§ Mr. Cryerasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will introduce legislation to provide that waste disposal authorities have powers similar to those under section 16 of the Control of Pollution Act 1974 to identify a disused tip where asbestos is thought to be a hazard, to carry out the necessary works to render it safe and to recoup the expense from the occupier or depositer wherever possible.
§ Mr. Giles ShawThe problem of disused asbestos tips is being considered as part of a review by my Department of policy on contaminated land, on the results of which consultations will be undertaken in the first half of 1983.
§ Mr. Cryerasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the programme of monitoring asbestos in the general atmosphere.
§ Mr. Giles ShawA programme to monitor asbestos in the environment was started in 1978 at the occupational medicine and hygiene laboratories under the joint control of the Health and Safety Executive and the Department of the Environment. The results of measurements in a number of buildings have been published—Annals of Occupational Hygiene; Vol. 24; No. 2; 1981—and further results are in course of publication. The programme is continuing and additional sites will be investigated.
§ Mr. Cryerasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will introduce legislation to ensure that dust concentration in the atmosphere emitted from work places is submitted to more specific control with particular reference to premises emitting asbestos dust, such control to include regular and systematic measurement of emissions and the keeping of accurate records.
105W
§ Mr. Giles ShawThe Health and Safety Commission has recently submitted for the approval of the Secretaries of State for the Environment, Scotland and Wales draft regulations which will extend the schedule of processes controlled by the alkali and clean air inspectorate to include major asbestos works.
These works have hitherto been controlled by local authorities under the nuisance provisions of the public health legislation. Although these powers have been used effectively for many years, the Secretary of State considers that improvements could be made and in his recent response to the fifth report of the Royal Commission on environmental pollution, he announced that the Government have decided to undertake a comprehensive review of air pollution control legislation.
I am satisfied that there are adequate powers for the relevant authorities to measure emissions and keep records.