20 U.S.C. § 3605 — Asbestos Hazards Control Loan Program

Page 1190 TITLE 20—EDUCATION § 3605 (B) The sampling of building and insulation materials. (C) Appropriate tests to determine the level of asbestos content in suspected materials, and tests determined to be essential to detect the likelihood of imminent danger to persons within school buildings. (c) Reporting requirements for recipients Local and State educational agencies receiv- ing grants under this section shall file a report with the Secretary, not later than 120 days after the award of such grant, describing the detec- tion activities which were undertaken, the re- sults of the asbestos detection program, and plans for mitigating any imminent hazards which were detected by the testing. The report shall include a detailed accounting of the funds used to carry out the detection program. (d) Availability of appropriated funds for edu- cation and technical assistance programs During the period in which grants may be made under this section, not more than 20 per- cent of the funds appropriated to carry out this section may be made available by the Secretary to the Task Force to conduct education and technical assistance programs related to the de- tection of asbestos hazards in school buildings and the implementation of appropriate actions to mitigate such hazards. (Pub. L. 96–270, § 5, June 14, 1980, 94 Stat. 491.) § 3605. Asbestos Hazards Control Loan Program (a) Establishment; administration; loans to local educational agencies for share of project costs; project criteria; increase in amount of loans (1) There is established within the Department of Education an Asbestos Hazards Control Loan Program (hereinafter in this chapter referred to as the ‘‘Loan Program’’), which shall be admin- istered by the Secretary in accordance with this section. (2) The Secretary may make loans under this section to local educational agencies in an amount equal to 50 percent of the costs of car- rying out projects for— (A) the containment or removal of any ma- terials containing asbestos in school buildings in which such materials pose an imminent hazard to the health and safety of children or employees; (B) the replacement of the asbestos mate- rials removed from school buildings with other appropriate building materials; and (C) making repairs which the Secretary de- termines to be necessary to restore school buildings to conditions comparable to those existing before containment or removal activi- ties were undertaken under subparagraph (A). Loans may be made under this section only for projects affecting more than 2,500 square feet of surface and in which the asbestos material to be contained or removed consists of a minimum as- bestos level, as determined by the Secretary under section 3606(a)(2) of this title. (3) If the Secretary determines that an appli- cant has limited fiscal resources and would be unable to carry out the projects described in paragraph (2) without receiving a loan under this section for an amount greater than the amount permitted under such paragraph, the Secretary may increase the amount of the loan payable to such applicant to an amount the Sec- retary considers appropriate to enable the appli- cant to carry out such projects. (b) Loan agreements; required terms; additional terms and conditions Loans under this section shall be made pursu- ant to loan agreements which shall provide for the following terms: (1) The loan shall not bear any interest ex- cept as otherwise provided under paragraph (5). (2) The loan shall have a maturity period of not more than 20 years (as determined by the Secretary) and shall be repayable during such period at such times and in such amounts as the Secretary may specify in the loan agree- ment. (3) Repayment of the loan shall be made to the Secretary of the Treasury for deposit in the general fund of the Treasury. Such loans shall be subject to such other terms and conditions as the Secretary may establish for the protection of the financial interest of the United States and in furtherance of the purposes of this chapter. (c) Application for loans; procedures applicable for approval; projects completed before Jan- uary 1, 1976 (1) No loan may be made under this section un- less an application has been submitted to and approved by the Secretary, after consultation with the Task Force, within the two-year period beginning on June 14, 1980. The Secretary may not approve an application unless— (A) the application contains such informa- tion as the Secretary may require, including information describing— (i) the nature of the asbestos problem for which the loan is sought; (ii) the asbestos content of the material to be contained or removed by the local edu- cational agency, as determined under pre- liminary testing which was conducted in ac- cordance with the standards established by the Secretary under section 3606(a)(1) of this title, or, in the case of testing conducted be- fore June 14, 1980, was conducted in a man- ner which substantially conforms to such standards; and (iii) the methods which will be used to con- tain or remove the asbestos materials, in ac- cordance with section 3606(b) of this title, and any other pertinent details relating to the project or projects to be conducted by the applicant (as described in subsection (a)(2)); and (B) the application contains assurances that— (i) any employee engaged in any activity to carry out programs under this section shall be notified in writing by the local edu- cational agency conducting the program of the hazards of working with asbestos, and shall be required to utilize all appropriate safety procedures to minimize health