Environmental Management & Services

Working to create greener schools and maintain healthy and welcoming learning environments for all students and staff

About

Welcome to Environmental Management & Services (OEMS)

At OEMS, we have many areas of focus, with one shared goal: to provide students and staff with healthy, welcoming learning and teaching spaces. On this page, you’ll find:

  • links to current asbestos reports and room-by-room logs for each of our schools
  • information about our nationally recognized sustainability program, GreenFutures
  • updates on our ongoing work, installing hydration stations for plenty of healthy drinking water, and helping our schools become certified lead paint safe
  • information about Mold Assessment and Remediation Services, Indoor Air Quality, Hazardous Material Management and more

Click on the tabs to explore more about the environmental work in the District.

GreenFutures

Join us in providing every student in Philadelphia with a green, healthy, high-performance school!

Learn More

AHERA Inspection Reports

Room-by-room logs of every school and the location and condition of asbestos materials at the time of inspection.

View by School

Asbestos

Asbestos

Our school district has nearly 300 buildings, and almost every one contains some form of asbestos. It is usually found in floor and ceiling tiles, pipe wrap insulation,  as well as some plaster and paint.  The presence of asbestos is not itself a danger, however it must be managed when materials are disturbed and fibers become airborne.

That is why the District conducts almost 600 inspections a year – checking every school twice – to look for damage caused by age, use, weather, water, vandalism or other factors.  Management of asbestos happens every day to keep our buildings healthy.

AHERA Inspections

The Federal Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) requires all US school districts to regularly inspect buildings for the conditions of asbestos-containing building material so materials can be maintained to minimize hazards.

What are AHERA Inspections?

AHERA Inspections

During AHERA inspections, specially licensed professionals look in every space of a school building – including over ceiling tiles, in closets and in utility rooms – and keep a log of all materials that are confirmed or suspected of containing asbestos. These materials are commonly floor tiles, pipe wrap, paint, and plaster.

Inspections take place outside of school hours when there are no students or staff in the building. If an inspector discovers damaged material, it can often be repaired right away. However, occasionally, a space will need to be closed if management of the material is more extensive, such as when there has been a water intrusion. Air clearance samples are taken before any space where a repair takes place is reopened, for the safety of the inspectors and the school communities.

There are two types of inspections – comprehensive 3-year inspections and surveillance check-ins every six months to look for any changes in conditions. Inspection reports for every building are posted on the District’s website as soon as they are completed and run through a quality-control process.

For more information about AHERA rules, the responsibilities of the District and asbestos itself, please visit the EPA’s website.

How to Read AHERA Inspection Reports

Each report contains a lot of information. To help you navigate the reports, we outline the information that is most important to parents and families. The Executive Summary, sections 1 through 5, contains the first group of tables that give a snapshot of all the materials in the building. When you click on a report, look for the following tables in order:

  • Confirmed Asbestos Containing Building Material (ACBM) for this location: a list of all material within the building that we know contains asbestos.
  • Assumed Asbestos Containing Building Material (ACBM) for this location: a list of material within the building that might contain asbestos but was not tested, sometimes because the process of testing would damage the material.
  • Non-asbestos Containing Building Material for this location: a list of all material within the building that has been tested and confirmed to not contain asbestos. These materials are not hazardous.
  • Non-suspect Asbestos Containing Building Material for this location: a list of building material that typically never contains asbestos. These materials have not been tested and are not hazardous.

*For the purposes of testing for asbestos, Auditoriums are considered separate structures from the rest of the building. Therefore, if a building has an auditorium, there will be a separate table.

After this first group of tables, scroll down to Section II find the Room by Room reports. These reports give specific details about every space in the building. Use the definitions to the right to help you read the room by room reports.

Terms to look for: ACBM = Asbestos Containing Building Material

  • ACM = Asbestos Containing Material
  • Non-Suspect = Material that characteristically does not contain asbestos and is not tested for asbestos, such as fiberglass.
  • NAD = No Asbestos Detected. Material that was tested and determined to not contain asbestos.
  • Element = Some campuses have multiple buildings (main building, annex, little school house, etc.). Element denotes the structure that the information is referring to. The main building is typically denoted as “1”.
  • SF, LF, EA = Square Feet, Linear Feet, Each

Resources

Asbestos FAQs

AHERA Inspection Reports

Room-by-room logs of every school and the location and condition of asbestos materials at the time of inspection.

View by School

GreenFutures

GreenFutures

Join us on a journey to GreenFutures – the District’s plan to provide each student in Philadelphia with a green, healthy, high-performance school that promotes teaching and learning and equips future leaders and decision-makers with the knowledge and skills needed for a changing world.

