The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA), Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act of 1986 (AHERA,15 USC 2614 et.seq.) regulates asbestos under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and consequently established the 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 763, Subpart E, Asbestos-Containing Materials in Schools rule. Each violation under these federal rules can levee monetary civil penalties. To date, there is no state of Florida asbestos management rules (unless under removal); therefore, the above rules regulate asbestos management in Florida school buildings.

There are some excellent EPA asbestos resource web pages that are recommended for your review and at the bottom of the list is the link to the AHERA rules:

1. EPA Asbestos in Schools
2. AHERA Tools
3. EPA Healthy School Environmental Resources – Asbestos
4. EPA 100 Commonly Asked Questions About the New AHERA Asbestos-In-Schools Rule (PDF)
5. EPA Asbestos Enforcement Program
6. Enforcement Alert Publication for Asbestos (PDF)
7. Self-Study Guide; How to Manage Asbestos in School Buildings (PDF) 
• Chapter 5 of this guide offers inspection forms (pages 30-35)
• Chapter 6 of the guide offers a Management Plan Compliance Checklist (pages 50-52).
8. Model AHERA Asbestos Management Plan for Local Educational Agencies (PDF) 
9. AHERA Asbestos Management Plan, Self-Audit Checklist for Designated Persons (PDF) 
10. AHERA rules

More specifically, the Asbestos-Containing Materials in Schools management rules are found under 40 CFR 763.80 to 763.99 for public school districts, charter and non-profit elementary and secondary schools, collectively called Local Educational Agencies. The formal definition of Asbestos-Containing Material (ACM) is anything that contains over 1% asbestos by weight. Asbestos-Containing Building Material (ACBM) encompasses ACM items that are in or on the structure of the school building.

The Asbestos School Hazard Abatement Reauthorization Act of 1990, (ASHARA, 15 USC 2641 to 2654) requires accreditation of personnel performing asbestos activities. More specifically, the Asbestos Model Accreditation Plan (40 CFR Part 763, Appendix C) mandates the use of accredited inspectors, abatement workers, supervisors, project designers, and management planners (for schools only) to conduct asbestos activities at schools, as well as public and commercial buildings.

EPA declared asbestos to be a hazardous air pollutant (HAP) under Clean Air Act Section 112 and mandated the asbestos demolition and cleanup/remediation requirements under the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP), 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 61, Subpart M, 1973, amended 1990. More information on NESHAP and Asbestos.

The information found on this web page is designed for easy reading to the layman, but does not in any way preempt the actual AHERA rules or other applicable rule requirements.