(a) The department, after consultation with the Department of Environmental Conservation, the Department of Health and Social Services, the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Law, and the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, shall prescribe in regulation a bulk testing method for gravel or other aggregate material containing naturally occurring asbestos.

(b) The department, after consultation with the Department of Environmental Conservation, the Department of Health and Social Services, the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Law, and the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, may adopt regulations under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) to implement AS 44.42.400 - 44.42.430, including regulations revising statewide standards on the use in the construction and maintenance of transportation projects and public facilities of gravel or other aggregate material that, when tested using a bulk test method prescribed by the department by regulation, is determined to have a content equal to or greater than 0.25 percent of naturally occurring asbestos by mass. The regulations adopted under this subsection must include

(1) procedures for completing site investigations and characterizations of proposed projects, including the development and description of appropriate laboratory practices;

(2) procedures for reviewing design alternatives and preparing and evaluating appropriate comparative cost analyses that consider the use of gravel or other aggregate material that does not contain naturally occurring asbestos;

(3) procedures for evaluating human health concerns arising out of gravel or other aggregate material that contains naturally occurring asbestos and documentation of methods and means to be used during periods of handling of the gravel or other aggregate material to ensure compliance with appropriate workplace safety and air quality standards relating to the project and to ensure the health and safety of communities affected by construction projects that use gravel or other aggregate material containing naturally occurring asbestos;

(4) procedures for preparing designs and design specifications for facilities involving use of gravel or other aggregate material that contains naturally occurring asbestos;

(5) procedures for outlining construction operation and maintenance practices that are required and those that are minimally acceptable to meet requirements of law applicable to the handling of compounds that contain asbestos;

(6) procedures for processing, reviewing, and approving or disapproving site-specific use plans and area designation requests received under AS 44.42.400(b) in a uniform manner;

(7) guidelines to analyze the cost of a project;

(8) guidelines for determining whether the cost associated with the use of gravel or other aggregate material free from naturally occurring asbestos under AS 44.42.410(d) is economically unreasonable;

(9) guidelines for determining whether the cost associated with burying or sealing gravel or other aggregate material containing naturally occurring asbestos under AS 44.42.410(a)(2) and (3) is economically unreasonable;

(10) guidelines for establishing areas designated under AS 44.42.400(b) or (c) that take into account the effect on human health in and around the designated area and environmental factors affecting the transfer of asbestos fibers within and outside of a designated area.