74R8669 KLL-D
By Jackson H.B. No. 2436
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2436:
By Hirschi C.S.H.B. No. 2436
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the regulation of persons engaged in asbestos-related
1-3 activities.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 2, Texas Asbestos Health Protection Act
1-6 (Article 4477-3a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to
1-7 read as follows:
1-8 Sec. 2. Definitions. In this Act:
1-9 (1) "Asbestos" means the asbestiform varieties of
1-10 chrysotile, amosite, crocidolite, tremolite, anthophyllite, and
1-11 actinolite, any of those substances that have been chemically
1-12 treated or altered, and all materials containing more than one
1-13 percent <or more> of any of those substances.
1-14 (2) "Asbestos abatement" means the removal, the
1-15 encapsulation, or the enclosure of asbestos for the purpose of or
1-16 that has the effect of reducing or eliminating concentrations of
1-17 asbestos fibers or amounts of asbestos-containing materials.
1-18 (3) "Asbestos-related activity" means the removal,
1-19 encapsulation, or enclosure of asbestos, the performance of
1-20 asbestos surveys, the development of management plans or response
1-21 actions, the collection or analysis of asbestos samples, or any
1-22 other activity required to be licensed under this Act.
1-23 (4) "Asbestos removal" means any action that disturbs,
2-1 dislodges, strips, or otherwise takes away asbestos fibers.
2-2 (5) "Board" means the Texas Board of Health.
2-3 (6) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of health.
2-4 (7) "Demolition" means:
2-5 (A) the wrecking or taking out of any
2-6 load-supporting structural member of a public building or facility
2-7 or any related asbestos removal, stripping, or handling operations;
2-8 or
2-9 (B) the intentional burning of any public
2-10 building or facility.
2-11 (8) "Department" means the Texas Department of Health.
2-12 (9) <(8)> "Encapsulation" means a method of control of
2-13 asbestos fibers in which the surface of an asbestos-containing
2-14 material is penetrated by or covered with a coating prepared for
2-15 that purpose.
2-16 (10) <(9)> "Enclosure" means the construction of an
2-17 airtight wall and ceiling around asbestos-containing materials.
2-18 (11) <(10)> "Person" means:
2-19 (A) an individual;
2-20 (B) an organization such as a corporation,
2-21 partnership, sole proprietorship, governmental subdivision, or
2-22 agency; or
2-23 (C) any other legal entity recognized by law as
2-24 the subject of rights and duties.
2-25 (12) <(11)> "Public building" means the interior space
3-1 of a building used or to be used for purposes that provide for
3-2 public access or occupancy or for commercial or industrial
3-3 purposes. The term includes the building during a period of
3-4 vacancy, including during preparations prior to and through
3-5 <actual> demolition. The term includes an industrial or office
3-6 building, a residential apartment building or condominium with five
3-7 or more dwelling units, a government-owned building, a college, a
3-8 school, a preschool, a museum, an airport, a jail, a prison, a
3-9 hospital, a church, a store, a warehouse, and a factory. The
3-10 interior space of a public building includes an exterior hallway
3-11 connecting buildings, a portico, and a mechanical system used to
3-12 condition interior space. The term does not include:
3-13 (A) the production or process equipment in a
3-14 public building <an industrial facility to which access is limited
3-15 principally to employees of the facility because of processes or
3-16 functions that are hazardous to human safety or health>;
3-17 (B) <a federal building or installation;>
3-18 <(C)> a private residence; or
3-19 (C) <(D)> an apartment building with no more
3-20 than four dwelling units<; or>
3-21 <(E) a manufacturing facility or building that
3-22 is part of a facility that is limited to workers and invited guests
3-23 under controlled conditions>.
3-24 (13) <(12)> "Air monitoring" means the collection of
3-25 airborne samples for analysis of asbestos fibers.
4-1 (14) <(13)> "Independent third-party monitoring" means
4-2 a person retained to collect area air samples for analysis by and
4-3 for the owner of the building or facility being abated. The person
4-4 must not be employed by the contractor to analyze any area samples
4-5 collected during the abatement project.
4-6 SECTION 2. Section 4B(b), Texas Asbestos Health Protection
4-7 Act (Article 4477-3a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to
4-8 read as follows:
4-9 (b) An individual supervising the removal of asbestos, the
4-10 encapsulation of asbestos, or the enclosure of asbestos <and who is
4-11 designated as the "competent person," as defined under 29 C.F.R.
4-12 1926.58,> must be licensed as an asbestos abatement supervisor.
4-13 The license fee may not exceed $300.
4-14 SECTION 3. Section 4C, Texas Asbestos Health Protection Act
4-15 (Article 4477-3a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to
4-16 read as follows:
4-17 Sec. 4C. Conflict of interest. A person licensed under this
4-18 Act to perform asbestos inspections or surveys, write management
4-19 plans, or design abatement specifications for an asbestos abatement
4-20 project may not also be engaged in the abatement <removal> of
4-21 asbestos from that building or facility unless:
4-22 (1) retained to do so by a municipality;
4-23 (2) the abatement is limited to the portion of a
4-24 building where industrial or manufacturing operations or processes
4-25 are conducted and where access is limited principally to employees
5-1 and contractors of the building operator or to invited guests under
5-2 controlled conditions; or
5-3 (3) the abatement project has a combined amount of
5-4 asbestos of less than 160 square feet of surface area, 260 linear
5-5 feet of pipe length, or one cubic yard of material to be removed
5-6 from that building.
5-7 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
5-8 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
5-9 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-10 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-11 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-12 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.