Asbestos Laws & Exposure Regulations Guide

Federal asbestos laws aim to protect Americans from asbestos exposure and resulting illnesses like mesothelioma. There is no complete ban on asbestos, but the EPA and OSHA are responsible for protecting residents and workers from exposure to existing asbestos materials.

If you’ve been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, or asbestosis, keep in mind that you may be eligible for substantial compensation. There is currently over $30 billion in asbestos trust funds set up for victims of asbestos-related diseases. We invite you to fill out our form today for a free Financial Compensation Packet, filled with information about experienced mesothelioma lawyers in your area, how to get paid in 90 days, how to file an asbestos trust fund claim, and much more. 

Timeline of Asbestos Risks and Regulations

• In 1889, an annual report produced for factories suggested that asbestos had shown signs of health risks.
• During the 1900s, Dr. H. Montague Murray connected a young factory worker’s death with asbestos after finding fibers of the mineral in his lungs.
• In 1924, a British pathologist, Dr. Cook, connected several victims of lung illnesses with prolonged exposure to asbestos. In 1927, he named the disease “asbestosis.”
• After Dr. Cook’s findings, the dangers of asbestos became widespread, followed by an influx of health investigations. After findings determined that at least 25% of textile workers had developed pulmonary fibrosis, asbestos-use regulations were updated and improved.
• In the U.S., the first reported asbestos-related death occurred in 1930. However, although the victim’s autopsy findings were presented to the Mayo Clinic, the death occurred in South America, and the victim was a minor.
• In 1930, the Johns-Manville Corporation saw first-hand the risks of asbestos as worker after worker began falling ill. The company requested a confidential medical report to be used internally only. The findings, which were later made public, stated that asbestos dust is extremely dangerous to humans.
• In 1933, life insurance determined that at least 29% of the plant workers at Johns-Manville had developed asbestosis. Lawsuits against the company followed.
• Several medical brochures, information, and warnings were given to an array of companies in the 1940s. Many companies either ignored the warnings or altered the information. One company, in particular, Owens-Corning, had at least 42 workers fall victim to asbestos yet did nothing to prevent these illnesses.
• In the 1950s, many companies began removing any reference to asbestos being linked to cancer. Although the medical director of Johns Manville suggested leaving warning labels on products that contained asbestos, his efforts were unsuccessful.
• Cover-ups continued until the 1970s when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) took notice.
• The EPA issued a ban on asbestos, but this was overturned two years later, in 1991. Today, imported asbestos is still legal to use in small amounts in many products.

Which Agencies Regulate Asbestos Exposure?

Safety regulations play an essential role in protecting people because asbestos is not banned in the U.S. Two federal agencies are primarily responsible for regulating and enforcing asbestos safety standards:

• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The role of the EPA is to protect the environment and human health. In terms of asbestos, it regulates safety standards in non-occupational settings.
• The Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA is responsible for regulating workplace safety. It sets standards for asbestos exposure levels on the job and enforces these standards.

States also have laws that regulate how asbestos can be handled and abated in residences and public and commercial buildings.

EPA Asbestos Environmental Standards

The EPA wasn’t created until 1970. Its creation followed public concerns about environmental disasters, pollution, and contamination of air, water, and land with toxins. The Clean Air Act was the first law to allow the EPA to regulate asbestos.

1971 Clean Air Act

On March 31, 1971, the EPA announced that asbestos is a dangerous and hazardous pollutant. The EPA named asbestos as one of the pollutants in the Clean Air Act (CAA).

With the new rules, asbestos and its handling came with stricter requirements.

For example, any building under demolition containing asbestos must be monitored at all times while following work-related practices such as wetting and removing all asbestos-containing materials. The materials then had to be sealed in tight containers.

1973 National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP)

As part of the Clean Air Act and after the EPA determined asbestos to be hazardous and dangerous to health in 1971, it created NESHAP. The EPA has amended NESHAP several times before releasing its latest version in 1995.

In addition to asbestos, NESHAP also regulates six other hazardous air pollutants, including:

• Mercury
• Beryllium
• Vinyl Chloride
• Arsenic
• Benzene
• Radon

In regards to asbestos, NESHAP laws apply to all buildings that were created using asbestos-containing materials, including schools, office buildings, apartments, department stores, auto repair shops, churches, hospitals, and more.

The only exception to NESHAP regulations is residential homes and buildings with less than four dwellings.

