미국 EPA, Asbestos 사용금지 규정 발표

2024년 3월18일 미국 EPA는 Chrysotile Asbestos 수입/사용 금지를 발표

  - 미국 Chlor Alkali 업계는 현재 8개 공장에서 미국 염소생산의 약 1/3에 Asbestos  Diaphragm을 사용 중.

  - EPA는 CA산업용 Asbestos 수입은 즉시 금지.

  - 8개 Asbestos Diaphragm 사용 공장 중, 6개 공장은 5년내 Asbestos를 사용하지 않는 공장으로 전환하고 2개 공장도 이후 전환 예상.
 

Biden-Harris Administration finalizes ban on ongoing uses of asbestos to protect people from cancer

March 18, 2024

Contact Information

EPA Press Office (press@epa.gov)

WASHINGTON – Today, March 18, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a final rule to prohibit ongoing uses of chrysotile asbestos, the only known form of asbestos currently used in or imported to the United States. The ban on ongoing uses of asbestos is the first rule to be finalized under the 2016 amendments to the nation’s chemical safety law, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which received near-unanimous support in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. The action marks a major milestone for chemical safety after more than three decades of inadequate protections and serious delays during the previous administration to implement the 2016 amendments.

Chlor-alkali Sector

The chlor-alkali sector uses asbestos diaphragms to make sodium hydroxide and chlorine, a critical use of which is to disinfect drinking water and wastewater. There are other ways to disinfect water and other ways to produce chlorine; in fact, two-thirds of the chlorine produced in the U.S. is produced without using asbestos. While there are only eight chlor-alkali plants in the United States that still use asbestos diaphragms, EPA must still ensure that the eight facilities have a reasonable transition time for the phase out of asbestos that does not inadvertently adversely impact drinking or wastewater purification efforts.

EPA is banning the import of asbestos for chlor-alkali use immediately to close the door forever on the use of asbestos by this sector. The eight remaining facilities that use asbestos must transition to either non-asbestos diaphragms or to non-asbestos membrane technology, and the final rule ensures that six of the eight will have completed this transition within five years, with the remaining two to follow.

• EPA has determined that converting facilities from using diaphragms that contain asbestos to those that do not within five years provides both a reasonable transition time and is as soon as practicable without disrupting the supply of chlorine that is needed for water purification purposes. EPA also believes that five of the eight facilities likely plan to undergo such conversions.
• EPA has also determined that converting facilities from using diaphragms that contain asbestos to non-asbestos membrane technology requires extensive construction, additional permits, specialized expertise and parts for which there are limited suppliers. EPA has therefore determined that a reasonable transition time for companies that plan to transition multiple facilities to non-asbestos membrane technology is five years to convert their first facility, eight years to convert their second and 12 years to convert their third, and the facilities will be required to certify their continued progress with EPA.