§ 66-12 — Asbestos Hazard Control

66-12. Asbestos Hazard Control.

1. FINDINGS AND INTENT. It is hereby found that exposure to airborne asbestos fibers and particles has been linked to various diseases. In the past, materials containing asbestos were used in buildings for fireproofing, insulation, soundproofing, decorative and other purposes. The predominant cause of asbestos becoming airborne is through the performance of building repairs, renovation and demolition, which causes the release of asbestos fibers, creating a hazard. It is the purpose of this subchapter to safeguard the public health by requiring that renovation and demolition projects which disturb asbestos be conducted in accordance with procedures established under this subchapter. It is also the purpose of this subchapter to safeguard the public health through monitoring and surveillance to determine hazardous forms and levels of asbestos in the environment and control such conditions to eliminate the exposure of the hazard to individuals. 2. ASBESTOS DECLARED A NUISANCE. a. It is hereby declared that asbestos in the environment which exposes or may expose individuals to hazardous forms and concentrations is a public health hazard and constitutes a public health nuisance which must be abated. b. Any person disturbing materials containing asbestos in any concentration shall provide reliable monitoring data which show that airborne fiber concentrations do not exceed hazardous levels. 3. ASBESTOS PROHIBITED. No person may create or allow to exist on property owned or controlled by the person asbestos which is or may become a form and concentration that is hazardous according to standards adopted by the commissioner. 4. ASBESTOS ORDERS. The department may test the air, surfaces, substances or objects for hazardous forms of asbestos. If the department determines that a hazardous form of asbestos is present upon a premises or location, the commissioner shall issue orders to remove or treat the source of asbestos in order to eliminate or prevent the hazardous conditions. Orders shall be issued to the owner of the property or a responsible party acting on behalf of the owner. 5. ASBESTOS PROJECT PERMIT AND PLAN REQUIRED. a. No person may conduct, require or allow an asbestos project without obtaining an asbestos project permit approved by the department. b. Applications for asbestos project permits shall be made on forms obtained from and returned to the department of neighborhood services. c. Any person applying for a permit under s. 200-24 shall, at the time of application, submit a statement from an asbestos inspector, contractor/supervisor, management planner or asbestos project designer, certified by the state of Wisconsin, declaring whether the work required will include an asbestos project. If an asbestos project is included as part of the work, the permit under s. 200-24 shall not be issued without the concurrent application and issuance of an asbestos project permit. d. Any person applying for an asbestos project permit shall include with the application a copy of the "Notice of Intent", submitted to the Wisconsin department of natural resources, pursuant to ch. NR447, Wis. Adm. Code, as amended, as well as a project plan, as defined in s. 66-10-5. e. Applicants shall pay the fee required in s. 60-9 at the time of application. f. An applicant applying for a permit under s. 200-24 for the following purposes shall not be required to obtain an asbestos permit: f-1. New building construction, including electrical and plumbing work. f-2. Any work involving a one or two-family residential garage. f-3. Work affecting one or 2-family buildings, except where boiler repair or replacement is involved and amounts listed in s. 66-10-4 are exceeded. f-4. Category I (NESHAP) resilient asphalt roofing and siding products containing more than 1% asbestos by weight removed in a non-friable manner. g-1. In this paragraph, "asbestos regulation" means any of the following: g-1-a. Abatement industry standards in occupational safety and health administration (OSHA) regulations, 29 CFR 1926.1101, as amended. g-1-b. Federal asbestos hazard and emergency response act (AHERA) regulations, 40 CFR 763, as amended. g-1-c. Control of asbestos emissions regulations, natural resources ch. NR 447, Wis. Adm. Code, as amended. g-1-d. Asbestos certification and training accreditation regulations, health and family services ch. DHS 159, Wis. Adm. Code, as amended. g-1-e. Asbestos hazard regulations in this subchapter. g-2. An application for a permit may be denied or granted with conditions if any of the following conditions are met: g-2-a. The applicant has been convicted of 3 or more violations of an asbestos regulation, all such convictions being on or after June 1, 1996 and no conviction being earlier than 24 months immediately preceding the application. g-2-b. The applicant has committed repeated significant violations of asbestos regulations, as described in subd. 5. g-3. The commissioner shall establish, maintain and, from time to time, revise a list of actions that constitute significant violations of asbestos regulations under this paragraph. The commissioner shall make the list readily available for inspection and review by the public. 5.5. PROTOCOL FOR DEMOLISHING AND RENOVATING BUILDINGS. a. The commissioner shall adopt an asbestos inspection and sampling protocol for buildings to be demolished or renovated. The protocol shall be based on state and federal regulations and shall specify the minimum departmental inspection and sampling requirements prior to beginning demolition or renovation of buildings. b. The commissioner shall make the protocol available upon request at the department and shall furnish a copy of the protocol to the legislative reference bureau. 6. OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE PROJECT NOTIFICATION REQUIRED. a. No person may conduct, require or allow an operations and maintenance project without filing prior written notice with the department. b. A copy of the "Notice of Intent" submitted to the Wisconsin department of natural resources shall be supplied to the department. c. If, during the course of the calendar year, any phase of the operations and maintenance project exceeds asbestos project amounts, an asbestos project permit shall be obtained. 