AHERA Inspector key terms

Any material or product that contains more than one percent asbestos by weight, as determined by an accredited inspector using polarized light microscopy or an equivalent method accepted under the Asbestos in Schools Rule.

Any material containing more than one percent asbestos that, when dry, can be crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to powder by hand pressure. Friability drives the level of hazard and the response action required.

Nonfriable asbestos-containing packings, gaskets, resilient floor coverings, and asphalt roofing products that contain more than one percent asbestos. These materials are unlikely to become friable through ordinary use.

Any nonfriable asbestos-containing material other than Category I, such as asbestos cement sheet or shingle, that has a higher likelihood of becoming friable if disturbed, damaged, or demolished.

Asbestos-containing material that, when dry, cannot be crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to powder by hand pressure. It still requires assessment and management because disturbance can release fibers.

The local school district or other public or private educational authority that owns or operates a school building and bears the legal duties under the Asbestos in Schools Rule, including inspection, management planning, and notification.

The federal regulation at 40 CFR Part 763, Subpart E, requiring LEAs to inspect school buildings for asbestos, assess its condition, develop management plans, and carry out response actions to protect building occupants.

The Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act of 1986, the federal statute that directed EPA to regulate asbestos in schools and created the accreditation requirements for inspectors, management planners, abatement workers, and project designers.

The EPA framework under 40 CFR Part 763, Subpart E, Appendix C, that sets minimum training, examination, and refresher requirements for asbestos professionals, including inspectors, management planners, and abatement workers.

A person who has completed an EPA-approved inspector course, passed the required examination, and holds current accreditation to identify and assess asbestos-containing materials in school buildings.

An accredited professional who uses inspection and assessment findings to develop the asbestos management plan, including selecting response actions and setting priorities for each homogeneous area.

The school official designated by the LEA to ensure that inspection, management plan implementation, periodic surveillance, and recordkeeping duties under the Asbestos in Schools Rule are carried out.

A thorough visual and physical examination of a school building to locate and sample suspected asbestos-containing materials, including an inventory of homogeneous areas and an evaluation of accessibility.

The process of judging the condition, friability, and potential for disturbance of each identified asbestos-containing material, resulting in a classification such as damaged or significantly damaged that guides response action selection.

A portion of a building with uniform construction materials and consistent asbestos content, treated as a single unit for sampling and assessment purposes so that representative samples describe the whole area.

A room or group of rooms that share the same function, such as classrooms, hallways, or boiler rooms, used to organize the inspection and to report where asbestos-containing materials are located.

A physical portion of a suspect material collected by an accredited inspector and analyzed by an accredited laboratory to determine whether asbestos is present and in what percentage.

The primary laboratory method used to identify asbestos fibers and estimate their percentage in bulk samples by examining optical properties of particles under polarized light.

Asbestos-containing material with extensive damage, delamination, or deterioration that greatly increases the likelihood of fiber release, requiring the highest priority response action such as removal or enclosure.

Asbestos-containing material that shows breakage, crumbling, abrasion, or water damage but is less severely deteriorated than significantly damaged material, warranting prompt repair or other response action.

A written document prepared by an accredited management planner that describes the location and condition of asbestos-containing materials, response actions, preventive measures, and a schedule for implementation and reevaluation.

A method chosen to control asbestos hazard, including removal, encapsulation, enclosure, repair, operations and maintenance, or leaving material in place with continued surveillance.

A set of work practices and training requirements designed to prevent disturbance of asbestos-containing materials during routine building maintenance and custodial activities, including cleanup and waste handling procedures.

A response action that treats asbestos-containing material by coating or penetrating it with a sealant to bind fibers and prevent release, without removing the material from the building.

A response action that builds an airtight barrier around asbestos-containing material to isolate it from occupied space, leaving the original material in place and requiring continued surveillance.

A visual inspection of asbestos-containing materials conducted at least every six months by the designated person or a designee to confirm that materials remain in the condition described in the management plan.

A review of the management plan and the condition of asbestos-containing materials conducted at least every three years by an accredited inspector to determine whether the plan still accurately reflects building conditions.

The annual written notification the LEA must provide to parents, teachers, and employee organizations describing the availability of the management plan and any asbestos-related activities in the school.

A worker employed for less than a specified period, such as one year, who must receive asbestos awareness information before starting work that could disturb asbestos-containing materials in a school building.

EPA regulations under 40 CFR Part 61, Subpart M, that govern asbestos handling during demolition and renovation, including notice requirements, work practices, and waste disposal to limit airborne fiber release.

The federal agency whose asbestos standards, including 29 CFR 1926.1101 for construction and 29 CFR 1910.1001 for general industry, set worker exposure limits, monitoring, training, and protective equipment requirements.

The maximum allowable airborne asbestos concentration for worker exposure over an eight-hour time-weighted average, set by OSHA and used to trigger monitoring, engineering controls, and respiratory protection.

The compliance and enforcement provisions allowing EPA to inspect schools, require corrective action, and impose penalties when an LEA fails to meet inspection, planning, or notification obligations.

Any activity that removes, encapsulates, or encloses asbestos-containing material, or that prepares damaged material for disposal, and that must be performed using regulated work practices and trained personnel.

Post-abatement air sampling performed to confirm that fiber concentrations are below the required threshold before a work area is reoccupied or released for normal use.

Any building material that may contain asbestos based on its type, use, or age and that must be assumed to contain asbestos until sampling or historical documentation shows otherwise.

Material that an inspector treats as asbestos-containing because it was not sampled or analyzed, often due to inaccessibility, and that must be managed as if asbestos were present.