Section 20. Definitions

Part II. Definitions and General

The following words and terms when used in this chapter shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

"AAR" means Asbestos Analyst Registry.

"AAT" means Asbestos Analyst Testing.

"Accredited asbestos training program" means a training program that has been approved by the board to provide training for individuals to engage in asbestos abatement, conduct asbestos inspections, prepare management plans, prepare project designs or act as a project monitor.

"Accredited asbestos training provider" means a firm or individual who has been approved by the board to offer an accredited asbestos training program.

"ACM" means asbestos-containing material.

"AHERA" means Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act, 40 CFR Part 763, Subpart E.

"AIHA" means American Industrial Hygiene Association.

"Approval letter" means a written notice confirming the firm or individual applicant's licensure or accreditation by the board.

"Asbestos" means the asbestiform varieties of actinolite, amosite, anthophyllite, chrysotile, crocidolite, and tremolite.

"Asbestos Analytical Laboratory License" means an authorization issued by the board to perform phase contrast, polarized light, or transmission electron microscopy on material known or suspected to contain asbestos.

"Asbestos-containing material" or "ACM" means any material or product which contains more than 1.0% asbestos or such percentage as established by EPA final rule.

"Asbestos contractor" means any person who has met the board's requirements and has been issued an asbestos contractor's license by the board to enter into contracts to perform asbestos projects.

"Asbestos Contractor's License" means an authorization issued by the board permitting a person to enter into contracts to perform an asbestos abatement project.

"Asbestos inspector" means any person who performs an inspection as defined in this chapter.

"Asbestos Inspector's License" means an authorization issued by the board permitting a person to perform on-site investigations to identify, classify, record, sample, test and prioritize by exposure potential asbestos-containing materials.

"Asbestos Management Plan" means a program designed to control or abate any potential risk to human health from asbestos.

"Asbestos management planner" means any person preparing or updating a management plan.

"Asbestos Management Planner's License" means an authorization issued by the board permitting a person to prepare or update an asbestos management plan.

"Asbestos project" or "asbestos abatement project" means an activity involving job set-up for containment, removal, encapsulation, enclosure, encasement, renovation, repair, construction or alteration of asbestos-containing materials. An asbestos project or asbestos abatement project shall not include nonfriable asbestos-containing roofing, flooring and siding material which when installed, encapsulated or removed does not become friable.

"Asbestos project design" means any descriptive form written as instructions or drafted as a plan describing the construction of an asbestos abatement area or site, response action or work practices to be utilized on the asbestos abatement project.

"Asbestos project designer" means any person providing an asbestos project design or specifications for an asbestos abatement project.

"Asbestos Project Designer's License" means an authorization issued by the board permitting a person to design an asbestos abatement project.

"Asbestos project monitor" means any person hired by a building owner, lessee or his agent to monitor, inspect, provide visual clearance or clearance monitoring of an asbestos abatement project.

"Asbestos Project Monitor's License" means an authorization issued by the board permitting a person to monitor an asbestos project, subject to board regulations.

"Asbestos supervisor" means any person so designated by an asbestos contractor who provides on-site supervision and direction to the workers engaged in asbestos projects.

"Asbestos Supervisor's License" means an authorization issued by the board permitting an individual to supervise and work on an asbestos project.

"Asbestos worker" means any person who engages in an asbestos abatement project.

"Asbestos Worker's License" means an authorization issued by the board permitting an individual to work on an asbestos project.

"ASHARA" means Asbestos School Hazard Abatement Reauthorization Act, 40 CFR Part 763, Subpart E.

"Board" means the Virginia Board for Asbestos, Lead, and Home Inspectors.

"Department" means the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation.

"Direct supervision" means a licensed or accredited inspector, management planner, project monitor or project designer, who undertakes to supervise the activities of an unlicensed inspector, management planner, project monitor or project designer, shall be physically present on the premises at all times while any unlicensed inspector, management planner, project monitor or project designer under his supervision is engaged in the activities of an inspector, management planner, project monitor or project designer.

"Director" means the Director of the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation.

"Employee" means all persons in the service of another under any contract of hire, express or implied, oral or written.

"Encapsulation" means the treatment of asbestos-containing material (ACM) with a material that surrounds or embeds asbestos fibers in an adhesive matrix to prevent the release of fibers, as the encapsulant creates a membrane over the surface (bridging encapsulant) or penetrates the material and binds its components together (penetrating encapsulant).

"Encasement" means any process by which an asbestos-containing material (ACM) is sprayed with an insulating sealer which is then mechanically fastened to the asbestos covered substrate. The insulating sealer is then covered with a sealer to give structural strength and durability.

"Enclosure" means the construction or installation over or around the asbestos-containing material (ACM) of any leak tight solid or flexible coverings, which will not deteriorate or decompose for an extended period of time, so as to conceal the ACM, contain ACM fibers, and render the ACM inaccessible.

"Environmental remediation activity" means any activity planned or carried out for the purpose of reducing or eliminating any environmental hazard, including activities necessary to train individuals in the proper or lawful conduct of such activities, which are regulated by federal or state law or regulation.

