Asbestos Management

What is Asbestos?

Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral created through a unique geologic process that was used in many building materials due to its physical properties.

About the Program

The goals of the Asbestos Management Program are to:

Perform inspections to determine the presence of asbestos-containing materials are present and re-inspect every three years.
Develop, maintain, and update the asbestos management plan for each school.
Provide yearly notification to parents, teachers, and employee organizations on the availability of the school’s asbestos management plan and planned or unplanned asbestos related actions taken.
Perform periodic surveillance of known or suspected asbestos-containing materials.
Ensure that trained and licensed professionals perform asbestos related activities.
Provide custodial and building maintenance staff with asbestos-awareness training.

The Asbestos Management Plan

In October 1986, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) enacted the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA). The standard is located under 40 CFR 763 Subpart E entitled Asbestos Containing Material in Schools.

The standard requires local education agencies to identify (visual inspection, sample and sample analysis) and manage asbestos containing material within school buildings. Local education agencies were to submit asbestos management plans (AMP) to their respective State agency and implemented the plans by July 9, 1989.

The Howard County Public School System's program for fulfilling these responsibilities is outlined in the asbestos management plan for each building. These plans contain information on the presence and location of asbestos containing materials, initial inspections, response actions, and post-response action activities and are located in each school's administrative office. A copy of each plan is also available in the Office of the Environment located at the building maintenance office. These plans are available for public review during school and Board business hours. The plans, however, may not be taken from the building.

AHERA Annual Notification

Annual notifications are included in the HCPSS Student and Parent Handbook.

Frequently Asked Questions

Below are excerpts related to the school system taken from the EPA's Asbestos Frequently Asked Questions.

Q1: Was my school required to be inspected for asbestos?

A1: Yes, unless the building architect or project engineer responsible for the construction of the school building certified in writing that no asbestos materials were used in the building’s construction. The results of the inspections and all re-inspections, required every three years, are contained within the schools asbestos management plan.

Q2: My child’s school has asbestos in it. Why aren't they taking it out?

A2: The local education agency can safely and effectively "manage in place" asbestos-containing materials that are in good condition. The risk from asbestos is when it is damaged and/or disturbed and asbestos fibers become airborne where they can be inhaled. If the local education agency does perform a “response action” or an asbestos abatement, they must use properly trained and accredited asbestos professionals to do this work.

Q3: Is the school district required to do anything about asbestos in its school buildings?

A3: Yes. The Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) was passed by Congress in 1986. AHERA requires public school districts and non-profit private schools to inspect their schools for asbestos containing building material and prepare management plans which recommend the best way to reduce the hazard from any asbestos-containing materials that may be present. Options include repairing damaged asbestos-containing material (such as spraying it with sealants, enclosing it) or removing it.

Q4: What is an asbestos management plan?

A4: An asbestos management plan is required to provide documentation of the recommended asbestos response actions, the location of asbestos within the school, and any action taken to repair or remove the material. The school authority must maintain records to be included in the Asbestos Management Plan. These records include among other things:

List of the name and address of each school building and whether the building has asbestos containing building material, and the type of asbestos-containing material.
Date of the original and each subsequent school re-inspection.
The plan for re-inspections, and operation and maintenance.
A blueprint that clearly identifies the location and condition of all asbestos-containing building material that remains in the school.
A description of any response action or preventive measures taken to eliminate or control asbestos exposure.
A copy of the analysis of any building material, and the name and address of any laboratory that sampled the material.
The name, address, and telephone number of the “designated person” to ensure the duties of the local education agency (LEA) are carried out.
A description of steps taken to inform workers, teachers, and students or their legal guardians about inspections, re-inspections, response actions, and periodic surveillance.

Q5: Does this management plan have to be updated periodically?

A5: Yes. The asbestos management plan must be updated with information collected during periodic surveillance every 6 months, re-inspections every 3 years, and every time a response action is taken within the school. Also, records of annual notifications to parents, teachers, and staff concerning the availability of the school’s asbestos management plan must be included within the asbestos management plan files.

Q6: Does my school district know where the asbestos in its school buildings is located?

A6: They are required to know and to describe where the material is located in the asbestos management plan, and also to monitor and record any change in its condition that might pose a potential safety risk.

Q7: How can we have the air tested in my school?

A7: AHERA only requires air testing following an asbestos response action (e.g., asbestos repair or removal activity) to determine whether the activity has been properly completed. This is done by measuring the amount of asbestos in the air where the asbestos response action took place, and is referred to as "clearance."

Q8: Is it dangerous to have asbestos containing material in my school?

A8: Not necessarily. Undamaged asbestos that is properly managed in place poses little health risk to students, teachers and other school occupants.

Q9: I thought asbestos was banned and then removed from schools years ago?

A9: Asbestos-containing materials, with few exceptions, are not currently banned in the United States and are still “managed-in-place” in schools. Under requirements set forth by the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) these asbestos-containing materials in schools must be managed in an undamaged and non-friable condition.

Resources for Additional Information

Please reach out to John Farmer, Coordinator of Environmental Services, with any questions about HCPSS’s Asbestos Management Program.