Asbestos schools (AHERA): responsibilities, inspections, sampling and assessment practice questions
20 free practice questions from 40 CFR 763.80 to 763.88. Each answer is explained and linked to the rule it comes from.
Asbestos schools (AHERA): responsibilities, inspections, sampling and assessment
20 questions across 8 topics. After each answer you see why it is right, with a link to the official source.
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Scope and purpose
1. Under 763.80(a), a local education agency hires a contractor to carry out its duties under the rule. Who remains responsible for the proper performance of those duties?
- A. The contractor alone
- B. The local education agency
- C. The EPA Regional Asbestos Coordinator
- D. The Governor of the State
Show answer
Answer: B. The local education agency
763.80(a) says: "Local education agencies may contractually delegate their duties under this rule, but they remain responsible for the proper performance of those duties."
Source: eCFR: 40 CFR 763.80, Scope and purpose (as of Nov 4, 2026)
Key definitions
2. Plaster that is ACM covers a school hallway wall at shoulder height. School building occupants and custodial personnel could disturb it in the course of their normal activities. Which term defined in 763.83 applies to this ACM?
- A. Encapsulation
- B. Enclosure
- C. Asbestos debris
- D. Accessible
Show answer
Answer: D. Accessible
763.83: "Accessible when referring to ACM means that the material is subject to disturbance by school building occupants or custodial or maintenance personnel in the course of their normal activities."
Source: eCFR: 40 CFR 763.83, Definitions (as of Nov 4, 2026)
3. Under 763.83, who designates a "functional space"?
- A. A person accredited to prepare management plans, design abatement projects, or conduct response actions
- B. The laboratory that analyzes the bulk samples
- C. The school principal
- D. The State's lead agency
Show answer
Answer: A. A person accredited to prepare management plans, design abatement projects, or conduct response actions
A functional space is a room, group of rooms, or homogeneous area "designated by a person accredited to prepare management plans, design abatement projects, or conduct response actions."
Source: eCFR: 40 CFR 763.83, Definitions (as of Nov 4, 2026)
4. Which of these is part of a "school building" as defined in 763.83?
- A. An uncovered parking lot
- B. A public street bordering the campus
- C. A covered exterior walkway
- D. An open-air bus loading lane
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Answer: C. A covered exterior walkway
The definition of school building includes "Any portico or covered exterior hallway or walkway."
Source: eCFR: 40 CFR 763.83, Definitions (as of Nov 4, 2026)
5. An accredited inspector is looking at friable surfacing ACM on a gym ceiling. Which observation does the 763.83 definition of damaged friable surfacing ACM give as an illustration of damage or deterioration?
- A. Separation of the ACM from the substrate
- B. The ACM is hidden above a dropped ceiling
- C. The ACM is in a room students use every day
- D. The ACM is the same color as the nearby walls
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Answer: A. Separation of the ACM from the substrate
For damaged friable surfacing ACM, 763.83 says: "Such damage or deterioration may be illustrated by the separation of ACM into layers; separation of ACM from the substrate; flaking, blistering, or crumbling of the ACM surface".
Source: eCFR: 40 CFR 763.83, Definitions (as of Nov 4, 2026)
6. Friable ACBM in a school is subject to major or continuing disturbance because of vibration. In 763.83, this circumstance is listed in the definition of which term?
- A. Routine maintenance area
- B. Potential damage
- C. Potential significant damage
- D. Damaged friable surfacing ACM
Show answer
Answer: C. Potential significant damage
Potential significant damage includes circumstances in which "The material is subject to major or continuing disturbance, due to factors including, but not limited to, accessibility or, under certain circumstances, vibration or air erosion." The definition of potential damage does not list this circumstance.
Source: eCFR: 40 CFR 763.83, Definitions (as of Nov 4, 2026)
General local education agency responsibilities
7. Under 763.84(c), whom must the local education agency ensure are informed at least once each school year about inspections, response actions, and post-response action activities?
- A. Only the accredited inspectors
- B. Workers and building occupants, or their legal guardians
- C. Only the EPA Regional Asbestos Coordinator
- D. Only the Governor of the State
Show answer
Answer: B. Workers and building occupants, or their legal guardians
The agency shall "Ensure that workers and building occupants, or their legal guardians, are informed at least once each school year about inspections, response actions, and post-response action activities."
