On March 18, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a final rule to prohibit ongoing uses of chrysotile asbestos. Chrysotile asbestos, also known as “white asbestos,” has several current uses, such as a disinfectant for water treatment and in certain products, including gaskets, automotive brakes, and linings. It is the only known form of asbestos currently used in or imported to the United States.

The rule, proposed in April of 2022, is notably the first rule to be finalized under the 2016 amendments to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Under TSCA section 6(a) (15 U.S.C. 2605(a)), the EPA may prohibit or otherwise restrict the manufacturing, processing, or distribution in commerce of a chemical substance if it determines that the substance presents an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment under certain conditions of use. Here, the EPA determined that chrysotile asbestos presents an unreasonable risk of injury to the health of workers, occupational non-users, consumers, and bystanders for all ongoing uses of chrysotile asbestos based upon the following conditions of use:

  • Processing and Industrial Use of Chrysotile Asbestos Diaphragms in the Chlor-alkali Industry;
  • Processing and Industrial Use of Chrysotile Asbestos-Containing Sheet Gaskets in Chemical Production;
  • Industrial Use and Disposal of Chrysotile Asbestos-Containing Brake Blocks in the Oil Industry;
  • Commercial Use and Disposal of Aftermarket Automotive Chrysotile Asbestos-Containing Brakes/Linings;
  • Commercial Use and Disposal of Other Chrysotile Asbestos-Containing Vehicle Friction Products;
  • Commercial Use and Disposal of Other Chrysotile Asbestos-Containing Gaskets;
  • Consumer Use and Disposal of Aftermarket Automotive Chrysotile Asbestos-Containing Brakes/Linings;
  • Consumer Use and Disposal of Other Chrysotile Asbestos-Containing Gaskets.

Accordingly, the EPA set compliance deadlines for these industries to transition away from each use of chrysotile asbestos. The EPA is banning the import of asbestos for chlor-alkali use immediately “to close the door forever on the use of asbestos by this sector.” The ban on the use of asbestos in oilfield brake blocks, aftermarket automotive brakes and linings, other vehicle friction products, and other gaskets starts six months after the effective date of the final rule. The effective date is 60 days after the rule appears in the Federal Register. The ban on the use of asbestos in certain sheet gaskets begins two years after the effective date, with five-year phaseouts for sheet gaskets that will be used to produce titanium dioxide and for the processing of nuclear material. For industries with phaseout periods longer than two years, the EPA is requiring “strict workplace safety measures to protect workers from exposure” during the phaseout. Safety measures include ensuring that asbestos is disposed of properly, as required by industry standards, Occupational Safety and Health Administration requirements, and the Asbestos National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants.

The EPA is also conducting a risk evaluation for other types of asbestos fibers that are no longer used but may be present in buildings and products. The agency will release a draft of this risk evaluation “soon” and will publish the final risk evaluation by Dec. 1, 2024. As the EPA begins to phase in the chrysotile asbestos ban and continues to evaluate other types of asbestos under TSCA, manufacturers, and property owners should strongly consider the impacts of the EPA's current and ongoing risk evaluations.

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