South Carolina Code of Regulations
Chapter 61 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL
Subchapter 61-86.1 - STANDARDS OF PERFORMANCE FOR ASBESTOS PROJECTS
Section 61-86.1.I - DEFINITIONS

1. "Abatement" - Procedures to control fiber release from regulated asbestos-containing materials. This includes removal, enclosure, encapsulation, repair, and any associated preparation, clean up and disposal activities having the potential to disturb regulated asbestos-containing material.

2. "Adequately wet" - To sufficiently mix or penetrate with liquid to prevent the potential release of particulates. The absence of visible emissions is not sufficient evidence of being adequately wet.

3. "Aggressive clearance sampling" - A method of sampling which uses electric fan(s), electric leaf blower(s), and other devices to simulate vigorous activity in the abated area while air samples are being collected.

4. "AHERA" - Regulations developed pursuant to the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act, 40 CFR Part 763, Asbestos Containing Materials in Schools (October 30, 1987).

5. "AIHA" - American Industrial Hygiene Association.

6. "Airlock" - A chamber which permits entrance and exit with minimum air movement between a contaminated area and an uncontaminated area, consisting of two doorways protected by two overlapping polyethylene sheets and separated by a sufficient distance such that one passes through one doorway into the chamber, allowing the doorway sheeting to overlap and close off the opening before proceeding through the second doorway. The airlock maintains a pressure differential between the contaminated and uncontaminated areas, thereby minimizing flow-through contamination further.

7. "Air sampler - A person licensed by the Department to implement air-monitoring plans and analysis schemes during abatement.

8. "Air sampling" - A method such as NIOSH 7400 for PCM, the OSHA Reference Method, 40 CFR 763 Appendix A for TEM, or an equivalent method accepted by the Department used to determine the fiber content of a known volume of air during a specified period of time.

9. "Amended water" - Water to which a surfactant (for example, a non-sudsing detergent) has been added.

10. "Area air sampling" - Any form of air sampling whereby the sampling device is placed at a stationary location either inside or outside the regulated work area.

11. "Asbestos" - The asbestiform varieties of serpentinite (chrysotile), riebeckite (crocidolite), cummingtonite-grunerite (amosite), anthophyllite, and actinolite-tremolite.

12. "Asbestos abatement entity" - Any individual, partnership, firm, association, corporation, sole proprietorship or other business concern, as well as an employee or member of any governmental, religious, or social organization that is involved in asbestos abatement.

13. "Asbestos containing material (ACM)" - Material containing asbestos of any type, either alone or mixed with other materials, in an amount greater than one percent (1%) as determined by using the method specified in 40 CFR Part 763, Appendix A, Subpart F, Section1, as amended, or an accepted equivalent. (NOTE: "Appendix A to Subpart F" has been redesignated as, and shall hereinafter be referred to as, "Appendix E to Subpart E" - 60 FR 31917, June 19, 1995.)

14. "Asbestos containing waste materials" - As applied to demolition and renovation operations, this term includes regulated asbestos-containing waste materials and materials contaminated with asbestos, including disposable equipment and clothing.

15. "Asbestos project" - Any activity associated with abatement including inspection, design, air monitoring, in-place management, encapsulation, enclosure, renovation, repair, removal, any disturbance of regulated asbestos containing materials (RACM), and demolition of a facility.

16. "Asbestos project design" - A written or graphic plan prepared by an accredited project designer specifying how an asbestos abatement project will be performed that includes, but is not limited to, scope of work and technical specifications.

17. "Asbestos training course" - A Department-approved initial or refresher course in any discipline listed herein (for example, workers, supervisors, management planners, etc.) that meets the requirements of this regulation and is acceptable for licensing purposes.

18. "Asbestos training course instructor" - A Department-approved individual who will teach work practice topics, non-work practice topics, and/or hands-on topics in any Department-approved initial and/or refresher training course and who meets the qualifications of this regulation.

19. "Asbestos training course provider" - The person, sole proprietorship, public corporation, or incorporated entity that meets the qualifications of this regulation to provide instruction in any of the work practice topics or disciplines, non-work practice topics, and/or hands-on topics in any Department-approved initial and/or refresher training course.

20. "ASHARA" - Regulations developed pursuant to 40 CFR Part 763, Subpart E, Appendix C Model Accreditation Plan, Asbestos School Hazard Abatement Reauthorization Act (November 28, 1992).

21. "Authorized visitor" - The facility owner/operator, or any representative of a regulatory or other agency having jurisdiction over the project. This is limited to government project inspectors, police, paramedics, fire-safety personnel, nuclear plant operators, and insurance loss prevention safety auditors, or other personnel as approved on a case-by-case basis by the Department.

