763.91—Operations and maintenance.

(a) Applicability. The local education agency shall implement an operations, maintenance, and repair (O&M) program under this section whenever any friable ACBM is present or assumed to be present in a building that it leases, owns, or otherwise uses as a school building. Any material identified as nonfriable ACBM or nonfriable assumed ACBM must be treated as friable ACBM for purposes of this section when the material is about to become friable as a result of activities performed in the school building.

(b) Worker protection. Local education agencies must comply with either the OSHA Asbestos Construction Standard at 29 CFR 1926.1101, or the Asbestos Worker Protection Rule at 40 CFR 763.120, whichever is applicable.

(c) Cleaning— (1) Initial cleaning. Unless the building has been cleaned using equivalent methods within the previous 6 months, all areas of a school building where friable ACBM, damaged or significantly damaged thermal system insulation ACM, or friable suspected ACBM assumed to be ACM are present shall be cleaned at least once after the completion of the inspection required by § 763.85(a) and before the initiation of any response action, other than O&M activities or repair, according to the following procedures:

(i) HEPA-vacuum or steam-clean all carpets.

(ii) HEPA-vacuum or wet-clean all other floors and all other horizontal surfaces.

(iii) Dispose of all debris, filters, mopheads, and cloths in sealed, leak-tight containers.

(2) Additional cleaning. The accredited management planner shall make a written recommendation to the local education agency whether additional cleaning is needed, and if so, the methods and frequency of such cleaning.

(d) Operations and maintenance activities. The local education agency shall ensure that the procedures described below to protect building occupants shall be followed for any operations and maintenance activities disturbing friable ACBM:

(1) Restrict entry into the area by persons other than those necessary to perform the maintenance project, either by physically isolating the area or by scheduling.

(2) Post signs to prevent entry by unauthorized persons.

(3) Shut off or temporarily modify the air-handling system and restrict other sources of air movement.

(4) Use work practices or other controls, such as, wet methods, protective clothing, HEPA-vacuums, mini-enclosures, glove bags, as necessary to inhibit the spread of any released fibers.

(5) Clean all fixtures or other components in the immediate work area.

(6) Place the asbestos debris and other cleaning materials in a sealed, leak-tight container.

(e) Maintenance activities other than small-scale, short-duration. The response action for any maintenance activities disturbing friable ACBM, other than small-scale, short-duration maintenance activities, shall be designed by persons accredited to design response actions and conducted by persons accredited to conduct response actions.

(f) Fiber release episodes— (1) Minor fiber release episode. The local education agency shall ensure that the procedures described below are followed in the event of a minor fiber release episode (i.e., the falling or dislodging of 3 square or linear feet or less of friable ACBM): 5

(i) Thoroughly saturate the debris using wet methods.

(ii) Clean the area, as described in paragraph (e) of this section.

(iii) Place the asbestos debris in a sealed, leak-tight container.

(iv) Repair the area of damaged ACM with materials such as asbestos-free spackling, plaster, cement, or insulation, or seal with latex paint or an encapsulant, or immediately have the appropriate response action implemented as required by § 763.90.

(2) Major fiber release episode. The local education agency shall ensure that the procedures described below are followed in the event of a major fiber release episode (i.e., the falling or dislodging of more than 3 square or linear feet of friable ACBM):

(i) Restrict entry into the area and post signs to prevent entry into the area by persons other than those necessary to perform the response action.

(ii) Shut off or temporarily modify the air-handling system to prevent the distribution of fibers to other areas in the building.

(iii) The response action for any major fiber release episode must be designed by persons accredited to design response actions and conducted by persons accredited to conduct response actions.

Code of Federal Regulations

[52 FR 41846, Oct. 30, 1987, as amended at 65 FR 69216, Nov. 15, 2000]