EPA will revisit Biden-era ban on the last type of asbestos used in US
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency told a federal appeals court it will reconsider the Biden administration's ban on the last type of asbestos used in the United States to determine whether it went 'beyond what is necessary.'
Asbestos is linked to tens of thousands of deaths annually and causes mesothelioma as well as other cancers. It has been largely phased out in the United States. Last year, the Biden administration
sought to finish the decades-long fight
by banning chrysotile asbestos. At the time, the EPA called it a milestone in the fight against cancer.
The EPA on Monday said in a court filing that it would reconsider the Biden administration's rule over roughly the next 30 months. The agency said the Toxic Substances Control Act requires it to evaluate a chemical's risk and the consequences of restricting it.
Now, officials will look at whether parts of the ban 'went beyond what is necessary to eliminate the unreasonable risk and whether alternative measures — such as requiring permanent workplace protection measures — would eliminate the unreasonable risk,' according to a court declaration by Lynn Ann Dekleva, a senior official in EPA's Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention.
Chrysotile asbestos is found in products like brake blocks, asbestos diaphragms and sheet gaskets and was banned under the Toxic Substances Control Act, which was
broadened in 2016
. When the ban was announced, there were eight U.S. facilities that used asbestos diaphragms in the chlor-alkali sector for the manufacture of chlorine and sodium hydroxide, chemicals commonly used as water disinfectants. The facilities were given at least five years to make the change.
The development was first reported by The New York Times.
Advocates blasted the move as weakening prohibitions against a deadly carcinogen.
'This latest move by Administrator Lee Zeldin and EPA is yet another alarming signal that this administration is operating without limits as they dole out favors to polluter lobbyists without regard for the health and well-being of people living in the US,' said Michelle Roos, executive director of the Environmental Protection Network, a nonprofit.
Zeldin has announced dozens of deregulatory actions in the first months of the Trump administration and former top industry officials are in key EPA positions — Dekleva, for example, used to work at the American Chemistry Council, which was among the groups that filed the court challenge against the Biden administration's ban. Recently, the EPA
proposed a rollback
of greenhouse gas rules for coal plants.
The EPA did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Tuesday.
___
The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP's environmental coverage, visit
https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Verge
28 minutes ago
- The Verge
Posted Jun 17, 2025 at 6:54 PM EDT 4 Comments / 4 New
The Trump administration is apparently trying to shut down the board that investigates chemical explosions in the US. What could go wrong? [Link: Trump quietly shutters the only federal agency that investigates industrial chemical explosions | |
34 minutes ago
Brazil auctions off several Amazon oil sites despite environmentalists and Indigenous protests
BRASILANDIA, Brazil -- BRASILANDIA, Brazil (AP) — Brazil auctioned off several land and offshore potential oil sites near the Amazon River on Tuesday as it aims to expand production in untapped regions despite protests from environmental and Indigenous groups. The event came months before Brazil is to host the U.N.'s first climate talks held in the Amazon. The protesters outside Tuesday's venue warned of potential risks that oil drilling poses to sensitive ecosystems and Indigenous communities in the Amazon. A luxury Rio de Janeiro hotel hosted the auction conducted by the National Oil Agency. Most of the 172 oil blocks for sale are located in areas with no current production, such as 47 offshore locations close to the mouth of the Amazon River and two sites inland in the Amazon near Indigenous territories. Nineteen offshore blocks were awarded to Chevron, ExxonMobil, Petrobras and CNPC. The oil companies see the area as highly promising because it shares geological characteristics with Guyana, where some of the largest offshore oil discoveries of the 21st century have been made. This region is considered to have high potential risk due to strong currents and the proximity to the Amazon seashore. Under public pressure from President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources, known as IBAMA, approved an emergency plan allowing state-run Petrobras to conduct exploratory drilling in a block near the mouth of the Amazon River, the last step to grant an environmental license. 'It's regrettable and concerning that blocks are being acquired in a basin that has not yet received environmental licensing,' Nicole Oliveira, executive director of the environmental nonprofit Arayara, which tried to block the auction in court. 'This is an irresponsible move by the National Oil Agency and a very risky one for the companies involved," Oliveira told The Associated Press. "We will continue litigating to prevent the contracts from being signed and the blocks from being explored.' The auction wrapped up with only 34 oil blocks awarded. Brazil´s oil agency noted that the signing bonuses — one-time payments made by the winning companies — totaled $180 million, a record for auctions of this kind. An agency representative said the highest premium was for a block located near the mouth of the Amazon River, which drew a nearly 3,000% markup. Oliveira took part in a peaceful protest that gathered about 200 people outside the auction site, from environmentalists to Indigenous leaders. 