NNPH Air Quality Management Division Seeks Public Comment and Sets Public Workshop Date for Asbestos Regulation Revisions

Oct 14, 2024

Oct. 14, 2024. Reno/Sparks, Nev. – The Northern Nevada Public Health (NNPH) – Air Quality Management Division (AQMD) is asking the public for written comment on asbestos regulations.

Comments will be accepted until midnight on Nov. 22, 2024. All comments must include first and last name, mailing address, and contact information. Your comments can be submitted the following ways:

The revisions are for “Prohibited Emissions” under District Board of Health (DBOH) Regulations Governing Air Quality Management, Chapter 040.

AQMD is hosting a public workshop specific to these rule revisions, which are currently available on the AQMD website, OurCleanAir.com.

The Chapter 040 revisions were initiated in response to revisions to DBOH Regulations Governing Air Quality Management Chapter 030 – General Source Permitting, adopted by the DBOH on September 26, 2024. The revisions to Chapter 030 included a wholesale replacement of the previous rule, where sections pertaining to asbestos were removed and will be relocated to Chapter 040 – Prohibited Emissions. This relocation will include an extensive rule revision, where the new language will also be a wholesale replacement of the previous rule. The replaced sections pertaining to asbestos will now be covered in two new parts of Chapter 040:

  • Asbestos Control Standards (Part 040.110)
  • Acknowledgment of Asbestos Assessment (Part 040.115)

The sections pertaining to asbestos have not been significantly reviewed nor revised since 1995, and do not reflect the current asbestos Acknowledgement process or intended purpose of the federal regulation. The revisions will also clarify asbestos sampling, notification, contamination, and abatement requirements.

The public workshop will be hybrid via Microsoft Teams and can be attended in-person in the NNPH Conference Rooms A & B located in Building B at 1001 E. 9th St. Reno, NV 89512. The workshop will be held on Nov. 14, 2024, at 4 p.m., and will include a presentation regarding the revisions made and an opportunity for questions. An interpreter will be available at this workshop to help ask and answer questions about the revised regulations in Spanish.

November 14, 2024 Teams Meeting Link

Meeting ID: 269 670 133 418

Passcode: PTFAzN

Sign up for Air Quality Updates in Washoe County here.

For more information regarding the Northern Nevada Public Health’s Air Quality Efforts, visit the AQMD’s website at OurCleanAir.com.

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Please note the Washoe County Health District changed its name to Northern Nevada Public Health on Aug. 31, 2023. More information is here.

Northern Nevada Public Health (NNPH) is nationally accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board and has jurisdiction over all public health matters in Reno, Sparks, and Washoe County through the policy-making District Board of Health. NNPH consists of five divisions: Administrative Health Services, Air Quality Management, Community and Clinical Health Services, Environmental Health Services and Epidemiology & Public Health Preparedness. More info can be found here.