politics
Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!
Rules:
- Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.
- Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
- Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
- No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive.
- Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
- No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning
We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.
All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.
That's all the rules!
Civic Links
• Congressional Awards Program
• Library of Congress Legislative Resources
• U.S. House of Representatives
Partnered Communities:
• News
view the rest of the comments
No. A lot of those uses aren't particularly dangerous unless you start doing things like drilling holes in it or otherwise producing dust. If it needs to be replaced, you're on the hook for hiring somebody to remove it safely. Its use in new construction has been banned for decades.
This is just a ban on the last few uses of it.
The last I knew in the US you have a choice to remove it yourself, you can be as safe or unsafe as you see fit, there a very few rules. Or you pay a company which must follow strict regulation on its removal.
IIRC, once you get it tested and confirm it’s asbestos you do have to go through an abatement process. However, if you never confirm it then yeah it’s pretty much the Wild West.
I wouldn't be surprised if that was true in some states. Look up the rules where you are.
The state can't really stop you if they don't even know that it's in your house. If you start yanking out ceiling tiles made with asbestos and toss them in your household garbage, there's no great way for your state to do anything about it. On the other hand, if you do get caught, you are likely all kinds of fucked.
Not really. The correct way to dispose of asbestos is literally to put it in a garbage bag and send it to the dump. As far as a hazardous material it's only really bad for people. It's almost entirely chemically inert so it's actually far less bad for the environment than most of the stuff that winds up in the dump. Even ocasional exposure wont do anything to most people (not that it's good for you of course). It's mainly an issue if you work in an industry where you handle it every day.
I had to do some asbestos remediation in my house a while back (removing plaster filled with it) and I contacted the county about proper disposal. They literally just told me to bag it and huck it in a dumpster.
From what I'm finding, it has to be double bagged in 6mil bags, sealed, and can only be disposed of in landfills that are certified and approved for asbestos.
And yeah, I would be utterly unconcerned about asbestos being present in my home, unless I had to do significant renovations that would disturb the asbestos. Unless you work with it regularly, or are doing something that generates asbestos dust, it's just not a problem. OTOH, it caused lung cancers for thousands of people that were involved in the manufacture and installation of asbestos products.
This is correct. The only thing that is regulated is the disposal (at least in WA) - otherwise home owners are legally allowed to remove it themselves as they see fit. Not that I recommend it if you don't know what you're doing, but you won't get a fine.
Source: am homeowner who (with saftey precautions such as a tent of 3 mil plastic, negative airflow, HEPA shopvac, soap and water, and a proper respirator) removed asbestos tape from my duct work.
Even drilling a few holes is pretty whatever. Just wear a respirator. Continued prolonged exposure is what will give you cancer. A couple random holes and single exposures aren't gonna be a death sentence.
I have an asbestos siding home and low-key love it. It's a great insulator, super durable, holds paint forever. Nobody should install it ever again, however. Once it's there, it's there for good. If it's damaged and needs replaced, then you've got problems. Remediation and removel is ungodly expensive.