Removing asbestos siding in Vancouver, Washington requires a notice to the Southwest Clean Air Agency before the work starts, a fee of $153 to $765 depending on square footage, a 10 day waiting period for any contractor performed removal, and a Washington certified asbestos abatement contractor unless the owner lives in the single family house and does the work personally under a $39 notice. There is no city permit for the removal itself.
Who the agency is and where it applies
The Southwest Clean Air Agency is the regional air authority for Clark, Cowlitz, Lewis, Skamania and Wahkiakum counties, with its office on NE 99th Street in Vancouver. It administers the asbestos rules in those five counties under its regulation SWCAA 476, which was updated effective March 22, 2026. Inside the Vancouver city limits, in unincorporated Hazel Dell or Orchards, in Camas, and all the way up to Longview and Kelso, the same rules and the same fee table apply.
Step by step: what has to happen, in order
- Confirm the material. Either a lab result showing asbestos, or treat it as asbestos. Washington Labor and Industries requires a good faith asbestos survey before any renovation that could disturb suspect material, with fines up to $600 per day for skipping it.
- Measure the removal. The fee tier is set by square feet (or linear feet) on one notice, so the house and any outbuilding in the same project are measured together.
- File the notice and pay the fee. The agency accepts the notice online. The 10 day waiting period begins when it is received.
- Wait out the 10 days. No removal, no loosening, no test pulls.
- Remove wet and whole, with the notice posted at the job, plastic on the ground, and a certified crew in respirators.
- Dispose at an approved landfill on a waste shipment record, and keep the record with the lab report and the notice.
The fee table
From SWCAA Table 11, adopted January 8, 2026 and effective the next day:
| Removal size on one notice | Fee | Wait |
|---|---|---|
| Under 48 sq ft (and under 10 linear ft) | $0 | none |
| 48 to 159 sq ft | $153 | 10 days |
| 160 to 4,999 sq ft | $384 | 10 days |
| 5,000 sq ft and up | $765 | 10 days |
| Owner occupied single family, occupant performed | $39 | prior notice, no wait |
| Amendments after the second one | $39 each | prior notice |
| Emergency | all fees doubled | prior notice |
Nearly every house falls in the 160 to 4,999 square foot tier at $384. A farmhouse with a barn and a shop can cross 5,000 square feet and step to $765. A single wall under 48 square feet and under 10 linear feet needs no fee, but still needs the notice and the certified crew if it is not owner performed.
The owner occupant exemption, exactly
The agency’s own siding procedure defines it: an owner occupied, single family residence in which the owner lives both before and after the renovation. It explicitly excludes rental property, multifamily units, mixed use buildings with a residential unit, and any structure involved in commercial activity, property management, real estate transactions, or ordered demolition. If you qualify, you may remove the siding yourself with unpaid family and friends for a $39 notice. If you do not, the job is a contractor job.
The line people trip on is the sale. A house under contract is a real estate transaction, so an owner who still lives there but has accepted an offer has, in the agency’s reading, left the exemption. Ask before you start.
The certified contractor rule
Washington Labor and Industries certifies asbestos abatement contractors, supervisors and workers under chapter 296-65 WAC. Only a certified contractor may remove asbestos containing material for pay. A siding contractor, a general contractor, a demolition crew, or a handyman who removes it is working illegally, and the owner who hires them can be cited as well. The crews that perform our removals hold that certification, and the notice is filed under the certified contractor’s name.
What an inspector looks for
- The approved notice, available at the site.
- Wet material, with a hose or sprayer running, siding damp before it moves, and debris damp until it is bagged.
- Plastic sheeting under the work, with no pieces on bare ground.
- No breaking, cutting, sanding or dropping.
- Labeled asbestos waste bags or wrapped bundles, sealed as they fill.
- A crew in respirators and disposable suits, and a record of where the waste went.
After the siding is off
The new siding may need a building permit from the City of Vancouver, Camas, Washougal, Longview or Clark County depending on scope, and houses in a historic district like Carter Park may need design review for the new exterior. None of that is the agency’s business, and none of it holds up the removal. We tell you which office to call for your address.