April 22, 2024 Release: ADAO FILES PETITION IN DC CIRCUIT COURT TO STRENGTHEN EPA’S PART 1 CHRYSOTILE ASBESTOS RULE, ADVOCATING FOR COMPREHENSIVE PUBLIC HEALTH PROTECTIONS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 20, 2024
ASBESTOS DISEASE AWARENESS ORGANIZATION (ADAO) FILES MOTION TO INTERVENE TO OPPOSE EFFORTS TO WEAKEN EPA PART 1 CHRYSOTILE ASBESTOS RULE
ADAO Seeks to Rebut Industry Petitions Challenging the Rule’s Public Health Protections
WASHINGTON, DC – The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), an independent nonprofit dedicated to preventing asbestos exposure through education, advocacy, and community work, has filed a motion to intervene in industry legal challenges to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) final Part 1 rule on chrysotile asbestos. ADAO filed this motion in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which is hearing both the industry challenges and ADAO’s separate petition to review parts of the rule that it believes do not fully protect public health from this hazardous substance.
“ADAO will fight for the comprehensive regulatory protections essential to prevent Americans from needlessly dying from asbestos exposure, while opposing rollbacks of the existing EPA rule and the strong science supporting it,” said Linda Reinstein, President and co-founder of ADAO. “Every year, asbestos exposure kills over 40,000 Americans, a number that shows no signs of abating. This legal effort is about saving lives and ensuring a safer future for all Americans.”
The EPA’s rule “Asbestos Part 1: Chrysotile Asbestos: Regulation of Certain Conditions of Use Under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)” bans or restricts certain uses of chrysotile asbestos, one of six asbestos fibers that are recognized to be extremely dangerous to health.
ADAO believes the rule does not fully protect public health, and its petition will seek to strengthen the rule to ban all forms and uses of asbestos. At the same time, if granted by the Court, its intervention in the industry challenges will enable it to defend the health protections in the rule that industry seeks to undermine.
“Asbestos remains one of the most dangerous substances known to mankind, and legal actions in the fifth Circuit will preserve the important steps EPA has taken while seeking to make the rule comprehensive and robust, addressing all forms and uses of asbestos and providing full and overdue protection to the public,” said Bob Sussman, a former EPA senior official, and ADAO’s legal counsel.
“We cannot allow history to repeat itself and allow the Court to undo the EPA’s ability to protect the public from the dangers of asbestos. It would be deeply unfortunate if the United States again fails the American people in the face of overwhelming evidence that asbestos has no safe level of exposure,” concluded Reinstein.
May 20, 2024: ADAO’s Motion to Intervene
ABOUT THE ASBESTOS DISEASE AWARENESS ORGANIZATION
Founded in 2004, the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) is the largest independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit in the U.S. dedicated to preventing asbestos exposure and eliminating asbestos-related diseases through education, advocacy, and community initiatives.