Around Des Moines

As of this minute you are in violation of Federal law….

I took those words quite personally since the speaker and I were the only people in the room; the words still ring in my ears more than 20 years later. My friend who was also my former student was visiting campus as a member of a board advising the university president on general issues. A chemistry major with a law degree, he had worked for more than a decade for the Environmental Protection Agency. His visit with me was social. We’d had lunch and I was giving him a tour of some old haunts and newer lab spaces in a building completed in 1950. I thought we were in a pretty uninteresting room when he looked up, stopped, looked closer, and with anger in his voice said something along the lines, “That’s exposed asbestos. They have hacked it away to make room for that heat exchanger. As of this minute you are in violation of Federal law….” and I hardly remember the rest. There might have been something to the effect that there was a daily fine until it was fixed. Well, luckily I was not in charge and he reported it to the president within the hour. Very shortly thereafter an asbestos abatement crew was on the job. In the next post (Part 5) I will describe several asbestos removal projects (abatements) that I watched first hand. But first, who’s in charge?

I am not an attorney. I’m a chemist. Don’t take my comments as legal advice. Asbestos is a regulated chemical.

As I look at the issues surrounding any activity that includes asbestos, it is clear that the task will be complex, difficult and daunting. Dealing with asbestos adds a layer of legal complexity, administrative complexity, and physical complexity. Everything is harder, slower, and more expensive. Reinforcing that point is an article Is your business using regulated chemicals? Watch your profits evaporate.

Asbestos is regulated at the federal level by:

• United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• United States Department of Labor
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

In their own words, “The mission of the Environmental Protection Agency is to protect human health and the environment. EPA works to develop and enforce regulations that implement environmental laws enacted by Congress.” One regional EPA office has provided a succinct summary of asbestos history and regulations.

While the EPA has a host of functions, two that are relevant to our discussion of asbestos are 1) setting standards and practices and 2) delegating authority to states for granting permits, monitoring, and enforcing compliance. Under point 2) then EPA delegates authority to Iowa to determine compliance and enforce regulations. By law the state regulations must be equal or more stringent than federal standards.

Asbestos is regulated at the state level by:

• Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
• Iowa Workforce Development (IWD)
• Iowa Environmental Protection Commission

Among the many rules are notification of intent, permitted levels of asbestos exposure, monitoring asbestos levels, training, worker protection, record keeping and disposal of wastes. At every step help is available from the regulatory agencies.

Some of the key statutes under which asbestos is regulated include

• 1970 Clean Air Act
  
• 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (where Section 6 regulates chemicals including asbestos
• 1986 Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act with particular attention to schools
• The National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) Section 112

If you would like a sense of the relevant federal code on environmental protection and EPA (where the codes are often prefixed with 40 CFR with the 40 for environmental law and the CFR for Code of Federal Regulations) check this e-site from the Government Printing Office. Within this site the code for building renovation is in section 61.145.

The regulations governing labor are found mainly in 29 CFR. A short fact sheet is useful orientation. We find that OSHA and the U. S. Department of Labor have three standards for workers handling asbestos: 29 CFR 1926.1101 covers construction work, and it is 45 pages; 29 CFR 1915.1001 at 42 pages covers shipyard workers; and the 24 page 29 CFR 1910.1001 covers general industry (custodial work, brake repair, etc.). This last one is also found as a 25 page pamphlet.

The Iowa Administrative Code on environmental protection (in which we find more than 100 references to asbestos) and Iowa NESHAP are also accessible on-line. The DNR has a short introduction with links. We can also note that the Iowa Administrative Code sends us back to 40 CFR 61.145 that is the EPA document. San Luis Obispo, CA has a convenient form that outlines the federal policy. You can read one section of Iowa law dealing with permits. In that link see 22.102(3) b.

There is a carrot for the owner of a building containing asbestos: help from the regulating agencies. In general it appears that both EPA and OSHA seem to recognize the difficulty of wading through pages of regulations and offer assistance through fax, phone, and TTY. There is also a stick; the federal and state governments are serious enough about protecting the public and enforcing compliance that anyone can report suspected violations. Federal law requires asbestos workers to be trained; EPA lists the certified trainers in Iowa.

Finally, Gordon Gibb, a very talented freelance writer, has also written about asbestos and the Equitable Building in LawyersandSettlements.com. His article is very interesting and considerably shorter than the sum of what will be my five.

In the next and last post on Asbestos and the Equitable Building (Part 5), I will describe several asbestos removal projects (abatements) that I watched first hand.

Guest Writer: James G. Lindberg (Jim) is the Purple Wren’s sweetie and is a visiting chemistry professor at Grinnell College and retired from Drake University.

Photo on flickr by neoyogyrt

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