II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2072 

To amend the Toxic Substances Control Act to require the Administrator 

of the Environmental Protection Agency to take action to eliminate 

human exposure to asbestos, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 2, 2017 

Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mr. BOOKER, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. 

SANDERS, Mr. TESTER, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. MARKEY) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To amend the Toxic Substances Control Act to require the 

Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 

to take action to eliminate human exposure to asbestos, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Alan Reinstein Ban 

5 Asbestos Now Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ASBESTOS BAN. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Toxic Substances Control Act 

3 (15 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

4 the following: 

5 ‘‘TITLE VII—ASBESTOS 

6 ‘‘SEC. 701. DEFINITION OF ASBESTOS. 

7 ‘‘In this title, the term ‘asbestos’ means all forms of 

8 asbestos. 

9 ‘‘SEC. 702. ELIMINATION OF ASBESTOS EXPOSURE. 

10 ‘‘(a) IMPORTATION, USE, AND EXPOSURE ASSESS11 MENT.—Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, 

12 not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of the 

13 Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act of 2017, the Ad14 ministrator shall carry out and publish an identification 

15 and assessment of the current and reasonably anticipated 

16 importation, distribution in commerce, and uses of, and 

17 exposures to, asbestos. 

18 ‘‘(b) EXPOSURE ELIMINATION.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable, but 

20 not later than 18 months after the date of enact21 ment of the Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act 

22 of 2017, the Administrator shall impose, by rule, 

23 prohibitions, restrictions, and other conditions, in24 cluding prohibitions on the manufacture, processing, 

25 use, distribution in commerce, and disposal of asbes26 tos and mixtures and articles containing asbestos, 


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1 that the Administrator determines to be necessary to 

2 eliminate human or environmental exposure to as3 bestos. 

4 ‘‘(2) SELECTION OF CONDITIONS.—In imposing 

5 prohibitions and other conditions under paragraph 

6 (1), the Administrator shall select requirements that 

7 permanently eliminate the possibility of exposure to 

8 asbestos. 

9 ‘‘(c) TIMING OF EXPOSURE REDUCTIONS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in an 

11 exemption granted by the President under sub12 section (d), beginning on the date that is 1 year 

13 after the date on which the Administrator issues the 

14 rule described in subsection (b)(1), no person shall 

15 manufacture, process, use, distribute in commerce, 

16 or dispose of any form of asbestos or any mixture 

17 or article containing any form of asbestos for any 

18 use or under any condition other than a use or con19 dition described in that rule. 

20 ‘‘(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—In any rule issued 

21 under this title, the Administrator shall specify the 

22 date on which any prohibition, restriction, or other 

23 condition shall take effect, and that date shall be as 

24 soon as practicable, but not later than 1 year, after 

25 the date of promulgation of the rule. 


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1 ‘‘(d) EXEMPTION FOR NATIONAL SECURITY REA2 SONS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

4 provision of this title, the President may grant an 

5 exemption from the requirements of this section for 

6 any use of asbestos if the President determines 

7 that— 

8 ‘‘(A) the use of asbestos is necessary to 

9 protect the national security interests of the 

10 United States; 

11 ‘‘(B) no reasonable alternative to the as12 bestos use exists for the intended purpose; and 

13 ‘‘(C) the use of asbestos will not result in 

14 an unreasonable risk to health or the environ15 ment (without consideration of costs or other 

16 nonrisk factors), including an unreasonable risk 

17 to a potentially exposed or susceptible sub18 population identified as relevant by the Admin19 istrator under the conditions of use. 

20 ‘‘(2) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—An exemption 

21 under paragraph (1) shall be subject to such terms 

22 and conditions as the President may prescribe. 

23 ‘‘(3) DURATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The duration of an 

2 exemption under paragraph (1) shall not exceed 

3 a period of 3 years. 

4 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL EXEMPTION.—The 

5 President may grant an additional exemption 

6 under paragraph (1), for a period not to exceed 

7 3 years, by making a new determination under 

8 that paragraph.’’. 

9 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con10 tents for the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 

11 2601 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol12 lowing: 

‘‘TITLE VII—ASBESTOS 

‘‘Sec. 701. Definition of asbestos. 

‘‘Sec. 702. Elimination of asbestos exposure.’’. 

Æ 


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