Document pBewx1rEvNd5vX6Dz6kvzOBZB

A Fipc Pic-du-rers Association Board of Directors International Affairs Committee LCmAc-K, ,... J/F.) Welch, Vice President ==f-sJ 'hie f no1 Cor.'e$p-;n;>; vc .... October 7, 1983 U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Conside^tiolr^^i^an A/C Pipe - Press Coverage /p\y ..... X/' C ~ Pj 7-> * ACTION REQUIRED: Review for information Engineering News-Record On September 29, 1983, the Vice President was contacted by Bill Krizan, a reporter for Engineering News-Record. This magazine is published by McGraw-Hill Co. and has extensive readership worldwide. Krizan previously had spoken with representatives at AIA/NA, who recommended that AACPP be contacted. Krizan is writing an article on use and regulation of asbestos/asbestos-containing products and industry's views on substitutes (fiber and product). Staff gave background on AACPP, the pipe industry's evaluation of substitute fibers, factors that make asbestos irreplaceable in A/C pipe, and comments on substitute products i.e., PVC and ductile iron pipe. When asked what prompted his interest in asbestos products, Krizan said that Engineering News-Record recently became aware that EPA planned to regulate certain uses. He did not use the word "ban." When asked whether this might affect the A/C pipe industry, Staff responded that EPA's recent actions were viewed as a re-opening of its 1979 Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Commercial and Industrial Use of Asbestos. It was stated that market impacts, if any, could not be assessed until EPA proposed a regulation (restriction, ban, etc.). When specifically questioned as to whether A/C pipe was included in the 1979 rulemaking and forthcoming regulatory considerations, Staff responded in the affirmative. Staff did not state, indeed avoided stating, that EPA was considering a ban on A/C pipe. The article will appear in the October 10, 1983 issue of Engineering News-Record. Wall Street Journal The enclosed articles appeared in the October 4, 1983 issue of Wall Street Journal, North America's most widely-read business newspaper. One article describes EPA's intentions to ban certain asbestos construction products; the other, status of OSIIA's proposal to lower its occupational exposure standard. Staff Analysis and Action Plan The extensive readership of Engineering News-Record and Wall Street Journal will result in widespread knowledge about the potential ban. Competitors can be expected to use the article to discourage specification and use of A/C pipe. The impact of this press coverage should be at its fullest in the U.S. by the end of October. CAPCO JEN 0010524 2- - Preparation of AACPP's Advisory on EPA's action will be accelerated; other counterinitiatives will be developed for review by the Board of Directors. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call. JFW/ajb cc: ' A. Kahn, Esq. copies to: Board of Directors International Affairs Committee L. Ambler L. Cejudo J. M. Couture L. Taylor A. Verploegh R. Dorner E. van der Rest A. Junes L. Giannitrapani G. Zaviezo J. Schmuas C. Barton F. Mansour M. Delcourt J. Cuvelier R. G. Cairns J. G. Cartuyvels H. Hudson R. Hobbs P. Hart A. Saoulis R. Jalan V. Pattabhi S. Al-Tarkait C. Snidvongs B. Giboin M. A. Elola L. Dolbeau 0172100302 Chrono CAP CO JEN 0010525 EPA to Propose, in Next Few Months, Ban Or Phase-Out of Remaining Asbestos Uses <p------------------- --------------------- - By Andy Pasztor and Raymond A. Joseph . Raymark Corp., Trumbiil, Conn., asserts StaffReporters of Tiil- Wall Street Journal that its use of asbestos probably wouldn't be W'ASHINGTON-The Environmental Pro affected immediately. The company said its tection Agency intends to propose in the asbestos is used mainly in friction materi next few months a ban or phase-out of as als, like car brakes and clutches. bestos in the few products that still contain In a related development, the Labor De it. partment said its Occupational Safety and EPA Administrator William Ruckelshaus Health Administration will expand work .agreed in principle with a package of pro place inspections seeking possible violations posed regulations against the carcinogen of its asbestos-exposure rules. The .that goes beyond any action the Reagan ad job-safety agency estimated it will triple ministration was considering only a few such inspections to about 700 over the next months ago. agency officials said. 'year in the construction and manufacturing v Nevertheless, any such ban would come industries, focusing on demolition sites and long after the asbestos industry-battered manufacturers with records of asbestos vio by thousands of suits from asbestos workers lations. I and users-has shrunk severely. About 300 OSHA said it will inspect demolition sites companies once used asbestos in their prod that have notified the EPA that asbestos de ucts. but use has decreased as the danger molition or removal will occur. Previously. ous effects of asbestos have become known. OSHA inspectors often didn't know about The G.S. Bureau of Mines said U.S. con possible asbestos-rule violations at such sumption reached a high of 795,000 metric sites because the work was completed tons in 1973; according to the EPA, current quickly. The .cooperative effort with the annual consumption is about 127,000 metric EPA is to last six months. tons. In the 1970s, the government banned cer The EPA intends to ban all uses of cer tain sprays containing asbestos used for in tain construction products such as cement sulation and decoration of new buildings. pipes, roofing materials and floor coverings And the EPA ordered schools to perform .that contain asbestos, a fibrous mineral safety checks to determine if fibers from as used in fireproof materials. In addition, the bestos insulation posed a health threat to agency is writing proposed regulations that students. Recently, the EPA has been under place a cap on the amount of asbestos used increasing pressure from lawmakers, envi for all other products and set up a timetable ronmental groups and cancer experts at for phasing out ail but a few minor uses other federal agencies to crack down on fu over the next few years. ture use of the material. In the past, senior Reagan administration appointees at the EPA have argued that- there wasn't adequate scientific evidence to warrant tough action against asbestos. They also asserted that banning or phasing out N o THE WALL street journal I ' Tuesday, October 4, 1983 the material would be too costly in most in stances, and they wanted voluntary action by industry to reduce public exposure to as bestos. But Edward Klein, director of the office that is drafting the proposals, said the EPA now considers asbestos to be a "proven car cinogen" that should be phased out quickly. He noted' that industry has developed a vari j# ** * i Asbestos use may be banned or phased out by the EPA. But any ban against the carcinogen would come long-after the as bestos industry, battered by thousands of suits from workers and users, has shrunk se verely; (Story on. Page 12) ety of substitutes. Denver-based Manville Corp., the major asbestos-products maker, said the EPA ac tion probably would have "very little impact AN EMERGENCY RULE lowering work on us" because the company has been re place exposure. to asbestos may remain placing asbestos with such -materials as fi some weeks away. OSHA chief Auchter berglass. seeks outside top scientists' advice about a Manville filed for protection under Chap 300-page staff proposal; he worries that an ter 11 of the federal Bankruptcy Code last emergency move could spark a court fight. year to ward off thousands of lawsuits from Some experts estimate an emergency rule, plaintiffs who claimed injury or death of rel could prevent 212 cancer cases. atives from asbestos. The material can cause cancer and asbestosis, an emphy sema-like disease that gradually impairs breathing through scarring of the lungs.. ; Manville, once known as the largest as- j bestos company in the Western world, rej cenfly sold its large Canadian asbestos-min- ! ing operations..- - ' In Danbury, Conn., Union Carbide Corp. said it didn't know ho.w any EPA action would affect its mining operations in Colo rado. where it operates a small asbestos mine. Moreover, Union Carbide said, it "probably won't have much of an effect on us because our kind of asbestos is of high purity." But the company said its asbestos ie nraH in (ilac on/4 rArVinrr motariole CAP CO JEN 0010526