Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1603 To amend the Toxic Substances Control Act to prohibit the manufacture, processing, and distribution in commerce of asbestos and asbestos-con- taining mixtures and articles, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 7, 2019 Ms. BONAMICI (for herself, Mr. PALLONE, Ms. SLOTKIN, Mr. TONKO, Mr. POCAN, Mr. COHEN, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. MCNERNEY, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. SOTO, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. BLU- MENAUER, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. NORTON, Mr. MCGOV- ERN, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, and Mr. SCHRADER) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Com- merce, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com- mittee concerned A BILL To amend the Toxic Substances Control Act to prohibit the manufacture, processing, and distribution in com- merce of asbestos and asbestos-containing mixtures and articles, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:08 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1603.IH H1603 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1603 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Alan Reinstein Ban 2 Asbestos Now Act of 2019’’. 3 SEC. 2. ASBESTOS BAN AND REPORTING. 4 Section 6 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 5 U.S.C. 2605) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 6 lowing: 7 ‘‘(k) ASBESTOS.— 8 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION OF MANUFACTURE, PROC- 9 ESSING, AND DISTRIBUTION IN COMMERCE.—Effec- 10 tive one year after the date of enactment of this sub- 11 section, no person may manufacture, process, or dis- 12 tribute in commerce asbestos or any mixture or arti- 13 cle containing asbestos. 14 ‘‘(2) EXEMPTION FOR NATIONAL SECURITY 15 REASONS.— 16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The President may, 17 upon application, grant any person an exemp- 18 tion from the prohibition under paragraph (1) 19 once for the manufacture, processing, or dis- 20 tribution in commerce of asbestos or any mix- 21 ture or article containing asbestos only if the 22 President determines that— 23 ‘‘(i) the manufacture, processing, or 24 distribution in commerce of asbestos or 25 any mixture or article containing asbestos 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:08 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1603.IH H1603 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1603 IH by the person is necessary to protect the 1 national security interests of the United 2 States; and 3 ‘‘(ii) no feasible alternative to the 4 manufacture, processing, or distribution in 5 commerce of asbestos or any mixture or 6 article containing asbestos exists for the 7 intended use. 8 ‘‘(B) DURATION.— 9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The period of an 10 exemption granted under subparagraph 11 (A) shall not exceed 3 years. 12 ‘‘(ii) EXTENSION.—The President 13 may, in accordance with subparagraph (A), 14 extend an exemption granted under such 15 subparagraph once, for a period not to ex- 16 ceed 3 years. 17 ‘‘(C) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—An ex- 18 emption granted under this paragraph (includ- 19 ing an extension thereof) shall include such 20 terms and conditions as are necessary to 21 achieve maximum practicable reduction in expo- 22 sure to asbestos. 23 ‘‘(D) PUBLICATION.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:08 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1603.IH H1603 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1603 IH ‘‘(i) APPLICATIONS.—Not later than 1 30 days after receipt of an application for 2 an exemption under this paragraph (in- 3 cluding an extension thereof), the Presi- 4 dent shall publish the application in the 5 Federal Register. 6 ‘‘(ii) EXEMPTIONS.—Not later than 7 30 days after granting an exemption under 8 this paragraph (including an extension 9 thereof), the President shall publish in the 10 Federal Register notice of the exemption 11 and the terms and conditions included 12 under subparagraph (B). 13 ‘‘(E) APPLICATION OF WAIVER AUTHOR- 14 ITY.—Notwithstanding section 22, the Adminis- 15 trator may not issue a waiver under such sec- 16 tion with respect to asbestos. 17 ‘‘(3) REPORTS.— 18 ‘‘(A) TIMING AND COVERAGE.— 19 ‘‘(i) PREVIOUS ACTION.—Not later 20 than 120 days after the date of enactment 21 of this subsection, any person who has 22 manufactured, processed, or distributed in 23 commerce asbestos or any mixture or arti- 24 cle containing asbestos in the 36 months 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:08 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1603.IH H1603 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1603 IH preceding such date of enactment shall 1 submit to the Administrator a report de- 2 scribed in subparagraph (B). 3 ‘‘(ii) LATER ACTION.