Public advocacy groups say the Trump administration failed to adequately assess the environmental and public health risks posed by asbestos in a required chemical risk evaluation.
SAN FRANCISCO (CN) On the heels of recent court victories over how toxic chemicals must be evaluated, advocacy groups asked the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday to invalidate a recent Trump administration risk assessment for asbestos that critics say is legally flawed.
Joined by a coalition of public health and environmental advocates, Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization is asking the San Francisco-based appeals court to review the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s final risk evaluation for asbestos.
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Tuesday, December 29, 2020
A federal court has ordered EPA to make extensive changes to its Chemical Data Reporting rule (CDR) with respect to asbestos reporting. While the ruling in
ADAO v. Wheeler is limited to CDR reporting of asbestos, it sets the stage for targeted reporting requirements by manufacturers and possibly processors for other substances being considered for prioritization or that are the subjects of risk evaluations. Such requirements might include elimination of the exemptions for substances in articles or present only as impurities and reporting by processors. It will be up to the incoming Biden Administration to decide whether to appeal the decision to the Ninth Circuit or to conduct rulemaking, at least for asbestos.
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A federal court has ordered EPA to make extensive changes to its Chemical Data Reporting rule (CDR) with respect to asbestos reporting. While the ruling in
ADAO v. Wheeler is limited to CDR reporting of asbestos, it sets the stage for targeted reporting requirements by manufacturers and possibly processors for other substances being considered for prioritization or that are the subjects of risk evaluations. Such requirements might include elimination of the exemptions for substances in articles or present only as impurities and reporting by processors. It will be up to the incoming Biden Administration to decide whether to appeal the decision to the Ninth Circuit or to conduct rulemaking, at least for asbestos.
Press release content from Business Wire. The AP news staff was not involved in its creation.
In a Major Victory for Public Health, Federal Court Orders EPA to Require Industry to Report on Asbestos Imports and Uses
December 22, 2020 GMT
WASHINGTON (BUSINESS WIRE) Dec 22, 2020
The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), an independent nonprofit dedicated to preventing asbestos exposure, applauds District Court Judge Edward J. Chen’s decisive ruling today compelling the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to require reporting by companies importing and using asbestos under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
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Judge Chen’s extensive opinion sides with ADAO in its legal challenge to EPA’s 2018 denial of its petition to include asbestos in EPA’s Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) rule.