Otherwise, all housing complexes must abide by NESHAP and other state asbestos regulations. In addition, NESHAP rules apply to any industrial, institutional, or commercial buildings:

1974 Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)

The SDWA led to the regulation of contaminants in drinking water. The EPA sets standards for the quality of drinking water. This includes limits on asbestos contamination. The EPA oversees agencies and groups that supply drinking water.

The drinking water limit for asbestos is currently 7 million fibers per liter. Asbestos gets into drinking water through erosion of natural deposits and decaying water mains. Many water mains were made with asbestos cement.

1986 Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA)

In 1986, the AHERA passed to regulate asbestos in schools. The law requires that school districts perform regular inspections of buildings for asbestos. This law also applies to nonprofit private schools.

Schools do not have to remove asbestos but must create management plans that minimize risks to staff and students. The EPA created a model for states to meet these requirements.

1990 Asbestos School Hazard Abatement Reauthorization Act (ASHARA)

ASHARA provided additional funding for schools to abate asbestos. Under this law, the EPA increased the training hours required for school abatement workers. It also expanded the requirements for abatement professionals to all public and commercial buildings, not just schools.

1989 Asbestos Ban and Phase-Out Rule

The EPA issued a final rule in 1989 that would ban most products containing asbestos, including:

• Commercial Paper
• Specialty Paper
• Corrugated Paper
• Rollboard
• Flooring Felt

In addition, any new products that didn’t previously contain asbestos cannot be produced with the mineral in the future.

The 1989 asbestos ban and phase-out was overturned by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in 1991. Because of this court decision, asbestos is not banned in the U.S.

Revised Clean Air Act of 1990

NESHAP was revised in 1990 to include the ban on the following asbestos-containing products:

• Spray materials that contain more than 1% asbestos used on pipes, conduits, structures, and buildings (spray materials containing more than 1% asbestos can only be used if the material is coated with either a resinous or bituminous binder at that time the spray is applied)
• Wet-applied and pre-formed asbestos block or pipe insulation

NESHAP rules also include regulations specific to asbestos in the demolition and renovation of buildings. These activities can release a lot of asbestos fibers. The regulations are designed to limit exposure in these situations. They do not apply to residences with four or fewer units.

2019 Final Rule on Asbestos

The EPA issued another final rule on Restrictions on Discontinued Uses of Asbestos in 2019. It followed a more general rule from 2018 that required companies to notify the EPA of any chemical substances that will be used in a new way, and that might cause harm.

The 2019 final rule serves to close a loophole. It is supposed to prevent discontinued asbestos products from returning to the market without the EPA’s review.

Discontinued asbestos products that must be reviewed before use according to the rule include:

• Acetylene cylinder filler
• Adhesives
• Arc chutes
• Beater-add gaskets
• Building materials other than cement
• Coatings
• Extruded sealant tape
• Felt for roofing
• High-grade electrical paper
• Millboard
• Missile liner
• Pipe wrap
• Reinforced plastic
• Separators in batteries and fuel cells
• Vinyl floor tiles

OSHA Workplace Asbestos Safety Regulations

OSHA was created in 1971 to make workplaces safer. Among the many safety conditions OSHA addresses is asbestos exposure. OSHA has created many standards and regulations to protect workers from the harms of asbestos.

OSHA established the current workplace asbestos exposure limit in 1986. The permissible exposure limit (PEL) is 0.1 fibers per cubic centimeter.

Employer Responsibilities

For workers in positions that involve asbestos levels over the PEL, OSHA requires that employers:

• Provide safety training for working around asbestos
• Provide appropriate safety gear and ensure it is used correctly
• Offer training before work begins and every year
• Educate workers about how asbestos exposure affects health
• Educate workers about the added risk of smoking and provide resources for quitting
• Provide medical surveillance to identify workers with early signs of asbestos illnesses
• Document worker injury claims

2002 Asbestos Fact Sheet

In 2002, OSHA released a detailed asbestos fact sheet nationwide depicting the hazards and dangers of asbestos.

OSHA distributed the fact sheet to schools, job sites, hospitals, doctors’ offices, and communities nationwide.

How Asbestos Laws Apply to Schools

Before the 1970s, most schools in the U.S. were built using asbestos-containing materials (ACMs).

