Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2402 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 30, 2023 Ms. BONAMICI introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 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 arti- cles containing commercial asbestos, and for other pur- poses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Alan Reinstein Ban 4 Asbestos Now Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:07 Apr 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2402.IH H2402 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 2402 IH SEC. 2. COMMERCIAL ASBESTOS BAN AND REPORTING. 1 Section 6 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 2 U.S.C. 2605) is amended— 3 (1) by redesignating subsection (j) as sub- 4 section (k); and 5 (2) by inserting after subsection (i) the fol- 6 lowing: 7 ‘‘(j) ASBESTOS.— 8 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 9 ‘‘(A) COMMERCIAL ASBESTOS.—The term 10 ‘commercial asbestos’ means the asbestiform 11 varieties of the following fibers if extracted and 12 processed for their commercial value: 13 ‘‘(i) Chrysotile (serpentine). 14 ‘‘(ii) Crocidolite (riebeckite). 15 ‘‘(iii) Amosite (cummingtonite- 16 grunerite). 17 ‘‘(iv) Anthophyllite. 18 ‘‘(v) Tremolite. 19 ‘‘(vi) Actinolite. 20 ‘‘(vii) Richterite. 21 ‘‘(viii) Winchite. 22 ‘‘(B) DISTRIBUTE IN COMMERCE; DIS- 23 TRIBUTION IN COMMERCE.— 24 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro- 25 vided in clause (ii), the terms ‘distribute in 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:07 Apr 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2402.IH H2402 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 2402 IH commerce’ and ‘distribution in commerce’ 1 have the meanings given the terms in sec- 2 tion 3. 3 ‘‘(ii) EXCLUSIONS.—The terms ‘dis- 4 tribute in commerce’ and ‘distribution in 5 commerce’ do not include, with respect to 6 commercial asbestos— 7 ‘‘(I) end-use of a mixture or arti- 8 cle containing commercial asbestos 9 and installed in a building or other 10 structure before the date of enactment 11 of the Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos 12 Now Act of 2023; or 13 ‘‘(II) distribution of a mixture or 14 article containing commercial asbestos 15 solely for the purpose of disposal of 16 the mixture or article in compliance 17 with applicable Federal, State, and 18 local requirements. 19 ‘‘(C) MIXTURE OR ARTICLE CONTAINING 20 COMMERCIAL ASBESTOS.—The term ‘mixture or 21 article containing commercial asbestos’ does not 22 include a mixture or article in which commer- 23 cial asbestos is present solely as an impurity (as 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:07 Apr 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2402.IH H2402 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 2402 IH defined in section 720.3 of title 40, Code of 1 Federal Regulations (or successor regulations)). 2 ‘‘(2) APPLICABILITY.— 3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The prohibitions, re- 4 quirements, and definition of the term ‘commer- 5 cial asbestos’ in this subsection shall— 6 ‘‘(i) apply only— 7 ‘‘(I) to chemical substances; and 8 ‘‘(II) for purposes of regulating 9 chemical substances under this Act; 10 and 11 ‘‘(ii) have no effect on— 12 ‘‘(I) any other prohibition or def- 13 inition of the term ‘asbestos’; or 14 ‘‘(II) any other requirement reg- 15 ulating asbestos, including for pur- 16 poses of— 17 ‘‘(aa) regulating cosmetics 18 under the Federal Food, Drug, 19 and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 301 20 et seq.); and 21 ‘‘(bb) determining whether a 22 cosmetic contains asbestos as an 23 ingredient or as an impurity to 24 an ingredient. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:07 Apr 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2402.IH H2402 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 2402 IH ‘‘(B) IMPURITIES.—Nothing in this sub- 1 section applies to any chemical substance, mix- 2 ture, or article in which commercial asbestos is 3 present solely as an impurity. 4 ‘‘(3) PROHIBITION OF MANUFACTURE, PROC- 5 ESSING, USE, AND DISTRIBUTION IN COMMERCE.— 6 Effective 1 year after the date of enactment of the 7 Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act of 2023, no 8 person may manufacture, process, use, or distribute 9 in commerce commercial asbestos or any mixture or 10 article containing commercial asbestos. 11 ‘‘(4) CHLOR-ALKALI INDUSTRY.