22. "Background monitoring" - Area sampling performed prior to abatement to obtain an index of existing airborne fiber levels under typical activity.

23. "Building inspection" - An activity undertaken at a facility by a Department-licensed asbestos building inspector to determine the presence and location of regulated and non-regulated ACM, and to assess the condition of materials identified as ACM. This includes visual or physical examination and bulk sample collection.

24. "Building inspector" - A person licensed by the Department to examine a facility for the presence of ACM, to identify and assess the condition of the material, and to collect bulk samples.

25. "Category I nonfriable asbestos containing material (ACM)" - Nonfriable asbestos or nonfriable asbestos-containing packing, gaskets, and resilient floor covering; and asphalt roofing products containing greater than one percent (1%) asbestos as determined using the method specified in 40 CFR Part 763, Appendix E, Subpart E, or an accepted equivalent.

26. "Category II nonfriable ACM" - Any material that cannot, when dry, be crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to powder by the forces expected to act upon it in the course of demolition or renovation operations, excluding Category I nonfriable ACM and containing greater than one percent (1%) asbestos as determined using the methods specified in 40 CFR Part 763, Appendix E, Subpart E, or an accepted equivalent.

27. "Clean room" - An uncontaminated area or room that is part of the decontamination enclosure system and that has provisions for storage of street clothing and protective equipment.

28. "Clearance monitoring" - Area air sampling performed using Department accepted aggressive clearance sampling techniques to determine the airborne concentrations of residual fibers upon conclusion of asbestos abatement.

29. "Commercial labor provider" - Any individual, partnership, corporation, or other business concern that is not engaged in an asbestos project but does provide temporary workers or supervisors to the owner/operator of the project.

30. "Contractor" - Any individual, partnership, corporation or other business concern that performs asbestos abatement but is not a permanent employee of the facility owner.

31. "Control measure" - Use of amended water, negative pressure differential equipment, encapsulant, high efficiency particulate air filtration device, glove bag or other state-of-the-art equipment designed to prevent fiber release into the air.

32. "Critical barrier" - At minimum, two independent layers of 6-mil plastic sheeting applied to any opening into a work area in a manner that creates a leak-tight seal within the work area to isolate vents, windows, doors, switches, outlets, and any other cavity or opening to the contaminated work area.

33. "Cut" - To penetrate with a sharp-edged instrument. This includes sawing, but may not include shearing, slicing, or punching.

34. "Decontamination enclosure system" - An enclosed area adjacent and connected to the regulated work area consisting of an equipment room, shower area, and clean room, each separated by airlocks, that is used for the decontamination of employees, materials, and equipment that are contaminated with asbestos.

35. "Demolition" - Wrecking or taking out any load-supporting structural member of a facility together with any related handling operations, the burning of any facility, or moving of a structure.

36. "Department" - The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control's Asbestos Section.

37. "Electrical generating facility" - Any establishment primarily engaged in the generation, transmission and/or distribution of electrical energy for sale.

38. "Emergency operation" - A renovation or demolition operation that was not planned but results from a sudden, unexpected event that, if not immediately attended to, will present an imminent safety or public health hazard, will cause equipment damage, or will impose an unreasonable financial burden. This term specifically excludes routine equipment maintenance.

39. "Encapsulation" - A form of abatement involving the treatment of regulated asbestos-containing material (RACM) with a liquid that covers the surface with a protective coating (bridging) or embeds fibers in an adhesive matrix (penetrating) to prevent the release of asbestos fibers.

40. "Enclosure" - A form of abatement involving placement of a leak-tight, impermeable, permanent barrier to prevent access to regulated asbestos-containing material and to prevent the release of asbestos fibers.

41. "EPA" - United States Environmental Protection Agency.

42. "Equipment room" - A contaminated area or room that is part of the decontamination enclosure system and that has provisions for the storage of contaminated clothing and equipment.

43. "Examination date" - The date printed on the Departmental Asbestos Abatement License that indicates the date of successful completion of an examination administered upon completion of an asbestos training course.

44. "F/cc" - Fibers per cubic centimeter.

45. "Facility" - Any institutional, commercial, public, industrial, or residential structure, installation, or building (including any structure, installation, or building containing condominiums or individual dwelling units operated as a residential cooperative, but excluding residential buildings having four or fewer dwelling units); any bridge; any ship; and any active or inactive waste disposal site. For 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 this requirement is included in this definition, regardless of its current use or function.

