The proposed project will consist of three tasks

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded a $125,875 Project Grant under the Toxic Substances Compliance Monitoring Cooperative Agreements program (CFDA 66.701) to the Oklahoma Department of Labor (ODOL) for the period of October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025. The grant will fund ODOL's activities to conduct Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) compliance inspections at 24 local education authorities (LEAs) in Oklahoma, including charter schools, large LEAs, and schools with previous referrals or complaints related to asbestos. ODOL will also inspect asbestos abatement worker licenses and training courses, and coordinate outreach efforts with the Oklahoma Department of Education to educate school personnel on AHERA requirements. The grant aims to increase AHERA compliance rates in Oklahoma by proactively identifying and addressing asbestos hazards in schools.

The asbestos division asbestos hazard emergency response act (ahera) compliance inspections will require specially trained asbestos inspectors to perform on-site audits/inspections of 24 local education authorities (LEA's) which will be selected in accordance with the EPA national guidance program described below. Prior to obtaining a license in oklahoma, asbestos abatement workers must show proof of current acceptable EPA accredited training. OAP activities will be principally directed toward the inspection of each worker's oklahoma license at most abatement projects prior to the beginning of and during abatement work. In an effort to increase ahera compliance rates in oklahoma, oklahoma department of labor (odol) will continue efforts to educate local educational authorities (leas) on the federal requirements for asbestos in schools and the asbestos hazard emergency response act (ahera).activities:the 28 schools targeted for inspections during the FY2025 period will be chosen based on schools with the oldest inspection dates and in accordance with the EPA national guidance program as listed below: - odol will conduct inspections of 1 charter schools (8.30%) out of the 24 charter schools currently existing in the state per the oklahoma department of education. - odol will conduct inspections of 1 large LEA's (enrollment over 5,000) which will be randomly selected based on county and date of last audit. - odol will conduct inspections of all schools for which odol has received a referral from EPA and/or a tip or complaint related to asbestos. Odol may choose to replace planned charter school inspections or other randomly selected schools with complaint-driven inspections. - odol will select the remaining amount of LEA's for this project based on an even representation of LEA's with enrollment of LT;500 and LEA's with enrollment between 500 to 5,000, and per county and date of last inspection. Inspecting asbestos abatement licenses and training courses. Outreach efforts will include coordinating with the oklahoma department of education in the following ways: - making ahera workshops and information available at conferences - distributing educational material to superintendents - direct education with school personnel - providing educational information for newsletters - education associations - school boards subrecipient:no subawards are included in this assistance agreement.outcomes:update reports on the status of the activities described above.