ATRA Calls Durbin’s Newly Proposed READ Act A ‘Trade-off’ For FACT Act Legislation
From the Madison County Record
Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) introduced a bill in the U.S. Senate last week that would require companies to file annual reports disclosing information about any asbestos-containing products to the Environmental Protection Agency.
The bill, called the Reducing Exposure to Asbestos Database (READ) Act, was introduced by Durbin on March 10 and was co-sponsored by Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.).
“Every year, far too many Americans and their families suffer the deadly consequences of asbestos exposure,” Durbin said in a press release. ”The goal of this legislation is simple: increase the transparency and accessibility of data informing the public about where asbestos is known to be present. This information will increase awareness, reduce exposure, and help save lives.”
President Ronald Reagan signed a similar bill into law in 1988 called the Asbestos Information Act, which required manufacturers and processors of asbestos-containing material to make a one-time report providing information about their products to the EPA.
Those reports were published in the Federal Register. Because the law pre-dated the Internet, Durbin said his bill modernizes Reagan’s law by making the reports easily accessible on a searchable online database.
The READ Act would require annual reports, rather than a one-time filing, and would also require companies to provide information disclosing any publicly-accessible locations in which the products were known to be present in the past year.
Read more in our daily News Update...
From the Madison County Record
Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) introduced a bill in the U.S. Senate last week that would require companies to file annual reports disclosing information about any asbestos-containing products to the Environmental Protection Agency.
The bill, called the Reducing Exposure to Asbestos Database (READ) Act, was introduced by Durbin on March 10 and was co-sponsored by Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.).
“Every year, far too many Americans and their families suffer the deadly consequences of asbestos exposure,” Durbin said in a press release. ”The goal of this legislation is simple: increase the transparency and accessibility of data informing the public about where asbestos is known to be present. This information will increase awareness, reduce exposure, and help save lives.”
President Ronald Reagan signed a similar bill into law in 1988 called the Asbestos Information Act, which required manufacturers and processors of asbestos-containing material to make a one-time report providing information about their products to the EPA.
Those reports were published in the Federal Register. Because the law pre-dated the Internet, Durbin said his bill modernizes Reagan’s law by making the reports easily accessible on a searchable online database.
The READ Act would require annual reports, rather than a one-time filing, and would also require companies to provide information disclosing any publicly-accessible locations in which the products were known to be present in the past year.
Read more in our daily News Update...