SECTION 1. Sections 23-24.5-2, 23-24.5-6, 23-24.5-7, 23-24.5-12 and 23-24.5-14 of the General Laws in Chapter 23-24.5 entitled "Asbestos Abatement" are hereby amended to read as follows:

23-24.5-2. Definitions. -- For the purpose of this chapter:

(1) The term "director" means the director of health. The term "department" means the state department of health.

(2) The term "asbestos" means that unique group of naturally occurring minerals that separate into fibers of high tensile strength, resistant to heat, wear, and chemicals, described as the following types: chrysotile amosite, crocidolite, tremolite, anthophyllite, and actinolite, and every product containing any of these minerals that have been chemically treated and/or altered which, after manufacture, are used for such products and end uses as insulation, textiles, paper, cement sheets, floor tile, wall covering, decorations, coating, sealants, cement pipe, and reinforced plastics and other compounds.

(3) The term "friable" means that condition of crumbled, pulverized, powdered, crushed, or exposed asbestiform or asbestos fibers which are capable of being released into the air by hand pressure.

(4) The term "friable asbestos material" means any material that contains more than one percent (1%) asbestos by weight and that can be crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to powder, when dry, by hand pressure. {ADD (1) asbestos containing material (ACM) that, when dry, can be crumbled, pulverized or reduced to powder by hand pressure; or (2) non-friable ACM, including but not limited to regulated asbestos containing material (RACM) as defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to 40 CFR 61, Subpart M, that will be or has been subjected to sanding, grinding, cutting, and abrading; or by the forces expected to act on the ACM during renovation and/or demolition activities. ADD}

(5) The term "owner" shall mean the person or entity having legal title to property and/or buildings; the term shall include owners and consignees of asbestos material to be sold, installed, fabricated, or manufactured in Rhode Island. For purposes of publicly owned property only, the owner shall be defined to be the chief executive officer of the state agency or municipal agency which owns, leases, or controls the use of the property.

(6) The term "action criteria" refers to the asbestos assessment factors detailed in the Decision Protocol, Appendix D, of The New Jersey Asbestos Policy Commission's Report to the Governor, March 1985, except that the criteria shall not include air sampling standards contained therein.

(7) The term "public building" refers to any structure owned, managed, leased, furnished, or occupied by a state or municipal agency or commission or public school.

(8) The term "private building" refers to any structure open to the public which is not a public building, and shall include but is not limited to: private schools, nurseries, colleges, hospitals, warehouses, banks, retail stores, automobile repair shops, and places of employment.

(9) The term "{ADD private ADD} residence" refers to {ADD any building with either one (1) or two (2) separate dwelling units used solely as a ADD} the structure which is the private domicile of a person or persons where such persons normally sleep, eat, and maintain living quarters {ADD and which is designated within the state building code use group R-4 ADD} .

(10) The term "high priority group building" shall refer to {ADD those public or private buildings or portions thereof ADD} a child-inhabited or child-frequented structure either privately or publicly owned and shall include but not be limited to public and parochial schools (grades pre-K to 12); day care centers, nurseries, acute or chronic children's hospitals or wardrooms thereof as otherwise defined by the national {ADD state ADD} building code use groups E, B, and I {ADD (I-2) ADD} . Private residences used for the above purposes and housing or occupied by ten (10) children or less are excluded from this group.

(11) The term "intermediate priority group building" , means {ADD shall refer to ADD} those public {ADD or private ADD} buildings {ADD or portions thereof ADD} other than those in the high and low priority groups which are designated within the national {ADD state ADD} building code use groups as follows{ADD : ADD} which are places of public assembly (group A); structures {ADD buildings ADD} occupied by adult inmates, and/or {ADD (group I-3), or hospital ADD} patients {ADD (group I-2) ADD} , {ADD or institutional care facility clients (group I-1); ADD} and state employees, colleges, hospitals; auditoriums (group I {ADD A ADD} ){ADD . ADD} and occupied places of employment (group F) Intermediate priority group buildings , means also those private buildings which are: private colleges {ADD (ordinarily group B) ADD} hospitals, banks {ADD (group B) ADD} , and other business, industrial, educational, and mercantile institutions {ADD buildings ADD} (groups M, H, I, R1 and R2) {ADD B,E,F,H and M) ADD} including but not limited to hotels , {ADD and ADD} motels {ADD (group R-1) ADD} , multifamily dwellings {ADD (group R-2) ADD} , and places of employment with more than ten (10) employees.

