Murphy, John Daniel (1993-03). A monetary impact analysis of government regulations dealing with chrysotile asbestos. Doctoral Dissertation. Thesis uri icon

abstract

  • Environmental Protection Agency Regulations have mandated certain actions to control asbestos fiber release episodes in public school systems in the United States. These mandates do not differentiate between asbestos types even though there is a definite possibility that the level of health risk differs between chrysotile asbestos and amphibole asbestos. This research investigates the level of existence of chrysotile asbestos, as compared to total asbestos, in Texas public schools. In addition, a valuation of costs pertaining to chrysotile asbestos abatement in Texas public schools is completed to evaluate how significantly public school funding is affected by these mandated costs. An equal probability systematic sampling design was employed to select 199 sample buildings out of the population of 33,881 buildings that were owned by the Texas Public School System at the time of a 1991 facilities inventory. Asbestos management plans for each sample building were surveyed for quantities of each type of asbestos. The cost of each abatement option was calculated and referenced to the total square footage in the respective buildings being sampled. Statistical analysis was employed to generalize to the population level (all buildings owned by the Texas Public School System). Total costs, state-wide, for chrysotile asbestos abatement options were compared to the estimated total state budget for capital improvements, construction and renovation, and facilities acquisition for a measurement of significance. This study reveals that in looking at the different abatement options, between 40.23 and 56.43 percent of the cost of abating all asbestos can be directly attributed to chrysotile asbestos. Using the mean of abatement costs per square foot of building area, all chrysotile asbestos abatement options have a significant impact on the funds available for the Texas Public School System, as stated in the hypothesis. Results indicate that earlier estimates of asbestos abatement costs for public school buildings may be greatly underestimated.

publication date

  • March 1993