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Asbestos & Lead Regulatory Program

% of newly licensed asbestos and lead abatement entities that received outreach materials and/or compliance inspections

Current Value

100%

2019

Definition

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Story Behind the Curve

Last Updated: January 2023

Author: Division of Environmental Health, Vermont Department of Health


When a new or out of state abatement company/entity elects to provide contracted services within the state of Vermont, the personnel involved in the project activity are often unfamiliar with Vermont specific regulatory requirements. Subsequently, abatement project activity usually starts out with an early pattern of marginal performance and are routinely found to be non-compliant with either critical regulatory requirements of Vermont Regulations for Asbestos Control or critical regulatory requirements of Vermont Regulations for Lead Control.

An Asbestos and Lead Regulatory Program compliance inspector will conduct a compliance inspection on the first issued abatement permit for each newly licensed Asbestos or Lead Abatement Entity. During this initial compliance inspection, the contractor will be provided copies of compliance inspection forms and compliance performance expectations will be explained in detail. This effort is intended to help abatement contractors develop a pattern of behavior that meets or exceeds the regulatory requirements and performance standards, and thereby reduces the incidence of non-compliance or violations of regulatory requirements which equates to reduced exposure risks.

Note: During the COVID-19 emergency response, Health Department staff were redirected to support the emergency response effort. Additionally, social distancing measures were implemented that reduced in-person field activities for a period during 2020 and reduced opportunities for providing outreach and compliance assistance. Data is unavailable for 2020 on this measure to evaluate performance. 

Partners

USEPA – Office of Pesticides and Toxics Programs and NESHAP Coordinators
Vermont Occupational Health and Safety Agency
Vermont Agency of Transportation
Vermont Housing and Conservation Board
City of Burlington – Code Enforcement and Lead Poisoning Prevention Program
All Vermont cities and towns with ordinances and permits processes for renovation and demolition
Vermont Technical College
Regional Planning Commissions
USDA Rural Development
NeighborWorks Programs

What Works

Once a contracting entity has applied to the Department for an asbestos or lead abatement entity license, the Asbestos and Lead Regulatory program attempts to identify a key contact person or business contract principle for the entity so that all relevant communications such as license actions or compliance assistance education and outreach efforts are directed to a specific single point of contact. This alleviates misdirected communications and improves the effectiveness of outreach and education. This also improves the rates of compliance with the regulatory requirements by informing responsible parties and reducing the burden of compliance and enforcement case development as well as reduces asbestos and lead-based paint exposure risks associated with poor contractor performance.

Action Plan

To the extent possible, the Asbestos and Lead Regulatory Program uses information systems queries such as Works In Progress, Town Meeting Minutes, Real Estate transactions information for the Vermont Department of Taxes and Town Grand List information to identify owners developing construction projects involving renovation and/or demolition. These owners and contractors who are awarded the bids are sent outreach information explaining the regulatory requirements in advance of the start of their project.


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