Document jm0eE9BdmBk7jbORy7Gezg049

E.P.A. Proposes Plan to Curb Asbestos By PHILIP SHABECOFF Special to The New York Times New York Times (1923-Currentfile); Jan 24. 1986; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (1851-2010) pg. A 1 2______ _________ __ , ________ E.P .A. Proposes Plan to Curb Asbestos By PHILIP SHABECOFF immediately banned, to alert users to Regulations like those in the program Special tn Tli* Ntw York Times the dangers involved. proposed today were drafted two years WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 --The Envi But agency officials noted that the ago. Promulgation of the regulations ronmental Protection Agency today proposed a long-range program to pro tect the public from what it called " the rule would permit exemptions in the phasing-out process when inexpensive substitutes could not be found, in such were delayed, however, in large part because of a variety of objections by the White Rouse Office of Management serious health threat of asbestos." Five widely used asbestos products would be banned as soon as the rule set cases, they said asbestos use couid con ceivably be continued beyond the 10year period. and Budget. Lee M. Thomas, Administrator of the agency, said at a news conference to ting up the program went into effect. The proposed rule would immedi day that the issues raised by the budget Ali other mining, processing, manufac ately bar the use of asbestos roofing office had been resolved by the new turing and importing of asbestos would felts, asbestos flooring felts, vinyl as proposal. be gradually eliminated over 10years. bestos floor tile, asbestos cement pipe Because of its heat and friction The new rule would not affect asbes and fittings, and asbestos clothing. The resistance and insulating properties, tos products already in use. There agency said that the five products rep asbestos has long been widely used as a would be no requirement that asbestos resented one-third to one-half of all as building material and in a broad range be removed from private or public bestos production in the United States, of industrial and consumer products, j buildings or vehicles. which totaled 240,000 metric tons in While information about the health | Products to Be Labeled A number of asbestos products to which there is high public exposure, particularly brake linings, would not be immediately banned because there is not yet an acceptable substitute, agency officials said. The proposed rule would require the labeling of all asbestos products not 1984, down from a high of 875,000 tons in 1973. The proposal wiil now be subject to a 90-day comment period before publica tion of a final rule banning asbestos. It will be at least a year before the rule is put into effect. The environmental agency first pro posed regulating asbestos in 1379- risks of asbestos emerged as early as : 50 years ago, industry hid such infor- I mation from the public, Government lawyers and others have charged. By the 1970's the dangers became well-documented. Workers and others exposed to airborne asbestos fibers d e -. veioped lung cancer, an incurable form of cancer known as mesothelioma, asbestosis and other lung diseases and ill ness. Thousands of lawsuits have been brought against asbestos manufactur ers and the Government. Benefits Are Foreseen The E.P.A. currently estimates there are from 3,300 to 12,000 deaths each year from exposure to asbestos. Mr. Thomas said that if the proposal were adopted, it would avoid 1,900 of these deaths between now and the end of the century. The new program would prevent only some of the expected cancer deaths for several reasons. One is that asbestos products will continue to be used. An other is that millions of Americans con tinue to be exposed to asbestos already in buildings. Finally, because it can take decades for people exposed to as bestos to grow ill, many of those ex posed in the past would not benefit from the new protections. The program's total cost to the pub lic, chiefly from higher prices for as bestos substitutes, would be about $2 billion, which would come to about $10 for every American over the next 15 years, agency officials said. But Bob Figg, president of the Asbes tos Information Association/North America, an industry group, said that "the ultimate impact of the rule would be the demise of the U.S. asbestos in dustry," which now numbers some 275 companies. Proposal Termed Unwarranted "We think the E.P.A. proposal is to tally unwarranted and completely in consistent with the international con sensus which favors control of asbestos as opposed to banning of asbestos," Mr. Pigg said. Dr. Irving J. Selikofl, a leading au thority on the health risks of asbestos, said that the E.P.A. roles represented a "very cautious approach" that fo cused on "the potential exposure of people and prevention of cancer while at the same time trying to meet eco nomic and industrial requirements." He said, however, that the proposal does not deal with " m ajor new expo sures going on," largely in the con struction industry, to workers exposed to the 30 million tons of asbestos ap plied over the last 80 years. Representative Jam es J, Florio, Democrat of New Jersey, who is an ac tivist on toxics issues, said "I am pleased something is happening" but added, "the substance of the rule leaves something to be desired." He said he planned to introduce legislation soon requiring that standards be set to protect children and staff exposed to asbestos in schools, The E.P.A. currently requires only that schools be inspected for asbestos dangers and that the results be re ported to parent-teacher associations. 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