"EPA" means United States Environmental Protection Agency.

"Financial interest" means financial benefit accruing to an individual or to a member of his immediate family. Such interest shall exist by reason of (i) ownership in a business if the ownership exceeds 3.0% of the total equity of the business; (ii) annual gross income that exceeds, or may be reasonably anticipated to exceed $1,000 from ownership in real or personal property or a business; (iii) salary, other compensation, fringe benefits, or benefits from the use of property, or any combination of it, paid or provided by a business that exceeds or may be reasonably expected to exceed $1,000 annually; (iv) ownership of real or personal property if the interest exceeds $1,000 in value and excluding ownership in business, income, salary, other compensation, fringe benefits or benefits from the use of property.

"Firm" means any company, partnership, corporation, sole proprietorship, association, or other business entity.

"Friable" means that the material when dry, may be crumbled, pulverized or reduced to powder by hand pressure and includes previously nonfriable material after such previously nonfriable material becomes damaged to the extent that when dry it may be crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to powder by hand pressure.

"Guest instructor" means an instructor who is invited to instruct a specific topic or topics in an accredited asbestos training program and whose instruction is limited to two hours per day.

"Hands-on experience" means the physical participation of students in an asbestos training program. The physical participation includes mock sampling and inspection techniques, report preparation, writing project specifications, glovebag demonstrations and containment construction.

"Immediate family" means (i) a spouse, (ii) a sibling or step sibling, (iii) a parent or step parent, (iv) children or step children, or (v) any other person residing in the same household as the individual.

"Inspection" means an activity undertaken to determine the presence or location, or to access the condition of, friable or nonfriable asbestos-containing material (ACM) or suspected ACM, whether by visual or physical examination, or by collecting samples of such material. This term includes reinspections of friable and nonfriable known or assumed ACM that has been previously identified. The term does not include the following:

1. Periodic surveillance of the type described in 40 CFR 763.92(b) solely for the purpose of recording or reporting a change in the condition of known or assumed ACM;

2. Inspections performed by employees or agents of federal, state, or local governments solely for the purpose of determining compliance with applicable statutes or regulations; or

3. Visual inspections solely for the purpose of determining completion of response actions.

"Instructor" means a person who instructs one or more accredited asbestos training programs, to include the principal instructor, but excluding guest instructors.

"Licensee" means any person, as defined by § 54.1-500 of the Code of Virginia, who has been issued and holds a currently valid license as an asbestos worker, asbestos supervisor, asbestos inspector, asbestos management planner, asbestos project designer, asbestos project monitor or asbestos contractor under this chapter.

"NIOSH" means National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health.

"NIST" means National Institute of Standards and Technology.

"NVLAP" means National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program.

"Occupied" means any area of any building designed or intended for human occupancy for any purpose.

"OSHA" means the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

"OSHA Class III Work" means repair and maintenance operations where asbestos-containing material (ACM), including thermal system insulation and surfacing material, is likely to be disturbed.

"PAT" means Proficiency Analytical Testing.

"PCM" means phase contrast microscopy.

"Person" means a corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, firm, enterprise, franchise, association or any other individual or entity.

"PLM" means polarized light microscopy.

"Preliminary review" means a review conducted by the department following the submission of training materials to ascertain if the proposed asbestos training program meets the standards established by this chapter.

"Principal instructor" means an instructor whose main responsibility is to instruct accredited asbestos training programs, supervise other instructors and manage the overall asbestos training program curriculum.

"Removal" means the physical removal of asbestos-containing material (ACM) in accordance with all applicable regulations.

"Renovation" means altering in any way, one or more facility components.

"Repair" means returning damaged asbestos-containing material (ACM) to an undamaged condition or to an intact state so as to prevent fiber release.

"Residential buildings" means site-built homes, modular homes, condominium units, mobile homes, manufactured housing, and duplexes, or other multi-unit dwellings consisting of four units or fewer that are currently in use or intended for use only for residential purposes.

"Response action" means any method, including removal, encapsulation, enclosure, encasement, or operation and maintenance, that protects human health and the environment from friable asbestos-containing material.

"Substantial change" means a change in overall asbestos training program, materials, principal instructors, training managers, directors, ownership, facilities, equipment, examinations, and certificates of completion. The addition of updated regulations, exam questions or news articles shall not be considered a substantial change.

"TEM" means transmission electron microscopy.

"Training manager" means the individual responsible for administering a training program and monitoring the performance of the instructors.

"Visual inspection" means a process of looking for conditions, which if not corrected during the asbestos abatement project, will lead to residual asbestos-containing dust or debris. Visual inspection includes examination of an asbestos abatement project area prior to clearance air monitoring for evidence that the project has been successfully completed as indicated by the absence of residue, dust and debris.

Historical Notes

Derived from VR137-01-02 § 2.1, eff. September 1, 1994; amended, Volume 18, Issue 06, eff. January 2, 2002; Volume 23, Issue 03, eff. December 1, 2006.

Statutory Authority

§§ 54.1-201 and 54.1-501 of the Code of Virginia.