DOCUMENT RESUM. ED 313 777 EA 021 438 TITLE EPA's Implementation of Laws Regulating Asbestos Hazards in Schools and in the Air. Hearing before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Government Operations. House of Representatives, One Hundredth Congress, Second Session. INSTITUTION Congress of the U. S., Washington, D. C. House Committee on Government Operations. PUB DATE 1 Jun 88 NOTE 235p.; Frequent reduced size type. AVAILABLE FROM Superintendent of Documents, Congressional Sales Office, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402. PUB TYPE Legal/Legislative/Regulatory Materials (090) EDRS PRICE MF01 Plus Postage. PC Not Available from EDRS. DESCRIPTORS *Air Pollution; *Asbestos; Construction Materials; Elementary Secondary Education; *Federal Legislation; Government Publications; *Hazardous Materials; *Hearings; Physical :Iealth IDENTIFIERS *Environmental Protection Agency ABSTRACT A hearing v./Fs held by the Subcommittee on Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) implementatirvr of laws regulating asbestos hazards in schools and in the air. Presented are testimony as well as letters and statements submitted for the record by leading authorities in the area including: (1) James J. Florio (New Jersey State Representative); (2) Donald E. Kirkendall (EPA Deputy Inspector General); (3) John A. Moore (EPA Assistant Administrator for Pesticides and Toxic Substances); (4) James R. Oglesby (National School Boards Association President-Elect); (5) Mike Synar (Oklahoma State Representative and chairman of the subcommittee); and (6) Bill Kitchen, III (member, Johnstown, New York, School Board). (SI) ********************************************************************* * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * **********************x************************************************ tie EN* F,PA'S IMPLEMENTATION OF LAWS REGULATING ASBESTOS HAZARDS IN SCHOOLS AND IN THE AIR cf3 1-4 cta HEARING BEFORE A SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDREDTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION JUNE 1, 1988 Printed for the use of the Committee on Government Operations U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER tERIC) msdocument has been reproduced as renved from the person or organization originating it Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points°, view of °Pinions stated in this docu- ment do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy U.8. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 94-081 WASHINGTON : 1989 For sale by the Sup- entendent of Documents, Congressional Salve Office US. Government PrintingOffice, Washingtot , DC 20402 BESLCOPY AVAILABLE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS JACK BROOKS, Texas, Chairman JOHN CONYERS, JR., Michigan FRANK HORTON, New York CARDISS COLLINS, Illinois ROBERT S. WALKER, Pennsylvania GLENN ENGLISH, Oklahoma WILLIAM F. CLINGER, JR., Pennsylvania HENRY A. WAXMAN, California AL McCANDL7SS, California TED WEISS, New York LARRY E. CRAIG, Idaho MIKE SYNAR, Oklahoma HOWARD C. NIMSON, Utah STEPHEN L. ',TEAL, North Carolina JOSEPH J. DroGUARDI, New York DOUG BARNARD, Ja., Georgia JIM LIGHTFOOT, Iowa BARNEY FRANK, Massachusetts BEAU BOULTER, Texas TOM LANTOS, California DONALD E. "BUZ" LUKENS, Ohio ROBERT E. WISE, Ja., West Virginia AMORY HOUGHTON, JR., New York MAJOR R. OWENS, New York J. DENNIS HASTERT, Illinois EDOLPHUS TOWNS, New York JON L KYL, Arizona JOHN M. SPRATT, Ja., South Carolina JAMES M. INHOFE, Oklahoma JOE KOLTER, Pennsylvania CHRISTOPHER SHAYS, Connecticut BEN ERDREICH, Alabama GERALD D. KLECZKA, Wisconsin ALBERT G. BUSTAMANTE, Texas MATTHEW G. MARTINEZ, California THOMAS C. SAWYER, Ohio LOUISE M. SLAUGHTER, New York BILL GRANT, Florida NANCY PELOSI, California Wa.u.km M. Jorra, Ge.teral Counsel DONALD W Urson, Minority Staff Director ENWRONMENT, ENERGY, AND NATURAL RESOURCES SUBCOMMITTEE MIKE SYNAR, Oklahoma, Chairman EDOLPHUS TOWNS. New York WILLIAM F. CLINGER, JR., Pennsylvania ALBERT G. BUSTAMANTE, Texas JON L KYL, Arizona HENRY A. WAXMAN, California BEAU BOULTER, Texas MATTHEW G. MARTINEZ, California LOUISE M. SLAUGHTER, New York Ex OFFICIO JACK BROOKS, Texas FRANK HORTON, New York W. DONALD GRAY, Staff Director KATHRYN J. SEDDON, Counsel SHEILA CANAVAN, Clerk MATT FiarcnErt, Minority Professional Staff 3 CONTENTS Page Hearing held on June 1, 1988 1 Statement of: Florio, Hon. James J., a Representative in Congress from the State of New Jersey 71 Kirkendall, Donald E., Deputy Inspector General, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, accompanied by Ernest Bradley, Assistant Inspector General; Robert Bronstrup, Supervisory Auditor; and Carl Jannetti Kitchen, Bill, III, member, Johnstown, NY, School Board 51 Moore, John A., Assistant