§ 3601. — Congressional statement of findings and purposes.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 20USC3601]
TITLE 20--EDUCATION
CHAPTER 49--ASBESTOS SCHOOL HAZARD DETECTION AND CONTROL
Sec. 3601. Congressional statement of findings and purposes
(a) 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 concentrations 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 identifying hazardous conditions in schools
or for remedying those conditions;
(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 an improved 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 chapter to identify and mitigate hazards from
exposure to asbestos fibers and materials emitting such fibers.
(b) It is the purpose of this chapter to--
(1) direct the Secretary of Education to establish a task force
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) require States receiving administrative funds for any
applicable program (as defined under section 1221(c)(1)(A) \1\ of
this title) to prepare a plan describing the manner in which
information relating to programs established under this chapter
shall be distributed to local educational agencies;
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\1\ See References in Text note below.
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(3) provide scientific, technical, and financial assistance to
State educational agencies and local educational agencies to enable
them to conduct an asbestos detection program to identify asbestos
hazards in schools;
(4) provide loans to local educational agencies for the
mitigation of asbestos hazards which constitute an imminent hazard
to the health and safety of school children and employees; and
(5) 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.
(Pub. L. 96-270, Sec. 2, June 14, 1980, 94 Stat. 487.)
References in Text
Section 1221 of this title, referred to in subsec. (b)(2), was
amended generally by Pub. L. 103-382, title II, Sec. 211, Oct. 20, 1994,
108 Stat. 3912, and, as so amended, no longer contains a subsec.
(c)(1)(A). However, the term ``applicable program'' is defined in
subsec. (c)(1) of that section.
Short Title
Section 1 of Pub. L. 96-270 provided that: ``This Act [enacting this
chapter and amending section 1411 of this title] may be cited as the
`Asbestos School Hazard Detection and Control Act of 1980'.''
