Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 94 Part 1.djvu/537

 PUBLIC LAW 96-270—JUNE 14, 1980

94 STAT. 487

Public Law 96-270 96th Congress

An Act To establish a program for the inspection of schools to detect the presence of hazardous asbestos materials, to provide loans to States or local educational gigencies to contain or remove hazardous asbestos materials from schools and to replace such materials with other suitable building materials, and for other purposes.

June 14, 1980 [S. 1658]

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Asbestos School United States of America in Congress assembled, Hsizard SHORT TITLE

1. This Act may be cited as the "Asbestos School Hazard Detection and Control Act of 1980". SECTION

Detection and Control Act of 1980. 20 USC 3601 note.

FINDINGS AND PURPOSES 20 USC 3601. SEC. 2. (a) 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 concentrations 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 identifying hazardous conditions in schools or for remedying those conditions; (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

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