GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1989

H	2 

HOUSE BILL 516
Committee Substitute Favorable 4/27/89

Short Title:  Asbestos Control Program.	(Public)
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Sponsors:
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Referred to:  
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March 9, 1989

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO ESTABLISH AN ASBESTOS CONTROL PROGRAM.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  Chapter 130A of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new Article to read:
“ARTICLE 19.
"Asbestos.
"§ 130A-444. Definitions.
As used in this Article, unless the context clearly requires otherwise:
(1)	‘Asbestos' means asbestiform varieties of chrysotile (serpentine), crocidolite (riebeckite), amosite (cummingtonite-grunerite), anthophyllite, tremolite and actinolite.
(2)	‘Asbestos containing material' means material which contains more than one percent (1%) asbestos by area, including friable asbestos containing material and nonfriable asbestos containing material.
(3)	‘Abatement' means work performed to repair, maintain, remove, isolate, or encapsulate friable asbestos containing material or nonfriable asbestos containing material that will become friable during abatement.  The term does not include inspections, preparation of management plans, abatement project design, taking of samples, or project overview.
(4)	‘Friable' means any material that when dry may be broken, crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to powder by hand pressure, and includes previously nonfriable material after this previously nonfriable material becomes damaged to the extent that when dry it may be crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to powder by hand pressure.
(5)	‘Management' means all activities related to asbestos containing material, including inspections, preparation of management plans, abatement project design, abatement, project overview, and taking of samples.
(6)	‘Public area' means an area in any building, excluding residences, that is open to persons not protected by the Occupational Safety and Health Act, as amended.
(7)	‘Removal' means stripping, chipping, sanding, sawing, drilling, scraping, sucking, and other methods of separating material from its installed location in a building.
(8)	‘Residence' means any single family dwelling or any multi-family dwelling of fewer than 10 units.
"§ 130A-445. Management of asbestos containing material in schools.
All schools covered by P.L. 99-519, the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act as amended, shall have inspections conducted in all school buildings for asbestos containing materials and shall prepare and submit management plans to the Department.  For the protection of public health, the Commission shall adopt rules governing school management plans.  These rules shall include contents and format of plans, plan review and approval process, corrections to plan, schedules and methods for implementation of approved plans, and periodic inspections.
"§ 130A-446. Asbestos exposure standard for public areas.
For the protection of the public health, the Commission shall adopt rules to establish a maximum airborne asbestos exposure level for public areas.  The rules shall also address sampling and analysis procedures.
"§ 130A-447. Accreditation of persons performing asbestos management.
(a)	No person shall commence or continue to perform asbestos management activities unless he has been accredited by the Department.  The Commission shall adopt rules governing the accreditation of these persons.  The rules shall include categories of accreditation, education, experience, training, application processing, reciprocity, record keeping, and issuance, renewal, suspension and revocation of accreditation.  The rules shall establish categories of accreditation for inspectors, management planners, abatement designers, supervisors, workers, air monitors, and management consultants.  These rules shall be at least as stringent as the accreditation plan mandated by P.L. 99-519 and the Model Accreditation Plan of the Environmental Protection Agency.
(b)	The following are exempt from the accreditation requirements:
(1)	The owner or operator of a building, excluding schools covered by the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Act, as amended, and his permanent employees performing asbestos containing material management activities only in nonpublic areas of the building;
(2)	A person performing asbestos containing material management activities only in his personal residence;
(3)	Governmental regulatory personnel performing asbestos containing material management services under authority of federal, State, or local regulations;
(4)	Licensed general contractors, heating and plumbing contractors, electrical contractors, and refrigeration contractors performing activities associated with their license who disturb less than 35 cubic feet, 160 square feet, or 260 linear feet of asbestos containing material per job, or who disturb more than this amount only under the supervision of an accredited supervisor; and
(5)	A person who has applied for accreditation in the worker category shall be exempt from accreditation requirements for 90 days after submission of the application.  However, the exemption shall be terminated if the application is rejected.
"§ 130A-448. Asbestos management accreditation fees.
The Department shall establish and collect asbestos containing material management accreditation and annual renewal fees.  The fees shall not exceed one hundred dollars ($100.00) per accreditation category, except that the fee for the abatement worker category shall not exceed twenty-five dollars ($25.00). A person who is accredited in more than one category shall pay a fee for each category.
"§ 130A-449. Asbestos containing material removal permits.
No person shall remove more than 35 cubic feet, 160 square feet, or 260 linear feet per job of friable asbestos containing material or nonfriable asbestos containing material that will become friable during removal without an asbestos containing material removal permit issued by the Department.  The Commission shall adopt rules governing the issuance of the permit.  The rules shall include application processing, content and form of application, removal, transportation and disposal standards, record keeping, and issuance, suspension, and revocation of the permit.
"§ 130A-450. Asbestos containing material removal permit fees.
The Department shall establish and collect an application fee for asbestos containing material removal permits. The fee shall not exceed one percent (1%) of the contracted price or twenty cents ($.20) per square foot or linear foot, whichever is greater.
"§ 130A-451. Commission to adopt rules.
The Commission is authorized to adopt rules to implement this Article and P.L. 99-519, the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act, as amended."
Sec. 2.  Until the Commission establishes the rules required by this Article, the maximum airborne asbestos exposure level for public areas shall be 0.01 fibers greater than five microns in length per cubic centimeter of air, to be measured in public areas during normal occupancy.
Sec. 3. Accreditation fees and permit fees collected pursuant to this Article shall be used for implementation of this Article.
Sec. 4. Accreditations and reaccreditations issued by the Department under the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act prior to the effective date of this act shall remain valid until they expire or are suspended or revoked.
Sec. 5. This act is effective upon ratification except that, (i) persons not required to be accredited under the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act shall have until 90 days after ratification to become accredited under this act, and (ii) the requirement for asbestos containing material removal permits shall become effective 90 days after ratification and shall apply to removal jobs commenced on or after that date.  Upon ratification of this act, the Commission for Health Services shall adopt rules pursuant to G.S. 150B-13 to implement this act.