I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2030 
To amend the Asbestos Information Act of 1988 to establish a public database 
of asbestos-containing products, to require public disclosure of informa-
tion pertaining to the manufacture, processing, distribution, and use 
of asbestos-containing products in the United States, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 27, 2015 
Ms. DELBENE (for herself and Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Asbestos Information Act of 1988 to establish 
a public database of asbestos-containing products, to re-
quire public disclosure of information pertaining to the 
manufacture, processing, distribution, and use of asbes-
tos-containing products in the United States, and for 
other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Reducing Exposure 
to Asbestos Database Act of 2015’’ or the ‘‘READ Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
(1) the Administrator of the Environmental 
Protection Agency has classified asbestos as a cat-
egory A human carcinogen, the highest cancer haz-
ard classification for a substance; 
(2) the International Agency for Research on 
Cancer has classified asbestos as a class 1 human 
carcinogen; 
(3) despite the enactment of the Asbestos Infor-
mation Act of 1988 (15 U.S.C. 2607 note; Public 
Law 100–577), which sought to improve trans-
parency and public awareness of the presence of as-
bestos in commercial materials and products, many 
people in the United States still incorrectly believe 
that— 
(A) asbestos has been banned in the 
United States; and 
(B) there is no risk of exposure to asbestos 
through the use of new commercial products; 
(4) asbestos is still being imported and used, 
and is otherwise present as a contaminant, in some 
consumer and industrial products in the United 
States; 
(5) according to the Environmental Protection 
Agency, the manufacture, importation, processing, 
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and distribution in commerce of many asbestos-con-
taining products are not banned in the United 
States, including— 
(A) cement corrugated sheet; 
(B) cement flat sheet; 
(C) clothing; 
(D) pipeline wrap; 
(E) roofing felt; 
(F) vinyl floor tile; 
(G) cement shingle; 
(H) millboard; 
(I) cement pipe; 
(J) automatic transmission components; 
(K) clutch facings; 
(L) friction materials; 
(M) disc brake pads; 
(N) drum brake linings; 
(O) brake blocks; 
(P) gaskets; 
(Q) non-roofing coatings; and 
(R) roof coatings; 
(6) consumers and workers are at risk of asbes-
tos exposure, and families of workers are also put at 
risk because of asbestos brought home by the work-
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ers on the shoes, clothes, skin, and hair of the work-
ers; 
(7) the Environmental Working Group esti-
mates that as many as 10,000 citizens of the United 
States die each year from mesothelioma and other 
asbestos-related diseases; 
(8) the National Institutes of Health reported 
to Congress that mesothelioma is a difficult disease 
to detect, diagnose, and treat; 
(9) mesothelioma responds poorly to conven-
tional chemotherapy, and although new combination 
treatments for mesothelioma have demonstrated 
some benefits— 
(A) the median survival period for meso-
thelioma is only 1 year after diagnosis of the 
disease; and 
(B) the majority of mesothelioma patients 
die within 2 years of diagnosis of the disease; 
and 
(10) until asbestos is completely banned from 
being used in or imported into the United States, 
transparent and accessible information about the lo-
cation and identity of asbestos and asbestos-con-
taining products in the United States is necessary to 
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better protect consumers, workers, families, and the 
people of the United States. 
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF ASBESTOS-CONTAINING PROD-
UCT DATABASE. 
The Asbestos Information Act of 1988 (15 U.S.C. 
2607 note; Public Law 100–577) is amended— 
(1) in section 4— 
(A) 
by 
redesignating 
paragraphs 
(3) 
through (7) as paragraphs (4) through (8), re-
spectively; and 
(B) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 
following: 
‘‘(3) ASBESTOS-CONTAINING
PRODUCT.—The 
term ‘asbestos-containing product’ means any prod-
uct (including any part) to which asbestos is delib-
erately or knowingly added or in which asbestos is 
deliberately used or knowingly present in any con-
centration.’’; 
(2) in section 2, by inserting ‘‘(referred to in 
this Act as the ‘Administrator’)’’ after ‘‘Adminis-
trator of the Environmental Protection Agency’’; 
and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘SEC. 5. ASBESTOS-CONTAINING PRODUCT DATABASE. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Using funds otherwise made 
available to the Administrator, the Administrator shall, in 
accordance with this section, establish and maintain a 
database of asbestos-containing products (referred to in 
this Act as the ‘database’) that is— 
‘‘(1) publicly available; 
‘‘(2) searchable; and 
‘‘(3) accessible through the website of the Ad-
ministrator. 