(12) The term "low priority group buildings {ADD building ADD} " means {ADD shall refer to ADD} public or private buildings {ADD or portions thereof ADD} not in the other groups which are infrequently used {ADD (group U) ADD} , or closed, or abandoned or scheduled for same in the immediate future, and those structures {ADD buildings ADD} which are private residences (groups {ADD R-3 and R-4) ADD} S, R 3 and 4) .

(13) The term "abatement" means the repair, enclosure, encapsulation, or removal of friable asbestos in significant quantities as determined by the director by regulation. The term shall not apply to those spot repairs of limited areas of asbestos as determined by the director or his or her designee through regulation to be of low risk exposure.

(14) The term "abatement process" means the series of events leading to the abatement of a friable asbestos hazard. The process includes the inspection, identification, and ranking of the hazard, the drawing of abatement plans, the monitoring of abatement, the eventual clean-up, and the issuance of a re-occupancy permit.

(15) The term "asbestos contractor" means any person or entity engaged in asbestos abatement as a business. Each employee of any entity directly engaged or intending to engage directly in abatement as a business shall be considered a contractor for the purposes of training and licensure requirements of this title.

(16) The term "state inspector" means a person trained in industrial hygiene who is either a state employee or a designee of the health department whose duty, among others, shall be to conduct state asbestos inspections.

(17) The term "competent person" means a public or private employee designated, trained, and certified to conduct basic asbestos inspection and abatement process evaluation within the jurisdiction of the agency, municipality, or building(s) in which the person is employed.

(18) "Asbestiform materials" means those naturally occurring fibers of similar shape, size, strength, surface, and characteristics of asbestos fibers as are otherwise described in the publication entitled "Non Occupational Health Risks of Asbestiform Fibers," committee on non occupational health risks of asbestiform fibers, board on toxicology and health hazards of the commission on life science of the national research council; U.S. environmental protection agency and national academy or sciences, national academy press, Washington, D.C. 1984, E.P.A. 68-01-4655.

{ADD (19) The term "asbestos containing material (ACM)" means any material or product which contains more than one percent (1%) asbestos.

(20) The term "regulated asbestos containing material (RACM)" as defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to 40 CFR 61, Subpart M, means (1) friable asbestos material, (2) category I nonfriable ACM (packings, gaskets, resilient floor covering, and asphalt roofing products) that has become friable, (3) category I nonfriable ACM that will be or has been subjected to sanding, grinding, cutting, or abrading, or (4) category II nonfriable ACM (excluding category I nonfriable ACM) that has a high probability of becoming or has become crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to powder by the forces expected to act on the material in the courses of demolition or renovation operations.

(21) The term state building code refers to chapter 27.3 of title 23, as amended 1 January 1992. ADD}

23-24.5-6. Asbestos abatement plans. -- (a) The owner of any public or private building containing friable asbestos material in violation of this chapter who shall within one hundred twenty (120) days of notice of the violation, file an abatement plan with the director, shall be relieved of liability for such violation during the abatement process. For buildings in the high, and immediate priority group found by the director or the director's agents to require abatement after inspection, the director shall so notify in writing, in the case of public buildings, the appropriate public agency or elected, appointed, or employed official with jurisdiction over the building; or, in the case of a private building, the owner or manager of the building.

(b) That person or agency shall within one hundred twenty (120) days of the notice, file an asbestos abatement plan with the director. Such a plan shall describe in detail the results of any asbestos detection tests performed, a blueprint of the structure involved, a program designed to:

(i) Monitor the physical conditions of asbestos-containing materials,

(ii) To educate the building staff and occupants regarding the presence of asbestos,

(iii) To minimize the likelihood of fiber release, and

(iv) To minimize the potential of human exposure to asbestos. The plan should further include a description of the remedies proposed, including but not limited to repair, enclosure or encapsulation, and/or removal, the process of selection and criteria for hiring licensed contractors, a time schedule for completion, disposal location, and the level of compliance with exposure and action criteria expected to be achieved.