risks; Page 1191 TITLE 20—EDUCATION § 3607 (ii) no child or school employee shall be permitted in the vicinity of any asbestos containment or removal activity; and (iii) the local educational agency shall pay employees engaged in containment, removal, or replacement activities to carry out pro- grams under this section at reasonable rates of pay, as established by the Secretary on the basis of prevailing wage rates in the lo- cation of such work. (2) The Secretary shall provide the Task Force with a copy of any application submitted to the Secretary under paragraph (1). (3) No loans may be made by the Secretary under this section for projects described in sub- section (a)(2) which commenced before the avail- ability of loans under the Loan Program unless the local educational agency submits to the Sec- retary an application which— (A) meets the requirements of paragraph (1); and (B) contains assurances that any work al- ready completed by the applicant has been carried out in substantial conformity with section 3606(b) of this title. No loan may be awarded under this section for any project described in subsection (a)(2) which was completed before January 1, 1976. (d) Reporting requirements for Secretary During each of the three calendar years after 1980, the Secretary shall submit before February 1 of such year a report to the appropriate com- mittees of the House of Representatives and the Senate, which shall— (1) describe the number of loans made in the preceding calendar year and specify each ap- plicant for and recipient of a loan; (2) describe the nature of the asbestos prob- lem of each applicant; (3) describe the types of programs for which loans were made; (4) specify the estimated total costs of such programs to the recipients of loans and specify the amount of loans made under the Loan Pro- gram; and (5) specify the number of loan applications which were disapproved during the preceding calendar year and describe the reasons for such disapprovals. (Pub. L. 96–270, § 6, June 14, 1980, 94 Stat. 492.) § 3606. Standards and safety procedures (a) Establishment and distribution to designated State agency or unit; establishment of cri- teria for loan program eligibility (1) Within 120 days after the first meeting of the Task Force, and after consultation with the Task Force, the Secretary shall establish and distribute to the State agency or unit des- ignated under section 3603(a)(4) of this title— (A) procedures for testing the level of asbes- tos fibers in schools, including safety meas- ures to be followed in conducting such tests; (B) standards for evaluating (on the basis of such tests) the likelihood of the leakage of as- bestos fibers into the school environment; and (C) standards for determining which contrac- tors are qualified to carry out the testing and evaluation described in this paragraph. (2) After consulting with the Task Force, the Secretary shall establish criteria to be used for determining eligibility for loans under section 3605 of this title. The criteria shall be based on the assessment of the extent of the health haz- ards posed by the presence of asbestos fibers in schools, as determined in accordance with standards under paragraph (1)(B) of this sub- section. (b) Establishment of regulations After reviewing recommendations submitted to the Secretary by the Task Force under sec- tion 3602(e)(5) of this title, the Secretary, with the concurrence of the Task Force, shall by reg- ulation establish— (1) procedures to be used by local edu- cational agencies, in programs for which loans are made under section 3605 of this title, for— (A) containing and removing asbestos ma- terials in school buildings; (B) replacing the asbestos materials re- moved from school buildings with other ap- propriate building materials; and (C) restoring such school buildings to con- ditions comparable to those existing before asbestos containment or removal activities were undertaken; and (2) standards for determining which contrac- tors are qualified to carry out the activities referred to in paragraph (1). (c) Avoidance of duplication of similar activities of Environmental Protection Agency In carrying out his duties under this section, the Secretary shall avoid, to the maximum ex- tent practicable, duplicating similar activities undertaken by the Environmental Protection Agency. (Pub. L. 96–270, § 7, June 14, 1980, 94 Stat. 494.) § 3607. Recovery of costs by United States (a) Suit by United States on behalf of grant or loan recipient for recovery of costs of activi- ties of recipient; proceeds of judgment (1) As a condition of the award of any grant under section 3604 of this title or loan under sec- tion 3605 of this title, the recipient of any such grant or loan shall permit the United States to sue on behalf of such recipient any person deter- mined by the Attorney General to be liable to the recipient for the costs of any activities un- dertaken by the recipient under such sections. (2) The proceeds from any judgment recovered in any suit brought by the United States under paragraph (1) (or, if the recipient files a similar suit on its own behalf, the proceeds from any judgment recovered by the recipient in such suit) shall be used to repay to the United States, to the extent that the proceeds are sufficient to provide for such repayment, an amount equal to the sum of— (A) the amount of any grant made to the re- cipient under section 3604 of this title; (B) the amount outstanding on any loan made to the recipient under section 3605 of this title; and (C) an amount equal to the interest which would have been charged on such loan were the loan made by a commercial lender at pre-