Many of these schools still exist today. Federal laws mandate that each of these buildings follow a series of required asbestos management plans, which include:

• The Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA): AHERA requires all schools that were built using asbestos materials to inspect each building for asbestos materials and to come up with a proper management plan to prevent any asbestos hazards.
• Any employee, contractor, or worker in school buildings built with asbestos materials must become accredited with The Asbestos Model Accreditation Plan.
• If the renovation of a school results in stirring large deposits of friable asbestos fibers, the school must be demolished.
• School districts must provide annual notifications to parents, employees, and others who are in the building for long periods that give updates on management plans and any actions that will be taken against asbestos.
• There must be a qualified and designated individual who ensures that notifications and management plans are implemented correctly.
• Areas in the school buildings that contain asbestos must be periodically inspected.
• Custodians and school janitors must be provided with and complete asbestos-awareness training.
• Both public and nonprofit schools must comply with all regulations and rules of NESHAP.

Asbestos Laws For Building Managers and Owners

State and federal laws also require building owners and managers to follow specific asbestos safety procedures:

• If any business owner or manager plans to renovate or demolish their building, they must first get it approved by their state’s agency.
• Any worker hired to help renovate or demolish a building must be certified and accredited through a program such as the EPA Model Accreditation Plan (MAP).
• Owners, managers, and anyone who works in a building containing asbestos must take advantage of EPA’s Operation and Maintenance Program (O&M). O&M is a plan that provides training on cleaning, inspections, and work practices for those who are in the building for long periods that contain asbestos.
• Under the Clean Air Act of 1970, NESHAP mandates that building managers and owners must follow a certain set of guidelines to control the asbestos in their buildings. These laws differ from school laws as school laws have their own unique requirements.

Laws for Asbestos Professionals

In any instance that a site, building, school, home, or any other entity containing asbestos needs to be repaired, remodeled, or destroyed, a certified asbestos professional must be the one to do the job.

Asbestos professionals have the required knowledge and training to work around asbestos-laden materials.

Workers, contractors, inspectors, planners, and designers must all undergo strict asbestos training before working on sites that contain asbestos.

Once they have completed training, asbestos professionals follow strict rules:

• Anyone working around asbestos must always be allowed proper ventilation.
• Any worker exposed to asbestos while renovating, repairing, or remodeling must be allowed several breaks without being exposed for too long.
• The employer must also provide hygiene products and protective clothing to each worker.
• Warning signs and instructions must always be visible around work areas containing asbestos.
• Along with protective clothing, workers must have access to other protective equipment, such as respirators.
• Medical examinations must be provided to all workers who are in contact with asbestos and asbestos-containing materials.
• Showers with hot water and other post-asbestos exposure safety precautions must be provided.

Most of these laws were implemented years after millions of workers had already been exposed to asbestos daily.

As a result, many workers have already been diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases, such as asbestos-related lung cancer, asbestosis, or asbestos cancer. More people are expected to be diagnosed in the future.

According to state and federal laws, if you’ve been exposed to asbestos and diagnosed with a disease after working in a place that contained asbestos, the responsible party could be one or any of the following:

• The business that manufactured the asbestos and the business that manufactured faulty protective gear and clothing
• The owners of the facility where the work was done and the contractors or subcontractors involved

A trust fund may already be set in place for future cases, especially if a business or manufacturer has gone bankrupt.

These types of lawsuits are almost always settled out of court before trial. An asbestos lawyer will be able to investigate and provide this information.

These are some of the job sites and occupations that used the most asbestos:

• Shipbuilding and ship repairs
• Asbestos distribution plants
• Commercial businesses
• Heating and Cooling repair professionals
• Brake and clutch repair (automotive repair)
• Paper mills
• Breweries (built before 1980)
• Pipefitting companies
• Sawmills
• Manufacturing plants
• Airports and military airfields
• Power plants
• Oil and chemical plants
• Steel plants
• Mining companies
• Roofing
• Construction
• Electrical repair jobs
• Insulation installation or removal
• Custodial jobs
• Welding

For more information, see our articles on Asbestos Abatement and Asbestos Disposal.

Talk to your doctor as soon as possible if you believe you were exposed to asbestos. Then, contact an asbestos lawyer to determine your legal options.

Getting Help

If you’ve been injured by mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, or asbestosis, there is a good chance that you’ll qualify for considerable compensation. Remember to fill out our form to get your free Financial Compensation Packet, with information on experienced asbestos and mesothelioma lawyers in your area. If you have questions or need additional assistance, contact us at 800-793-4540.