‘‘(b) SUBMISSION OF DETAILED IMPLEMENTATION 
PLAN TO CONGRESS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of enactment of this section, the Ad-
ministrator shall submit to the appropriate congres-
sional committees a detailed plan for establishing 
and maintaining the database, including plans for 
the 
operation, 
content, 
maintenance, 
and 
functionality of the database. 
‘‘(2) INTEGRATION.—The plan described in 
paragraph (1) shall detail the integration of the 
database into the overall information technology im-
provement objectives and plans of the Administrator. 
‘‘(3) IMPLEMENTATION.—The plan described in 
paragraph (1) shall include— 
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‘‘(A) a detailed implementation schedule 
for the database; and 
‘‘(B) plans for a public awareness cam-
paign conducted by the Administrator to in-
crease awareness of the database. 
‘‘(c) DATE
OF INITIAL AVAILABILITY.—Not later 
than 180 days after the date on which the Administrator 
submits the plan under subsection (b)(1), the Adminis-
trator shall establish the database. 
‘‘(d) SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION ON ASBESTOS- 
CONTAINING PRODUCTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date that 
is 270 days after the date of enactment of this sec-
tion, and not less frequently than annually there-
after, any person who manufactured, processed, dis-
tributed, sold, imported, transported, or stored an 
asbestos-containing product in the immediately pre-
ceding calendar year shall submit to the Adminis-
trator a written report, in a form to be determined 
by the Administrator, containing information suffi-
cient to identify the characteristics and location of 
the asbestos-containing products. 
‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The report under paragraph 
(1) shall include— 
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‘‘(A) the type or class of asbestos-con-
taining product; 
‘‘(B) the manufacturer of the asbestos-con-
taining product; 
‘‘(C) any applicable import history of the 
asbestos-containing product; 
‘‘(D) the name and street address of any 
location accessible by the public in which the 
person has reasonable knowledge that the as-
bestos-containing product has been present 
within the immediately preceding calendar year; 
and 
‘‘(E) any additional information the Ad-
ministrator determines is appropriate to enable 
consumers and workers to avoid exposure to as-
bestos-containing products. 
‘‘(e) ORGANIZATION OF DATABASE.—The Adminis-
trator shall— 
‘‘(1) categorize the information available on the 
database— 
‘‘(A) in a manner consistent with the pub-
lic interest; and 
‘‘(B) in such manner as the Administrator 
determines will facilitate easy use by con-
sumers; and 
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‘‘(2) ensure, to the maximum extent prac-
ticable, that the database is sortable and accessible 
by— 
‘‘(A) the date on which information is sub-
mitted for inclusion in the database; 
‘‘(B) the name of the asbestos-containing 
product; 
‘‘(C) the model name; 
‘‘(D) the name of the manufacturer; 
‘‘(E) the name of the importer, if applica-
ble; 
‘‘(F) the name of the reporting person; 
‘‘(G) the name and street address of any 
location in which an asbestos-containing prod-
uct is reported to have been present; and 
‘‘(H) any other element the Administrator 
considers to be in the public interest. 
‘‘SEC. 6. PENALTIES. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Any person who knowingly man-
ufactured, processed, distributed, sold, imported, trans-
ported, or stored an asbestos-containing product in the im-
mediately preceding calendar year and who did not submit 
a report to the Administrator under section 5 shall be lia-
ble for a civil penalty of $10,000 for each day after the 
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