Source: eCFR: 40 CFR 763.84, General local education agency responsibilities (as of Nov 4, 2026)
8. An exterminator will work in a school for one day and may come in contact with asbestos. Under 763.84(d), what must the local education agency ensure the exterminator is provided?
- A. Proof of State accreditation as an asbestos worker
- B. A copy of the laboratory's analysis signatures
- C. The full written assessment by the accredited inspector
- D. Information regarding the locations of ACBM and suspected ACBM assumed to be ACM
Show answer
Answer: D. Information regarding the locations of ACBM and suspected ACBM assumed to be ACM
Short-term workers "(e.g., telephone repair workers, utility workers, or exterminators)" who may come in contact with asbestos "are provided information regarding the locations of ACBM and suspected ACBM assumed to be ACM."
Source: eCFR: 40 CFR 763.84, General local education agency responsibilities (as of Nov 4, 2026)
9. Under 763.84(g), what must the local education agency ensure about the person it designates to implement the section's requirements?
- A. The person is an accredited inspector
- B. The person is a State employee
- C. The person is the school principal
- D. The person receives adequate training to perform duties assigned under the section
Show answer
Answer: D. The person receives adequate training to perform duties assigned under the section
The agency shall "Ensure that the designated person receives adequate training to perform duties assigned under this section."
Source: eCFR: 40 CFR 763.84, General local education agency responsibilities (as of Nov 4, 2026)
10. Under 763.84(h), what must the local education agency consider when selecting accredited personnel?
- A. Whether any conflict of interest may arise from the interrelationship among accredited personnel
- B. Whether the personnel live in the same school district
- C. Whether the personnel offer the lowest price
- D. Whether the personnel were accredited in the same State as the school
Show answer
Answer: A. Whether any conflict of interest may arise from the interrelationship among accredited personnel
The agency shall "Consider whether any conflict of interest may arise from the interrelationship among accredited personnel and whether that should influence the selection of accredited personnel."
Source: eCFR: 40 CFR 763.84, General local education agency responsibilities (as of Nov 4, 2026)
Inspection
11. A local education agency leases an office building in 2026 to use as a school building, and no emergency requires its use. When does 763.85(a)(2) require the building to be inspected?
- A. Within 30 days after classes begin there
- B. At the next reinspection of the agency's other buildings
- C. Prior to use as a school building
- D. Only if friable material is visible during a walk-through
Show answer
Answer: C. Prior to use as a school building
"Any building leased or acquired on or after October 12, 1988, that is to be used as a school building shall be inspected as described under paragraphs (a) (3) and (4) of this section prior to use as a school building." The 30-day period applies only where "emergency use of an uninspected building as a school building is necessitated."
Source: eCFR: 40 CFR 763.85, Inspection and reinspections (as of Nov 4, 2026)
12. Under 763.85(a)(4)(iv), from which homogeneous areas must the person inspecting collect and submit bulk samples for analysis?
- A. Only areas of friable material larger than 1,000 ft2
- B. Each homogeneous area that is not assumed to be ACM
- C. Each homogeneous area that is assumed to be ACM
- D. Only areas the designated person selects
Show answer
Answer: B. Each homogeneous area that is not assumed to be ACM
The inspector shall "Assume that some or all of the homogeneous areas are ACM, and, for each homogeneous area that is not assumed to be ACM, collect and submit for analysis bulk samples."
Source: eCFR: 40 CFR 763.85, Inspection and reinspections (as of Nov 4, 2026)
Reinspection and thermal system insulation
13. During a reinspection, what does 763.85(b)(3)(ii) require for material that was previously considered nonfriable ACBM?
- A. Visually inspect it and touch it to determine whether it has become friable since the last inspection or reinspection
- B. Remove it before the reinspection report is filed
- C. Collect at least three bulk samples from it
- D. Mark it with a warning label and take no other step
Show answer
Answer: A. Visually inspect it and touch it to determine whether it has become friable since the last inspection or reinspection
The reinspector shall "Visually inspect material that was previously considered nonfriable ACBM and touch the material to determine whether it has become friable since the last inspection or reinspection."
Source: eCFR: 40 CFR 763.85, Inspection and reinspections (as of Nov 4, 2026)
14. Thermal system insulation has retained its structural integrity and has an undamaged protective jacket that prevents fiber release. How does 763.85(c) say it shall be treated?
