Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now (ARBAN) Act of 2025 Reintroduced: A Renewed Push to End Asbestos Once and for All
September 22, 2025
What is ARBAN, and What Would It Accomplish?
ARBAN is again at the forefront of bicameral action this month. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) leads the bill in the Senate, while Representatives Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) and Don Bacon (R-NE) bipartisan co-lead in the House. Their leadership underscores the urgency of enacting a complete ban on asbestos.
If passed, ARBAN would achieve three critical objectives for public health:
- Ban all asbestos imports and uses – covering all six recognized fibers, plus winchite and richterite.
- Close loopholes left by EPA’s 2024 rule – ensuring protection against all types of asbestos and its potential future uses, not just limited chrysotile applications.
- Provide long-term certainty – unlike regulatory rules subject to court challenges, ARBAN would be permanent law, immune to litigation delays or rollbacks.
Simply put, ARBAN remains the only comprehensive and durable solution to eliminate asbestos once and for all.
Why ARBAN Matters More Than Ever
This week, the Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act was formally reintroduced in both chambers of Congress. (For reference, see bills S.2811 and H.R.5373.) At the same time, industry petitioners filed their reply brief seeking to vacate the EPA’s limited Part 1 Chrysotile Asbestos Rule. Even the modest protections in place could be wiped out if the industry succeeds.
ADAO and our partners continue to defend EPA’s rule against industry attacks. Still, this litigation underscores what we have said all along: legislation is the only pathway to a full, permanent asbestos ban. EPA’s rule covers only chrysotile and leaves deadly gaps, while ARBAN shuts the door on all asbestos fibers, across all uses, for good.
Voices of Support
As we know, asbestos has caused devastating suffering, disease, and death for decades, claiming more than 40,000 American lives every year. Since the EPA’s 1989 asbestos ban was overturned, more than one million Americans have died from entirely preventable asbestos-caused diseases. It is long past time to stop these tragedies.”
“Congress can do more with a pen than I can with a scalpel,” emphasized Raja M. Flores, MD, System Chair of the Department of Thoracic Surgery at Mount Sinai Health System.
Leading health, science, labor, and environmental organizations, including the American Public Health Association, Environmental Working Group, Collegium Ramazzini, and the International Association of Fire Fighters, have already endorsed ARBAN, joining ADAO in urging Congress to act without delay.
Call to Action
The facts are irrefutable: there is no safe level of asbestos exposure. With over 40,000 American lives lost every year, inaction is not an option. Nearly 70 countries have already banned asbestos: America must not remain behind.
We call on Congress to pass the Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act of 2025 and end the importation and use of asbestos once and for all. Together, we can save lives, protect workers, and ensure a safer future for generations to come.
Join us in urging Congress to act now. Support ARBAN and help end asbestos in America forever.
Linda Reinstein