The requirement for filing an asbestos abatement plan with the director prior to the removal of any friable asbestos material shall be waived whenever a public building, private building, or residence has been ordered demolished by a municipal building official in accordance with section 23-27.3-125.5; provided that all friable asbestos material is removed from the building prior to demolition by a licensed asbestos contractor following an asbestos abatement plan previously approved by the director specifically for the demolition of unsafe structures. The director may require the filing of whatever documentation may be deemed necessary to insure that compliance with the act has been met.

(c) The department director shall within ninety (90) days of submission of a plan, either approve or amend, or reject the plan of abatement.

(d) Within one hundred eighty (180) days after July 1, 1985, the director shall issue regulations establishing criteria for the inspection of buildings, identification, and evaluation of asbestos hazard, the ranking of asbestos abatement, and the development of abatement plans.

(e) The owner of any building failing to comply with an order of abatement issued by the director, after hearing, shall be fined by the director an amount not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500.00) {ADD two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) ADD} a day {ADD and/ ADD} or of having the area in violation subject to closure. No such fine shall apply if access to such area is limited to individuals designated as competent persons for the area or certified as consultants in accordance with rules or regulations promulgated pursuant to the authority conferred by this act.

(f) The director may assess fees for review of asbestos abatement plans submitted in accordance with rules or regulations promulgated pursuant to the authority conferred by this section, provided that those fees are assessed only after procedures in accordance with chapter 35 of title 42 have been followed.

(g) Any approval of an asbestos abatement plan issued in accordance with rules or regulations promulgated pursuant to the authority conferred by this section shall become invalid unless the work authorized by that approval shall have been commenced within six (6) months after its issuance; provided that, for cause, an extension of time for a period not exceeding ninety (90) days has not been granted. All such extensions must be in writing and signed by the director or his or her designee. For the purposes of this section, any approval issued shall not be considered invalid if the suspension or abandonment is due to a court order prohibiting that work as authorized by that approval.

(h) Notwithstanding any approval issued by the director in accordance with rules or regulations promulgated pursuant to the authority conferred by this section, all abatement activity performed in conjunction with an approved asbestos abatement plan must be in compliance with the most current revision of all applicable federal, state, and local regulations, unless that approval already requires compliance with a more restrictive standard.

(i) The director may revoke any approval issued in accordance with rules or regulations promulgated pursuant to the authority conferred by this section in the event that the granting of the approval was based upon statements which prove to be false or based on misrepresentation of fact. Any aggrieved party shall have the right to a hearing on any such revocation. The request for a hearing shall be in writing and shall be made within ten (10) days of the decision.

{ADD (j) Except as otherwise provided in (b)(iv) above, all renovation and/or demolition activities involving asbestos containing material (ACM) shall be assumed to produce friable ACM and shall require department approval of an asbestos abatement plan prior to undertaking said renovation and/or demolition activity. ADD}

23-24.5-7. Health department inspections. -- (a) The director, or his or her designee, or any inspector employed by the department of health or the department of labor designated by the director of health, as the case may be, is authorized to inspect at a reasonable time, without prior notice, as part of an overall plan of periodic inspection, or to review the implementation of an abatement plan, or to respond to a complaint of the existence of friable asbestos material, any building, except private residences, in which a person may become exposed to friable asbestos or asbestiform material. Any person refusing entry to a designated public health inspector or obstructing an inspection ordered by the director shall be fined by the director a sum not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500.00) {ADD two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) ADD} for each violation.

(b) The director of health shall, through a designee, inspect and evaluate all high priority buildings within eighteen (18) months of July 1, 1985. Thereafter, state inspectors shall conduct inspections of the following types of buildings, on an equal basis: public and private high priority buildings, initial inspections of public intermediate priority buildings, and inspections prompted by the complaint process.

