EPA's Chrysotile Asbestos Ban Stays in Effect as the Fifth Circuit Weighs Industry Challenge

The Environmental Protection Agency’s 2024 ban on chrysotile asbestos remains in effect while the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit weighs a challenge to the rule. The court heard oral argument on June 1, 2026, and a decision has not yet been issued. Recent coverage describing the challenge as dropped overstates a narrower development: one company stepped back, while the core dispute is still being litigated.

The case is consolidated in the Fifth Circuit as Texas Chemistry Council v. EPA, No. 24-60193, filed in April 2024. It joins competing petitions. Industry petitioners, including the American Chemistry Council and the Texas, Ohio, and Georgia chemistry councils, argue the rule goes too far. Public-health and labor petitioners, including the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization, the American Public Health Association, and the United Steelworkers, argue it does not go far enough. The EPA, now led by Administrator Lee Zeldin, is defending the rule as the respondent.

What the 2024 Rule Did

The rule at the center of the case is the EPA’s Part 1 chrysotile asbestos rule under Section 6 of the Toxic Substances Control Act. The agency finalized it on March 28, 2024, published it at 89 Federal Register 21,970, and made it effective on May 28, 2024.

The rule phases out the 6 remaining ongoing uses of chrysotile asbestos, the only form still imported into the United States. Those uses include asbestos diaphragms in the chlor-alkali industry, sheet gaskets in chemical production, oilfield brake blocks, aftermarket automotive brakes and linings, other vehicle friction products, and other gaskets. Compliance deadlines are phased across those categories rather than taking effect all at once. MesoWatch examined the import side of the rule in an investigation that found chrysotile imports had already fallen to zero in 2023, the year before the ban took effect.

What Actually Changed in May 2026

In early May 2026, Olin Corporation withdrew from the industry challenge. The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization, a petitioner on the public-health side, welcomed the move in a statement dated May 6, 2026. Advocacy coverage framed the withdrawal as a milestone.

The withdrawal of a single company did not end the case. Industry petitioners pressed their challenge at oral argument on June 1, 2026. The day after argument, the court issued a directive requesting supplemental briefing, and the parties, including the EPA, the chemistry councils, the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization, and the United Steelworkers, filed supplemental briefs on June 10, 2026. The litigation remains active.

Why It Matters for People Tracing Exposure

Chrysotile is the asbestos fiber most commonly linked to past occupational exposure in the United States, and the 2024 rule is the first time the EPA has moved to phase out its remaining uses under the strengthened Toxic Substances Control Act. The outcome of the Fifth Circuit case could affect how quickly those uses end, though the rule stays in force unless a court orders otherwise.

The ruling will not change the legal status of asbestos already in place in older buildings, ships, and products, which the 2024 rule did not address. The EPA opened a separate rulemaking on legacy asbestos, which the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization is also pursuing in a related lawsuit over the legacy-asbestos timeline.