—Any person 4 manufacturing, processing, or distributing 5 in commerce asbestos or any mixture or 6 article containing asbestos during the pe- 7 riod that begins on the date of enactment 8 of this subsection and ends on the date on 9 which the prohibition under paragraph (1) 10 takes effect shall submit to the Adminis- 11 trator a report described in subparagraph 12 (B) not later than 60 days after— 13 ‘‘(I) the date of enactment of this 14 subsection, for any person who has 15 manufactured, processed, or distrib- 16 uted in commerce asbestos or any 17 mixture or article containing asbestos 18 before such date of enactment; or 19 ‘‘(II) the date on which the per- 20 son initiates any such manufacture, 21 processing, or distribution in com- 22 merce, for any person initiating such 23 manufacturing, processing, or dis- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:08 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1603.IH H1603 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1603 IH tribution in commerce on or after 1 such date of enactment. 2 ‘‘(iii) REPORTS DURING EXEMPTED 3 PERIOD.—Any person granted an exemp- 4 tion under paragraph (2) shall submit to 5 the Administrator a report described in 6 subparagraph (B) not later than 27 7 months after— 8 ‘‘(I) the exemption is granted; 9 and 10 ‘‘(II) the exemption is extended, 11 if applicable. 12 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted 13 under subparagraph (A) shall include— 14 ‘‘(i) the name and address of the per- 15 son submitting the report; 16 ‘‘(ii) the name, title, and contact in- 17 formation of an authorized representative 18 of the person submitting the report; 19 ‘‘(iii) the location of the facility or fa- 20 cilities where the manufacture, processing, 21 or distribution in commerce of asbestos or 22 mixtures or articles containing asbestos 23 has occurred, or will occur, during the re- 24 porting period; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:08 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1603.IH H1603 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1603 IH ‘‘(iv) a description of the manufac- 1 ture, processing, or distribution activity 2 during the reporting period of the person 3 submitting the report, and the intended 4 and known uses of asbestos and each mix- 5 ture or article containing asbestos by that 6 person and all other persons to whom the 7 asbestos, mixture, or article is sold or oth- 8 erwise distributed in commerce; 9 ‘‘(v) the amount of asbestos, and the 10 amount and concentration of asbestos in 11 any mixture or article containing asbestos, 12 that is manufactured, processed, or distrib- 13 uted in commerce, or expected to be manu- 14 factured, processed, or distributed in com- 15 merce, by the person during the reporting 16 period; 17 ‘‘(vi) reasonable estimates of the 18 amount of asbestos to be disposed of as a 19 result of the reported manufacture, proc- 20 essing, or distribution activities, and the 21 manner of such disposal; and 22 ‘‘(vii) reasonable estimates of— 23 ‘‘(I) the number of individuals 24 who, as a result of the reported manu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:08 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1603.IH H1603 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1603 IH facture, processing, and distribution 1 activities— 2 ‘‘(aa) have been exposed to 3 asbestos or mixtures or articles 4 containing asbestos; and 5 ‘‘(bb) will be so exposed; and 6 ‘‘(II) the nature, duration, fre- 7 quency, and levels of any such expo- 8 sure. 9 ‘‘(C) REPORTING PERIOD.—For purposes 10 of subparagraph (B), the reporting period for a 11 report submitted under— 12 ‘‘(i) subparagraph (A)(i) shall be the 13 period that begins on the date that is 36 14 months prior to the date of enactment of 15 this subsection and ends on the date of en- 16 actment of this subsection; 17 ‘‘(ii) subparagraph (A)(ii) shall be the 18 period that begins on the date of enact- 19 ment of this subsection and ends on the 20 date on which the prohibition under para- 21 graph (1) takes effect; 22 ‘‘(iii) subparagraph (A)(iii)(I) shall be 23 the period that begins on the date on 24 which an exemption is granted under para- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:08 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1603.IH H1603 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1603 IH graph (2) and ends on the date such ex- 1 emption expires (not including an exten- 2 sion thereof); and 3 ‘‘(iv) subparagraph (A)(iii)(II) shall 4 be the period that begins on the date on 5 which an exemption is extended under 6 paragraph (2) and ends on the date such 7 extension expires. 8 ‘‘(D) REPORTING FORMS AND INSTRUC- 9 TIONS.—Not later than 30 days after the date 10 of the enactment of this subsection, the Admin- 11 istrator shall publish a notice in the Federal 12 Register that provides instructions for reporting 13 under this paragraph and a form or forms for 14 use by persons submitting reports under this 15 paragraph. 