(c) The director shall not be precluded from requiring abatement of a friable asbestos hazard in the event an air monitoring test does not establish that the indoor non occupational air exposure standard has been exceeded.

(d) The director may assess fees for inspections conducted in accordance with rules or regulations promulgated pursuant to the authority conferred by this section, provided that such fees are assessed only after procedures in accordance with chapter 35 of title 42 have been followed.

23-24.5-12. Licensure of asbestos contractors. -- (a) No person or entity shall undertake an asbestos abatement project or dispose of friable asbestos materials in or from any building or demolition of any portion of a structure containing friable asbestos or asbestiform material unless the director has licensed that person or entity as qualified for such purposes. Any building owner who causes an asbestos abatement project or disposal of friable asbestos materials to be undertaken in violation of either this section or any rules or regulations promulgated pursuant to the authority conferred by this section shall also be subject to the enforcement provisions of this section.

(b) Notwithstanding any other law or regulation, no building permit or demolition permit involving asbestos abatement shall be issued by any municipal or state official unless the application for the permit includes a certified copy of an approved abatement plan and a certified copy of the license of the asbestos contractor who shall undertake the work.

(c) Any person or entity acting in violation of either this section or any rules or regulations promulgated pursuant to the authority conferred by this act shall be subject to a fine by the director in an amount not to exceed twenty five thousand dollars ($25,000) for each violation provided that such fines are not imposed until the director has afforded said person or entity an opportunity for a hearing on the matter.

(c) (Reserved)

(d) No asbestos abatement projects shall be undertaken after July 1, 1985 unless the contractor involved is licensed by the director and its asbestos abatement plan is approved by the director.

(e) Within two hundred and seventy (270) days of July 1, 1985, the director shall establish procedures and issue regulations for the licensure of asbestos contractors and their supervisors, and for the training of the employers of asbestos employees. The director is further authorized to establish procedures and regulations for the licensure of asbestos workers. The director may assess fees for asbestos worker licenses issued in accordance with rules or regulations promulgated pursuant to the authority conferred by this section, provided that those fees are assessed only after procedures in accordance with chapter 35 of title 42 have been followed.

(f) The director shall in establishing licensure criteria for asbestos contractors, consider the following factors: (i) the contractor's experience, (ii) financial qualifications to abate asbestos properly, (iii) a company's history of safe and proper abatement, (iv) a history of compliance with department regulations, and (v) proof of completion of training programs approved by the director.

(g) Each person licensed by the director shall be issued by the director a photograph identification card containing the license which that person must keep in his or her possession at each work site.

(h) The director shall issue licenses for asbestos contractors for a period of two (2) years upon payment of license fee of one thousand five hundred dollars ($1500) and upon completion of licensure requirements of the director; licenses for supervisory personnel shall be issued for not more than two (2) years upon payment of a forty ($40.00) dollar fee, and upon completion of the licensure requirements of the director. {ADD (h) The director may assess fees for asbestos contractor and site supervisory personnel licenses issued in accordance with rules or regulations promulgated pursuant to the authority conferred by this section, provided that such fees are assessed only after procedures in accordance with chapter 35 of title 42 have been followed. ADD}

(i) For course, and for violation of the regulations of the director or his or her designee may suspend or revoke a license issued pursuant to this section.

(j) The director shall maintain a public list of licensed contractors and shall annually publish that list in a state newspaper of general circulation.

23-24.5-14. Training, curricula and certification. -- (a) The director, within two hundred seventy (270) days of July 1, 1985 shall establish procedures and regulation for the following procedures:

(i) For the certification of a competent person, of designated public maintenance employees, of designated teacher and parent representatives, of in-state laboratories, and of private consultants or inspectors;

(ii) Establish standards and specifications for training courses based upon, but not limited to, those included in this chapter and to certify such training;

(iii) To train directly or by contract maintenance personnel or competent persons;

(iv) To certify and train designated public maintenance personnel and workers in the private sector, including but not limited to electricians, contractors, plumbers, in safe techniques of spot asbestos repair. Each person so trained and certified shall be issued an "asbestos-certified" photo identity card; and only those carded persons shall be permitted to do spot repairs on asbestos in the buildings of their jurisdiction. Any person certified for spot repair but not as an asbestos "contractor" shall not undertake any asbestos abatement project larger than the size limits of a spot repair as defined by the director and shall follow all safe work practices for spot repair work as required by the director. Those employees in violation of such provisions and/or their employer shall be subject to a fine of no more than five hundred dollars ($500) per violation.

