The Environmental Protection Agency must lay the groundwork to take action against asbestos by flagging the substance for review later this year, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said in an Aug. 26 letter to the agency.
Under the new Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, the EPA is supposed to give priority to known carcinogens like asbestos. The agency is required to select the first 10 chemicals for evaluation by Dec. 22.
Adding asbestos to the list would be just the first step in a regulatory process that could still take several years. If an asbestos ban ...