II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1069 

To amend the Toxic Substances Control Act to prohibit the manufacture, 

processing, use, and distribution in commerce of commercial asbestos 

and mixtures and articles containing commercial asbestos, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 30, 2023 

Mr. MERKLEY 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 prohibit 

the manufacture, processing, use, and distribution in 

commerce of commercial asbestos and mixtures and articles containing commercial 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 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. COMMERCIAL ASBESTOS BAN AND REPORTING. 

2 Section 6 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 

3 U.S.C. 2605) is amended— 

4 (1) by redesignating subsection (j) as sub5 section (k); and 

6 (2) by inserting after subsection (i) the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(j) ASBESTOS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

10 ‘‘(A) COMMERCIAL ASBESTOS.—The term 

11 ‘commercial asbestos’ means the asbestiform 

12 varieties of the following fibers if extracted and 

13 processed for their commercial value: 

14 ‘‘(i) Chrysotile (serpentine). 

15 ‘‘(ii) Crocidolite (riebeckite). 

16 ‘‘(iii) Amosite (cummingtonite17 grunerite). 

18 ‘‘(iv) Anthophyllite. 

19 ‘‘(v) Tremolite. 

20 ‘‘(vi) Actinolite. 

21 ‘‘(vii) Richterite. 

22 ‘‘(viii) Winchite. 

23 ‘‘(B) DISTRIBUTE IN COMMERCE; DIS24 TRIBUTION IN COMMERCE.— 

25 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro26 vided in clause (ii), the terms ‘distribute in 


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1 commerce’ and ‘distribution in commerce’ 

2 have the meanings given the terms in sec3 tion 3. 

4 ‘‘(ii) EXCLUSIONS.—The terms ‘dis5 tribute in commerce’ and ‘distribution in 

6 commerce’ do not include, with respect to 

7 commercial asbestos— 

8 ‘‘(I) end-use of a mixture or arti9 cle containing commercial asbestos 

10 and installed in a building or other 

11 structure before the date of enactment 

12 of the Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos 

13 Now Act of 2023; or 

14 ‘‘(II) distribution of a mixture or 

15 article containing commercial asbestos 

16 solely for the purpose of disposal of 

17 the mixture or article in compliance 

18 with applicable Federal, State, and 

19 local requirements. 

20 ‘‘(C) MIXTURE OR ARTICLE CONTAINING

21 COMMERCIAL ASBESTOS.—The term ‘mixture or 

22 article containing commercial asbestos’ does not 

23 include a mixture or article in which commer24 cial asbestos is present solely as an impurity (as 


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1 defined in section 720.3 of title 40, Code of 

2 Federal Regulations (or successor regulations)). 

3 ‘‘(2) APPLICABILITY.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The prohibitions, re5 quirements, and definition of the term ‘commer6 cial asbestos’ in this subsection shall— 

7 ‘‘(i) apply only— 

8 ‘‘(I) to chemical substances; and 

9 ‘‘(II) for purposes of regulating 

10 chemical substances under this Act; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(ii) have no effect on— 

13 ‘‘(I) any other prohibition or def14 inition of the term ‘asbestos’; or 

15 ‘‘(II) any other requirement reg16 ulating asbestos, including for pur17 poses of— 

18 ‘‘(aa) regulating cosmetics 

19 under the Federal Food, Drug, 

20 and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 301 

21 et seq.); and 

22 ‘‘(bb) determining whether a 

23 cosmetic contains asbestos as an 

24 ingredient or as an impurity to 

25 an ingredient. 


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1 ‘‘(B) IMPURITIES.—Nothing in this sub2 section applies to any chemical substance, mix3 ture, or article in which commercial asbestos is 

4 present solely as an impurity. 

5 ‘‘(3) PROHIBITION OF MANUFACTURE, PROC6 ESSING, USE, AND DISTRIBUTION IN COMMERCE.— 

7 Effective 1 year after the date of enactment of the 

8 Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act of 2023, no 

9 person may manufacture, process, use, or distribute 

10 in commerce commercial asbestos or any mixture or 

11 article containing commercial asbestos. 