7. PLAN REVIEW AND MONITORING. a. Asbestos project permit applications shall be submitted to the department for review at least 5 working days prior to commencement of project work. No asbestos project work may begin until a permit has been issued by the department. b. Upon receipt of the application for an asbestos project, the department shall review the plans to determine if proper procedures will be followed. It may also view the site in connection with the application and also conduct any necessary monitoring or analysis. c. Prior to issuance of the asbestos project permit, the applicant shall notify the department of the specific day and time that the work shall begin. The department may observe, monitor, sample and carry out any other necessary inspection to determine strict adherence to the approved plan of removal or treatment. d. Following receipt of the applicant's notice under par. c, the department shall notify the fire department of the commencement and duration of the asbestos project and provide a description of the project. The fire department shall be granted access to any private property to observe, evaluate and monitor the removal or treatment of asbestos. The owner of the property or a responsible party acting on behalf of the owner shall notify the department prior to commencement of any ordered asbestos abatement work. 8. PERMIT SUSPENSION OR REVOCATION. a. If proper procedures and compliance with the approved plan are not followed or conditions result that create a hazardous environment, the commissioner may give written notice to suspend or revoke the asbestos project permit. When a permit is suspended or revoked, all work shall be stopped and the asbestos must be contained or sealed up pending correction of the violation and reissuance of the permit. b. Any decision of the commissioner under this subsection is effective unless the permit holder seeks a hearing on the decision under par. c. c. Any person whose permit has been suspended or revoked may appeal the suspension or revocation by writing to the commissioner to request a hearing. Such letter shall be received by the commissioner no later than 5 calendar days following the permit action. After receipt of the petition, the commissioner shall schedule a hearing on the appeal within 10 working days. d. The commissioner, after taking testimony, may affirm, revoke or alter the original action concerning the permit. If the person is not satisfied with the determination of the commissioner, he or she may request an administrative review of the commissioner's decision under s. 320-11. 9. ASBESTOS HAZARD VIOLATIONS. The following work practices shall be considered violations of this subchapter and may result in the issuance of a citation for each violation: a. Removal, transport or storage of asbestos containing materials that have not been thoroughly wetted. b. Failure to maintain continuous negative pressure in the asbestos abatement area, relative to the area immediately outside the critical barriers or containment walls, from the onset of abatement until final air clearance results of less than 0.01 fibers per cubic centimeter by phase contrast microscopy or 70 structures per square millimeter by transmission electron microscopy have been received. Deviations from these requirements, such as negative air glove bag removal, shall be clearly stated in the project plans. Where, due to ambient conditions, clearance results below 0.01 fibers per cubic centimeter cannot be obtained, the department shall be notified of such circumstances and the department shall determine whether or not further testing will be required. Air clearance test results must be submitted to the department within 10 working days of completion of the project. c. Failure to monitor worker exposure to airborne asbestos fibers. At least one of every 4 workers in the containment area shall be tested each day. When statistically reliable monitoring data obtained under workplace conditions closely resembling typical processes, types of materials, control methods, work practices and environmental conditions indicates that employee exposure will not exceed the action level or excursion limit, daily monitoring may be discontinued for those employees whose exposures are represented by such monitoring. Such monitoring data shall be available for immediate review at the abatement site. When all employees within a regulated area are equipped with supplied air respirators operated in the positive pressure mode, daily monitoring may not be required. d. Presence in the abatement area of a person who is not wearing a proper respiratory protective device or protective clothing. e. Failure to provide windows in the containment wall that afford an unobstructed view of the abatement work area. If the abatement plans clearly indicate that it is not possible to view the work area through any windows, the commissioner may omit this requirement. f. Failure to provide, at a minimum, a 3-stage decontamination unit which is contiguous to the containment area and equipped with hot and cold or warm water and waste water filtration. Any deviation from this provision, such as remote or central decontamination units, shall be clearly specified in the asbestos project plans. g. Conducting asbestos abatement activities without a permit, before the effective date of the permit or after the expiration date of the permit. Permit extensions shall be applied for and approved prior to expiration of the permit. An application to revise the start date of a project shall be submitted to and approved by the department prior to the start date specified on the original permit. h. Failure to provide on-site emergency plans which include the means by which emergency assistance can be rapidly summoned to the abatement site. Clearly marked emergency fire exits shall be provided in each containment area. i. Conducting abatement activities with employees who have not been certified by the state of Wisconsin to be asbestos workers. An asbestos supervisor certified by the state of Wisconsin shall be on the abatement site at all times during which abatement activities are in progress. Certification shall not be required for employees conducting abatement operations in any building owned by their employer. j. Failure to secure the abatement site or post warning signs at all entrances to the abatement area. k. Any action or failure to take action which may result in exposure of abatement workers, the public or the environment to asbestos. L. Failure to comply with all the requirements of the asbestos inspection and sampling protocol for buildings to be demolished or renovated, under sub. 5.5. m. Failure to clean abated surfaces, equipment used in abatement or the floors, walls and surfaces in the containment area so that they are free of asbestos containing residues prior to disrupting negative pressure in the enclosure or regulated area. 10. ASBESTOS ABATEMENT. a. The commissioner may use the authority delegated under ch. 17 of the charter to preserve the public health, and to summarily abate or remove a nuisance, and may assess the cost of such action, along with city costs, as a lien against the property and may be collected as a special charge in accordance with s. 17-12 of the charter. b. An appeal may be filed to contest abatement charges. The written request for a hearing shall state the grounds for the appeal and shall be made to the administrative review appeals board within 30 days of the date of notice of the assessment. 11. DISPOSABLE CLOTHING. An asbestos project permittee, when conducting an asbestos project, shall keep on the premises a minimum of 10 suits of disposable clothing for asbestos work which shall be utilized by emergency medical personnel or fire department personnel responding to an emergency medical services call or by employees of the department of neighborhood services. 12. EXEMPTION. Subchapter 1 does not apply to the Milwaukee public schools.