NAM to EPA: Avoid Duplication, Unnecessary Risk in Asbestos Regulation
The Environmental Protection Agency should take a risk-based, targeted approach to the management of legacy asbestos under the Toxic Substances Control Act, avoiding duplicative regulation, the NAM told the agency recently.
What’s going on: “Congress designed TSCA to complement other federal authorities, filling remaining gaps in the protection of workers and the public without creating unnecessarily duplicative or inconsistent regulatory frameworks,” the NAM said in response to a request for information on the EPA’s forthcoming TSCA Asbestos Part 2 risk management rule.
- “Workplace activities occurring at manufacturing facilities that disturb asbestos-containing material are already subject to an extensive federal regulatory framework,” including rules from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the EPA’s National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants and other programs, the NAM continued.
Why it’s important: Existing asbestos frameworks and regulations “provide substantial protections for employees and other persons performing asbestos-related work at manufacturing facilities,” while additional overlapping requirements under the TSCA could create unnecessary duplication, inconsistency and compliance confusion, according to the NAM.
What should be done: The EPA should focus its efforts on activities that contribute to unreasonable risk and are not covered by existing oversight, the NAM urged, and only “‘to the extent necessary’ so that the substance no longer presents the unreasonable risk identified by the agency.”
The final say: “The NAM appreciates the EPA’s request for practical information before proposing an Asbestos Part 2 Rule,” said NAM Vice President of Domestic Policy Chris Phalen and NAM Director of Chemicals, Materials and Sustainability Policy Reagan Giesenschlag.
- “In developing risk management actions, manufacturers urge the EPA to recognize the controls already required and used at covered workplaces.”