(b) As a guideline for the approval of a certified training program for asbestos contractors, the director shall give due consideration to a course of instruction as follows:

Thirty-two (32) hours of instruction covering the following topics:

(i) The nature of asbestos hazards, a review of improper abatement procedures such as dry removal, lack of protective barriers, poor respirator fit problems;

(ii) The medical effects of asbestos exposure, the mechanics of human respiration, the nature of asbestos disease conditions, their diagnosis and evaluation, medical asbestos surveillance methods in exposed populations;

(iii) Federal and state asbestos regulations including OSHA and EPA regulations, Right-to-Know laws and this chapter;

(iv) Current protection standards, including the role of respirators, appropriate housekeeping procedures, appropriate hygiene, the synergism effects of asbestos with smoking, and the importance of decontamination procedures;

(v) The proper preparation of the work area including, but not limited to, the proper repair and removal abatement techniques, sealing and isolation methods in the work environment, the use of negative pressure air filtration barriers, the avoidance of power tools, the need for wetting down of asbestos materials, bagging and labelling of asbestos materials, proper waste storage and removal of material;

(vi) Industrial hygiene: identifying asbestos containing materials, study of decision protocol for evaluation and prioritizing of abatement, air sampling and other monitoring techniques, negative air pressure filtration system and high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter systems.

(c) The director may assess fees for certifications issued in accordance with rules or regulations promulgated pursuant to the authority conferred by this section, provided that those fees are assessed only after procedures in accordance with title 42, chapter 35 of the general laws have been followed.

{ADD (d) Notwithstanding the requirements contained in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section, the director may also establish procedures or regulations for reciprocal recognition of training courses and/or certification programs for asbestos contractors, site supervisory personnel and/or asbestos abatement workers. The director may assess fees for reciprocal recognition of training courses and/or certification programs for asbestos contractors, site supervisory personnel and/or asbestos abatement workers issued in accordance with rules or regulations promulgated pursuant to the authority conferred by this section, provided that such fees are assessed only after procedures in accordance with chapter 35 of title 42 have been followed. ADD}

SECTION 2. Chapter 23-24.5 of the General Laws entitled "Asbestos Abatement" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following sections:

{ADD 23-24.5-25. Misrepresentation of asbestos licensure or certification. -- ADD} {ADD (a) No person or entity shall make oral or written representations of licensure as an asbestos contractor or asbestos abatement site supervisor or asbestos abatement worker unless they possess a currently valid license for said activity which has been issued by the director pursuant to either section 24.5-12 of this chapter or any rules or regulations promulgated pursuant to the authority conferred by this chapter.

(b) No person or entity shall make oral or written representations of certification as an asbestos analytical laboratory, asbestos consultant or asbestos abatement project monitor unless they possess a currently valid certificate for said activity which has been issued by the director pursuant to either sections 24.5-6(j) or 24.5-14(a) of this chapter or any rules or regulations promulgated pursuant to the authority conferred by this chapter.

(c) No person or entity certified pursuant to either sections 24.5-6(j) or 24.5-14(a) of this chapter or any rules or regulations promulgated pursuant to the authority conferred by this chapter shall make oral or written representations of certification to perform any service which is not specifically identified on their currently valid certificate. ADD}

{ADD 23-24.5-26. Penalties. -- ADD} {ADD (a) Except as otherwise specified in this chapter, any person or entity acting in violation of either this chapter or any rules or regulations promulgated pursuant to the authority conferred by this chapter shall be fined by the director in an amount not to exceed twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) for each violation provided that fines are not imposed until the director has afforded that person or entity an opportunity for a hearing on the matter. Each day during which any portion of a violation continues shall constitute a separate offense. ADD}

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.