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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 3601. Congressional statement of findings and purposes
(a) The Congress finds that -
(1) exposure to asbestos fibers has been identified over a long
period of time and by reputable medical and scientific evidence
as significantly increasing the incidence of cancer and other
severe or fatal diseases, such as asbestosis;
(2) medical evidence has suggested that children may be
particularly vulnerable to environmentally induced cancers;
(3) medical science has not established any minimum level of
exposure to asbestos fibers which is considered to be safe to
individuals exposed to the fibers;
(4) substantial amounts of asbestos, particularly in sprayed
form, have been used in school buildings, especially during the
period 1946 through 1972;
(5) partial surveys in some States have indicated that (A) in a
number of school buildings materials containing asbestos fibers
have become damaged or friable, causing asbestos fibers to be
dislodged into the air, and (B) asbestos concentrations far
exceeding normal ambient air levels have been found in school
buildings containing such damaged materials;
(6) the presence in school buildings of friable or easily
damaged asbestos creates an unwarranted hazard to the health of
the school children 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
attempted 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 standard regulating the
concentration of asbestos fibers in noncommercial workplace
environments such as schools, school employees and students may
be exposed to hazardous concentrations of asbestos fibers in the
school buildings which they use each day;
(9) without an improved program of information distribution,
technical and scientific assistance, and financial support, many
local educational agencies and States will not be able to
mitigate the potential asbestos hazards 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 establish 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 financial 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 agencies for the
mitigation of asbestos hazards which constitute an imminent
hazard to the health and safety of school children and employees;
and
(5) assure that no employee of any local educational agency
suffers any disciplinary action as a result of calling attention
to potential asbestos hazards which may exist in schools.
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