216 R.I. Code R. 216-RICR-50-15-1.3

Current through December 3, 2024

Section 216-RICR-50-15-1.3 - Definitions

A. Whenever used in these rules and regulations, the following terms shall be construed as follows:

1. "Act" means R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 23-24.5, entitled Asbestos Abatement.

2. "Adequately wet" means sufficiently mixed or penetrated with liquid to prevent the release of particulates. If visible emissions are observed coming from ACM, then that material has not been adequately wetted. However, the absence of visible emissions is not sufficient evidence of being adequately wet.

3. "Agent" means any individual performing work on an asbestos abatement project for the Asbestos Contractor, that is not an employee of the Contractor (e.g. industrial hygiene subcontractor).

4. "Amended water" means water to which a surfactant has been added.

5. "Asbestiform materials" means those naturally occurring fibers of similar shape, size, strength, surface and characteristics of asbestos fibers as are otherwise described in the publication entitled "Non Occupational Health Risks of Asbestiform Fibers" published by the Committee on Non Occupational Health Risks of Asbestiform Fibers, Board on Toxicology and Health Hazards of the Commission on Life Sciences of the National Research Council; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and National Academy of Sciences, National Academy Press, Washington, DC, 1984, E.P.A. 68-01-4655.

6. "Asbestos" means a unique group of naturally occurring minerals that separate into fibers of high tensile strength, resistant to heat, wear and chemicals, described as the following types: chrysotile, amosite, crocidolite, tremolite, anthophyllite, and actinolite, and every product containing any of these materials that have been chemically treated and/or altered which, after manufacture, are used for such products and end uses as insulation, textiles, paper, cement sheets, floor tile, wall covering, decorations, coating, sealants, cement pipe and reinforced plastics and other compounds.

7. "Asbestos abatement" means any activity involving the removal, encapsulation, enclosure, renovation, repair, demolition or other disturbance of friable asbestos containing materials. Asbestos Abatement shall be synonymous with Asbestos Management for the purposes of this Part.

8. "Asbestos consultant" means an Asbestos Inspector, Asbestos Management Planner, or Asbestos Project Designer licensed by the Department.

9. "Asbestos abatement project" means all activities, including site preparation and clean-up, associated with asbestos abatement, from the time of initial arrival of the contractor on-site through obtaining an acceptable final clearance air sample in the abatement area(s) and/or removal of all abated ACM from the project site, whichever is later.

10. "Asbestos supervisor" means an employee of a licensed Asbestos Contractors who supervises asbestos abatement projects.

11. "Asbestos worker" means any employee of a licensed Asbestos Contractor who engages in Asbestos Abatement.

12. "Asbestos containing material" or "ACM" means any material or product which contains more than one percent (1%) asbestos, as determined using the method specified in Appendix A, Subpart F, 40 C.F.R. Part 763, Section 1, Polarized Light Microscopy (PLM). If the asbestos content of friable material is less than 10 percent as determined by a method other than point counting by PLM, the asbestos content must be verified by point counting using PLM.

13. "Asbestos containing waste materials" means RACM waste and materials contaminated with asbestos including disposable equipment and clothing.

14. "Asbestos contractor" means any person or entity engaged in asbestos abatement as a business and whose employees perform the asbestos abatement work. (see also: Asbestos Abatement)

15. "Asbestos hazard emergency response act regulations" or "AHERA regulations" refers to specific amendments to Title II of the Toxic Substances Control Act enacted by 15 U.S.C. §§ 2641 - 2654 and the regulations of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency contained in 40 C.F.R. §§ 763.80 through 763.99 (Subpart E).

16. "Asbestos inspector" means an individual who:

a. conducts inspections and reinspections to identify locations of friable and nonfriable ACM;

b. collects bulk samples of homogeneous areas of friable surfacing materials;

c. conducts surveillance of thermal systems insulation; and/or

d. discharges other such related activities.

17. "Asbestos management planner" means an individual who, for any school or school building subject to the AHERA regulations:

a. develops an asbestos abatement/management plan for abatement action(s) no larger than small-scale short-duration maintenance activities, as defined by 40 C.F.R. § 763 Subpart E, Appendix C incorporated by reference at § 1.2(B) of this Part, that disturb friable ACM and/or for minor fiber release episode(s);

b. maintains records and reports of asbestos activities relating to the implementation of abatement/management plans;

c. is responsible for the implementation and administration of the abatement/management plan; and/or

d. discharges other such related activities.

