NYC Comptroller Lander Audit Finds Education Dept Failed to Inspect 82% of Schools Containing Asbestos

New York, NY — Today, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander unveiled a new audit finding that the Department of Education (DOE) is out of compliance with federal Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) regulations that require triennial and periodic inspections of schools with asbestos containing material (ACM). During the audit period from 2021 to 2024, only 18% of all schools containing ACM received the required triennial inspections and between May 2023 and April 2024 and only 22% schools had the required periodic six-month inspections. Auditors further found that DOE failed to inspect the vast majority of schools containing ACM in every inspection cycle dating back to 1997. As a result of the audit findings, Comptroller Lander made detailed recommendations to bring DOE into compliance to protect the health and safety of public school students, teachers, and staff.

“Our first job in government is to keep New Yorkers secure,” said Comptroller Brad Lander. “When it comes to our kids, the City must adhere to the rules designed to protect them from known hazards—this is not optional. Yet DOE has stunningly failed to follow the minimum national standard for asbestos management for years. As a former public school parent, parents put their trust in the City when they send their kids to school each morning. That is why today I am urging the Adams Administration to take swift action to come into compliance because no parent, teacher, or school staffer should feel unsafe walking into a school.”

Asbestos Containing Materials (ACMs) are any material or product that contains more than 1% asbestos and ubiquitous in most buildings, including schools. Examples of ACMs most commonly found in schools include flooring, roofing, gaskets in heating and air-conditioning equipment, ceiling panels and tiles, plaster, duct-wrap insulation, duct joint tape, and fireproofing equipment (including fire doors).

While the presence of asbestos alone does not automatically pose a safety risk, friable ACMs—which can easily release fibers into the air—and nonfriable ACMs that have become damaged over time pose hazards. Common occurrences such as maintenance and repairs (e.g., drilling, cutting, grinding, sanding), deterioration due to age, weather exposure over time, and intense heat can create hazardous conditions.

Without regular inspections and proper compliance, students, teachers, and faculty could be at risk of prolonged exposures to asbestos that has frayed and become airborne. No levels of exposure to airborne asbestos are considered safe, and prolonged exposure to asbestos in childhood, in particular, is found to increase risks for related lung diseases and cancer, including mesothelioma. The federal government enacted the AHERA in 1986 to protect students, teachers, and school staff across the country from asbestos exposure. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) acts as the federal oversight body for AHERA and requires schools to proactively manage asbestos risks to protect students and staff. In 1993, New York City’s failure to inspect schools in compliance with AHERA resulted in the immediate closure of public schools and over a week delay to the start of the school year while the City worked to address the issue.

Over 1,431 schools in the New York City school system must have regular inspections, maintain updated asbestos management plans, conduct surveillance of ACM, and train school custodial and maintenance staff to monitor ACM. AHERA also requires DOE to notify parents, teachers, and employee organizations annually about asbestos inspections, the management plan’s availability, and any asbestos-related actions taken or planned in the school.

DOE is responsible for ensuring that they meet all AHERA mandates for all 1,431 schools, including that an accredited inspector inspect all schools triennially and an individual with appropriate training inspect all schools every six months. School custodians are expected to walk their buildings daily and note any conditions needing repair.

Although DOE followed AHERA inspection protocols during its inspections, between March 2021 to March 2024, the audit found:

• Only 257 of the 1,431 buildings (18%) with identified ACM received a triennial inspection.
  • Brooklyn has both the highest number of schools with ACM and the lowest rate of compliance: 464 schools with ACM and only 62 of the ACM containing schools (13%) had triennial inspections between March 2021 to March 2024.
  • Queens had 55 of 351 schools (16%) inspected, Manhattan with 45 of 222 schools (20%) inspected, Staten Island with 18 of 85 schools (21%), and the Bronx with only 77 of 309 ACM school buildings (25%).
  • Analysis of DOE’s historical inspection data since 1997 revealed that the agency conducts an average of only 11% of the required triennial inspections.

