H.R. 5373: Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act of 2025

This legislation, known as the **Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act of 2025**, aims to amend the Toxic Substances Control Act to prohibit the manufacture, processing, use, and distribution of commercial asbestos and any mixtures or articles containing commercial asbestos. Here are the key points of what the bill proposes:

Definitions

The bill defines "commercial asbestos" as specific types of asbestos that are processed for their commercial value, including:

• Chrysotile (serpentine)
• Crocidolite (riebeckite)
• Amosite (cummingtonite-grunerite)
• Anthophyllite
• Tremolite
• Actinolite
• Richterite
• Winchite

Prohibitions

Once the bill is enacted, it will:

• Ban the manufacture, processing, use, and distribution in commerce of commercial asbestos and any mixtures or articles that contain it.
• Allow existing uses of asbestos in specific products that were installed before the enactment date, provided those products are not distributed in commerce for use. This means if asbestos-containing materials are already in place in buildings, they may remain there.
• Permit the distribution of asbestos solely for its disposal in compliance with relevant regulations.

Allowed Uses in Specific Industries

The bill makes an exception for the chlor-alkali industry, allowing facilities operating at the time of enactment to use commercial asbestos until January 1, 2030, under certain conditions:

• Chlor-alkali facilities may use and process asbestos fibers exclusively for making diaphragms used in the chlor-alkali process.

National Security Exemption

The President may grant exemptions from the asbestos ban for national security reasons, under specific conditions, including:

• Determining that the use of commercial asbestos is essential for national security.
• Proving that there are no feasible alternatives available for the intended use.

Exemptions will be limited to three years but can potentially be extended for up to three more years. The President is required to publish information about the exemptions unless it compromises national security interests, in which case the information would be provided to specific congressional committees.

Applicability and Enforcement

The bill establishes that it does not alter other existing prohibitions or definitions of asbestos within other contexts, such as cosmetics or other regulatory frameworks. The bill specifically states that it does not apply to asbestos present solely as an impurity in other substances.

Relevant Companies

• CMP - Chemical Company: May be affected in their processes that involve asbestos materials.
• DOW - Dow Inc.: Potential impacts on production processes that involve asbestos.
• OLN - Olin Corporation: Could be impacted in the chlor-alkali industry and related uses of asbestos.