46. "Facility component" - Any part of a facility including equipment.

47. "Friable" - Refers to ACM, which may, when dry, be crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to powder by the forces expected to act upon it in the course of demolition or renovation operations. This also refers to previously non-friable ACM after such material becomes damaged to the extent that when dry, can be or has been crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to powder.

48. "Friable asbestos containing material" - Any material that, when dry, can be or has been crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to powder and contains greater than one percent (1%) asbestos as determined using the method specified in 40 CFR Part 763, Appendix E, Subpart E, as amended, or an accepted equivalent.

49. "Goose neck" - Process for sealing the outer bag by twisting the opening of the bag, folding twisted portion of bag over, and creating a loop. Adequately secure the opening of the bag to the base of the twist, using duct tape.

50. "Glovebag" - A sealed compartment with attached inner gloves used for the handling of asbestos-containing materials. Information on glovebag installation, equipment and supplies, and work practices is contained in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA's) final rules on occupational exposure to asbestos, 29 CFR 1926.1101 (August 10, 1994), as amended, and any subsequent amendments or editions.

51. "Grind" - To reduce to powder or small fragments. Grinding includes mechanical chipping or drilling.

52. "HEPA filter" - A high efficiency particulate air filter that will capture particles with an aerodynamic diameter of 0.3 micrometers with a minimum efficiency of 99.97 percent.

53. "Homogeneous area" - Area of surfacing material, thermal system insulation material, or a miscellaneous material that is uniform in color or texture.

54. "HVAC" - Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning.

55. "Industrial manufacturing facility" - Any establishment whose Standard Industrial Classification code falls within Major Groups 20 through 39, excluding any office space that is part of such an establishment.

56. "In poor condition" - Refers to any ACM where the binding of the material is losing its integrity as indicated by peeling, cracking, or crumbling of the material.

57. "Installation" - Any building or structure or any group of buildings or structures at a single demolition or renovation site that are under the control of a single owner or operator (or of owners or operators under common control).

58. "Issue date" - The date a license is issued by the Department.

59. "Leak-tight" - Dust, solids, or liquids cannot escape or spill out.

60. "License" - A document issued by the Department that allows an asbestos abatement contractor, building inspector, project designer, management planner, air sampler, supervisor, worker, or other to engage in asbestos projects.

61. "Long-term, in-house contractor" - A contractor having a long-term, often multi-year, contractual arrangement with an industrial manufacturing or electrical generating facility to provide construction and maintenance services, including asbestos abatement. The employees of a designated long-term, in-house contractor shall be covered under the group license of the assigned facility.

62. "Management planner" - A person licensed in accordance with the requirements of this regulation who interprets inspection reports, conducts hazard assessments of asbestos-containing materials, determines appropriate response actions, develops a schedule for implementing response actions, and prepares written management plans.

63. "Manometer" - Instrument for the measurement of gas pressure whose units are represented in inches of water column.

64. "Minor project" - A project where 25 or fewer square or linear feet of regulated asbestos-containing material (RACM) are removed, or where 10 or fewer cubic feet of RACM off a facility component are cleaned up.

65. "Movable object" - A structure within the work area that can be moved (e.g., chair, desk, etc.).

66. "Negative pressure differential equipment" - A portable exhaust system equipped with a HEPA filter.

67. "NESHAP" - National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants, 40 CFR 61, Subpart M, February 3, 1994, as amended, and any subsequent amendments or editions.

68. "NESHAP project" - An asbestos project which involves at least 160 square feet or 260 linear feet of regulated asbestos containing material (RACM), or 35 or more cubic feet of RACM off a facility component such that the area or length could not be measured prior to abatement. If several contemporaneous projects in the same area within the same building being performed by the same contractor are smaller than 160 square or 260 linear feet individually but add up to that amount, then the combination of the smaller projects shall be considered one NESHAP project.

69. "NIOSH" - National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

70. "Non-industrial facility"- Any public, private, institutional or governmental entity that does not meet the definition of an electrical generating or industrial manufacturing facility as defined in this regulation.

71. "Operation and maintenance (O&M) activity" - The disturbance of regulated asbestos-containing material only when required in the performance of an emergency or routine maintenance activity that is not intended solely as asbestos abatement. In no event shall the amount of ACM disturbed exceed that which can be contained in one glovebag or 6-mil polyethylene bag that shall not exceed 60 inches in length and width.

72. "O&M worker" - An individual licensed under a facility group license to perform an operation and maintenance activity at that facility.