About
Education for Sustainability
Consumption & Waste
CLEANfutures
Energy & Efficiency
School Greenscapes
Healthy Schools, Healthy Living
Contact

Tricia&Amy 2013 TriciaMoskal.com

Lead Paint Program

Lead Paint Program

Lead paint is commonly found in buildings across Philadelphia constructed before 1978, including more than 225 buildings in our District. Our Lead Safe Certification Program reduces lead-based paint hazards by working to keep classrooms and other areas free of lead paint chips and dust. We prioritize the schools that serve the youngest students, as they are most likely to ingest paint chips. When chipping, peeling, or other damaged paint is found, we make plans to repair and stabilize it  following the Environmental Protection Agency Renovation, Repair, and Painting (RRP) regulations. For more information, refer to the U.S. EPA Renovate Right pamphlet.

This work is part of the City of Philadelphia’s Lead Safe Certification  Program, which requires inspections for educational buildings to certify they are lead-safe or lead-free.

We also are working to align with new federal regulations that require inspections every two years for Pre-K programs beginning in 2025.

You can find school lead paint reports below.

View Lead-Based Paint Program Reports

How to Read the Test Results

  • Use the definitions below to interpret the information
  • *Note: Only schools that have been evaluated for a lead-safe project have test results. If there is no test result, that school has not been evaluated yet. Please check back often for updates.

Definitions

  • Element = Some campuses have multiple buildings (main building, annex, little school house, etc.). Element denotes the structure that the information is referring to. The main building is typically denoted as “1”.
  • On-Site Room Name = The present day room label/number/assignment as observed the day of the evaluation.
  • Primary Component = The surface being described: W1, W2, W3, W4, Ceiling or Floor. W1, W2, W3, W4 refer to the door wall, left wall, front wall, and right wall respectively upon entering the room.
  • Substrate Material = The type of material underneath the painted surface.
  • Primary Component Damage Quantity (sf) = Total area, in square feet, of damaged paint on any assessed surface.
  • XRF Reading = Our consultants use X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) to test surfaces for lead presence. This column shows the results of the XRF tests. The tests produce milligrams per square centimeter measurements. In Philadelphia, the threshold for whether or not a surface is considered to contain lead presence is 0.7 mg/cm2. Any reading above that threshold indicates lead presence and anything below indicates no lead presence.
  • Additional Component = Every painted surface in a space beyond the walls, including doors, frames, rails, radiators, baseboards, window sills, etc.

Concerned About Exposure?

The City of Philadelphia encourages parents to have their children screened for lead, which can be found in lead paint and water in many of the older homes and buildings around the city. Find more information here.

Drinking Water Testing

Drinking Water Testing

Access to plenty of healthy drinking water is essential for learning, and the District has installed nearly 2,000 hydration stations – modern water fountains with filters – to keep students and staff well hydrated.

The City of Philadelphia’s lead in water standards are even more rigorous than federal standards, and the District samples water in all student-occupied buildings on a five-year cycle to be sure they are meeting those standards or are shut off or restricted to non-drinking water.

View Water Testing Results

How to Read the Test Results

Use Definitions & Outlet Types below to interpret the information

*Note: Only schools where testing has been completed have a link. If there is no link, the school has not yet been tested this cycle. Please check back often for updates.

Definitions

  • ppb = Parts per billion. This is the unit of measurement that describes the number of units of a certain contaminate (in this case lead) per 1000 million units. In other words, 1 ppb is extremely, extremely small!
  • AA = Above Action limit of 10 ppb. The outlet will be shut down and action plan implemented within 30 days.
  • BA = Below Action limit of 10 ppb. No further action needed for this outlet

Outlet Types:

  • WF = Water Fountain/Bubbler. Usually stainless steel, sometimes porcelain.
  • HS = Hydration Station/Bottle Filling Station. These are state-of-the-art and have built-in filtration systems.
  • FT = Sink Faucet/Tap
  • FP = Food Prep Sink/Pot-filler/Kitchen Kettle
  • IM = Ice Maker

Concerned About Exposure?

Blood lead testing for children is free at two Philadelphia Department of Public Health Centers.

  • Health Center #3 located at 43rd Street, between Baltimore and Woodland Avenues
  • Health Center #4 located at 44th Street and Haverford Avenue

Find more information at the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention website.

Check back often as the results are continually being updated. Results from the previous testing cycle can be found here.

Indoor Air Quality

Indoor Air Quality

Improving air quality and temperature regulation in our schools is an integral part of our work to provide safe, healthy and welcoming learning environments for our students and staff.

The District is actively conducting research to address Indoor Air Quality throughout our buildings.

Approximately 9,500 ActivePure units were installed across the District as we returned to in-person learning after COVID. These are effective at reducing viruses and improving air quality. The District still faces challenges with our aging ventilation systems.  Repairs and upgrades to our existing ventilation equipment and related controls remain a high priority.

Homemade filter systems, such as the Corsi Rosenthal boxes, are not authorized because they do not meet fire and life safety standards for employment in District facilities.

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