[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2072 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2072

To amend the Toxic Substances Control Act to require the Administrator 
  of the Environmental Protection Agency to take action to eliminate 
          human exposure to asbestos, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            November 2, 2017

 Mr. Merkley (for himself, Mr. Booker, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Durbin, Mr. 
  Sanders, Mr. Tester, Mr. Whitehouse, and Mr. Markey) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                      Environment and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Toxic Substances Control Act to require the Administrator 
  of the Environmental Protection Agency to take action to eliminate 
          human exposure to asbestos, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act 
of 2017''.

SEC. 2. ASBESTOS BAN.

    (a) In General.--The Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 2601 
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

                         ``TITLE VII--ASBESTOS

``SEC. 701. DEFINITION OF ASBESTOS.

    ``In this title, the term `asbestos' means all forms of asbestos.

``SEC. 702. ELIMINATION OF ASBESTOS EXPOSURE.

    ``(a) Importation, Use, and Exposure Assessment.--Notwithstanding 
any other provision of this Act, not later than 90 days after the date 
of enactment of the Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act of 2017, the 
Administrator shall carry out and publish an identification and 
assessment of the current and reasonably anticipated importation, 
distribution in commerce, and uses of, and exposures to, asbestos.
    ``(b) Exposure Elimination.--
            ``(1) In general.--As soon as practicable, but not later 
        than 18 months after the date of enactment of the Alan 
        Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act of 2017, the Administrator shall 
        impose, by rule, prohibitions, restrictions, and other 
        conditions, including prohibitions on the manufacture, 
        processing, use, distribution in commerce, and disposal of 
        asbestos and mixtures and articles containing asbestos, that 
        the Administrator determines to be necessary to eliminate human 
        or environmental exposure to asbestos.
            ``(2) Selection of conditions.--In imposing prohibitions 
        and other conditions under paragraph (1), the Administrator 
        shall select requirements that permanently eliminate the 
        possibility of exposure to asbestos.
    ``(c) Timing of Exposure Reductions.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in an exemption 
        granted by the President under subsection (d), beginning on the 
        date that is 1 year after the date on which the Administrator 
        issues the rule described in subsection (b)(1), no person shall 
        manufacture, process, use, distribute in commerce, or dispose 
        of any form of asbestos or any mixture or article containing 
        any form of asbestos for any use or under any condition other 
        than a use or condition described in that rule.
            ``(2) Effective date.--In any rule issued under this title, 
        the Administrator shall specify the date on which any 
        prohibition, restriction, or other condition shall take effect, 
        and that date shall be as soon as practicable, but not later 
        than 1 year, after the date of promulgation of the rule.
    ``(d) Exemption for National Security Reasons.--
            ``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        this title, the President may grant an exemption from the 
        requirements of this section for any use of asbestos if the 
        President determines that--
                    ``(A) the use of asbestos is necessary to protect 
                the national security interests of the United States;
                    ``(B) no reasonable alternative to the asbestos use 
                exists for the intended purpose; and
                    ``(C) the use of asbestos will not result in an 
                unreasonable risk to health or the environment (without 
                consideration of costs or other nonrisk factors), 
                including an unreasonable risk to a potentially exposed 
                or susceptible subpopulation identified as relevant by 
                the Administrator under the conditions of use.
            ``(2) Terms and conditions.--An exemption under paragraph 
        (1) shall be subject to such terms and conditions as the 
        President may prescribe.
            ``(3) Duration.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The duration of an exemption 
                under paragraph (1) shall not exceed a period of 3 
                years.
                    ``(B) Additional exemption.--The President may 
                grant an additional exemption under paragraph (1), for 
                a period not to exceed 3 years, by making a new 
                determination under that paragraph.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--The table of contents for the Toxic 
Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.) is amended by adding at 
the end the following:

                         ``TITLE VII--ASBESTOS

``Sec. 701. Definition of asbestos.
``Sec. 702. Elimination of asbestos exposure.''.
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