KDHE officials say requirement duplicates federal standard
by Andy Marso, KHI News Service
The Kansas House passed a bill Monday that would scrap state-mandated training for workers who remove asbestos.
The state’s current regulations mirror federal requirements and are therefore unnecessary, according to Kansas Department of Health and Environment officials who requested House Bill 2516 be introduced.
The House passed the bill 124-0 after Rep. Bill Sutton, a Republican from Gardner, assured members it would not compromise worker safety.
“This bill would not change anything in the amount or content of training required for asbestos abatement workers, which is federally mandated currently,” Sutton said.
What the bill would do, he said, is eliminate a $20 annual certification fee that abatement workers have to pay the state and a $40 annual fee that their supervisors have to pay.
The state would see a corresponding savings of $85,000 by eliminating the Kansas-specific training, licensure and certification program that KDHE operates. Asbestos abatement workers instead will be required only to comply with training mandated by the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Asbestos was used to manufacture a variety of products in the early 1900s, including many home-building items.
Studies have since shown that asbestos fibers, when released into the air, can be absorbed in the lungs and cause a host of health problems, including cancers. The risk of illness is most acute in workers who are frequently exposed to asbestos.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration within the U.S. Department of Labor has set a number of standards intended to reduce workers’ exposure to asbestos.
The Kansas AFL-CIO opposed HB 2516 when it was heard by the House Energy and Environment Committee but later withdrew its opposition.
Businesses that specialize in asbestos removal still would be required to obtain a license from the state under the bill. Those licenses produce about $130,000 in annual revenue. An amendment approved by the House Energy and Environment Committee shifts that money from the Air Quality Fee Fund, which KDHE uses to enforce the Kansas clean air laws, to the state general fund.
Sutton said there’s plenty of money in the Air Quality Fee Fund.
Rep. Annie Kuether, the top Democrat on the energy and environment committee, said she didn’t like the amendment, but it wasn’t enough to keep her from voting for the bill.
“The money could very possibly not be going to issues it’s intended for,” Kuether told her House colleagues. “However, I was definitely overridden in putting on that amendment, so I’ll leave it up to you. In general it’s a good bill to support, and I’ll be voting for it.”
The vote on HB 2516 came after several hours of floor action, as the House and Senate scramble to push out bills before they break for “turnaround” Wednesday.
Tuesday is the last day for bills to be passed out of their chamber of origin.
On Monday the House also passed, 85-39, a bill to change how Kansas designates problem weeds and targets them for eradication and approved, 73-51, a bill to allow some chiropractors to clear student-athletes for play after a concussion.
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