Posted on September 24, 2019
ADAO is pleased to share the news that the bicameral Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act of 2019 (H.R. 1603) will be marked up in the Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on Thursday, September 26, Mesothelioma Awareness Day. This is another critical step forward for ARBAN in the House and moves us significantly closer to enactment.
Upon passage in the subcommittee, the bill will then need to clear the full House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and proceed to the floor.
As Chairmen Pallone and Tonko said, “Asbestos, ‘forever chemicals’ like PFAS, and nuclear fuel waste all present unique but pressing challenges. With more than 40,000 Americans dying from asbestos-related diseases each year, and PFAS chemicals contaminating everything from water to household supplies, we are determined to pass legislative solutions that will protect Americans from these toxic substances.”
ADAO is deeply grateful to Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Representative Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Representative Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR)
Although it is known that asbestos is a known carcinogen that kills nearly 40,000 Americans every year, it still remains legal and lethal in the United States. In fact, the U.S. is the only western industrialized nation to have not yet banned the fiber.
The four key actions that the bill aims to accomplish are:
- Ban the importation, manufacture, processing, and distribution of all forms of asbestos and asbestos-containing mixtures and articles within 12 months, including products in which asbestos is present as an impurity;
- Establish a new Right-to-Know program to require current importers, processors and distributors to report and disclose to the public how much asbestos is in US commerce, where and how it is used, and who is exposed;
- Require the Environmental Protection Agency and the Departments of Labor and Human Services to conduct a comprehensive study of risks presented by the presence of asbestos where it was used in building construction decades ago, including in millions of residences, businesses, factories, public buildings, and schools.; and
- Impose these requirements on the extremely hazardous Libby Amphibole, richterite, winchite, as well as the other six asbestos fibers: chrysotile, actinolite, amosite, anthophyllite, crocidolite, and tremolite.
Linda Reinstein