[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 101 (Thursday, May 25, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 27697-27698]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-12895]



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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 763

[OPPTS-62147; FRL-4957-3]


Asbestos Model Accreditation Plan

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Clarification of interim final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is informing the general public and the providers of 
asbestos training courses approved pursuant to Subchapter II of the 
Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) of a clarification regarding the 
training course self-certification requirements of the Asbestos Model 
Accreditation Plan (MAP), Interim Final Rule. The Agency recognizes 
upgraded training courses as being self-certified as of the date upon 
which EPA received the original self-certification, even though one or 
more approving state programs may not have received a copy of the self-
certification until a later date, provided that all self-certifications 
were received on or before October 4, 1994. If EPA and all approving 
state programs received a proper self-certification for a course from 
an approved training provider on or before October 4, 1994, the 
provider retains the approval for that course, and a student who 
successfully completes a course on or after the self-certification date 
for that course will be fully accredited. Consistent with this 
clarification, EPA will adjust the self-certification effective dates 
of affected courses and publish these new dates in its National 
Directory of AHERA Accredited Courses (NDAAC). This information will 
become publicly available through the NDAAC update scheduled for May 
31, 1995.

DATES: This clarification affects MAP training courses and persons 
accredited pursuant to the MAP on or after April 4, 1994, when the MAP 
revisions took effect.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan B. Hazen, Director, 
Environmental Assistance Division (7408), Office of Pollution 
Prevention and Toxics, Environmental Protection Agency, Rm. E-543B, 401 
M St., SW., Washington, DC 20460, (202) 554-1404, TDD: (202) 554-0551.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 1994, pursuant to a Congressional mandate 
in Subchapter II of TSCA, EPA revised the original MAP by increasing 
the minimum number of training hours, including hands-on training, 
required for asbestos abatement workers in both schools and pubic and 
commercial buildings. In addition, EPA modified the MAP to implement 
the extension of [[Page 27698]] accreditation requirements to public 
and commercial buildings.
    Unit V.B. of the revised MAP addresses the self-certification 
requirements applicable to training courses and providers:

    As of October 4, 1994, an approved training provider must 
certify to EPA and to any State that has approved the provider for 
TSCA accreditation, that each of the provider's training courses 
complies with the requirements of this MAP . . . .

    . . . . The timely receipt of a complete self-certification by 
EPA and all approving States shall have the effect of extending 
approval under this MAP to the training courses offered by the 
submitting provider. If a self-certification is not received by the 
approving government bodies on or before the due date, the affected 
training course is not approved under this MAP. Such training 
providers must then reapply for approval of these training courses 
pursuant to the procedures outlined in Unit III. (40 CFR part 763, 
Subpart E, Appendix C, V. B.).

    EPA envisioned that under this provision, a training provider's 
self-certification would be effective on the date that EPA received the 
original submission, or the date that the last of the approving state 
programs received a duplicate submission, whichever occurred later. 
Some training providers, however, believed that the effective date of 
the self-certification for a course was the date when EPA received the 
original submission. These providers, after upgrading their training 
courses to comply with the MAP and submitting self-certification to 
EPA, assumed that they were approved for TSCA accreditation and began 
offering training courses, even though one or more approving state 
programs may not have received a duplicate self-certification at the 
time that training began. Persons who completed these training courses 
may now be experiencing difficulty in demonstrating their TSCA 
accreditation for state licensure and employment purposes.
    In order to clarify the regulatory language and the compliance 
status of training providers and students under the revised MAP, EPA is 
issuing this clarification. It makes clear that the MAP requires a 
training provider to provide self-certification of its training courses 
to both EPA and all approving states on or before October, 4, 1994, but 
recognizes the date of initial receipt of the self-certification by EPA 
as the effective date of the self-certification. This clarification 
only affects providers who upgraded their training courses in 
accordance with the MAP standards and submitted self-certification to 
EPA and one or more states at different times, but who completed all of 
the required submissions on or before the October 4, 1994, deadline. 
Therefore, even if a provider offered these upgraded training courses 
for TSCA accreditation purposes after EPA was in receipt of the 
provider's self-certification but before all of the approving states 
had received their duplicate notices, EPA considers these courses to be 
fully approved pursuant to the MAP Interim Final Rule. Accordingly, any 
person who successfully completed such a course on or after the date 
that EPA received the self-certification is fully accredited under TSCA 
section 206.
    As provided in the MAP, however, a training provider that failed to 
complete the self-certification process for a particular course 
forfeited TSCA approval of that training course on October 5, 1994. 
Such providers became ineligible to offer that course after October 4, 
1994, as an approved course, and persons completing such a training 
course after October 4, 1994, would not be accredited pursuant to TSCA 
section 206. Consequently, after October 4, 1994, in order to offer a 
TSCA-accreditation training course that has lost its approval, such 
training providers must reapply for a new approval through a state 
program that is in compliance with the MAP.
    To reflect this clarification, EPA will adjust the self-
certification effective dates for the affected training courses in the 
next regularly scheduled edition of its ``National Directory of AHERA 
Accredited Courses (NDAAC).'' Copies of this publication are free of 
charge, and may be obtained by calling EPA's NDAAC Clearinghouse at 1-
800-462-6706. As a result, a number of upgraded training courses will 
have self-certification effective dates that are earlier than those 
published in previous versions of the NDAAC. Because no self-
certification effective dates will be changed to a later date as a 
result of this action, no training providers or courses will be 
adversely affected.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 763

    Environmental protection, Asbestos, Hazardous substances, 
Incorporation by reference, Occupational health and safety, 
Recordkeeping, Schools.

    Dated: May 17, 1995.

William H. Sanders III,
Director, Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics.

[FR Doc. 95-12895 Filed 5-24-95; 8:45 am]
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