State and Federal Asbestos Regulations and Controlled Burns

Fire fighter training programs use controlled burns in old houses to practice handling asbestos threats.

The attorneys at the personal injury law firm of Weitz & Luxenberg have decades of experience defending victim’s rights in practice areas that include: accidents/general injury, dangerous drugs, medical malpractice, and environmental pollutants.

NEWS UPDATE:

Fire departments use older buildings/houses for controlled burns during fire fighter training. This training allows a unique opportunity for fire-fighters to experience a realistic situation for fire training. This section of this brochure attempts to explain asbestos-related regulations for such training exercises which are not recognized as emergency situations.

The State and Federal Asbestos Regulations that potentially apply to controlled burns are the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) regulation and the MIOSHA Part 305, Asbestos for General Industry Standard.

If asbestos is present in a building used for controlled burn training, personal air monitoring to evaluate employee exposure to asbestos must be performed. If exposures exceed the permissible exposure limits, other requirements under the standard are triggered.

NESHAP is enforced by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) Air Quality Division. Because DEQ views controlled burns as a demolition activity, NESHAP regulations typically apply to controlled burns.

Of particular importance is the need to notify DEQ prior to a controlled burn training exercise. Please contact DEQ for specific NESHAP requirements.

To avoid triggering asbestos regulations under MIOSHA Part 305 and NESHAP, fire departments should conduct control burned training only on buildings that are free of ACM.

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