§ 23-24.5-12. Licensure of asbestos contractors. (a) No person or entity shall undertake an asbestos abatement project or dispose of friable asbestos materials in or from any building or demolition of any portion of a structure containing friable asbestos or asbestiform material unless the director has licensed that person or entity as qualified for those purposes. Any building owner who causes an asbestos abatement project or disposal of friable asbestos materials to be undertaken in violation of either this section or any rules or regulations promulgated pursuant to the authority conferred by this section shall also be subject to the enforcement provisions of this section.

(b) Notwithstanding any other law or regulation, no building permit or demolition permit involving asbestos abatement shall be issued by any municipal or state official unless the application for the permit includes a certified copy of an approved abatement plan and a certified copy of the license of the asbestos contractor who shall undertake the work.

(c) No asbestos abatement projects shall be undertaken unless the contractor involved is licensed by the director and its asbestos abatement plan is approved by the director.

(d) The director shall establish procedures and issue regulations for the licensure of asbestos contractors and their supervisors and for the training of the employers of asbestos employees. The director is authorized to establish procedures and regulations for the licensure of asbestos workers. The director may assess fees for asbestos worker licenses issued in accordance with rules or regulations promulgated pursuant to the authority conferred by this section, provided that those fees are assessed only after procedures in accordance with chapter 35 of title 42 have been followed.

(e) The director shall in establishing licensure criteria for asbestos contractors, consider the following factors:

(1) The contractor's experience,

(2) Financial qualifications to abate asbestos properly,

(3) A company's history of safe and proper abatement,

(4) A history of compliance with department regulations, and

(5) Proof of completion of training programs approved by the director.

(f) Each person licensed by the director shall be issued by the director a photograph identification card containing the license which that person must keep in his or her possession at each work site.

(g) The director may assess fees for asbestos contractor and site supervisory personnel licenses issued in accordance with rules or regulations promulgated pursuant to the authority conferred by this section, provided that such fees are assessed only after procedures in accordance with chapter 35 of title 42 have been followed.

(h) For cause and for violation of the regulations of the director, the director or his or her designee may suspend or revoke a license issued pursuant to this section.

(i) The director shall maintain a public list of licensed contractors and shall annually publish that list in a state newspaper of general circulation.

History of Section. (P.L. 1985, ch. 366, § 1; P.L. 1987, ch. 541, § 1; P.L. 1989, ch. 533, § 1; P.L. 1990, ch. 65, art. 48, § 1; P.L. 1996, ch. 237, § 1; P.L. 2001, ch. 86, § 9.)