18. "Asbestos project designer" means an individual who:

a. designs all types of abatement actions including other than small-scale, short-duration maintenance activities, as defined by 40 C.F.R. § 763 Subpart E, Appendix C, and major fiber release episodes; and/or

b. discharges other such related activities.

19. "Authorized asbestos disposal facility" means a location approved for handling asbestos waste by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management or by an equivalent regulatory agency if the material is disposed of outside the state of Rhode Island.

20. "Auxiliary work" means work activity which does not directly involve the performance of an asbestos abatement project but may, in the process of assisting in the performance of that project, disturb or cause exposure to asbestos or asbestos-containing materials.

21. "Category I nonfriable asbestos containing material" means any ACM in the form of packings, gaskets, resilient floor covering, and asphalt roofing products.

22. "Category II nonfriable asbestos containing material" means any ACM, excluding Category I nonfriable ACM, that, when dry, cannot be crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to powder by hand pressure.

23. "Clean room" means an uncontaminated area or room which is a part of the worker decontamination enclosure system with provisions for storage of worker's street clothes and clean protective equipment.

24. "Competent person" means a designated public employee, designated public maintenance person, maintenance worker in the private sector, teacher and/or parent representative certified under the provision of § 1.19 of this Part.

25. "Cutting" means penetrating with a sharp-edged instrument. This term also includes sawing, but does not include shearing, slicing, or punching.

26. "Demolition" means the wrecking or taking out of any load-supporting structural member of a facility together with any related handling operations or the intentional burning of any facility (see also: Structural Member).

27. "Department" means the Rhode Island Department of Health.

28. "Emergency asbestos abatement project" means any Asbestos Abatement Project which was not planned but results from a sudden, unexpected event. This includes operations required by non-routine failures of equipment.

29. "Emergency renovation operation" means a renovation operation that was not planned but:

a. results from a sudden, unexpected event that, if not immediately attended to, presents a safety or public health hazard;

b. is necessary to protect equipment from damage; or

c. is necessary to avoid imposing an unreasonable financial burden.

d. This term also includes operations necessitated by nonroutine failures of equipment.

30. "Encapsulation" means the application of an encapsulant to asbestos containing materials to control the release of asbestos fibers into the air. The encapsulant creates a membrane over the surface (bridging encapsulant) or penetrates the material and binds its components together (penetrating encapsulant). [c.f. also: Removal Encapsulant]

31. "EPA" means the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

32. "Equipment room" means a contaminated area or room which is part of the worker decontamination enclosure system with provisions for storage of contaminated clothing and equipment.

33. "Facility" means any institutional, commercial, public or industrial structure, installation or building. For compliance with § 1.24 of this Part, this definition also includes any ship and any structure, installation, or building containing condominiums or individual units operated as a residential cooperative, but excluding residential buildings having four or fewer dwelling units. For the purposes of this definition, any building, structure, or installation that contains a loft used as a dwelling is not considered a residential structure, installation, or building. Any structure, installation, or building that was previously subject to either the NESHAP regulations 40 C.F.R. § 61, Subpart M incorporated by reference at § 1.2(N) of this Part, or this Part is not excluded, regardless of its current use or function. This term does not include a private residence as defined in the Act.

34. "Facility component" means any part of a facility including equipment.

35. "Friable asbestos material" means any ACM that, when dry, can be crumbled, pulverized or reduced to powder by hand pressure.

36. "Glove bag" means a sealed compartment with attached inner gloves used for the handling of asbestos containing materials. Properly installed and used, glove bags provide a small work area enclosure typically used for small-scale asbestos stripping operations.

37. "Grinding" means reducing to powder or small fragments. This term also includes mechanical chipping or drilling.

38. "HVAC" means heating, ventilation and air conditioning system.

39. "HEPA filtration" means high efficiency particulate air filtration found in respirators and vacuum systems capable of filtering 0.3-micron particles with 99.97% efficiency, for use in asbestos contaminated environments.

40. "High priority areas" means those areas of a building which are used or occupied by a high percentage of the building population on a regular basis. Such areas include classrooms, cafeterias, gymnasiums, offices, places of assembly, work stations, corridors, lobbies, restrooms, and others that may be determined by the Director of Health.

41. "High priority building" means a child inhabited or child frequented structure either privately or publicly owned. This category shall include, but not be limited to, public and parochial schools (Grades Pre-K to 12), day care centers, nurseries, acute or chronic children's hospitals (or wardrooms thereof) as otherwise defined by the National Building Code Use Groups E, B and I. Private residences used for the above purposes and housing or occupied by ten (10) children or less are excluded from this group.

42. "Homogeneous material" means asbestos containing material having a similar distribution of mineralogical types of asbestos and approximately the same percentages of each type throughout.

43. "Individual" means any human being.

44. "Industrial hygiene consultant" means an individual who provides industrial hygiene services in one or more of the following categories: Collection of Air Samples; Compliance Monitoring of Asbestos Abatement/ Management Plans; and/or Respiratory Protection Programs.

45. "In poor condition" means the binding of the material is losing its integrity as indicated by peeling, cracking, or crumbling of the material.

46. "Installation" means any building or structure or any groups of buildings or structures at a single demolition or renovation site that are under the control of the same owner or operator (or owner or operator under common control).

47. "Intermediate priority building" means public buildings, other than those in the high and low priority groups, which are designated within the National Building Code Use Groups as follows: Places of public assembly (Group A); structures occupied by adult inmates and/or patients, and state employees (Group I); colleges, hospitals, and auditoriums (Group I); and occupied places of employment (Group F). Also included are private buildings which are: private colleges, hospitals, banks, and other business, industrial, educational and mercantile institutions (Groups M, H, I, R1 and R2) including, but not limited to, hotels, motels, multi-family dwellings and places of employment with more than ten (10) employees.

48. "Leak-tight" means solids or liquids cannot escape or spill out. This term also means dust-tight.

49. "License" means the permit issued by the Department to allow an Asbestos Contractor to engage in asbestos abatement projects.

50. "Low priority areas" means those areas of a building which are used or occupied by a small fraction of the building population or very infrequently used. Such areas include general access storage rooms and manned boiler rooms unless these areas supply ventilation air to other parts of the building, in which case they would be classed according to the areas served by the ventilation air. These are areas where exposure to asbestos would be limited to a small number of people and where a reasonable course of action would be educating occupants or users of these areas in proper prevention and safety techniques.

51. "Low priority building" means public or private buildings which are not in the other groups and which are infrequently used or closed, or abandoned or scheduled for same in the immediate future and those structures which are private residences (Groups S, R3 and 4).

52. "Major fiber release episode" means the falling or dislodging of greater than three (3) square or linear feet of friable ACM.

53. "Minor fiber release episode" means the falling or dislodging of three (3) square or linear feet or less of friable ACM.

54. "NESHAP" means the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants.

55. "NIOSH" means the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

56. "Nonfriable asbestos containing material" means any ACM that, when dry, cannot be crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to powder by hand pressure.

57. "Nonscheduled renovation operation" means a renovation operation necessitated by the routine failure of equipment, which is expected to occur within a given period based on past operating experience, but for which an exact date cannot be predicted.

58. "Outside air" means the air outside buildings and structures including, but not limited to, the air under a bridge or in an open-air ferry dock.

59. "Owner" means the person or entity having legal title to property and/or buildings. For purposes of publicly owned property only, the owner shall be defined to be the chief executive officer of the state or municipal agency which owns, leases or controls the use of the property.

60. "Owner or operator of a demolition or renovation activity" means any person who owns, leases, operates, controls, or supervises the facility being demolished or renovated or any person who owns, leases, operates, controls, or supervises the demolition or renovation operation, or both.

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

62. "Particulate asbestos material" means finely divided particles of asbestos or material containing asbestos.

63. "Person" means any individual, corporation, partnership, firm, association, trust, estate, public or private institution, group, agency, political subdivision of this State, and other State or political subdivision or agency thereof, and the legal successor, representative, agent or agency of the foregoing.

64. "Planned asbestos abatement project" means an asbestos abatement project or many such projects in which the amount of asbestos containing material to be removed, stripped or otherwise disturbed within a given period can be predicted. Individual, non-scheduled abatements are included if many such operations can be predicted to occur during a given period based on operating experiences.

