Another effort to finally institute a federal ban on the commercial and industrial use of asbestos in the United States is underway, as Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and John Curtis (R-UT) re-introduced Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act this week.
Senators Curtis and Merkley are, respectively, the Chairman and a Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Chemical Safety, Waste Management, Environmental Justice and Regulatory Oversight. Senator Merkley, specifically, has long been involved in efforts to get a federal asbestos ban passed in Congress.
The bipartisan Ban Asbestos Now Act would ban manufacture, processing, use and distribution of all six recognized asbestos fibers, while strengthening public protections against the cancer-causing mineral.
“American families and workers deserve to have a future free of exposure to asbestos—a known killer,” Senator Merkley said. “This deadly carcinogen has been banned in more than 50 countries, while the United States is playing catch-up on tackling this public health nightmare. Our bipartisan bill is necessary to phase out all dangerous asbestos fibers and provide stronger protections for consumers across the United States.”
What the Ban Asbestos Now Act Does
The Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act is named for the late Alan Reinstein, former President of Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization, who died of the asbestos-caused cancer mesothelioma in 2006 after a three-year battle.
Every year, tens of thousands of Americans are diagnosed with asbestos-linked cancer, and attempts to institute a full federal ban of asbestos go back decades. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) enacted a full ban in 1989, before it was overturned by an appeals court in 1991. The EPA more recently instituted a ban on chrysotile asbestos in 2024, but other forms of asbestos remain legal for commercial and industrial use.
This reintroduction of the Ban Asbestos Now Act is a redoubling of these efforts to ban asbestos fully. The act would amend the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act to prohibit the commercial or manufacturing use of all forms of asbestos, while codifying requirements for industrial sites using asbestos to transition away from it.
“For decades, we have known the dangers of commercial asbestos, yet it has continued to be used,” Senator Curtis said. “This bipartisan legislation finally brings certainty by ending the manufacture and use of commercial asbestos while providing a responsible, time-limited transition for the limited uses that remain.”
What Is Next for the Ban Asbestos Now Act
The reintroduction of the Ban Asbestos Now Act is just the first step of the process of passing a full federal asbestos ban, and many hurdles remain. This is the fifth attempt at getting some form of the Ban Asbestos Now Act through Congress, with the first coming in 2019.
Sen. Merkley, Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), and Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) most recently reintroduced the bill last September, but the bill did not make it through committee. If the Ban Asbestos Now Act survives committee this time around, it will need to pass votes in both the House and the Senate before the President can sign it into law.
Time will tell whether the fifth time will be the charm for the Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act, but if passed it will mark a major milestone in the fight to prevent asbestos-related cancer in the United States.
Sources & Author
- Merkley, Curtis Announce Bipartisan Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act of 2026. Jeff Merkley. Retrieved from https://www.merkley.senate.gov/merkley-curtis-announce-bipartisan-alan-reinstein-ban-asbestos-now-act-of-2026/. Accessed 08/07/2026.
