Posted on June 30, 2025
EPA’s Chrysotile Asbestos Ban Delay Is Deadly: The Political Interference Costing Lives Every 13 Minutes
But now the agency is taking a deadly step backward.
On June 16, the EPA filed a motion with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals seeking a six-month delay in implementing its 2024 final rule banning most uses of chrysotile asbestos. This isn’t just bureaucratic delay. It’s a dangerous retreat from life-saving, science-based policy. Every time the rule is delayed, more people are exposed to deadly asbestos fibers, and there is no safe level of exposure to asbestos.
The motion signals a pivot away from public health and toward industry influence. The person backing the EPA’s declaration is Lynn Dekleva, a former senior director at the American Chemistry Council, the same group that is challenging the rule in court.
As the only U.S. nonprofit focused solely on preventing asbestos exposure, ADAO urges the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to reject the EPA’s motion. The rule was made based on research, scientific evidence, and testimony from experts. The Court and the EPA should stand by the scientifically backed decision to ban chrysotile asbestos.
Meanwhile, ADAO has reaffirmed our push for passage of the Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now (ARBAN) Act: a permanent, comprehensive ban that removes all loopholes and ensures that the U.S. finally joins the global consensus that asbestos has no safe use.
We are grateful to know that one of ARBAN’s champions, Senator Merkley, has spoken out against this deadly delay
“The Trump Administration’s ‘Polluters over People’ agenda is once again threatening our health… The United States was starting to catch up, but the Trump EPA is delaying and rolling back this vital public health safeguard. I will continue to explore all options, including legislation, to phase out all dangerous asbestos fibers and provide stronger protections for our health.” — Senator Jeff Merkley
What’s at Stake
For the first time in decades, the U.S. was beginning to catch up to nearly 70 nations that have fully banned asbestos. But the EPA’s latest move threatens to undo that progress, reopening a rule that took years to finalize, all under the guise of reassessing workplace protections and considering “less restrictive alternatives.”
We cannot turn back.
No new data justifies this reversal. Asbestos still kills. The facts haven’t changed. What has changed is the political landscape—and the alarming pattern of regulatory capture that is now dictating public health policy.
While lawyers debate and the EPA rewrites, workers in chlor-alkali plants remain at risk. Mechanics still encounter toxic gaskets. Families continue to lose loved ones. And the message is clear: if industry objects loudly enough, human lives are negotiable.
What’s next:
In legal filings, the EPA said its review of the rule could take 30 months or more. During that time, the existing ban remains in effect. The EPA has not yet announced a schedule for public hearings or proposed regulatory changes.
The court case challenging the ban has been put on hold while the EPA completes its review, but depending on the outcome, some or all of the ban could remain in place, be remanded back to the EPA, or vacated like the 1991 Corrosion Proof Fittings v. EPA case.
A Broader Deregulatory Agenda
The asbestos rule delay is just one part of a sweeping rollback of protections, including:
- Executive Order 14303: “Restoring Gold Standard Science” (May 23, 2025):
This directive rolls back post-2021 scientific integrity standards and mandates public disclosure of raw data and models. - Executive Order 14192: “Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs” (January 30, 2017):
This order requires agencies to eliminate ten existing rules for every new one issued, placing a cost-first framework ahead of health and safety. - EPA Reductions In Force (RIF)
With hundreds of positions slashed or left unfilled, TSCA enforcement has been gutted, particularly for high-risk substances like asbestos.
This is the cost of delay: a dismantling of our nation’s health and safety infrastructure, piece by piece.
The Choice Is Clear
- We can delay. Or we can save lives.
- We can let politics rewrite science. Or we can act with integrity and urgency.
- The EPA’s mission is to protect human health and the environment, not to serve the interests of those who profit from risk.
- The clock is ticking. Every 13 minutes, we lose another life. It’s time to stop the delays and start saving lives.
Together, we are making change happen.
Linda Reinstein