12 ‘‘(4) CHLOR-ALKALI INDUSTRY.—Notwith13 standing paragraph (3), an owner, operator, or 

14 agent of an owner or operator of a chlor-alkali facil15 ity that is in operation on the date of enactment of 

16 the Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act of 2023 

17 may, until the date that is 2 years after that date 

18 of enactment— 

19 ‘‘(A) import processed commercial asbestos 

20 fibers solely for the purpose of manufacturing 

21 diaphragms for use in the chlor-alkali process; 

22 ‘‘(B) use, hold, or process commercial as23 bestos fibers solely for the purpose of manufac24 turing diaphragms for use in the chlor-alkali 

25 process; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) use asbestos diaphragms in chlor-al2 kali production. 

3 ‘‘(5) EXEMPTION FOR NATIONAL SECURITY

4 REASONS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 

6 other provision of this subsection, the President 

7 may, on application, grant any person an ex8 emption from the prohibition under paragraph 

9 (3) once for the manufacture, processing, use, 

10 or distribution in commerce of commercial as11 bestos or any mixture or article containing com12 mercial asbestos only if the President deter13 mines that— 

14 ‘‘(i) the manufacture, processing, use, 

15 or distribution in commerce of commercial 

16 asbestos or any mixture or article con17 taining commercial asbestos by the person 

18 is necessary to protect the national secu19 rity interests of the United States; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) no feasible alternative to the 

21 manufacture, processing, use, or distribu22 tion in commerce of commercial asbestos 

23 or any mixture or article containing com24 mercial asbestos exists for the intended 

25 use. 


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1 ‘‘(B) DURATION.— 

2 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The period of an 

3 exemption granted under subparagraph 

4 (A) shall not exceed 3 years. 

5 ‘‘(ii) EXTENSION.—The President 

6 may, in accordance with subparagraph (A), 

7 extend an exemption granted under that 

8 subparagraph once, for a period not to ex9 ceed 3 years. 

10 ‘‘(C) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—An ex11 emption granted under this paragraph (includ12 ing any extension granted under subparagraph 

13 (B)(ii)) shall include such terms and conditions 

14 as are necessary to achieve the maximum extent 

15 practicable reduction in exposure to commercial 

16 asbestos. 

17 ‘‘(D) PUBLICATION.— 

18 ‘‘(i) APPLICATIONS.—Not later than 

19 30 days after receipt of an application for 

20 an exemption under this paragraph (in21 cluding an extension under subparagraph 

22 (B)(ii)), the President shall publish the ap23 plication in the Federal Register. 

24 ‘‘(ii) EXEMPTIONS.—Not later than 

25 30 days after granting an exemption under 


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1 this paragraph (including an extension 

2 under subparagraph (B)(ii)), the President 

3 shall publish in the Federal Register— 

4 ‘‘(I) a notice of the exemption; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(II) the terms and conditions 

7 included under subparagraph (C). 

8 ‘‘(iii) EXCEPTION.—The President, on 

9 a determination that publication under this 

10 subparagraph of information relating to an 

11 application or granting of a particular ex12 emption would harm the national security 

13 interests of the United States— 

14 ‘‘(I) shall not publish that infor15 mation in the Federal Register; but 

16 ‘‘(II) shall provide that informa17 tion to the Committee on Energy and 

18 Commerce of the House of Represent19 atives and the Committee on Environ20 ment and Public Works of the Senate. 

21 ‘‘(E) APPLICATION OF WAIVER AUTHOR22 ITY.—Notwithstanding section 22, the Adminis23 trator may not issue a waiver under that sec24 tion with respect to commercial asbestos.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

2 The Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

3 Agency, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and 

4 Human Services, shall develop and make publicly available 

5 resources that may be used by the Federal Government 

6 and other entities to educate the public and health profes7 sionals about— 

8 (1) the adverse health effects of asbestos expo9 sure; 

10 (2) any Federal resources, including easily un11 derstandable regulations, available to address the 

12 prevention and mitigation of asbestos exposure; and 

13 (3) licensed commercial asbestos mitigation 

14 availability within each State, the District of Colum15 bia, and each territory or possession of the United 

16 States. 

Æ 


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