—Notwith- 12 standing paragraph (3), an owner, operator, or 13 agent of an owner or operator of a chlor-alkali facil- 14 ity that is in operation on the date of enactment of 15 the Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act of 2023 16 may, until the date that is 2 years after that date 17 of enactment— 18 ‘‘(A) import processed commercial asbestos 19 fibers solely for the purpose of manufacturing 20 diaphragms for use in the chlor-alkali process; 21 ‘‘(B) use, hold, or process commercial as- 22 bestos fibers solely for the purpose of manufac- 23 turing diaphragms for use in the chlor-alkali 24 process; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:07 Apr 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2402.IH H2402 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 2402 IH ‘‘(C) use asbestos diaphragms in chlor-al- 1 kali production. 2 ‘‘(5) EXEMPTION FOR NATIONAL SECURITY 3 REASONS.— 4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 5 other provision of this subsection, the President 6 may, on application, grant any person an ex- 7 emption from the prohibition under paragraph 8 (3) once for the manufacture, processing, use, 9 or distribution in commerce of commercial as- 10 bestos or any mixture or article containing com- 11 mercial asbestos only if the President deter- 12 mines that— 13 ‘‘(i) the manufacture, processing, use, 14 or distribution in commerce of commercial 15 asbestos or any mixture or article con- 16 taining commercial asbestos by the person 17 is necessary to protect the national secu- 18 rity interests of the United States; and 19 ‘‘(ii) no feasible alternative to the 20 manufacture, processing, use, or distribu- 21 tion in commerce of commercial asbestos 22 or any mixture or article containing com- 23 mercial asbestos exists for the intended 24 use. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:07 Apr 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2402.IH H2402 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 2402 IH ‘‘(B) DURATION.— 1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The period of an 2 exemption granted under subparagraph 3 (A) shall not exceed 3 years. 4 ‘‘(ii) EXTENSION.—The President 5 may, in accordance with subparagraph (A), 6 extend an exemption granted under that 7 subparagraph once, for a period not to ex- 8 ceed 3 years. 9 ‘‘(C) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—An ex- 10 emption granted under this paragraph (includ- 11 ing any extension granted under subparagraph 12 (B)(ii)) shall include such terms and conditions 13 as are necessary to achieve the maximum extent 14 practicable reduction in exposure to commercial 15 asbestos. 16 ‘‘(D) PUBLICATION.— 17 ‘‘(i) APPLICATIONS.—Not later than 18 30 days after receipt of an application for 19 an exemption under this paragraph (in- 20 cluding an extension under subparagraph 21 (B)(ii)), the President shall publish the ap- 22 plication in the Federal Register. 23 ‘‘(ii) EXEMPTIONS.—Not later than 24 30 days after granting an exemption under 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:07 Apr 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2402.IH H2402 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 2402 IH this paragraph (including an extension 1 under subparagraph (B)(ii)), the President 2 shall publish in the Federal Register— 3 ‘‘(I) a notice of the exemption; 4 and 5 ‘‘(II) the terms and conditions 6 included under subparagraph (C). 7 ‘‘(iii) EXCEPTION.—The President, on 8 a determination that publication under this 9 subparagraph of information relating to an 10 application or granting of a particular ex- 11 emption would harm the national security 12 interests of the United States— 13 ‘‘(I) shall not publish that infor- 14 mation in the Federal Register; but 15 ‘‘(II) shall provide that informa- 16 tion to the Committee on Energy and 17 Commerce of the House of Represent- 18 atives and the Committee on Environ- 19 ment and Public Works of the Senate. 20 ‘‘(E) APPLICATION OF WAIVER AUTHOR- 21 ITY.—Notwithstanding section 22, the Adminis- 22 trator may not issue a waiver under that sec- 23 tion with respect to commercial asbestos.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:07 Apr 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2402.IH H2402 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 2402 IH SEC. 3. PUBLIC EDUCATION. 1 The Administrator of the Environmental Protection 2 Agency, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and 3 Human Services, shall develop and make publicly available 4 resources that may be used by the Federal Government 5 and other entities to educate the public and health profes- 6 sionals about— 7 (1) the adverse health effects of asbestos expo- 8 sure; 9 (2) any Federal resources, including easily un- 10 derstandable regulations, available to address the 11 prevention and mitigation of asbestos exposure; and 12 (3) licensed commercial asbestos mitigation 13 availability within each State, the District of Colum- 14 bia, and each territory or possession of the United 15 States. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:07 Apr 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2402.IH H2402 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB