HOUSE BILL NO. 258 "An Act directing the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities to develop and implement standards and operating procedures allowing for the use in the construction and maintenance of transportation projects and public facilities and in the construction of projects by public and private entities of gravel or aggregate materials that contain a limited amount of naturally occurring asbestos, and authorizing use on an interim basis of those materials for certain transportation projects and public facilities; relating to certain claims arising out of or in connection with the use of gravel or aggregate materials containing a limited amount of naturally occurring asbestos; and providing for an effective date." Vice-chair Fairclough moved to ADOPT the CS Work Draft CSHB 258 (FIN) 27-LS0400\Y (3/27/12, Nauman). There being NO OBJECTION the committee substitute was ADOPTED. BRODIE ANDERSON, STAFF, REPRESENTATIVE JOULE, highlighted the changes to the legislation. He reported that on Page 6, lines 10-31, and Page 7, lines 1 - 39, created a naturally occurring asbestos zone. A municipality or community, defined by Title 29, would petition the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT) for permission to create a naturally occurring asbestos (NOA) zone. The community must submit an application that included testing results for the presence of naturally occurring asbestos. The department would review the application and test results. After verification that asbestos free gravel or aggregate material was not available DOT would permit the delineation of the naturally occurring asbestos zone. The legislation allowed the state to declare a NOA zone if a community or municipality did not exist in an area, such as the Dalton Highway. The bill defined the subsequent process once the delineation zone was created. He cited a flow chart "NOA Delineation Zone Logic Chart", (copy on file), that mapped out the process. Mr. Anderson turned to Page 8, lines 20-22 that expanded on the site specific plan and addressed a public health concern by identifying the possibility of airborne asbestos from vehicles. He communicated that many of the regulations in the legislation were rewritten beginning on Page 10 through Page 12, line 12. He remarked that Page 12, lines 2 - 12, and subsection 7-19, delineated the guidelines for the regulations and helped clarify economically reasonable costs. He cited Subsection 10, which contained additional guidelines that addressed public health exposure to asbestos fibers. He identified Page 12, lines 17 - 22 that expanded the definition of NOA to include the various types of asbestos. He pointed to the final change on Page 12 lines 27 - 31, that granted a provisional NOA delineation zone to the community of Ambler while DOT writes the regulations. 10:32:25 AM Representative Wilson wondered if the delineation zone would burden the community with costs and project delays. Mr. Anderson replied that the application process would be spelled out in the regulation process and was designed to keep application costs low for the community. Representative Gara wondered if other options were available to provide communities with asbestos free gravel and requested clarification of "economically unreasonable" as defined in the bill. HB 258 was HEARD and HELD in committee for further consideration.