20 U.S.C. § 4011 : US Code - Section 4011: Findings and purpose

Search 20 U.S.C. § 4011 : US Code - Section 4011: Findings and purpose

(a) Findings
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 concentration 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 remedying hazardous conditions in schools;
(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 a 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 subchapter to mitigate hazards from exposure
to asbestos fibers and materials emitting such fibers.
(b) Purpose
It is the purpose of this subchapter to -
(1) direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection
Agency to establish a program 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) provide continuing scientific and technical assistance to
State and local agencies to enable them to identify and abate
asbestos hazards in schools;
(3) provide financial assistance for the abatement of asbestos
threats to the health and safety of school children or employees;
and
(4) 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.