Workplace Relations Minister David O'Byrne last year announced that the state government would legislate to remove all asbestos from commercial and government buildings and civic infrastructure by 2030.

Local Government Association of Tasmania policy director Katrena Stephenson in a recent report said a discussion paper on the staged prioritised asbestos removal scheme did not stipulate what regulatory and funding obligations councils would have under the scheme.

She said as owner of the state's water and sewerage corporations, councils could be forced to replace asbestos cement water mains.

``The underground assets in Tasmania alone would amount to several hundreds of kilometres of pipes with replacement value in the tens of millions of dollars,'' Dr Stephenson said.

``These are very low-risk assets and it would be unaffordable to replace them prematurely.''

She said it was expected that illegal dumping of asbestos-containing materials would increase under fast-tracked asbestos removal with only licensed sites able to accept the hazardous material - making for high transport and disposal costs.

``Asbestos removal costs are likely to escalate rapidly as market demand for authorised contractors outstrips supply,'' Dr Stephenson said.

She said councils who had undertaken 10-year financial and asset management planning would be hit hard.

Dr Stephenson said asbestos removal from heritage-listed properties, and costs in maintaining their character, had not yet been determined.

Workplace Relations Minister David O'Byrne said concerns about the cost and process of asbestos removal were premature.

He said the Asbestos Steering Committee was still working with industry, commercial and local government representatives on the removal program.