73. "OSHA" - Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

74. "Owner/operator" - Any person or contractor who owns, leases, operates, controls, or supervises a facility being demolished or renovated, or any person who operates, controls, or supervises the demolition or renovation operation, or both.

75. "Owner's representative" - A licensed supervisor, management planner, project designer, or air sampler designated by the facility owner to manage the asbestos project, and who serves to ensure that abatement work is completed according to specification and in compliance with all relevant statutes and regulations.

76. "Personal air sampling" - A method used to obtain an index of an employee's exposure to airborne fibers. Samples are collected outside the respirator in the worker's breathing zone.

77. "Planned renovation operations" - A renovation operation, or a number of such operations, in which some RACM will be disturbed, removed, or stripped within a given period of time and that can be predicted. Individual non-scheduled operations are included if a number of such operations can be predicted to occur during a given period of time based on operating experience.

78. "Project designer" - A person licensed in accordance with the requirements of this regulation who is directly responsible for planning all phases of an asbestos abatement project design from project site preparation through complete disassembly of all abatement area barriers.

79. "Reciprocity" - A written agreement between another state and South Carolina to use the same or equivalent auditing criteria when evaluating training course materials, course presentations, and instructor qualifications.

80. "Regulated area" - An area established by the owner/operator of an asbestos project to demarcate areas where asbestos abatement activities are conducted; any adjoining area where debris and waste from such asbestos work is stored; and any work area within which airborne concentrations of asbestos exceed, or there is a reasonable possibility they may exceed, the permissible exposure limit.

81. "Regulated asbestos-containing material (RACM)" - (a) Friable asbestos-containing 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, drilling, or abrading; or (d) Category II nonfriable ACM that is likely to become or has become crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to powder by the forces expected to act on the material in the course of demolition or renovation operations subject to this regulation.

82. "Removal" - Taking out RACM or facility components that contain or are covered with RACM from any facility.

83. "Renovation" - 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.

84. "Repair" - Returning damaged asbestos-containing material to an undamaged condition or to an intact state so as to prevent fiber release.

85. "Resilient floor covering" - Asbestos-containing floor tile, including asphalt and vinyl floor tile, and sheet vinyl floor covering containing greater than one percent (1%) asbestos as determined using polarized light microscopy according to the method specified in 40 CFR Part 763, Appendix E, Subpart E, Polarized Light Microscopy, or an accepted equivalent.

86. "Shower room" - A room located between the clean room and the equipment room in the decontamination enclosure system containing a shower with hot and cold or warm running water controllable at the tap.

87. "Small project" - A project where more than 25 but fewer than 160 square feet or more than 25 but fewer than 260 linear feet of RACM are to be abated, or where more than 10 but fewer than 35 cubic feet of RACM off a facility component are to be cleaned up.

88. "Start date" - The date printed on the Departmental-issued asbestos abatement project license, which indicates when asbestos renovation or demolition operations, including any abatement activity having the potential to disturb RACM, will begin.

89. "Strip" - To remove RACM from any part of a facility or facility component.

90. "Structural member" - 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.

91. "Structures per square millimeter" - Reporting measure for Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) Analysis. TEM clearance requires fewer than 70 structures per square millimeter (70s/mm2).

92. "Supervisor" - A person licensed by the Department and designated as the contractor's representative to provide direct on-site supervision and guidance to workers engaged in abatement of RACM.

93. "Surfactant" - A chemical wetting agent added to water to improve penetration, such as a non-sudsing detergent.

94. "Temporary storage license" - A license issued by the Department that authorizes storage of asbestos waste from small and minor projects at a secure location deemed acceptable by the Department.

95. "Variance" - Written Departmental approval for the use of alternative work practices at an asbestos project.

96. "Visible emissions" - Any emissions that are visually detectable without the aid of instruments that originate from RACM or asbestos-containing waste material or a regulated work area.

97. "Waste generator" - Any owner/operator of an asbestos project covered by this regulation whose act or process produces asbestos-containing waste material.

98. "Waste shipment record" - The shipping document, required to be originated, prepared, and signed by the waste generator, used to track and substantiate the disposition of asbestos-containing waste material.

99. "Wet cleaning" - The process of removing asbestos contamination from facility surfaces and objects by using cloths, mops, or other cleaning tools that have been dampened with amended water.

100. "Work area" - Designated rooms, spaces, or areas in which asbestos abatement activities are to be undertaken, or that may be contaminated as a result of such abatement activities.

101. "Worker" - A person licensed by the Department to perform asbestos abatement under the direct guidance of an accredited and licensed supervisor.

102. "Working day" - Monday through Friday, including holidays that fall on any of the days Monday through Friday.