Sign and share the petition to the EPA to Ban Asbestos in the US Now, Without Loopholes or Exemptions 

Posted on August 13, 2018

As most of you already know, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released their Significant New Use Rule (SNUR) in June. This rule will require anyone wanting to resume any of the 15 discontinued uses of asbestos to send notice to the EPA, who would have the authority to say that the use poses an unreasonable risk, and reject it. But there is no guarantee that EPA would choose that action. A SNUR is not the asbestos ban we’ve been working to secure.

After the SNUR was released, the public was allowed to submit comments to the docket opposing this new action. It  caused national and international outrage; hence, there were nearly 500 public comments submitted into the docket and keen media interest. The momentum is increasing and we have a chance to overwhelm the EPA docket again.

Now, the comments for the Problem Formulation Document, about how the EPA will evaluate the risk of asbestos, are due on August 16. As of now, the EPA is excluding legacy use and the Libby Amphibole for their risk evaluation.

This means the EPA will not evaluate the risk from asbestos in our homes, schools, workplaces, and already built infrastructure. This dangerously under-calculates the risk posed by asbestos. Furthermore, the EPA has dangerously decided to limit the scope of their systematic review to only lung cancer and mesothelioma — which ignores exposures and deaths from ovarian and laryngeal cancers, and asbestosis. It is outrageous that the EPA is ignoring one of the major ways people are being exposed to asbestos, and plan to continue to allow asbestos to sicken our country.

Take action by submitting your comment to the EPA by Thursday, August 16. It’s simple: click this link and write a comment in regards to why the EPA should include legacy, and Libby Amphibole asbestos in their risk evaluation. You can write your own comment, or copy and paste this simple comment into the docket: “I oppose any and all exclusions to the EPA’s risk evaluation of asbestos. It is time for the EPA to ban asbestos now without loopholes or exemptions, and save thousands of American lives.”

Help us get as many comments into the EPA as possible by sharing this blog, or letting friends and family know how and why they should submit a comment to the docket. The more comments the EPA sees, the more they will feel the pressure of our united voice.

Together, we will make change happen.

Linda Reinstein
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