Looser asbestos-handling laws will hasten the demolition of at least 12,000 more homes in hurricane ravaged South Mississippi, reports the Sun Herald.

Thanks to an extension granted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “No Action Assurance” will continue to be in place until September 30th for houses in Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, and Pearl River counties. About 4,200 residential structures will have been demolished when the extension ends, officials at Mississippi’s Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) said. The MDEQ is responsible for regulating air admissions during building demolition.

“We appreciate the efforts of the EPA in recognizing the continued need for this flexibility,” said Trudy Fisher, MDEQ executive director. “This flexibility has substantially helped the progress of hurricane recovery efforts along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and its continuance is necessary to ensure the current pace toward recovery.”

The EPA’s No Action Assurance policy means that local governments do not need to examine every home that needs to be torn down. An MDEQ spokesperson also explained that, under this policy, county or city governments can also fill out one set of paperwork to demolish entire streets or subdivisions

Bickham Forshee, MDEQ’s asbestos section supervisor, noted that demolition contractors will still need to follow worker safety guidelines for handling asbestos and will be required to post a supervisor certified to work with the material at each job site.

“Most houses are going to have some asbestos because it’s in more materials than you would realize,” Forshee explained. “We will be having a weekly presence on the Coast monitoring for it.”

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