Asbestos in Maryland: Rules, Notifications, and Penalties

Maryland asbestos regulations require anyone disturbing asbestos-containing material to notify the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) at least 10 working days before demolition or a qualifying renovation, use licensed contractors and accredited workers, follow strict wet-removal and containment practices, and keep records for six years. The rules live primarily in COMAR 26.11.21 and incorporate the federal NESHAP standard under 40 CFR Part 61, Subpart M, along with OSHA worker-protection standards.¹ Violations can reach $25,000 per day, and each day counts separately.

Who Has to Follow These Rules

The requirements apply to demolition and renovation projects that will disturb asbestos-containing material in commercial, institutional, and most multi-unit buildings. Residential buildings with four or fewer dwelling units are generally exempt from the federal NESHAP demolition and renovation standards, so a homeowner renovating a single-family house typically does not need to file a NESHAP notification.²

That exemption is narrower than it sounds. You lose it if:

Two or more residential buildings under the same owner are demolished as part of one project. They are treated as a single “installation” and fully regulated.
A residential demolition is combined with a commercial or institutional building under the same owner. Full NESHAP compliance applies to everything.
Multiple buildings are demolished piecemeal within the same planning period. The EPA specifically prohibits circumventing NESHAP through piecemeal operations.

A developer knocking down several homes as part of a subdivision project does not qualify for the exemption, even though each house has four or fewer units. A single developer-owned home demolished in isolation does qualify, regardless of whether the owner is an individual or a company.²

When You Must Notify the MDE

Written notice must reach the MDE at least 10 working days before any demolition or renovation that will disturb asbestos-containing material. This matches the federal NESHAP notification rule under 40 CFR 61.145.³

For renovations, notification is triggered when the amount of regulated asbestos-containing material meets or exceeds any of the following:

260 linear feet on pipes
160 square feet on other building components
35 cubic feet where length or area cannot be measured

All demolitions require notification regardless of the amount of asbestos present. Emergency demolitions ordered by a government agency must be reported as early as possible and no later than the next working day. If the start date changes after you file the original notice, you must update the MDE, and in most cases provide a new written notice at least 10 working days before the revised start date.³

How the Removal Work Must Be Done

COMAR 26.11.21.06 sets the work-practice standards for any asbestos project subject to NESHAP. Every project, without exception, must use wet methods: asbestos materials are saturated with a surfactant solution that penetrates friable material and kept wet throughout removal.⁴

Work areas must be sealed with plastic sheeting at least 6 mils thick, secured with waterproof tape. Inside the enclosure, negative-pressure systems equipped with HEPA filters keep fibers from escaping into occupied parts of the building.

Cleanup and Clearance Monitoring

After removal, the area is cleaned with the surfactant solution, allowed to dry, and then vacuumed with a HEPA-filtered vacuum. That cycle repeats until no visible residue remains and air monitoring shows airborne asbestos below 0.01 fibers per cubic centimeter. At least one air sample is required per room, and at least one per every 50,000 cubic feet or 5,000 square feet of floor area, whichever produces more samples. Containment barriers cannot come down until clearance monitoring confirms safe levels.⁴

Within 24 hours of receiving the final monitoring results, the contractor must submit the air monitoring record to the MDE.

Waste Handling

Asbestos waste must be contained, labeled, and transported to an approved disposal facility. Federal rules require a Uniform Hazardous Waste Manifest for off-site transport. Every party that handles the waste signs and keeps a copy, and the receiving landfill returns a signed copy to the generator to confirm receipt. An electronic manifest system is available and encouraged by the EPA, though paper manifests are still accepted.⁵ Maryland may impose additional state-specific waste codes, so confirm requirements with the MDE before transport.

Licensing and Training

Maryland uses a two-layer credentialing system. Individual workers need training and certification; the companies that employ them need a separate business license.