16 ‘‘(E) AVAILABILITY.—Not later than 3 17 months after a report is submitted under sub- 18 paragraph (A), the Administrator shall make 19 such report available to the public. 20 ‘‘(F) SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS.—Not later 21 than 180 days after a report is submitted under 22 subparagraph (A), the Administrator shall 23 make available to the public a summary and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:08 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1603.IH H1603 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1603 IH analysis of the information such report con- 1 tains. 2 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 3 ‘‘(A) ASBESTOS.—The term ‘asbestos’ 4 means— 5 ‘‘(i) the asbestiform varieties of 6 chrysotile, actinolite, amosite, 7 anthophyllite, crocidolite, richterite, 8 winchite, and tremolite; and 9 ‘‘(ii) the non-asbestiform varieties of 10 richterite and winchite. 11 ‘‘(B) DISTRIBUTE IN COMMERCE.—The 12 terms ‘distribute in commerce’ and ‘distribution 13 in commerce’ have the meaning given the terms 14 in section 3(5), but, notwithstanding such sec- 15 tion 3(5), do not include, with respect to asbes- 16 tos— 17 ‘‘(i) end-use of a mixture or article 18 containing asbestos and installed in a 19 building or other structure before the date 20 of enactment of this subsection; or 21 ‘‘(ii) distribution of a mixture or arti- 22 cle containing asbestos solely for the pur- 23 pose of disposal of the mixture or article in 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:08 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1603.IH H1603 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 1603 IH compliance with applicable Federal, State, 1 and local requirements. 2 ‘‘(C) MIXTURE OR ARTICLE CONTAINING 3 ASBESTOS.—The term ‘mixture or article con- 4 taining asbestos’ includes a mixture or article in 5 which asbestos is present as an impurity.’’. 6 SEC. 3. LEGACY ASBESTOS: REPORT AND RECOMMENDA- 7 TIONS. 8 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 9 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of 10 the Environmental Protection Agency, in consultation 11 with the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the 12 Secretary of Labor, shall prepare and submit to Congress 13 a report assessing— 14 (1) the presence of asbestos in residential, com- 15 mercial, industrial, public, and school buildings; and 16 (2) the extent of exposure and risk to human 17 health associated with the asbestos present in such 18 buildings from all commercial, industrial, and con- 19 sumer activities that may result in asbestos expo- 20 sure. 21 (b) CONTENTS.—The report required under sub- 22 section (a) shall be based upon the best available informa- 23 tion, and information that can feasibly be obtained 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:08 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1603.IH H1603 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 1603 IH through surveys or other means, and shall provide the fol- 1 lowing: 2 (1) An estimate of the number of residential, 3 commercial, industrial, public, and school buildings 4 where asbestos is present. 5 (2) An estimate of the amount of asbestos in 6 such buildings and the portion of such asbestos that 7 is friable. 8 (3) A description of the types of building com- 9 ponents and systems containing asbestos in such 10 buildings and the categories of mixtures and articles 11 containing asbestos that are present, such as ther- 12 mal insulation, roofing materials, asbestos cement 13 pipe, and asbestos cement sheet. 14 (4) For each category of building, an estimate 15 of the number of people potentially exposed to asbes- 16 tos, the conditions and activities with the greatest 17 potential for exposure, and estimates of the levels of 18 exposure. 19 (5) A description of the role of handling, main- 20 tenance, and construction practices in creating expo- 21 sure to asbestos and the impact of building aging on 22 the potential for asbestos exposure. 23 (6) An estimate of the amount of asbestos 24 waste generated from building renovation, repair, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:08 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1603.IH H1603 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 1603 IH and demolition for each of the last 5 years and the 1 procedures that are utilized for the handling, trans- 2 port, and disposal of such waste. 3 (c) RECOMMENDATIONS.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The report submitted under 5 subsection (a) shall contain— 6 (A) an assessment of the sufficiency of ex- 7 isting statutes, regulations, policies, and pro- 8 grams, implemented by the Environmental Pro- 9 tection Agency, the Department of Labor, and 10 other agencies, in [Text truncated for display. 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