'We came to Rio to repudiate the auction,' said Giovane Tapura of the Manoki, an Amazon tribe. 'We would have liked to be consulted and to see studies on how the oil drilling could affect us. None of this has been done.' In a recorded opening statement at the start of the event, Brazil's National Oil Agency said the auctions are part of the country's energy diversification strategy aimed at transitioning to a low-carbon economy and that contracts signed with the winning companies include measures to reduce carbon intensity in production activities, as well as mandatory investments in energy transition projects. Brazil has increased crude oil production, which became the country's top export for the first time last year, surpassing soybeans. The auction is part of the federal government's goal to maintain and even expand output beyond 2030, when production from current oil blocks under exploration is expected to decline. Brazil gets most of its electricity from hydropower and other green energies. The U.N. climate talks will be held in the city of Belem, close to the mouth of the Amazon. Critics say it's a contradiction that Brazil's president is pushing for increased fossil fuel production while trying to cast himself as an environmental champion. Claudio Angelo, head of international policy at Climate Observatory, a coalition of 133 environmental, civil society and academic organizations, told reporters ahead of the auction that Brazil is both undermining its own standing ahead of the climate talks and undermining climate protection efforts. 'The Brazilian government is endangering everyone's future since science has been crystal clear about the need to stop the expansion of fossil fuels everywhere in the world," he said. ___ ___
San Francisco Chronicle
an hour ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Argentines reel from health care cutbacks as President Milei's state overhaul mirrors Trump's
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — To outsiders, the Facebook group chat reads like a snarl of nonsensical emojis and letters. To uninsured Argentine cancer patients, it's a lifeline. The surreptitious network connects advocates who have spare drugs to Argentines with cancer who lost access to their treatment in March 2024 when President Javier Milei suspended a federal agency, known as DADSE, that paid for their expensive medications. Whenever Facebook cracks the coded pleas and removes the group for violating its rules on drug sales, another appears, swelling with Argentines who say they've grown sicker since the radical libertarian president took a chainsaw to health care. 'All I need for my body to function is this medication, and Milei is saying, 'There's no money,'' said Ariel Wagener, a 47-year-old pizza chef with leukemia who was hospitalized this year with failing kidneys after losing access to his medication. Without DADSE, a month's worth of his leukemia drug costs $21,000. Wagener's condition stabilized after he got leftover medication via Facebook, donated by a family whose loved one had died of cancer. The halting of millions of dollars of free cancer drugs is just one way Milei's austerity drive has torn through the public health system that once set Argentina apart in Latin America, ensuring that health care was free for pretty much everyone who couldn't afford private insurance. Since taking office in December 2023, Milei has slashed Argentina's health care budget by 48% in real terms. His administration fired over 2,000 Health Ministry employees, including 1,400 over just a few days in January. As part of Milei's plan to remake Argentina's troubled economy and cut waste and bureaucracy, officials gutted the National Cancer Institute, suspending early detection programs for breast and cervical cancer. They froze federal funds for immunization campaigns, hobbling vaccine access as Argentina confronts a measles outbreak for the first time in decades. They dismantled the National Directorate for HIV, Hepatitis and Tuberculosis, leading to testing and treatment delays. They defunded emergency contraception and stopped distributing abortion pills. 'We're seeing setbacks we haven't seen in decades,' said María Fernanda Boriotti, president of Argentina's Federation of Health Professionals. "HIV patients without treatment, cancer patients dying for lack of medication, hospitals without resources, health professionals pushed out of the system." The government curtailed medical coverage for retirees and lifted price controls on prescription medication and private health plans, causing prices to spike by 250% and 118% respectively, official data shows. 'We've stopped buying milk, yogurt, anything that's not absolutely essential,' said Susana Pecora, 71, who lost the insurance plan that covered her husband's antipsychotic drugs when the price jumped 40% last year. Milei and Trump see eye-to-eye Milei campaigned on a promise to shrink the state two years before President Donald Trump and Elon Musk took up their own chainsaws. The Argentine has become a close ally of the Trump administration, including on health policy. Argentina has followed the U.S. out of the World Health Organization, and last month received a visit from U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Meeting Kennedy in Buenos Aires, Argentine Health Minister Mario Lugones announced a review of Argentina's health system to align it with Kennedy's Make America Healthy Again movement. 'We have similar visions about the path forward,' Lugones said of Kennedy. Milei has not yet attempted to replace universal coverage with an insurance-based system, as he vowed on the campaign trail. But in stripping Argentines of coverage and increasing premiums and out-of-pocket expenses, he is moving Argentina closer to the U.S. model, said Macarena Sabin Paz, health team coordinator at Argentina's Center for Legal and Social Studies. 'We are beginning to see the idea ... where if you lose your job, or become seriously ill, you may have to sell your car, whatever you have, to pay for health care," she said. Milei's staffing cuts have eviscerated agencies tasked with planning, financing and tracking immunization campaigns, disrupting data collection and jeopardizing the country's respected childhood vaccine program. The cuts have coincided with a measles outbreak that in April led to Argentina's first measles death in two decades. 'Argentina has been one of the most advanced South American countries and here we see it abandoning public health,' said Dr. Stanley Plotkin, an American physician who helped develop the measles vaccine in the 1960s. Milei's spokesperson, Manuel Adorni, did not respond to requests for comment. Lugones also did not respond to questions on the impact of policy changes. A tidal wave of cuts After decades of unbridled spending by left-wing populist governments that brought Argentina infamy for defaulting on its debts, Milei delivered on his campaign promises of taming extreme inflation and notching a fiscal surplus. But even experts who agree Argentina's health care system needed reform say the cutbacks have been so deep and fast that they've hit like a tidal wave. 'In terms of the destruction of the state, we've never experienced anything like this, not even during the military dictatorship,' said Fabio Nuñez, ex-coordinator of the National Directorate for HIV, Hepatitis and Tuberculosis who was among hundreds fired from the agency. Charged with leading prevention efforts and treatments for infectious diseases, the agency has lost 40% of its staff and 76% of its annual budget. Hospitals now face shortages of everything from virus testing supplies to medications to condoms. The cuts have coincided with a surge in sexually transmitted infections. Last year HIV cases spiked by 20% and syphilis by 50%. 'They're avoiding the expense now but will pay for it later as people seek emergency care,' said Cristian Pizzuti, a 31-year-old with HIV who documented 103 cases of patients deprived of their daily antiretroviral pills for weeks at a time last year. Pizzuti said he recently received expired medication and suffered a severe allergic reaction after being switched to a cheaper drug. Tuberculosis cases also climbed by 25% last year. TB clinics report delays in obtaining test results. 'As people go about their lives, waiting for results, they are spreading the disease to others,' said Dr. Santiago Jimenez, who treats HIV and TB patients in an impoverished Buenos Aires neighborhood. "It's an epidemiological disaster.' Hospitals under strain Free public hospitals have become flooded with Argentines who dropped their private insurance due to increased premiums or who lost their job — and with it, their social security plans funded through payroll contributions. Buenos Aires facilities reported a 20%-30% increase in demand in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period last year. The strain was visible at the free public Rodolfo Rossi Hospital in La Plata last month, where crowds jostled in the outpatient clinic and long lines spilled from the pharmacy. Pharmacists have reported drug shortages as mass layoffs caused administrative chaos and the government froze a program that provided basic medications to Argentine public health centers. Silvana Mansilla, 43, spent half the day waiting to pick up her monthly supply of thyroid medication — which has doubled in price to $22 — only to find the hospital had run out. 'Where's the government? What are they doing about this?' she asked. With hiring frozen, doctors said they're handling double the patient load. Overwhelmed by ever-increasing workloads, Argentina's leading public Garrahan Pediatric Hospital in Buenos Aires has hemorrhaged 200 medical professionals since Milei took office. As annual inflation neared 200% last fall, their salaries lost half of their purchasing power. Doctors left for jobs abroad or better-paying work in private clinics. None were replaced. Medical residents ran a weeklong strike in May, displaying their pay slips for a month of 70-hour work weeks: $700. Waiting for treatment A lawsuit filed by patient advocacy groups said more than 60 cancer patients have died due to the government's suspension of the DADSE medication program, and over 1,500 patients were waiting for their drugs. A federal judge ordered the government to reinstate the drug deliveries, but it appealed, arguing that DADSE no longer exists. It said it had created a new, more efficient program to fulfill outstanding requests. But the timeline varies and sometimes the drugs don't come at all. Timing was everything for patients like Alexis Almirón. His medical records show the government drug bank received his request for an expensive medication to shrink his malignant tumor on Dec. 11, 2023, the day after Milei's inauguration. His doctor told the agency immediate treatment was urgently needed for the aggressive cancer. Months passed. His mother, Claudia Caballero, bombarded DADSE with desperate calls asking what was taking so long as Almirón's lymphoma spread from his neck to his brain and stomach. He vomited blood. He lost his eyesight. Caballero tried to crowd-source the $20,000 for a month's supply of the drug but couldn't raise enough. On March 12 last year, Almirón died at 22. 'They didn't give him the chance to choose to live,' Caballero said, her voice breaking.