Every person performing asbestos work in Maryland must complete a training course accredited by either the MDE or the EPA. The EPA’s Model Accreditation Plan defines five training disciplines: worker, contractor/supervisor, inspector, management planner, and project designer.⁶ Maryland’s programs must be at least as stringent as the federal MAP. Anyone trained since October 1, 2013 must also pass a third-party exam administered by the MDE, and annual refresher training is required to keep credentials active.⁷

Abatement companies must hold an MDE-issued contractor license, valid for one year and renewed annually. Applications require proof of insurance, worker safety programs, and evidence of financial stability. Fees range from $0 to $625.⁸ The employer is responsible for making sure every worker on a job holds current certification. Sending an unlicensed worker to an asbestos site is a violation charged to the company, not just to the individual.⁹

Worker Exposure Limits

OSHA governs worker protection on Maryland asbestos jobs. The permissible exposure limit is 0.1 fibers per cubic centimeter of air, averaged over an eight-hour workday. A separate excursion limit caps short-term exposure at 1.0 fiber per cubic centimeter over any 30-minute period.¹⁰

Employers must run a medical surveillance program, at their own expense, for any employee exposed at or above the PEL.¹¹ Asbestos-related diseases like mesothelioma can take 20 to 50 years to appear after exposure, so surveillance is one of the few early-detection tools available to workers. OSHA inspections in this space frequently focus on smaller abatement firms that skip this requirement.

Recordkeeping

Contractors must keep detailed records of every asbestos project: amount removed, methods used, air monitoring results, and final disposal location. Under COMAR 26.11.21.09, records must be retained for at least six years and be available for MDE inspection.¹² Six years is a long window, and missing documentation is itself a compliance problem during an audit.

Penalties for Violations

Under Maryland Environment Article §6-422, a person who violates the asbestos subtitle or its regulations faces a civil penalty of up to $25,000 per violation, collected through a civil action. Each day a violation continues counts as a separate violation, so a week of noncompliance can generate up to $175,000 in exposure.¹³ A parallel provision at §2-610 imposes the same $25,000-per-day structure for air quality violations, which can also reach asbestos projects that release fibers.¹⁴

The actual amount assessed depends on the severity of the violation, whether it caused harm or risk to public health, and the violator’s history. Repeat offenders face the top of the range.

Knowing and willful violations move into criminal territory. Under §6-422(b), a first offense is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine up to $20,000. A second or subsequent offense carries a fine up to $25,000, imprisonment up to two years, or both.¹³ The MDE can also issue cease-and-desist orders halting work until violations are corrected.

Reducing Liability After a Violation

Enforcement action does not always mean paying the full penalty. The strongest defense is showing that the violation resulted from genuinely uncontrollable circumstances, such as a natural disaster, an emergency collapse, or concealed asbestos that no reasonable inspection would have found. The burden sits with the defendant to prove all reasonable compliance steps were taken beforehand and that the response afterward was prompt and appropriate.

A “de minimis” argument, that the violation caused no actual harm, is theoretically available but rarely succeeds on its own. The MDE tends to treat any departure from notification or work-practice rules as inherently risky, regardless of whether fibers were released. Meticulous documentation showing exposure stayed well below thresholds can reduce, though usually not eliminate, the penalty.

The most practical path is settlement. If the Attorney General concurs, the Secretary of the Environment can compromise and settle penalty claims under §2-610, and up to 75% of the settled amount may be returned to the violator if the problem is fully corrected within 36 months.¹⁴ For a first-time violator who moves quickly to fix the issue, this is often the most realistic way to limit the financial damage. Document every project step, correct deficiencies as soon as they surface, and don’t wait for an MDE inspection to trigger the fix.

1
Library of Maryland Regulations. COMAR 26.11.21 – Control of Asbestos
2
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Letter Regarding Asbestos NESHAP Residential Building Exemption
3
eCFR. 40 CFR 61.145 – Standard for Demolition and Renovation
4
Library of Maryland Regulations. COMAR 26.11.21.06 – Control of Emissions from an Asbestos Project Subject to NESHAP
5
US Environmental Protection Agency. Hazardous Waste Manifest System
6
US EPA. Asbestos Professionals
7
Maryland Department of the Environment. Training and Accreditation Requirements to Provide Asbestos Services
8
Maryland OneStop. Asbestos Contractor License
9
Maryland Department of the Environment. Asbestos for Contractors
10
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 1926.1101 App H – Substance Technical Information for Asbestos
11
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 1910.1001 App H – Medical Surveillance Guidelines for Asbestos
12
Library of Maryland Regulations. COMAR 26.11.21.09 – Records
13
Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Environment Code 6-422 – Penalties
14
Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Environment Code 2-610 – Civil Penalty