Title 15 — Commerce and TradeRelease 119-73not60

§2648 Emergency Authority

Title 15 › Chapter 53— TOXIC SUBSTANCES CONTROL › Subchapter II— ASBESTOS HAZARD EMERGENCY RESPONSE › § 2648

Last updated Apr 3, 2026|Official source

Summary

When airborne asbestos or crumbly asbestos in a school run by a local educational agency (school district) creates an immediate, serious danger and the school district is not taking enough action (as judged by the Administrator (a federal official) or the Governor), the Administrator or the Governor can take emergency action. A Governor must tell the Administrator ahead of time. If the Administrator then acts on the same danger, the Governor must not start or continue the emergency action. Before acting, the Governor must notify the local school district; the Administrator must notify both the local district and the Governor. The Administrator or a Governor may sue to recover all emergency costs in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia or in the federal district where the emergency happened. If the suit is against the local school district, it must be filed in the district where that district is located. Also, when there is evidence of such an immediate danger, the Administrator may ask the Attorney General to sue, or the Governor may sue directly.

Full Legal Text

Title 15, §2648

Commerce and Trade — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)Whenever—

(A)the presence of airborne asbestos or the condition of friable asbestos-containing material in a school building governed by a local educational agency poses an imminent and substantial endangerment to human health or the environment, and

(B)the local educational agency is not taking sufficient action (as determined by the Administrator or the Governor) to respond to the airborne asbestos or friable asbestos-containing material,

(2)The Governor of a State shall notify the Administrator within a reasonable period of time before the Governor plans to take an emergency action under this subsection. After such notification, if the Administrator takes an emergency action with respect to the same hazard, the Governor may not carry out (or continue to carry out, if the action has been started) the emergency action.

(3)The following notification shall be provided before an emergency action is taken under this subsection:

(A)In the case of a Governor taking the action, the Governor shall notify the local educational agency concerned.

(B)In the case of the Administrator taking the action, the Administrator shall notify both the local educational agency concerned and the Governor of the State in which such agency is located.

(4)The Administrator or the Governor of a State may seek reimbursement for all costs of an emergency action taken under this subsection in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia or for the district in which the emergency action occurred. In any action seeking reimbursement from a local educational agency, the action shall be brought in the United States District Court for the district in which the local educational agency is located.

(b)Upon receipt of evidence that the presence of airborne asbestos or the condition of friable asbestos-containing material in a school building governed by a local educational agency poses an imminent and substantial endangerment to human health or the environment—

(1)the Administrator may request the Attorney General to bring suit, or

(2)the Governor of a State may bring suit,

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

15 U.S.C. § 2648

Title 15 — Commerce and Trade

Last Updated

Apr 3, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60