Asbestos Legislation Evolution Part 2

Asbestos Legislation Evolution: Asbestos Hazard Emergency Responses Act of 1986

This law was put in place to order the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish regulatory standards in respect of inspection, removal and abatement of asbestos from schools. The regulations required all public and private schools to inspect facilities for asbestos and develop plans or containing the asbestos and in some unique cases to remove the asbestos. The EPA provides guidelines and technical help to school districts in this respect.

Asbestos Legislation Evolution: Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1994

Asbestos Legislation Evolution

The United States Bankruptcy code was amended in 1994 to allow companies with asbestos liabilities to seek bankruptcy protection for future claims. This act is also called the Manville Amendments. The provision gave option for manufacturers who had been sued many times and faced liability in the past to protect themselves by way of bankruptcy for future claims. The companies thus filed for the reorganization to protect their assets. The reform was modelled after the Manville Trust of the John Manville Corporation, the 1994 amendments established a way for companies to settle future claims through the creation of special bankruptcy trusts.

Asbestos Legislation Evolution: Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act of 2006

Also known as the FAIR Act; it represents Congress’ most comprehensive efforts to address the issue of compensation for claimants.

Lawmakers have introduced many versions of the bill in both the House and the Senate during the past ten years. The most recent version was introduced in 2006 and would have the following aspects:

• Establish an office within the Department of Labor to handle asbestos injury claims
• Provide fair compensation to eligible claimants in a non-adversarial manner
• Determine compensation amounts based on the severity of the claimants disease
• Bring most pending clams in state and federal courts to a standstill.

Asbestos Legislation Evolution: Ban Asbestos in America Act of 2007

Like the FAIR Act, many versions of the Ban Asbestos in America Act have been introduced in Congress during the past ten years. The most recent version introduced in 2007, never became enforced into law. The bill would have done the following:

• Revise the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to include additional materials in that law’s definition of asbestos
• Direct a number of federal entities, including Occupation Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and EPA to conduct various scientific studies about the relationship between certain asbestos materials an diseases;
• Require the EPA to report to Congress on various recommendations for protecting human health from asbestos exposure
• Authorize the EPA to issue more regulations banning the importing, manufacturing, processing or distribution of asbestos products
• Appropriate money for research of asbestos-related diseases.