- A. As friable ACBM that must be removed
- B. As significantly damaged thermal system insulation ACM
- C. As material that must be resampled at every reinspection
- D. As nonfriable, subject only to periodic surveillance and preventive measures as necessary
Show answer
Answer: D. As nonfriable, subject only to periodic surveillance and preventive measures as necessary
Such insulation "shall be treated as nonfriable and therefore is subject only to periodic surveillance and preventive measures as necessary."
Source: eCFR: 40 CFR 763.85, Inspection and reinspections (as of Nov 4, 2026)
Sampling
15. A local education agency decides not to assume that a homogeneous area of nonfriable suspected ACBM is ACM. What does 763.86(d) require?
- A. No sampling, because nonfriable material is never sampled
- B. An accredited inspector shall collect bulk samples from the area in a manner sufficient to determine whether the material is ACM or not ACM
- C. The designated person collects one sample from the area
- D. Sampling only after the material becomes friable
Show answer
Answer: B. An accredited inspector shall collect bulk samples from the area in a manner sufficient to determine whether the material is ACM or not ACM
763.86(d): if a homogeneous area of nonfriable suspected ACBM "is not assumed to be ACM, then an accredited inspector shall collect, in a manner sufficient to determine whether the material is ACM or not ACM, bulk samples from the homogeneous area."
16. An accredited inspector has determined that the thermal system insulation in a homogeneous area is fiberglass. What does 763.86(b)(4) say about bulk samples from that area?
- A. At least three must be collected in a randomly distributed manner
- B. At least one must be collected
- C. Bulk samples are not required to be collected from it
- D. Samples must be composited before analysis
Show answer
Answer: C. Bulk samples are not required to be collected from it
"Bulk samples are not required to be collected from any homogeneous area where the accredited inspector has determined that the thermal system insulation is fiberglass, foam glass, rubber, or other non-ACBM."
Analysis
17. An accredited inspector has collected bulk samples from a school's homogeneous areas under 763.86 and submitted them for analysis. Under 763.87(a), who shall have the samples analyzed, and by what kind of laboratory?
- A. The accredited inspector, using any laboratory the inspector chooses
- B. The State, using its public health laboratory
- C. The local education agency, using laboratories accredited by the National Bureau of Standards (NBS)
- D. The school's custodial staff, using an on-site test kit
Show answer
Answer: C. The local education agency, using laboratories accredited by the National Bureau of Standards (NBS)
763.87(a): "Local education agencies shall have bulk samples, collected under § 763.86 and submitted for analysis, analyzed for asbestos using laboratories accredited by the National Bureau of Standards (NBS)."
18. A laboratory finishes analyzing a school's bulk samples. Under 763.87(d), what must be submitted to the person designated under 763.84 for inclusion in the management plan?
- A. The name and address of each laboratory performing an analysis, the date of analysis, and the name and signature of the person performing the analysis
- B. Only the percent of asbestos found, with no laboratory details
- C. The remaining sample material, sealed and labeled
- D. A photograph of each sample under the microscope
Show answer
Answer: A. The name and address of each laboratory performing an analysis, the date of analysis, and the name and signature of the person performing the analysis
"The name and address of each laboratory performing an analysis, the date of analysis, and the name and signature of the person performing the analysis shall be submitted to the person designated under § 763.84 for inclusion into the management plan within 30 days of the analysis."
Assessment
19. Under 763.88(d), whom shall the local education agency select to review the results of each inspection, reinspection, and assessment and recommend response actions in writing?
- A. The laboratory that performed the analysis
- B. The custodial supervisor
- C. Any building occupant
- D. A person accredited to develop management plans
Show answer
Answer: D. A person accredited to develop management plans
"The local education agency shall select a person accredited to develop management plans to review the results of each inspection, reinspection, and assessment."
20. Under 763.88(b), what must the inspector do with the ACBM and suspected ACBM assumed to be ACM in the written assessment?
- A. Estimate the cost of removal
- B. Classify it into one of the listed categories and give reasons for the classification
- C. Choose the response action to be performed
- D. List the names of building occupants near it
Show answer
Answer: B. Classify it into one of the listed categories and give reasons for the classification
"The inspector shall classify and give reasons in the written assessment for classifying the ACBM and suspected ACBM assumed to be ACM in the school building into one of the following categories."