For the purpose of this chapter:

(1)  “Abatement” means the repair, enclosure, encapsulation, or removal of friable asbestos in significant quantities as determined by the director by regulation. The term shall not apply to those spot repairs of limited areas of asbestos as determined by the director or his or her designee through regulation to be of low risk exposure.

(2)  “Abatement process” means the series of events leading to the abatement of a friable asbestos hazard. The process includes the inspection, identification, and ranking of the hazard, the drawing of abatement plans, the monitoring of the abatement, the eventual clean-up, and the issuance of a reoccupancy permit.

(3)  “Action criteria” refers to the asbestos assessment factors detailed in the Decision Protocol, Appendix D, of The New Jersey Asbestos Policy Commission’s Report to the Governor, March 1985, except that the criteria shall not include air sampling standards contained in that report.

(4)  “Asbestiform materials” means those naturally occurring fibers of similar shape, size, strength, surface, and characteristics of asbestos fibers as are otherwise described in the publication entitled “Non-Occupational Health Risks of Asbestiform Fibers”, Committee on Non-Occupational Health Risks of Asbestiform Fibers, Board on Toxicology and Health Hazards of the Commission on Life Science of the National Research Council; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and National Academy of Sciences, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C. 1984, E.P.A. 68-01-4655.

(5)  “Asbestos” means that unique group of naturally occurring minerals that separate into fibers of high tensile strength, resistant to heat, wear, and chemicals, described as the following types: chrysotile, amosite, crocidolite, tremolite, anthophyllite, and actinolite, and every product containing any of these minerals that have been chemically treated and/or altered which, after manufacture, are used for these products and end uses as insulation, textiles, paper, cement sheets, floor tile, wall covering, decorations, coating, sealants, cement pipe, and reinforced plastics and other compounds.

(6)  “Asbestos containing material (ACM)” means any material or product which contains more than one percent (1%) asbestos.

(7)  “Asbestos contractor” means any person or entity engaged in asbestos abatement as a business. Each employee of any entity directly engaged or intending to engage directly in abatement as a business shall be considered a contractor for the purposes of training and licensure requirements of this title.

(8)  “Competent person” means a public or private employee designated, trained, and certified to conduct basic asbestos inspection and abatement process evaluation within the jurisdiction of the agency, municipality, or building(s) in which the person is employed.

(9)  “Department” means the state department of health.

(10)  “Director” means the director of health.

(11)  “Friable” means that condition of crumbled, pulverized, powdered, crushed, or exposed asbestiform or asbestos fibers which are capable of being released into the air by hand pressure.

(12)  “Friable asbestos material” means:

(i)  Asbestos containing material (ACM) that, when dry, can be crumbled, pulverized or reduced to power by hand pressure; or

(ii)  Non-friable ACM, including but not limited to regulated asbestos containing material (RACM) as defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to 40 C.F.R. § part 61, Subpart M, that will be or has been subjected to sanding, grinding, cutting, and abrading; or by the forces expected to act on the ACM during renovation and/or demolition activities.

(13)  “High priority group building” refers to those public or private buildings or portions of these that are child inhabited or child frequented structures and shall include, but not be limited to: public and parochial schools (grades pre-K to 12), day care centers, nurseries, acute or chronic children’s hospitals or wardrooms of these as defined by the state building code use groups (I-2). Private residences used for these purposes and housing occupied by ten (10) children or less are excluded from this group.

(14)  “Intermediate priority group building” refers to those public or private buildings or portions of these other than those in the high and low priority groups which are designated within the state building code use groups as follows: places of public assembly (group A); buildings occupied by adult inmates (group I-3), hospital patients (group I-2), or institutional care facility clients (group I-1); and auditoriums (group A). “Intermediate priority group buildings” also includes those buildings which are: colleges (ordinarily group B); banks (group B); and other business, industrial, educational, and mercantile buildings (groups B, E, F, H and M) including, but not limited to, hotels and motels (group R-1), multifamily dwellings (group R-2), and places of employment with more than ten (10) employees.

(15)  “Low priority group building” refers to public or private buildings or portions of them not in the other groups which are infrequently used (group U), closed, abandoned, or scheduled for abandonment in the immediate future and those buildings which are private residences (groups R-3 and R-4).

(16)  “Owner” means the person or entity having legal title to property and/or buildings; the term includes owners and consignees of asbestos material to be sold, installed, fabricated, or manufactured in Rhode Island. For purposes of publicly owned property only, the owner is defined as the chief executive officer of the state agency or municipal agency which owns, leases, or controls the use of the property.

(17)  “Private building” refers to any structure open to the public which is not a public building, and includes but is not limited to: private schools, nurseries, colleges, hospitals, warehouses, banks, retail stores, automobile repair shops, and places of employment.

(18)  “Private residence” refers to any building with either one or two (2) separate dwelling units used solely as a private domicile of a person or persons where those persons normally sleep, eat, and maintain living quarters and which is designated within the state building code use group R-4.

(19)  “Public building” refers to any structure owned, managed, leased, furnished, or occupied by a state or municipal agency, commission, or public school.

(20)  “Regulated asbestos containing material (RACM)” as defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to 40 C.F.R. § part 61, Subpart M, means:

(i)  Friable asbestos material;

(ii)  Category I non-friable ACM (packings, gaskets, resilient floor covering, and asphalt roofing products) that has become friable;

(iii)  Category I non-friable ACM that will be or has been subjected to sanding, grinding, cutting, or abrading; or

(iv)  Category II non-friable ACM (excluding category I non-friable ACM) that has a high probability of becoming 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.

(21)  “State building code” refers to chapter 27.3 of this title.

(22)  “State inspector” means a person trained in industrial hygiene who is either a state employee or a designee of the health department whose duty, among others, is to conduct state asbestos inspections.