Tracing the Path to Progress: Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization’s Timelines

February 23, 2026

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Schedules Oral Arguments in Landmark TSCA Chrysotile Asbestos Case 

Court to Hear Challenges to EPA’s Part I Risk Management Rule During the Week of June 1, 2026—Decades After the Same Court Vacated the 1989 EPA Asbestos Ban

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit announced Friday that the Court will hear oral arguments in No. 24-60193, Texas Chemistry Council v. EPA, during the week of June 1, 2026. 

The Asbestos Disease Awareness Association has issued the following statement on the upcoming arguments: 

Linda Reinstein, President and CEO of ADAO, stated:
“Chrysotile asbestos is a known carcinogen that continues to endanger workers and communities all across our nation. On behalf of asbestos victims and their families, ADAO has spent more than 20 years working to prevent exposure and eliminate asbestos-related disease. The upcoming oral argument is a landmark event in the long and frustrating effort to ban asbestos. Throughout this case, ADAO has fought hard to defend EPA’s ban of six chrysotile conditions of use, uphold the science, oppose industry’s reckless efforts to weaken the rule, and make the rule stronger and more protective of public health. As we return to the same court that vacated the 1989 comprehensive asbestos ban, we will urge the Court to resist the dangerous path it followed nearly forty years ago and stand behind strong protections that keep Americans safe from this toxic chemical once and for all.”

Bob Sussman, Sussman & Associates, stated:
“To repeat the disastrous 1989 court decision would be a step backward for public health and a blow to the stronger authority Congress gave EPA in 2016, precisely so it could finally ban asbestos and other toxic substances it failed to regulate under the old law.  A decision by the Fifth Circuit upholding the EPA rule and requiring the Agency to make it stronger would be a big win for TSCA and, more importantly, for the families that have borne the burden of asbestos-related death and disease. We look forward to presenting the legal and scientific basis for strong asbestos regulation before the Court.”

FURTHER INFORMATION:

Texas Chemistry Council v. EPA challenges EPA’s Part I risk management rule addressing chrysotile asbestos under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), represented by Sussman & Associates, is participating in the litigation to defend EPA’s authority to regulate chrysotile asbestos and expand the rule’s protections of workers and at-risk communities.

For more information, see: ADAO FILES FINAL LEGAL BRIEF CHALLENGING EPA’S LIMITED ASBESTOS BAN, CALLS FOR COMPREHENSIVE PROTECTION AGAINST ALL SIX DEADLY FIBERS

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