Glossary of AHERA Terms

Air Erosion - the passage of air over friable ACBM which may result in the release of asbestos fibers.

Asbestos - the asbestiform varieties of Chysotile (otherwise known as serpentine); crocidolite (otherwise known as riebeckite); amosite (otherwise known as cummingtonitegrunerite); anthophylite; tremolite; and actinolite.

Asbestos-containing material (ACM) - when referring to school buildings, means any materials or product which contains more than 1 percent asbestos.

Asbestos Containing Building Material (ACBM) - means surfacing asbestos-containing material (ACM), thermal system insulation ACM, or miscellaneous ACM that is found in or on interior structural members or other parts of a school building.

Asbestos debris - pieces of ACBM that can be identified by color, texture, or composition, or dust, if the dust is determined by an accredited inspector to be ACM.

Current Law - Current law refers to the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act of 1986 (AHERA). (Public Law 99-519)

Damage - Any deterioration or physical injury such that the internal structure (cohesion) is inadequate, or which has delaminated such that its bond to the substrate (adhesion) is inadequate, or which for any other reason lacks fiber cohesion or adhesion qualities.

Damaged friable miscellaneous ACM - friable miscellaneous ACM which has deteriorated or sustained physical injury such that the internal structure (cohesion) of the material is inadequate or, if applicable, which has delaminated such that its bonds to the substrate (adhesion) are inadequate or which for any reason lacks fiber cohesion or adhesion qualities.

Damage Severity - The total amount of damaged material, categorized as

Major - greater than or equal to 160 square feet or 260 linear feet,
Severe - greater than 25 square feet or 10 linear feet, but less than 160 square feet or 260 linear,
Minor - less than or equal to 25 square feet or 10 linear feet, and
Occasional - damage which occurs at irregular or infrequent intervals.

Designated Person (DP) - Any person designated by the local education agency (LEA), who is properly trained to direct and oversee asbestos-related activities and ensure compliance with current laws and regulations.

Encapsulation - the treatment of ACBM with 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).

Enclosure - an airtight, impermeable, permanent barrier around ACBM to prevent the release of asbestos fibers into the air.

Exposure - The amount of contact an individual has with asbestos fibers. Evaluation of exposure should take into account the factors of location of the asbestos containing building material (ACBM), potential duration of exposure, and potential exposure populations within the school. For example, intact boiler insulation in a boiler room accessed by maintenance or custodial personnel once per week would likely be given a relatively low exposure rating (i.e., 1).

Friable - when referring to material in a school building means that the material, when dry, may be crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to powder by hand pressure and includes previously non-friable material which becomes damaged to the extent that when dry it may be crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to powder by hand pressure.

Functional space - means a room, group of rooms, or homogeneous area (including crawl spaces or the space between a dropped ceiling and the floor or roof deck above), such as classroom(s), a cafeteria, gymnasium, hallway(s), designated by a person accredited to prepare management plans, design abatement projects, or conduct response actions.

High efficiency particulate air (HEPA) - refers to a filtering system capable of trapping and retaining at least 99.97 percent of all monodispersed particles 0.3 m in diameter or larger.

Inspection - an activity undertaken in a school building, or a public or commercial building, to determine the presence or location, or to assess the condition of, friable or non-friable asbestos-containing building material (ACBM) or suspected ACBM, whether by visual or physical examination, or by collecting samples of such material. This term includes reinspection of friable and non-friable known or assumed ACBM which has been previously identified.

Local Education Agency (LEA) -

Any local educational agency as defined in section 198 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 3381).
The owner of any nonpublic, nonprofit, elementary or secondary school building.
The governing authority of any school operated under the defense dependent's education system provided for under the Defense Dependents' Education Act of 1978 (20 U.S.C. 921, et seq.).

Major fiber release episode - any uncontrolled or unintentional disturbance of ACBM, resulting in a visible emission, which involves the falling or dislodging of 3 square or linear feet or less of friable ACBM.

Miscellaneous material - means interior building material on structural components, structural members or fixtures, such as floor and ceiling tiles, and does not include surfacing material or thermal system insulation.

Non-Friable - means material in a school building which when dry may not be crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to powder by hand pressure.

Operations and maintenance program - a program of work practices to maintain friable ACBM in good condition, ensures cleanup of asbestos fibers previously released, and prevent further release by minimizing and controlling friable ACBM disturbance or damage.

Potential damage - means circumstances in which:

Friable asbestos containing building material (ACBM) is in an area regularly used by building occupants, including maintenance personnel, in the course of their normal activities; and
There are indications that there is a reasonable likelihood that the material or its covering will become damaged, deteriorated, or delaminated due to factors such as changes in building use, changes in operations and maintenance practices, changes in occupancy, or recurrent damage.

Potential significant damage - circumstances in which: (1) Friable asbestos-containing building material (ACBM) is in an area regularly used by building occupants, including maintenance personnel, in the course of their normal activities; and (2) There are indications that there is a reasonable likelihood that the material or its covering will become significantly damaged, deteriorated, or delaminated due to factors such as changes in building use, changes in operations and maintenance practices, changes in occupancy, or recurrent damage; and (3) The material is subject to major or continuing disturbance, due to factors including, but not limited to, accessibility or, under certain circumstances, vibration or air erosion.

Removal - the taking out or the stripping of substantially all ACBM from a damaged area, a functional space, or a homogeneous area in a school building.

Repair - returning damaged ACBM to an undamaged condition or to an intact state so as to prevent fiber release.

Response action - a method, including removal, encapsulation, enclosure, repair, and operations and maintenance, that protects human health and the environment from friable ACBM.

Significantly damaged friable miscellaneous asbestos- containing material (ACM) - means damaged friable miscellaneous ACM where the damage is extensive and severe.

Significantly damaged friable surfacing asbestos-containing material (ACM) - means damaged friable surfacing ACM in a functional space where the damage is extensive and severe.

Surfacing material - means material in a school building that is sprayed on, trowelled on, or otherwise applied to surfaces such as acoustical plaster on ceilings, fireproofing materials on structural members, or other materials on surfaces for acoustical, fireproofing, or other purposes.

Thermal system insulation - means material in a school building applied to pipes, fittings, boilers, breeching, tanks, ducts, or other interior structural components to prevent heat loss or gain, or water condensation, or for other purposes.

Vibration - the periodic motion of friable ACBM which may result in the release of asbestos.

Glossary of AHERA Terms

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