No Asbestos Ban in the US

Although medical evidence in the ‘30s linked asbestos exposure to mesothelioma, the federal government didn’t pass legislation limiting exposure until the ‘70s. More guidelines were issued the following decade.

In 1989, the EPA issued a final rule under Section 6 of Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) banning most asbestos-containing products. However, in 1991, this rule was vacated and remanded by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Throughout the ’70s and ’80s, legislation regulating the use of asbestos was implemented.

• The Clean Air Act of 1970 classified asbestos as a hazardous air pollutant and gave the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the power to regulate the use and disposal of asbestos. Spray-applied asbestos products were banned with the passage of this act.
• In 1976, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) provided the EPA the authority to place restrictions on certain chemicals such as asbestos, radon and lead-based paint.
• The Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act of 1986 (AHERA) made the EPA establish standards for inspecting and removing asbestos in schools.

During these decades, the EPA and other U.S. agencies were conducting studies to determine the safest permissible level of asbestos exposure. In 1980 the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) announced, “All levels of asbestos exposure studied to date have demonstrated asbestos-related disease…there is no level of exposure below which clinical effects do not occur.”

On July 12, 1989, the EPA used its authority to issue a final regulation banning most uses of asbestos. Known as the Asbestos Ban and Phase-Out Rule (ABPR), it planned to put an end to the importation, processing, manufacture and distribution of products containing asbestos.

The ABPR ignited a fierce counterattack from the asbestos industry. Supporters of the asbestos industry said the ban would lead to “death by regulation” and pointed to job loss and economic consequences.

Asbestos product manufacturers filed a lawsuit against the EPA in a landmark suit, Corrosion Proof Fittings v. Environmental Protection Agency. On Oct. 18, 1991, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the ban, claiming the EPA failed to demonstrate that a ban was the “least burdensome alternative” to regulating asbestos.

Guided by the first Bush Administration, the EPA didn’t appeal the ruling. It did receive clarification from the court that the ban could apply to asbestos products that were not being manufactured, processed or imported on July 12, 1989; the day the EPA announced the ban.