 
               CHAPTER 52--EDUCATION FOR ECONOMIC SECURITY
 
             SUBCHAPTER V--ASBESTOS SCHOOL HAZARD ABATEMENT
 
Sec. 4011. Findings and purpose


(a) Findings

    The Congress finds that--
        (1) exposure to asbestos fibers has been identified over a long 
    period of time and by reputable medical and scientific evidence as 
    significantly increasing the incidence of cancer and other severe or 
    fatal diseases, such as asbestosis;
        (2) medical evidence has suggested that children may be 
    particularly vulnerable to environmentally induced cancers;
        (3) medical science has not established any minimum level of 
    exposure to asbestos fibers which is considered to be safe to 
    individuals exposed to the fibers;
        (4) substantial amounts of asbestos, particularly in sprayed 
    form, have been used in school buildings, especially during the 
    period 1946 through 1972;
        (5) partial surveys in some States have indicated that (A) in a 
    number of school buildings materials containing asbestos fibers have 
    become damaged or friable, causing asbestos fibers to be dislodged 
    into the air, and (B) asbestos concentration far exceeding normal 
    ambient air levels have been found in school buildings containing 
    such damaged materials;
        (6) the presence in school buildings of friable or easily 
    damaged asbestos creates an unwarranted hazard to the health of the 
    school children and school employees who are exposed to such 
    materials;
        (7) the Department of Health and Human Services and the 
    Environmental Protection Agency, as well as several States, have 
    attempted to publicize the potential hazards to school children and 
    employees from exposure to asbestos fibers, but there is no 
    systematic program for remedying hazardous conditions in schools;
        (8) because there is no Federal health standard regulating the 
    concentration of asbestos fibers in noncommercial workplace 
    environments such as schools, school employees and students may be 
    exposed to hazardous concentrations of asbestos fibers in the school 
    buildings which they use each day;
        (9) without a program of information distribution, technical and 
    scientific assistance, and financial support, many local educational 
    agencies and States will not be able to mitigate the potential 
    asbestos hazards in their schools; and
        (10) the effective regulation of interstate commerce for the 
    protection of the public health requires the establishment of 
    programs under this subchapter to mitigate hazards from exposure to 
    asbestos fibers and materials emitting such fibers.

(b) Purpose

    It is the purpose of this subchapter to--
        (1) direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
    Agency to establish a program to assist States and local educational 
    agencies to ascertain the extent of the danger to the health of 
    school children and employees from asbestos materials in schools;
        (2) provide continuing scientific and technical assistance to 
    State and local agencies to enable them to identify and abate 
    asbestos hazards in schools;
        (3) provide financial assistance for the abatement of asbestos 
    threats to the health and safety of school children or employees; 
    and
        (4) assure that no employee of any local educational agency 
    suffers any disciplinary action as a result of calling attention to 
    potential asbestos hazards which may exist in schools.

(Pub. L. 98-377, title V, Sec. 502, Aug. 11, 1984, 98 Stat. 1287; Pub. 
L. 101-637, Sec. 14(a)(2), (b)(1), (2), Nov. 28, 1990, 104 Stat. 4594, 
4595.)


                               Amendments

    1990--Pub. L. 101-637, Sec. 14(a)(2), made technical amendment to 
section catchline.
    Subsecs. (a), (b). Pub. L. 101-637, Sec. 14(b)(1), (2), inserted 
headings.


                      Short Title of 1990 Amendment

    Section 1 of Pub. L. 101-637 provided that: ``This Act [enacting 
section 2656 of Title 15, Commerce and Trade, amending this section, 
sections 4012 to 4022 of this title, and sections 2643, 2646, and 2647 
of Title 15, enacting provisions set out as notes under this section and 
sections 2646 and 2656 of Title 15, and amending provisions set out as a 
note under this section] may be cited as the `Asbestos School Hazard 
Abatement Reauthorization Act of 1990'.''


                               Short Title

    Section 501 of title V of Pub. L. 98-377, as amended by Pub. L. 101-
637, Sec. 14(a)(1), Nov. 28, 1990, 104 Stat. 4594, provided that: ``This 
title [enacting this subchapter] may be cited as the `Asbestos School 
Hazard Abatement Act of 1984'.''


                          Findings and Purposes

    Section 2 of Pub. L. 101-637 provided that:
    ``(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
        ``(1) The Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that 
    more than forty-four thousand school buildings contain friable 
    asbestos, exposing more than fifteen million school children and one 
    million five hundred thousand school employees to unwarranted health 
    hazards.
        ``(2) All elementary and secondary schools are required by the 
    Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act [of 1986, see Short Title of 
    1986 Amendment note set out under section 2601 of Title 15, Commerce 
    and Trade] to inspect for asbestos, develop an asbestos management 
    plan, and implement such plan.
        ``(3) The Environmental Protection Agency has estimated it will 
    cost local education agencies more than $3,000,000,000 to comply 
    with the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act.
        ``(4) Without a continuing program of information assistance, 
    technical and scientific assistance, training, and financial 
    support, many local educational agencies will be unable to carry out 
    sufficient response actions to prevent the release of asbestos 
    fibers into the air.
        ``(5) Without the provisions of sufficient financial support, 
    the cost to local educational agencies of implementing asbestos 
    response actions may have an adverse impact in their educational 
    mission.
        ``(6) The effective regulation of interstate commerce for the 
    protection of human health and the environment requires the 
    continuation of programs to mitigate hazards of asbestos fibers and 
    materials emitting such fibers.
    ``(b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act [see Short Title of 1990 
Amendment note above] are the following:
        ``(1) To direct the Environmental Protection Agency to maintain 
    a program to assist local schools in carrying out their 
    responsibilities under the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act.
        ``(2) To provide continuing scientific and technical assistance 
    to State and local agencies to enable them to identify and abate 
    asbestos health hazards.
        ``(3) To provide financial assistance to State and local 
    agencies for training of persons involved with inspections and 
    abatement of asbestos, for conducting necessary reinspections of 
    school buildings, and for the actual abatement of asbestos threats 
    to the health and safety of school children or employees.
        ``(4) To assure that no employee of a local educational agency 
    suffers any disciplinary action as a result of calling attention to 
    potential asbestos hazards which may exist in schools.''
