20 U.S.C. § 3602 — Asbestos Hazards School Safety Task

Page 1187 TITLE 20—EDUCATION § 3602 1 See References in Text note below. (6) the presence in school buildings of friable or easily damaged asbestos creates an unwar- ranted hazard to the health of the school chil- dren 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 at- tempted 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 stand- ard regulating the concentration of asbestos fibers in noncommercial workplace environ- ments such as schools, school employees and students may be exposed to hazardous con- centrations of asbestos fibers in the school buildings which they use each day; (9) without an improved program of informa- tion distribution, technical and scientific as- sistance, and financial support, many local educational agencies and States will not be able to mitigate the potential asbestos haz- ards in their schools; and (10) the effective regulation of interstate commerce for the protection of the public health requires the establishment of programs under this chapter to identify and mitigate hazards from exposure to asbestos fibers and materials emitting such fibers. (b) It is the purpose of this chapter to— (1) direct the Secretary of Education to es- tablish a task force to assist States and local educational agencies to ascertain the extent of the danger to the health of school children and employees from asbestos materials in schools; (2) require States receiving administrative funds for any applicable program (as defined under section 1221(c)(1)(A) 1 of this title) to prepare a plan describing the manner in which information relating to programs established under this chapter shall be distributed to local educational agencies; (3) provide scientific, technical, and finan- cial assistance to State educational agencies and local educational agencies to enable them to conduct an asbestos detection program to identify asbestos hazards in schools; (4) provide loans to local educational agen- cies for the mitigation of asbestos hazards which constitute an imminent hazard to the health and safety of school children and em- ployees; and (5) assure that no employee of any local edu- cational agency suffers any disciplinary action as a result of calling attention to potential as- bestos hazards which may exist in schools. (Pub. L. 96–270, § 2, June 14, 1980, 94 Stat. 487.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT Section 1221 of this title, referred to in subsec. (b)(2), was amended generally by Pub. L. 103–382, title II, § 211, Oct. 20, 1994, 108 Stat. 3912, and, as so amended, no longer contains a subsec. (c)(1)(A). However, the term ‘‘applicable program’’ is defined in subsec. (c)(1) of that section. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries SHORT TITLE Pub. L. 96–270, § 1, June 14, 1980, 94 Stat. 487, provided that: ‘‘This Act [enacting this chapter and amending section 1411 of this title] may be cited as the ‘Asbestos School Hazard Detection and Control Act of 1980’.’’ § 3602. Asbestos Hazards School Safety Task Force (a) Establishment; composition; membership; chairman; appointment; vacancies (1) There is established a task force to be known as the Asbestos Hazards School Safety Task Force (hereinafter in this chapter referred to as ‘‘Task Force’’). The Task Force shall be composed of ten members, who shall be ap- pointed by the Secretary within 30 days after June 14, 1980, as follows: (A) One representative of the Department of Education, recommended by the Secretary of Education. (B) One representative of the Department of Health and Human Services. (C) One representative of the National Can- cer Institute. (D) One representative of the Environmental Protection Agency, recommended by the Ad- ministrator of such agency. (E) One representative of the National Insti- tute of Environmental Health Sciences. (F) One representative of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, rec- ommended by the Secretary of Labor. (G) Four representatives from among organi- zations concerned with education and health. Members of the Task Force shall be individuals who have knowledge of the medical problems as- sociated with exposure to asbestos, or individ- uals who are familiar with procedures for the following activities: the containment or removal of asbestos from buildings; the replacement of asbestos materials removed from school build- ings with other appropriate building materials; and the restoration of such buildings to condi- tions comparable to those existing before such containment or removal was carried out. (2) The Secretary shall designate a chairman of the Task Force from among its members. (3) Members shall be appointed for the life of the Task Force. Any vacancy in the Task Force shall be filled in the same manner in which the original appointment was made. (b) Meetings; quorum; hearings (1) The Task Force shall meet, no later than 30 days after the appointment of its members, at the call of the chairman of the Task Force. (2) Five members of the Task Force shall con- stitute a quorum for purposes of conducting the business of the Task Force, but a lesser number may hold hearings. (c) Compensation; travel expenses (1) Members of the Task Force who are not full-time officers or employees of the Federal Government shall receive compensation at a rate determined by the Secretary, but not to ex- Page 1188 TITLE 