"To settle a lawsuit with the state of California and public health advocacy groups, the Biden administration will restart a rulemaking process aimed at ending the EPA’s asbestos reporting exemptions."
"SAN FRANCISCO — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will eliminate asbestos reporting loopholes put in place by the Trump administration and collect more data on how much of the carcinogen is made, imported and put into U.S products under a settlement announced Monday.
“Today’s commitment by the Biden Administration’s EPA to collect missing information about the import and use of asbestos is an important step toward ensuring all Americans live in a community that is healthy and safe,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement Monday.
Recognized as a human carcinogen since the 1970s, asbestos exposure has been linked to cancers of the lungs, ovaries and larynx. The EPA banned asbestos in 1989, but the Fifth Circuit overturned the ban two years later.
The EPA’s Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) rule, enacted in 2011, mandates that companies report asbestos levels in their products. But in July 2017, the EPA exempted companies from those requirements, finding that “reporting is not required for ‘naturally occurring chemical substances.”"
Nicholas Iovino reports for Courthouse News Service June 7, 2021.
Advertisement 
