Asbestos at Superfund Sites: National Policy Directives

This section provides EPA on-scene coordinators and remedial project managers with a comprehensive record of Agency directives and policies related to asbestos.

• Rules and Regulations Regarding the Demolition of Asbestos-Containing Structures(16 pp, 5.4 MB)
  June 8, 2012.

This EPA memorandum summarizes the Clean Air Act Asbestos National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) regulations and clarifies their applicability to cleanups at CERCLA sites. Similarly, the memorandum addresses worker-protection safety regulations under the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the Toxic Substances Control Act that apply to CERCLA actions.

• Assessing Protectiveness for Asbestos Sites: Supplemental Guidance to Comprehensive Five-Year Review Guidance (PDF)(6 pp, 73 K)
  OSWER Directive 9355.7-03B-P, October 2009.
  • Transmittal Memorandum (PDF)(2 pp, 442 K)

This supplemental guidance provides recommendations for evaluating the protectiveness of a remedy for asbestos contamination at Superfund sites during a five-year review.

• Guidelines for Catastrophic Emergency Situations Involving Asbestos
  December 2009.

This guidance document provides EPA managers and staff with NESHAPs and asbestos cleanup responsibilities with information on how to address asbestos issues that may arise during catastrophic situations.

• Vermiculite Ore Asbestos Sites: Evaluating Potential Indoor Residential Contamination (PDF)(4 pp, 1.7 MB)
  October 3, 2006.

This memorandum provides EPA Regions with guidance for conducting removal site evaluations at residential asbestos contamination sites associated with vermiculite ore from Libby, Montana.

• Clarifying Cleanup Goals and Identification of New Assessment Tools for Evaluating Asbestos at Superfund Cleanups (PDF)(4 pp, 199 K)
  OSWER 9345.4-05, August 2004.

This EPA memorandum clarifies that Regions should develop risk-based, site-specific action levels to determine the need for response actions when materials containing less than 1 percent asbestos (including chrysotile and amphibole asbestos) are found at a site. Regions should not assume that materials containing less than 1 percent asbestos do not pose an unreasonable risk to human health