
(A)the health and safety hazards associated with asbestos materials; and
(B)the means of identifying, sampling, and testing materials suspected of emitting asbestos fibers;
(2)the distribution of the information described in paragraph (1) (in any appropriate form such as pamphlets, reports, or instructions) to State educational agencies and to local educational agencies for the purpose of assisting such agencies in carrying out activities described in this chapter;
(3)the review of applications for grants and loans under section 3604 and 3605 of this title, and the submission to the Secretary of recommendations respecting the approval or disapproval of such applications;
(4)the review of any guidelines established by the Environmental Protection Agency for identifying those schools in which exposure to asbestos fibers constitutes a health problem and for taking appropriate corrective actions at such schools, in order to determine whether any modifications of such guidelines should be recommended to the Secretary under paragraph (5); and
(5)providing the Secretary with assistance in formulating standards and procedures under section 3606 of this title by—
(A)submitting to the Secretary relevant information concerning the results of the review made under paragraph (4) of this subsection; and
(B)recommending such modifications to the guidelines referred to in such paragraph as the Task Force considers appropriate.
(f)The Task Force shall cease to exist at the end of the 180-day period beginning on the date that the authority of the Secretary to make loans under section 3605 of this title has expired.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

References in Other Laws to GS–16, 17, or 18 Pay RatesReferences in laws to the rates of pay for GS–16, 17, or 18, or to maximum rates of pay under the General Schedule, to be considered references to rates payable under specified sections of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees, see section 529 [title I, § 101(c)(1)] of Pub. L. 101–509, set out in a note under section 5376 of Title 5.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

20 U.S.C. § 3602

Title 20 — Education

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73