• Only 620 of all 2,862 school buildings (22%) received periodic inspections between May 1, 2023 and April 30, 2024.
  • As with the triennial inspections, Brooklyn saw the lowest compliance rate with only 19% of required inspections performed. Compliance rates were 20% in the Bronx, 23% in Queens, 24% in Manhattan, and 28% in Staten Island.
• DOE typically conducts 200 to 250 inspections every three years but would need to perform approximately 480 inspections per year to be compliant with AHERA.

While DOE cited insufficient consultant contracts as the reason for its failure to conduct timely triennial inspections, the audit uncovered this persistent problem for decades, indicating systemic failures and poor planning. The audit also found inadequate or missing evidence that DOE conducted mandatory asbestos training and could not find evidence that DOE sent appropriate notifications to parents, teachers, and other employee organizations. Auditors could not distinguish or verify whether the email addresses used for AHERA notifications included all required parties. These notifications are essential for transparency, safety, and keeping parents, teachers, and employees informed.

For buildings that did not use ACMs in construction, DOE and SCA should file non-ACM letters, certifications that contractors did not use ACMs in construction and that DOE does not need to mitigate for ACMs. However poor coordination between the two agencies caused delays in issuing non-ACM letters and could have led to unnecessary asbestos inspections. Conducting unnecessary inspections indicates a misallocation of resources and mismanagement.

The Comptroller’s office issued the following recommendations, all of which the DOE or SCA agreed with:

1. Improve the awareness and understanding of AHERA compliance for school officials and the DOE-designated person.
2. Develop and adopt comprehensive policies and procedures for asbestos management in schools, including internal reporting and review mechanisms to ensure full compliance with AHERA requirements.
3. Develop a plan with specific milestones to ensure that the triennial and periodic inspections are brought up to date and maintain timely completion of the required inspections. Specifically, DOE should:
   1. Conduct a historical review and reconciliation of triennial and periodic Inspections to ensure accurate data exists.
   2. Develop a phased inspection plan, prioritizing buildings with the longest gaps in triennial and periodic inspections and those at higher risk of ACM deterioration.
   3. Evaluate and allocate resources to meet inspection demands, including securing additional inspection consultants and expanding internal capacity.
   4. Develop a detailed inspection schedule to ensure that all 1,431 buildings receive the required triennial and periodic inspections moving forward.
4. Implement a recordkeeping system with reporting features to ensure accountability and compliance with AHERA regulations.
5. Demonstrate compliance efforts by documenting ongoing efforts to conduct inspections, update management plans to minimize potential penalties, and demonstrate good-faith efforts to comply with AHERA requirements.
6. Ensure that all custodians and asbestos handlers have adequate training to carry out their duties safely; maintain adequate evidence of this training.
7. Ensure that all stakeholders are adequately notified of asbestos-related activities.
8. Develop a standard procedure for timely determination of school’s asbestos status, and where applicable, timely receipts of non-ACM letters from SCA and close monitoring of the status of these letters.
9. Ensure that the ACM statuses of all new school buildings and additions are current, and investigate and address delays in promptly providing Non-ACM Letters to DOE.

“The Department of Education’s failure to comply with basic asbestos safety regulations for nearly four decades is a disgrace and a direct threat to the health of over one million students and staff. We need urgent investment in building safety, along with the full implementation of Local Law 99, NYC’s mandate to electrify public buildings, and a commitment to make every public school in NYC safe and healthy. The time for delay is over,” said Shiv Soin, Co-Executive Director of TREEage.

“Going to school should not be a health risk,” said Jenille Scott, ALIGN Climate Director. “Students, teachers, and school staff deserve to breathe clean air, free of chemicals, in green and healthy schools. We join the Comptroller in calling for accountability and transparency from our City agencies to deliver the safe learning environments New Yorkers need.”

Read the full audit here.

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