Law Requires Removal of School Asbestos

Legislation requiring the safe removal of cancer-causing asbestos from up to 35,000 public schools attended by an estimated 15 million children has been signed into law by President Reagan.

The new law, one of the major environmental actions of the 99th Congress, is aimed at putting teeth into the frequently criticized efforts by the Environmental Protection Agency to rid schools of the deadly substance, once widely used as a building material.

Under the measure, which Reagan signed Wednesday, the EPA has a year to prescribe proper procedures for inspecting schools for asbestos, tell local officials when it must be removed and when it can be stabilized and set standards for its proper transportation and disposal.

The law authorizes creation of a $100-million trust fund to provide grants and no-interest loans to financially strapped school districts with severe asbestos problems.

Inspections Now Required

EPA now requires only that public schools be inspected for unstable, crumbling asbestos, which can release airborne fibers that eventually cause a variety of lung ailments, including cancer.

Schools have been under no mandate to safely remove such asbestos. They are required only to alert the community to its presence.

“Some schools have taken no action, while others have undertaken expensive abatement projects with little guidance from EPA,” said Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.).

To combat shoddy removal work that can fill the air with asbestos fibers, the law requires EPA to develop a training and accreditation program for abatement contractors and requires schools to employ only certified workers.

The law also contains a major first step toward tackling the even larger problem of asbestos in an estimated 700,000 public and commercial buildings nationwide.

Calls for Report

It gives EPA a year to study the extent of asbestos dangers in these structures and to report to Congress about whether it thinks the assessment and removal requirements for schools should be applied across the board.

EPA Administrator Lee M. Thomas said the law “represents a positive step” for the nation.

“It’s the sleeper environmental legislation of the 99th Congress,” said Rep. James J. Florio (D-N.J.). “I’m very pleased we can get to the business of protecting one-third of the nation’s schoolchildren and the employees in those schools.”

“This is a significant step forward to protect people from one of the most deadly substances known to man,” said Sen. Robert T. Stafford (R-Vt.). “This is a landmark law, a big victory for the country.”

Lautenberg, a frequent critic of EPA’s past efforts against asbestos, said: “I’m pleased the President signed this bill. Discovering the problem is only half the battle. What’s the use of identifying a hazard without taking further action.”