Posted on October 26
On Wednesday, October 27, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee (E&C Committee) will hold an oversight hearing entitled “TSCA and Public Health: Fulfilling the Promise of the Lautenberg Act.”
Over the last decade, ADAO and others have worked tirelessly to draft and pass Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) reform legislation. In 2016, President Obama signed the Frank L. Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act (LCSA) into law to improve how the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) protects Americans from dangerous chemicals like asbestos. In 2019, Representative Paul Tonko helped lead the Energy and Commerce Committee to a strong bipartisan vote of 47-1 in favor of passing the Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now (ARBAN) Act, which would amend TSCA and ban all asbestos imports and use, as well as force EPA to conduct a legacy asbestos study and implement a “Right to Know” program. We were so grateful for Representative Tonko’s work, and the support of the rest of the Committee.
However, Trump’s EPA failed time and again to move forward with any limits on toxic substances. During the last Congress, Trump’s EPA failed to implement the law, as seen by three lawsuits that ADAO filed and won.
- ASBESTOS DISEASE AWARENESS ORGANIZATION, et al., v. ANDREW WHEELER, et al.,
Case 19-cv-00871-EMC
Require reporting on asbestos use and exposure under EPA’s Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) rule - ASBESTOS DISEASE AWARENESS ORGANIZATION, v EPA
Case 3:21-cv-03716
Compel defendants Michael Regan and EPA to perform their nondiscretionary duty to address the use and disposal of “legacy” asbestos in EPA’s risk evaluation for asbestos under TSCA section 6(b). - ASBESTOS DISEASE AWARENESS ORGANIZATION, v EPA
Case: 21-70160
Seek review of deficiencies in final Risk Evaluation for Asbestos, Part 1: Chrysotile Asbestos
Since EPA attempted to ban asbestos in 1989, more than 1,000,000 Americans have died from preventable asbestos-caused diseases. However, even while the devastating amount of deaths continues to rise, asbestos remains legal for importation and use in the United States.
ADAO remains hopeful that the October 27th hearing will provide the necessary information and demands to ensure the EPA can do their job in implementing the LCSA to protect public health from deadly chemicals such as asbestos.
Together, let’s make change happen.
Linda Reinstein