Question:

Starting on page 157 of the AHERA course book (APPENDIX A, 100 Commonly Asked Q’s), question #38 addresses what suspect ACMs are and provides a partial list of materials classified as either “suspected ACBM” or as “not covered by AHERA rule.” Concrete is listed first with an “X” indicating that it’s not covered by the AHERA rule. As discussed in class, though, concrete may still contain asbestos and require asbestos sampling/analysis (or the presumption that it’s ACM) in order to properly characterize it for disposal (under NESHAP regs) or safely handle it (break, cut, or otherwise disturb it) under OSHA regulations. We have hundreds of substations and other facilities/locations with concrete foundations, underground conduit/piping (cement/Transite, PVC, fibrous/paper-like, etc.), and other non-AHERA-regulated materials. Are you able to provide a regulatory citation for the requirement to sample and analyze these materials for asbestos (or presume ACM) prior to disturbance (OSHA?) and disposal (NESHAP)?

Answer:

You reference the EPA AHERA “100 Questions” document. This is an excellent reference for which materials are suspect ACBMs (Asbestos Containing Building Materials) under AHERA. It only has regulatory application in schools k-12. However, it has reference application to asbestos inspections of the interior portions of all your buildings, from a NESHAP perspective and from a liability management perspective. But do not get AHERA applicability mixed up with NESHAP requirements. It is true that NESHAP would reference AHERA inspection procedures to clarify the “thorough inspection” they require, but AHERA is about managing ACBM in occupied school buildings, and NESHAP is about demolishing the building. Quite different applications. I recommend that you use AHERA bulk sampling rules in your inspections, but not the AHERA determination of what is suspect and what is not.  EPA has published a 2016 NESHAP Applicability Determination ruling to clarify that, unlike AHERA, sampling of concrete or cement structures is required before demolition or renovation disturbance.

You also ask about regulatory citations pertaining to these issues from OSHA and NESHAP. OSHA does not require asbestos inspections for construction applications but has presumed ACM (PACM) for friable surfacing and TSI in construction before 1981 (they also require assumption of Vinyl Composition Tile). They allow rebuttal of PACM at 29 CFR 1926.1101(k)(5), but this is not an asbestos inspection. It is simply sampling a specific material by a specific person using AHERA protocol to prove non-PACM. Reference .1101(b) and (k)(1) for an introduction to PACM, and (k)(5)(ii)(B) for rebutting PACM (see .1101(k)(5)(iii) for rebuttal of Vinyl Asbestos Tile).  The NESHAP citation for the required inspection before demolition or renovation disturbance is found at 40 CFR 61.145(a) and waste management is found at 61.150.  Understand Asbestos Containing Waste Material (ACWM) as regulated waste (friable). The cement products that you mention are not RACM or ACWM, therefore not regulated under NESHAP (unless, of course, you have made them into friable material, in which case they have been converted into RACM or ACWM). As an added clarification, breaking a Category II Non-friable ACM does not make it friable. It is merely a broken Cat II material (however, local delegated NESHAP jurisdictions may have special rules. It would be best to check with them).

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