More than 30 years after the Environmental Protection Agency first tried to ban asbestos — and failed under court challenge — the agency is trying again.
is the only proposal that could become a final rule by late this year.
The fight illustrates the tough choices and thorny disputes that keep the government struggling to deliver on its promise to limit Americans’ exposure to chemicals that are both harmful and essential to modern life. The EPA will have to go through this process over and over as it applies theYears of staffing cuts and political fights have caused these —— at the agency.
to review under the new provisions. Chemical companies supported the changes because they included moves to streamline regulatory oversight, potentially expediting new chemicals’ entrance onto markets.But government officials, lobbyists and activists agree that problems arose quickly after the Trump administration took power the following year. According to the EPA, the administration never sought or received more funding to do the new scientific assessments required under the law.
“The agency definitely needs additional resources. But they also … need to do a better job of utilizing the resources they have,” said Kimberly Wise White, who oversees regulatory and scientific affairs at the American Chemistry Council, the Washington trade group that represents nearly 200 chemical companies. “There are areas where they can just be more efficient … and transparent.”
Environmentalists and safety advocates say that industry already has had years to adjust because scientific consensus about the harms from asbestos have been widely known for decades. And they say industry is overemphasizingThe EPA estimates that less than 7 percent of the chlorine in the public drinking water supply comes from facilities using asbestos technology.
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