20—EDUCATION § 3603 1 See References in Text note below. ceed the daily equivalent of the maximum an- nual rate of pay in effect for grade GS–16 of the General Schedule, for each day (including trav- eltime) during which they are engaged in the performance of the duties of the Task Force. (2) While away from their homes or regular places of business in the performance of the du- ties of the Task Force, all members of the Task Force shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in the same man- ner as persons employed intermittently in the Government service are allowed expenses under section 5703 of title 5. (d) Availability of Department of Education per- sonnel; use of mails (1) Upon request of the Task Force, the Sec- retary shall make available to the Task Force personnel of the Department of Education to as- sist the Task Force in carrying out its duties. (2) The Task Force may use the United States mails in the same manner and upon the same conditions as other departments and agencies of the United States. (e) Duties The duties of the Task Force shall include— (1) the compilation of medical, scientific, and technical information explaining— (A) the health and safety hazards associ- ated with asbestos materials; and (B) the means of identifying, sampling, and testing materials suspected of emitting asbestos fibers; (2) the distribution of the information de- scribed in paragraph (1) (in any appropriate form such as pamphlets, reports, or instruc- tions) to State educational agencies and to local educational agencies for the purpose of assisting such agencies in carrying out activi- ties described in this chapter; (3) the review of applications for grants and loans under sections 3604 and 3605 of this title, and the submission to the Secretary of rec- ommendations respecting the approval or dis- approval of such applications; (4) the review of any guidelines established by the Environmental Protection Agency for identifying those schools in which exposure to asbestos fibers constitutes a health problem and for taking appropriate corrective actions at such schools, in order to determine whether any modifications of such guidelines should be recommended to the Secretary under para- graph (5); and (5) providing the Secretary with assistance in formulating standards and procedures under section 3606 of this title by— (A) submitting to the Secretary relevant information concerning the results of the re- view made under paragraph (4) of this sub- section; and (B) recommending such modifications to the guidelines referred to in such paragraph as the Task Force considers appropriate. In carrying out its duties under this subsection, the Task Force shall avoid, to the maximum ex- tent practicable, duplicating similar activities undertaken by the Environmental Protection Agency. (f) Termination The Task Force shall cease to exist at the end of the 180-day period beginning on the date that the authority of the Secretary to make loans under section 3605 of this title has expired. (Pub. L. 96–270, § 3, June 14, 1980, 94 Stat. 488.) Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries REFERENCES IN OTHER LAWS TO GS–16, 17, OR 18 PAY RATES References in laws to the rates of pay for GS–16, 17, or 18, or to maximum rates of pay under the General Schedule, to be considered references to rates payable under specified sections of Title 5, Government Organi- zation and Employees, see section 529 [title I, § 101(c)(1)] of Pub. L. 101–509, set out in a note under section 5376 of Title 5. § 3603. State plan (a) Submission by State educational agency re- ceiving administrative funds for programs; contents Not later than six months after June 14, 1980, the State educational agency of any State which receives administrative funds for any applicable program (as defined under section 1221(c)(1)(A) 1 of this title) shall submit to the Secretary a plan which— (1) describes the manner in which the State, not later than nine months after June 14, 1980, shall distribute to local educational agencies within that State’s jurisdiction information describing— (A) the programs established under this chapter; (B) the health hazards associated with ex- posure to asbestos fibers; and (C) the procedures established by the Sec- retary under section 3606 of this title for car- rying out activities under programs under this chapter, and such other relevant infor- mation regarding such activities as the State considers desirable; (2) contains a general description of the con- tent of the information to be distributed in ac- cordance with paragraph (1) and provides as- surances that the State shall continually re- vise such information and distribute such re- vised material to local educational agencies to ensure that such agencies have available to them the most recent material available with regard to the matters referred to in paragraph (1); (3) describes the procedures to be used by the State for maintaining records on— (A) the presence of asbestos materials in school buildings of local educational agen- cies; (B) the asbestos detection, containment, or removal activities conducted by local educational agencies (including activities relating to the replacement of the asbestos materials removed from school buildings with other appropriate building materials); and (C) repairs made to restore school build- ings to conditions comparable to those exist-