Trump administration pulls back on plans to rewrite Biden-era asbestos
ban
[July 09, 2025]
By MICHAEL PHILLIS and ALEXA ST. JOHN
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is dropping plans to allow
continued use of the last type of asbestos legally allowed in U.S.
manufacturing after an outcry from asbestos opponents.
The Environmental Protection Agency said in a court filing Monday that
it will now defend the Biden administration’s ban of chrysotile
asbestos, which is used in products like brake blocks and sheet gaskets.
The carcinogenic chemical has been mostly phased out in the U.S., but
last year, the agency under former President Joe Biden sought to finish
the decadeslong fight with a comprehensive ban. The EPA in 2024 said
“exposure to asbestos is known to cause lung cancer, mesothelioma,
ovarian cancer, and laryngeal cancer, and it is linked to more than
40,000 deaths in the U.S. each year."
The EPA had said in a federal appeals court filing last month that parts
of the ban may have gone “beyond what is necessary to eliminate the
unreasonable risk” and that other options such as requiring workplace
protection measures might eliminate that risk. The agency said it
planned a roughly 30-month process to write new rules.
But industry associations have already filed suit against the Biden
administration’s ban. So has the Asbestos Disease Awareness
Organization, which fights asbestos-related diseases and believes the
ban isn’t as airtight as it needs to be. The nonprofit opposed pausing
the case so the EPA could revisit the rule, arguing that any new
proposal would likely be met by lawsuits, too.
All the work that’s gone into the current litigation shouldn’t be
wasted, the nonprofit said. And a pause would also mean a delay in the
rule’s implementation.
Lynn Ann Dekleva, the agency’s deputy assistant administrator of the
Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, said in a Monday
filing that the EPA won’t go through a process to rewrite the rule.
The EPA now says the Biden administration “failed to adequately protect
chemical industry workers from health risks posed by chrysotile
asbestos.”
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President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White
House, Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
 “To remedy the previous
Administration’s approach, we notified the court that we intend to
reconsider the applicability of interim workplace protection
requirements during the replacement of asbestos gaskets for all
workers,” EPA Press Secretary Brigit Hirsch said in a statement.
Linda Reinstein, president and CEO of the Asbestos
Disease Awareness Organization, said she was elated the EPA isn’t
going to reconsider the Biden administration’s ban. She speculated
that the EPA didn't like public reaction to its position. But she
said the EPA’s new statement doesn’t make sense – the EPA should be
talking about a ban, not workplace protections, and it should be
protecting all workers, not just those involved with gaskets.
The New York Times was first to report the development.
Chrysotile asbestos is found in products such as brake blocks,
asbestos diaphragms and sheet gaskets and was banned under the Toxic
Substances Control Act, which was broadened in 2016. The Biden
administration said it moved forward with a ban after decades of
inadequate protections and delays in setting better standards.
The EPA’s previous move to reconsider the ban had been among dozens
of deregulatory actions in the first months of the Trump
administration.
“This is just the beginning of the public backlash against the Trump
administration’s plans to roll back 31 standards that protect the
air we breathe and the water we drink,” said Michelle Roos,
executive director of the Environmental Protection Network. "Public
health is not up for negotiation.”
The American Chemistry Council trade group declined to comment.
___
St. John reported from Detroit.
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