65. "Planned renovation operations" means a renovation operation, or many such operations, in which some RACM will be removed or stripped within a given period and that can be predicted. Individual nonscheduled operations are included if many such operations can be predicted to occur during a given period based on operating experience.

66. "Private residence" means any structure which is designated within National Building Code Use Groups R3 or R4.

67. "Regulated asbestos containing material" or "RACM" means:

a. Friable asbestos material;

b. Category I nonfriable ACM that has become friable;

c. Category I nonfriable ACM that will be or has been subjected to sanding, grinding, cutting, or abrading; or

d. Category II nonfriable ACM that has a high probability of becoming or has become crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to powder by the forces expected to act on the material during the demolition or renovation operations regulated by this Part.

68. "Removal" means the taking out of RACM or facility components that contain, or are covered with, RACM from any facility.

69. "Removal encapsulant" means a penetrating encapsulant specifically designed for use in removal of asbestos containing material rather than for permanent encapsulation.

70. "Renovation" means altering a facility or one or more facility components in any way, including the stripping or removal of RACM from a facility component. Operations in which load-supporting structural members are wrecked or taken out are demolitions.

71. "Repair" means the restoration of asbestos containing insulation that has been damaged, usually located on pipes, boilers, tanks, turbines, ducts or other facility components. Repair usually consists of the application of duct tape, rewettable glass cloth, canvas, cement or other suitable material to seal exposed areas where asbestos fibers may be released. Repair of previously encapsulated asbestos containing materials may involve filling damaged areas with non-asbestos substitutes and re-encapsulating. Repair of enclosures around asbestos containing materials is also included in this category of abatement.

72. "Restricted use areas" means those areas of a building which have infrequent occupancy such as unmanned boiler rooms, mechanical rooms, electrical rooms and secured storage rooms unless those areas supply ventilation air to the other parts of the building, in which case they would be classed according to the areas served by the ventilation air.

73. "Resilient floor covering" means Asbestos containing floor tile, including asphalt and vinyl floor tile, and sheet vinyl floor covering containing more than one (1%) percent asbestos as determined using the methods specified in Appendix A, Subpart F, 40 C.F.R. Part 763, Section 1, Polarized Light Microscopy or any other method approved by the EPA for this type of analysis.

74. "Shower room" means a room between the clean room and the equipment room in the worker decontamination enclosure with hot and cold or warm running water controllable at the tap and suitably arranged for complete showering during decontamination.

75. "Spot repair" means any removal, repair, encapsulation, enclosure or other disturbance which encompasses:

a. up to ten (10) linear feet of asbestos from piping and/or

b. up to twenty-five (25) square feet of asbestos from any surfaces other than pipes. Large project divided into smaller segments are not Spot Repairs.

76. "Strip" means to take off RACM from any part of a facility or facility components.

77. "Structural component " means any pipe, duct, boiler, tank, reactor, turbine or furnace at or in a facility or any structural member of a facility. (see also: Structural Member)

78. "Structural member" means any load-supporting member of a facility, such as beams and load-supporting walls or any non-load-supporting member, such as ceilings and non-load-supporting walls.

79. "Structure" means a whole facility, building or a major portion thereof, such as a building wing.

80. "Visible emissions" means any emissions, which are visually detectable without the aid of instruments, coming from RACM or Asbestos Containing Waste Material.

81. "Waste generator" means any owner or operator of a facility covered by this Part whose act or process produces Asbestos Containing Waste Material.

82. "Waste shipment record" means the shipping document, required to be originated and signed by the waste generator, used to track and substantiate the disposition of Asbestos Containing Waste Material.

83. "Wet cleaning" means the process of eliminating asbestos contamination from building surfaces and objects by using cloths, mops or other cleaning utensils which have been dampened with amended water or diluted removal encapsulant and afterwards thoroughly decontaminated or disposed of as asbestos contaminated waste.

84. "Wet methods, wetted or wetting agents" means the use of amended water or removal encapsulants to control fiber release from asbestos containing materials.

85. "Working day" means Monday through Friday and includes holidays that fall on any of the days Monday through Friday.

216 R.I. Code R. 216-RICR-50-15-1.3

Amended effective 1/1/2019