Proposed Asbestos Regulations Tighten Requirements in Commercial Buildings

January 22, 2013 - The Illinois Department of Public Health has proposed new asbestos regulations for the state of Illinois that would, if enacted, require tighter regulation of asbestos in commercial and industrial buildings. The proposed new regulations, put forward on Dec. 7, would be in line with the more stringent rules for managing asbestos in Illinois schools.

The proposed rules were created by the Asbestos Task Force, which includes more than 20 statewide professionals. The new regulations would include: Amending the Commercial and Public Building Asbestos Abatement Act to require the Department to license asbestos consultants and establish licensing requirements. This revision would make commercial and public building requirements consistent with school asbestos abatement requirements.

Sections are also being added to:

• Necessitate the licensing of asbestos consultants and define application procedures.
•  Further qualify the responsibilities of asbestos abatement contractors.
• Further qualify the responsibilities of air-sampling professionals.
•  Further qualify the responsibilities of commercial and public building owners.     
• Explain procedures for inspections of commercial and public buildings.

The Illinois Register document states, "The economic effect of this proposed rulemaking is unknown. Therefore, the Department requests any information that would assist in calculating this effect."

It also states that “no studies, reports or sources of underlying data were used to create the revisions to the rules."

There is a public comment period, and all comments must be received by Jan 21.'

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