The revised asbestos rule, which was signed into law by President Reagan last month, allows school districts and private schools that cannot meet the Oct. 12 deadline for completing asbestos inspections and submitting management plans to file requests for deferrals. If such requests are approved, the schools will have until May 9, 1989, to file their management plans.
Requests for an extension must be submitted to the governor of the state by Oct. 12, and must include the following information:
- A brief explanation of why, despite good-faith efforts, the school or district cannot meet the Oct. 12 deadline.
- A statement verifying that the school or district has at least one of the following documents available for inspection at each site for which a deferral is sought: a solicitation for contracting with accredited consultants; a letter certifying that school personnel are enrolled in an inspection and management-planning class approved by the Environmental Protection Agency; proof that suspected asbestos-containing material is being analyzed at an accredited laboratory; documentation showing that an inspection or management plan has been completed in at least one other school under the district’s authority.
- A statement that the school has notified parent, teacher, and employee groups about its intent to file a request for deferral. Public-school officials must present their plans to request a deferral at a public meeting of the school board.
- A proposed schedule of activities to meet the May 9, 1989, deadline. All contracts with inspectors from outside the school system must be signed by Dec. 22, 1988.
- Schools in Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, and Rhode Island--the four states that sought waivers from the EPA for their entire asbestos programs before June 1 of this year--must certify that their states have applied for waivers and must fulfill the same advance-notification procedures outlined above.