Administrator for Pesticides and Toxic Sub- stances, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, accompanied by Gerry Emison, Director, Office of Air Quality, Planning, and Standards; Susan Vogt, Deputy Director, Office of Toxic Substances; and Michael Alushin, Associate Enforcement Counsel 77 Oglesby, James R., president-elect, National School Boards Association 41 Synar, Hon. Mike, a Representative in Congress from the State of Okla- homa, and chairman, Erivironment, Energy, and Natural Resources Subcommittee: Opening statement 1 Letters, statements, etc., submitted for the record by: Kirkendall, Dcnald E., Deputy Inspector General, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Prepared statement 6-31 Kitchen, Bill, DI, member, Johnstown, NY, School Board: Prepared state- ment 56-64 Moore, John A., Assistant Administrator for Pesticides and Toxic Sub- stances, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Prepared statement 79-96 Oglesby, James R., president- elect, National School Boards Association: Prepared statement 44 -50 Synar, Hon. Mike, a Representative in Congress from the State of Okla- homa, and chairman, Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources Subcommittee: AHERA transport and disposal sale (talking points for steering com- mittee discussion) 195-196 April 28, 1988, article from the New York Times entitled "Asbestos Buildir.gs Go Begging," 137-138 Asbestos demolition and renovation civil penalty policy 178-185 Asbestos in schools rule compliant* statistics 153 August 17, 1987, EPA memorandum concerning final decisions on distribution of regional air resources for fiscal year 1988. 104-134 Data on calculation of penalties 188-192 Demolition costa under baseline 33-34 EPA data showing the number of Federal inspectors for the asbestos NESHAP Program with regional map 98-101 EPA "ons' enforcement of immediately enforceable provisions of RRAA 165 Excerpt from draft background document for the interim AHERA section 210 study 213 Executive summary from draft background document for the interim AHERA section 210 study. 201-211 Information concerning contract with AARP 160-161 January 19, 1988, EPA memorandum concerning draft analysis of asbestos demolition/renovation resource allocation and expendi- tures 140-141 Material relative to the hearing 155-158 IV Page Letters, statements, etc., submitted for the record byContinued Synar, Hon. Mike, a Eepresentative in Congress from the State of Okla- homa, and chairman, Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources Subcommittee Continued May 17, 1988, letter from EPA concerning number of people conduct- ing oversight reviews 148-149 May 17, 1988, letter from EPA regarding oversight reviews 144-146 May 26, 1988, letter from Fidelity Environmental Insurance Co. con- cerning asbestos issues 171-173 Press releases enforcement actions contained in region 4217-229 Review of asbestosSHAP 198 State review of management plans 168-169 5 EPA'S IMPLEMENTATION OF LAWS REGULAT- ING ASBESTOS HAZARDS IN SCHOOLS AND IN THE AIR WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1, 1988 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY, AND NATURAL RESOURCES SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:30a.m., in room 2203, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Mike Synar (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Representatives Mike Synar and Jon L. Kyl. Also present: W. Donald Gray, staff director; Kathy Seddon, counsel; and Sheila Canavan, clerk. OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN SYNAR Mr. SYNAR. The subcommittee willcome to order. Today the sub- committee revisits the question: How effectively is the Environ- mental Protection Agency addressing hazards caused by asbestos? Asbestos is one of the few known human carcinogens. Itcauses cancer and other serious disorders of the lung. It attacks quietly. The fibers in the air are often invisible to the nakedeye, so an as- bestos victim can be exposed and not know it. Asbestos-induced dis- eases have a long latency period. Not until 15 to 40 years later when the disease manifests itself does a victim realize heor she was exposed. Despite the known hazards and pervasiveness of asbestos, to date, the Federal response has been to nibbleaway at pieces of the problem. Of great concern has been the exposure of the most vulnerable segment of our population: children. There have been several statu- tory enactments aimed at reducing the exposure to school-agepop- ulations. Congress tried to facilitate abatement of asbestos in school buildings by establishing a loan and grantprogram for needy schools. However, the administration has opposed theuse of Federal money for such activities and theprogram has never been adequately funded. The most recent