EPA Takes Aim at Asbestos

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has wanted to ban all uses of asbestos since 1979, and this year it’s closer to succeeding than ever before. In a recent policy speech, EPA administrator Lisa Jackson said that reforming the regulation of dangerous materials and chemicals was one of her department’s top priorities. The focus of their reform is the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act. The EPA is working with New Jersey senator Frank Lautenberg on legislation that he will introduce to update and toughen that law.

The original law assumed that all chemicals were benign until proven otherwise, and placed the burden of proof on the EPA. The new legislation will reverse this arrangement: manufacturers will be required to prove that their products are safe. All chemicals and materials will now be evaluated against current standards for human health and environmental safety. The revised legislation also requires that the standards be based on valid scientific research.

In 1973 the then-fledgling agency ruled that spray-on asbestos insulation constituted a serious air-pollution hazard, and banned its use in the US. Sixteen years later, the EPA widened its ruling to ban all use of asbestos. The industry immediately attacked the ruling in federal court, and two years later, it was struck down. Since then, despite the large and increasing body of knowledge about the fatal potential of asbestos exposure, this dangerous substance is used in hundreds of applications in homes, automobiles and industry. The new legislation, with the prospect of stronger safety standards, provides the best chance for implementing a total ban against asbestos. (more…)