Asbestos was regulated but never fully banned in the United States until recently, and the gaps in that history matter to anyone who was exposed. This category covers the federal laws, agencies, and standards that govern how asbestos is used, removed, and disclosed.
Workplace rules come mostly from OSHA. The OSHA Asbestos Standard and its permissible exposure limit (PEL) set how much airborne fiber a worker can legally breathe, limits that were far weaker in earlier decades. NIOSH sets its own recommended limit (REL) as a health target.
The EPA handles the environment and the product itself. NESHAP governs demolition and abatement, AHERA covers asbestos in schools, and CERCLA (Superfund) deals with contaminated sites. The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), strengthened by the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act, finally produced the EPA 2024 TSCA chrysotile ban rule.
Understanding which rule applied when can show whether a company met, or ignored, the standards of its day. Every term below links to a full plain-language definition.
Terms in this category
- 40 CFR Part 763, Appendix A40 CFR Part 763, Appendix A is the section of the U.S. federal regulations that sets out the official laborat…
- AbatementAbatement is the controlled removal, sealing, or enclosure of asbestos-containing material so that fibers are…
- AHERAAHERA stands for the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act, a 1986 U.S. federal law that requires public and…
- Airborne Toxic Control MeasureAn Airborne Toxic Control Measure (ATCM) is a type of regulation issued by the California Air Resources Board…
- Asbestos Management PlanAn asbestos management plan is the written plan that AHERA requires every public and private nonprofit elemen…
- Asbestos-Containing Material (ACM)Asbestos-containing material, or ACM, is any material that contains more than one percent asbestos by weight,…
- ATA MineralsATA Minerals refers to the "Asbestiform Tremolite-Actinolite" group of minerals, a family of amphibole asbest…
- Category I and II Nonfriable ACMUnder the EPA asbestos NESHAP, nonfriable asbestos-containing materials are split into two categories. Catego…
- Clearance Air TestingClearance air testing is the final air sampling done inside a work area after asbestos abatement, before the …
- Compassionate AllowancesCompassionate Allowances (CAL) is a Social Security Administration program that fast-tracks disability benefi…
- Competent PersonUnder OSHA rules, a competent person is someone who can identify existing and predictable asbestos hazards an…
- Conjunctive DefinitionA "conjunctive definition" of asbestos is a regulatory or scientific definition that requires a mineral fiber…
- Conservation Order M-79Conservation Order M-79 was a wartime directive issued by the U.S. War Production Board in 1942 that restrict…
- Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC)Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) is a tax-free monthly benefit the VA pays to an eligible survivin…
- EPA 2024 TSCA Chrysotile Ban RuleThis is the final rule issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in March 2024 under the Toxic Subst…
- Excursion LimitThe excursion limit is OSHA's short-term ceiling for asbestos: no worker may be exposed to more than 1.0 fibe…
- Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic ActThe Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) is the primary U.S. law governing the safety and labeling of …
- Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety ActThe Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act is a 2016 federal law that overhauled the To…
- GlovebagA glovebag is a clear plastic bag with built-in gloves that is sealed around a small section of pipe or fitti…
- Medicare Secondary Payer ActThe Medicare Secondary Payer Act is a federal law that makes Medicare a secondary payer when another source, …
- Military Specifications (MIL-SPEC)Military specifications, or MIL-SPECs, are detailed standards the U.S. military sets for the materials and pr…
- NESHAPNESHAP stands for the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants, a set of federal rules issued…
- NIOSH RELA NIOSH REL (Recommended Exposure Limit) is a workplace exposure level recommended by the U.S. National Insti…
- Non-objective crocidolite"Non-objective crocidolite" is not a recognized scientific, medical, or industry term in the asbestos literat…
- Occupational Disease ActAn occupational disease act is a state law that provides compensation benefits for diseases caused by work, s…
- Operations and Maintenance ProgramAn operations and maintenance program, or O&M program, is a set of written procedures for managing asbestos t…
- OSHA Asbestos StandardThe OSHA Asbestos Standard is the set of federal workplace rules limiting how much asbestos workers can be ex…
- OSHA Class I–IV Asbestos WorkOSHA's construction asbestos standard sorts asbestos jobs into four classes by risk. Class I is removal of th…
- Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL)A Permissible Exposure Limit, or PEL, is the maximum amount of a hazardous substance a worker can legally be …
- Presumed Asbestos-Containing Material (PACM)Presumed asbestos-containing material, or PACM, is OSHA's term for thermal system insulation and surfacing ma…
- Public Health Emergency DeclarationA Public Health Emergency Declaration is a formal action by a government agency that recognizes a serious, on…
- Public Law 733Public Law 733 is the common shorthand for the federal statute enacted in 1946 that authorized the U.S. Navy …
- Regulated AsbestosRegulated asbestos refers to the specific asbestos minerals that laws and agencies officially control. In the…
- Regulated Asbestos-Containing Material (RACM)Regulated asbestos-containing material, or RACM, is the EPA's term under the asbestos NESHAP for material tha…
- regulatory gapA regulatory gap is a period, product category, or workplace setting in which no meaningful government rules …
- Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is a federal program that pays monthly benefits to people who hav…
- Strategic materialA strategic material is a substance the government considers essential to national defense and industrial cap…
- Strategic Materials StockpileA strategic stockpile (in the United States, the Strategic Materials Stockpile, later the National Defense St…
- SuperfundSuperfund is the common name for the federal program created by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Com…
- Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) is a U.S. federal law, passed in 1976, that gives the Environmental P…
- TSCA Part 1TSCA Part 1 refers to the first phase of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's risk evaluation of asbest…
- TSCA Part 2TSCA Part 2 refers to the second phase of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's risk evaluation of asbes…
- TSCA Risk EvaluationA TSCA Risk Evaluation is a formal scientific and regulatory review conducted by the U.S. EPA under the Toxic…
- TSCA section 6TSCA Section 6 is the part of the federal Toxic Substances Control Act that gives the EPA authority to regula…
- VA Disability CompensationVA disability compensation is a tax-free monthly payment from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to vete…
Terms in this category
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