EPA Bans Chrysotile: First U.S. Asbestos Ban

Decades in the Making

On March 18, 2024, the United States did something it had failed to do for nearly 40 years: ban asbestos.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s final rule prohibits ongoing uses of chrysotile asbestos — the only type still imported into the country — marking the first federal asbestos ban under the Toxic Substances Control Act. By the time the rule took effect, more than 70 countries had already enacted comprehensive bans. Iceland prohibited asbestos in 1983. The European Union followed in 2005. Even Canada, long a major asbestos producer, banned the mineral in 2018.

The US, where asbestos has killed tens of thousands of workers and continues to cause approximately 3,000 mesothelioma diagnoses annually, is finally catching up.

What the Ban Actually Does

The EPA’s rule — officially called the “Part 1 Chrysotile Asbestos Risk Management Rule” — prohibits the import, processing, manufacturing, and distribution of chrysotile asbestos. That sounds comprehensive, but the details matter.

For automotive brakes and clutches, the prohibition took effect immediately. Those uses had largely been phased out already.

For chlor-alkali manufacturing facilities, which use asbestos diaphragms to produce chlorine and sodium hydroxide, the timeline stretches far longer. These facilities have between five and twelve years to transition away from asbestos — a phase-out period that drew sharp criticism from health advocates who argued workers would continue to face exposure while waiting for companies to adopt alternatives.

A Partial Victory

Public health advocates celebrated the ban’s passage while acknowledging its limitations.

The rule addresses only chrysotile, one of six types of asbestos fibers. While chrysotile accounts for the vast majority of historical US asbestos use, the other five types — amosite, crocidolite, tremolite, anthophyllite, and actinolite — remain unregulated under this rule.

More significantly, the ban does not touch legacy asbestos. The millions of buildings, schools, homes, and industrial facilities that contain asbestos installed decades ago remain unaffected. Property owners face no new requirements to remove existing asbestos. When these materials deteriorate or get disturbed during renovations, fibers continue to enter the air.

The EPA describes this rule as “Part 1” for a reason. A second rulemaking process is underway that would address legacy asbestos and cover all six fiber types. A November 2024 risk evaluation found that disturbing legacy asbestos poses unreasonable health risks — the legal finding necessary to justify additional restrictions.

Why It Took So Long

The path to even this partial ban reflects decades of regulatory and legal obstacles.

In 1989, the EPA attempted a comprehensive asbestos ban under TSCA. Two years later, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals struck most of it down, ruling that the agency hadn’t adequately demonstrated that a ban was the least burdensome approach to addressing asbestos risks. That decision effectively paralyzed federal asbestos regulation for a generation.

The 2016 Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act reformed TSCA, giving the EPA stronger authority to regulate toxic substances. In 2020, the agency completed a risk evaluation finding that chrysotile posed unreasonable risks to health. By April 2022, it had proposed the current ban. The final rule came two years later.

The entire process took over 35 years from the original ban attempt. During that time, asbestos continued to be imported, processed, and used in American industry.

Legal Challenges Continue

The rule faces litigation from both sides.

Industry groups and chlor-alkali manufacturers have challenged the ban, arguing that the EPA exceeded its statutory authority and that the transition timelines are insufficient for facilities to adopt alternative technologies.

Health advocates have filed their own challenge. In 2025, the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization sued the EPA seeking faster phase-out timelines and coverage of all six asbestos fiber types, not just chrysotile.

As of July 2025, the EPA has confirmed that the ban remains in effect despite these challenges. Court decisions are pending.

The Global Gap

The comparison is sobering. The United States, which pioneered much of the research documenting asbestos’s deadly effects, lagged behind dozens of nations in acting on that knowledge. And even now, the US ban remains narrower than most — limited to chrysotile, silent on legacy materials, and years away from full implementation.

What Comes Next

The EPA’s Part 2 rulemaking will determine whether the United States finally achieves comprehensive asbestos regulation. That process would address the asbestos already embedded in buildings and infrastructure across the country — a challenge far more complex than stopping new imports.

For now, the 2024 ban represents a step forward, if a belated one. Workers in chlor-alkali plants will eventually see their asbestos exposure eliminated. New asbestos will stop entering the country. The legal framework for stronger action has been established.

Whether the remaining gaps get closed depends on the regulatory and legal battles still to come.