---
kind: "section"
citation: "15 U.S.C. § 2655"
title: "15"
title_heading: "Commerce and Trade"
number: "2655"
heading: "Worker protection"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/15/2655"
units:
  - "Chapter 53 — Toxic Substances Control"
  - "Subchapter II — Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response"
---

# §2655. Worker protection

- (a) **Prohibition on certain activities—** Until the [local educational agency](/usc/15/2642.md?p=7) with authority over a [school](/usc/15/2642.md?p=12) has submitted a management plan (for the [school](/usc/15/2642.md?p=12)) which the [State](/usc/15/2642.md?p=14) Governor has not disapproved as of the end of the period for review and revision of the plan under [section 2645 of this title](/usc/15/2645.md), the [local educational agency](/usc/15/2642.md?p=7) may not do either of the following in the [school](/usc/15/2642.md?p=12):
  - (1) Perform, or direct an employee to perform, renovations or removal of building materials, except emergency repairs, in the [school](/usc/15/2642.md?p=12), unless—
    - (A) the [school](/usc/15/2642.md?p=12) is carrying out work under a grant awarded under [section 4014 of title 20](/usc/20/4014.md); or
    - (B) an inspection that complies with the requirements of regulations promulgated under [section 2643 of this title](/usc/15/2643.md) has been carried out in the [school](/usc/15/2642.md?p=12) and the agency complies with the following sections of [title 40](/usc/40.md) of the Code of Federal Regulations:
      - (i) Paragraphs (g), (h), and (i) of section 763.90 ([response actions](/usc/15/2642.md?p=11)).
      - (ii) Appendix D to subpart E of part 763 (transport and disposal of [asbestos](/usc/15/2642.md?p=3) waste).
  - (2) Perform, or direct an employee to perform, operations and maintenance activities in the [school](/usc/15/2642.md?p=12), unless the agency complies with the following sections of [title 40](/usc/40.md) of the Code of Federal Regulations:
    - (A) Section 763.91 (operations and maintenance), including appendix B to subpart E of part 763.
    - (B) Paragraph (a)(2) of section 763.92 (training and periodic surveillance).
- (b) **Employee training and equipment—** Any [school](/usc/15/2642.md?p=12) employee who is directed to conduct emergency repairs involving any building material containing [asbestos](/usc/15/2642.md?p=3) or suspected of containing [asbestos](/usc/15/2642.md?p=3), or to conduct operations and maintenance activities, in a [school](/usc/15/2642.md?p=12)—
  - (1) shall be provided the proper training to safely conduct such work in order to prevent potential exposure to [asbestos](/usc/15/2642.md?p=3); and
  - (2) shall be provided the proper equipment and allowed to follow work practices that are necessary to safely conduct such work in order to prevent potential exposure to [asbestos](/usc/15/2642.md?p=3).
- (c) **“Emergency repair” defined—** For purposes of this section, the term “emergency repair” means a repair in a [school building](/usc/15/2642.md?p=13) that was not planned and was in response to a sudden, unexpected event that threatens either—
  - (1) the health or safety of building occupants; or
  - (2) the structural integrity of the building.

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 94–469, title II, § 215, as added Pub. L. 100–368, § 4(a), July 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 832.)

## Notes

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date

Pub. L. 100–368, § 4(c), July 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 833, provided that: “Section 215 of the Toxic Substances Control Act [this section], as added by subsection (a), shall take effect on October 12, 1988.”