Law for the Prevention of Asbestos and Harmful Dust Nuisances, 5771-2011

The purpose of this Law is to prevent and reduce environmental and health nuisances caused by asbestos and harmful dust and to address such nuisances, inter alia by means of –

and all of this for the purpose of ensuring the existence of a proper environment, in accordance with the precautionary principle, for the prevention and reduction of environmental and health nuisances, for the improvement of quality of life and the environment, for the benefit of the public and for the benefit of future generations.

In this Law –

"harmful dust" – dust that may cause lung diseases or other health harm, originating in substances as prescribed by the Minister pursuant to the provisions of section 71;

"asbestos" – a natural fibrous mineral from the asbestos group, including Amosite, Chrysotile, Crocidolite, Anthophyllite, Tremolite, Actinolite, as well as any substance, product or mixture containing one or more of the aforesaid minerals, at a rate exceeding one percent of the weight or volume of the substance, product or mixture, as the case may be, in any form, composition or use;

"friable asbestos" – asbestos, including any substance, product or mixture containing asbestos, found in a crumbled, crushed or powdered state, or that can be crumbled, crushed or reduced to powder by manual contact when in a dry state;

"asbestos cement" – a product containing a mixture of asbestos and cement in a rigid state;

"asbestos waste site" – a place used for the burial of asbestos and asbestos waste or as a transfer station for the storage of asbestos waste prior to its burial, operated by an operator of such a place;

"laboratory test" – a laboratory test for the presence of asbestos fibres in an air sample or asbestos in a bulk sample;

"owner" or "owners", of real property, including a public place – owner, long-term lessee or a person entitled to be registered in the real property registers as owner or long-term lessee, all within the meaning attributed to these terms in the Land Law, 5729-1969; for this purpose, where the real property is Israel lands within the meaning of Basic Law: Israel Lands, that have been leased under a long-term lease or in respect of which the right to be registered as a long-term lessee has been transferred, the long-term lessee or the person entitled to be registered as a long-term lessee alone shall be regarded as the owner of the real property;

"air sample" – a sample taken for the purpose of testing for the presence of asbestos fibres in the air;

"bulk sample" – a sample taken for the purpose of testing for the presence of asbestos in a substance, product or mixture;

"asbestos sampler" – a person holding an asbestos sampler licence, pursuant to the provisions of section 20;

"arrears charges" and "shekel interest" – as defined in the Interest and Linkage Adjudication Law;

"the Committee" – the Professional Committee for Asbestos and Harmful Dust appointed pursuant to section 42;

"asbestos work permit" – a permit for the performance of asbestos work issued by the Supervisor pursuant to Chapter VI;

"Environmental Protection Law" – the Environmental Protection Law (Supervision and Enforcement Powers), 5771-2011;

"Interest and Linkage Adjudication Law" – the Interest and Linkage Adjudication Law, 5721-1961;

"Cleanliness Maintenance Law" – the Cleanliness Maintenance Law, 5744-1984;

"commencement day" – the day of commencement of this Law, as set out in section 84;

"industrial installation" – an installation or transmission pipeline of an industrial plant, whether or not the installation or pipeline is operational, situated within or outside the plant premises;

"the Supervisor" – an asbestos supervisor appointed pursuant to section 47;

"the Administrator" – an asbestos licensing administrator appointed pursuant to section 47;

"analysis laboratory" – a laboratory holding a licence to perform laboratory tests, issued pursuant to section 19(a), or a laboratory outside Israel recognised pursuant to section 19(b);

"sampling laboratory" – a laboratory holding a licence to take air samples, issued pursuant to section 20(a);

"security system" – each of the following:

"asbestos nuisance" or "nuisance" – the presence of asbestos fibres in the air or the release of asbestos fibres into the air, including each of the following:

"asbestos waste site operator" – a manager or holder of an asbestos waste site who has been granted a licence pursuant to the provisions of section 22;

"friable asbestos inspector" – a person holding a friable asbestos inspector licence, pursuant to the provisions of section 18;

"public place" – a place intended for public use that is not intended for residential use, including any building situated within its bounds, as well as a place whose designation or primary use is one of those listed below, even if it does not serve and is not intended to serve the public or is intended for residential use:

"office holder" – as defined in the Companies Law, 5759-1999;

"asbestos surveyor" – a person holding an asbestos surveyor licence, pursuant to the provisions of section 21;

"asbestos fibres" – fibres of asbestos whose length exceeds 5 microns and whose length-to-diameter ratio is equal to or greater than three;

"asbestos work" – work performed on asbestos, including repair, dismantling, removal, demolition, clearance, cutting, removal of a nuisance, transportation, burial, covering, excavation or drilling in land in which asbestos has been buried, and excluding painting of asbestos cement;

"responsible worker" – a worker who has received approval pursuant to the provisions of section 17;

"asbestos practitioner" – an asbestos contractor, friable asbestos inspector, responsible worker, asbestos sampler, asbestos waste site operator, sampling laboratory, analysis laboratory or asbestos surveyor;

"personal interest" of a person – including a personal interest of a relative of that person or of a body in which that person or a relative is a controlling shareholder, manager, office holder or responsible worker;

"asbestos waste" – including asbestos that has been dismantled, damaged or broken, as well as asbestos that is not in use or whose use has not been permitted under this Law;

"inspector" – an inspector authorised pursuant to section 51;

"administrative order regarding asbestos" – an order issued pursuant to section 49;

"asbestos contractor" – an asbestos cement contractor or a friable asbestos contractor;

"friable asbestos contractor" – a person holding a friable asbestos contractor licence, pursuant to the provisions of section 16(b);

"asbestos cement contractor" – a person holding an asbestos cement contractor licence, pursuant to the provisions of section 16(a);

"relative" of a person – spouse, parent, grandparent, descendant, brother or sister, a descendant of a spouse and their respective spouses, or another person who is dependent on that person, as well as a partner, employer or employee of such a person;

"the Cleanliness Fund" – the fund established pursuant to section 10 of the Cleanliness Maintenance Law;

"control" – as defined in the Securities Law, 5728-1968;

"the Minister" – the Minister for Environmental Protection.

"system management licence holder" – as its meaning in the Electricity Sector Law;

"Electricity Sector Law" – the Electricity Sector Law, 5756-1996;

"harm" – harm to the reliability of electricity supply to the Gush Dan area in accordance with the forecast electricity consumption in that area, as forecast by the system management licence holder;

"Electricity Authority" – as its meaning in section 21 of the Electricity Sector Law;

For the purpose of ensuring compliance with the provisions under this Law, including with regard to the manner of implementation of Sections 3 to 8, the Director may –