(a) Public building owner responsibilities.
(1) The public building owner is responsible for compliance with this chapter in relation to the presence, condition, disturbance, renovation, demolition, and disposal of any ACBM and ACWM that is encountered in the construction, operations, maintenance, or furnishing of that public building, including when the building is under management by others.
(2) Before operations and maintenance, renovation, or demolition, the public building owner is required to have an asbestos survey performed, identify the presence of asbestos, and have ACBM that may be disturbed by the operations and maintenance, renovation, or demolition activity abated, as required in this chapter.
(3) The public building owner must fulfill the following obligations, either personally or through the building owner's authorized representative, including when the building is under management by others:
(4) The building owner or the building owner's authorized representative may provide the information described in paragraph (3) of this subsection in writing or through documented oral communication.
(b) Commercial building owner responsibilities. The commercial building owner is responsible for compliance with this chapter in relation to the presence, condition, disturbance, renovation, demolition, and disposal of any asbestos that is encountered in the construction, operations, maintenance, or furnishing of that commercial building, including when the building is under management by others. Before operations and maintenance, renovation, or demolition, the commercial building owner is required to have a thorough inspection performed, identify the presence of asbestos, and have the RACM that may be disturbed by the operations and maintenance, renovation, or demolition activity abated in accordance with NESHAP. The commercial building owner must also ensure compliance with this chapter during periods of building vacancy.
(c) Facility owner responsibilities. The facility owner is responsible for compliance with this chapter in relation to the presence, condition, disturbance, renovation, demolition, and disposal of any asbestos that is encountered in the construction, operations, maintenance, or furnishing of that facility, including when the facility is under management by others. Before operations and maintenance, renovation, or demolition, the facility owner is required to have a thorough inspection performed, identify the presence of asbestos, and have the RACM that may be disturbed by the operations and maintenance, renovation, or demolition activity abated in accordance with NESHAP. The facility owner must also ensure compliance with NESHAP during periods of vacancy.
(d) Mandatory survey for ACBM before renovation or demolition.
(1) Before any renovation or dismantling outside of or within a public building, commercial building, or facility, including preparations for partial or complete demolition, the owner must have an asbestos survey performed.
(2) The work area and all immediately surrounding areas that could foreseeably be disturbed by the actions necessary to perform the project must be thoroughly surveyed and, as applicable, sampled before renovation or demolition.
(3) A copy of the asbestos survey report that includes the contents described in §296.21(93) of this chapter (relating to Definitions), as applicable, must be produced upon request by DSHS within 10 working days after the request.
(4) A building may be demolished with RACM in place if a state or local government orders the demolition because the building is structurally unsound and in danger of imminent collapse, as determined by a professional engineer or a city, county, or state government official who is qualified to make that decision.
(5) Without otherwise limiting the scope of an asbestos survey, each survey for a public building must treat any building material listed in subsection (o)(2) of this section as suspect ACBM and include all such materials in the asbestos survey if the materials could foreseeably be disturbed during the renovation or demolition activities.
(6) In a public building, the mandatory survey requirement must be met in one of the following two ways.
(7) In a commercial building, an accredited inspector who has completed the MAP inspector training may perform the asbestos survey.
(8) In a facility that is not a public or commercial building, the survey must conform to 40 CFR §61.145. OSHA regulations or other EPA regulations may apply.
(e) Asbestos survey.
(1) A limited asbestos survey may be performed to address a specific area of a building, such as an area identified for renovation. A limited asbestos survey may not be substituted for a thorough asbestos survey of the entire building.
(2) A comprehensive asbestos survey covering the entire building is required before demolition of a building.
(3) An asbestos survey report remains acceptable if the asbestos survey is done in compliance with the applicable law, including the Texas Asbestos Health Protection rules in effect at the time the asbestos survey is completed and the asbestos survey addresses and accurately represents ACM and ACBM, as applicable, for the building affected by the planned renovation, demolition, or O&M activity, including its location, type, and condition.
(4) An environmental assessment report may not be used as an asbestos survey report unless it is conducted by an appropriately accredited or licensed person and contains all of the required elements of an asbestos survey report, as applicable.
(f) Sampling for asbestos in a public building. A licensed asbestos inspector must perform an asbestos survey in accordance with generally accepted standards, such as the methods described in 40 CFR §§763.85 - 763.88. The survey and survey report must identify, including its location, type, and condition, all ACBM that is found to be ACM. To assess the presence of ACBM and determine the need for any O&M activity or abatement, the licensed asbestos inspector must collect a minimum of three samples from each homogeneous area. The samples must be evaluated by a licensed asbestos laboratory. If one sample from a homogeneous area is found to be ACM, the remaining samples from that homogeneous area do not have to be analyzed. Building materials that have not been surveyed as required in this subsection and are suspected of containing asbestos must be treated as ACBM.
(1) When conducting core sample analysis, each layer must be analyzed and reported separately. Core sample analysis in a public building must not be reported as an average or a composite result.
(2) A result of visual estimation by polarized light microscopy (PLM) analysis of 0% asbestos or no asbestos detected does not require further analysis for the detection of asbestos in friable or nonfriable suspect materials.
(3) Point counting may be used to analyze either a friable or nonfriable material. Nonfriable materials, such as mastics and floor tile where fibers are occluded by a binding matrix must be processed using a technique that renders the material friable, such as acid washing and ashing outlined in EPA/600/R-93/116.
(4) A result of visual estimation by PLM analysis of greater than 0% and less than 10% asbestos may be demonstrated to be material that is not ACBM only if the material is further analyzed using other analysis based upon the hierarchy and terms of the following:
(g) Conditions requiring mandatory abatement. Before any renovation or dismantling of a public building, commercial building, or facility, including preparations for partial or complete demolition, the building owner must have ACBM abated, as required in this section.
(1) Demolition or renovation of a public building. Before performing any demolition in a public building, the building owner must ensure that all suspect ACBM is surveyed and RACM is abated in accordance with NESHAP and as required in this chapter. Before performing any renovation in a public building, the building owner must ensure that all suspect ACBM that could foreseeably be disturbed in the area to be renovated is surveyed and ACBM is abated, as required in this chapter.
Cont'd...