Baucus staff collects input on FAIR
Staff members from the offices of U.S. senators Max Baucus and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) were in Libby on Wednesday gathering input on asbestos reform legislation expected to reach the Senate floor later this month.
The Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act, or FAIR, is designed to relieve corporations of asbestos-related liabilities, which has forced numerous companies in bankruptcy. The act establishes a trust fund, paid for by the asbestos companies and their insurers, to compensate individuals diagnosed with asbestos-related disease.
Baucus has worked with Specter to develop a "Libby fix" to ensure adequate compensation for people exposed to the deadly amphibole asbestos that contaminated the vermiculite mined and processed in the Libby area from the 1920s until 1990 when the mine's last owner, W.R. Grace, ended operations. Baucus has pledged to kill the bill if the Libby fix is not included in the final version.
On Wednesday, Baucus state director Melodee Hanes and Washington, D.C., staff members Matthew Jones and Stacey Gordon were in Libby along with Nathan Morris from Specter's office. They visited the Center for Asbestos-Related Disease and met members of the CARD board before and after meeting with the county commissioners.
Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) has made FAIR a top priority for when the Senate reconvenes next week, Gordon said.
"We anticipate that it will come to the floor at the end of January," she said.
Under the Libby fix:
l Libby claimants are exempted from the exposure criteria in the bill - they just have to establish that they lived, worked or played within a 20-mile radius of Libby for any 12-month period prior to Dec. 31, 2004.
l Libby claimants are exempted from the bill's medical criteria; the bill establishes special medical criteria applicable only to Libby claimants.
l Libby claimants can choose to have their claims referred to an expert physicians' panel, which will utilize the special medical criteria developed for Libby claimants to ensure that they are treated fairly.
l If the Libby claimants comply with the Libby-specific medical criteria, they will receive a Level 4 award, or $400,000, essentially establishing a floor of compensation of $400,000 for sick Libby claimants.
"This population, in my opinion, deserves some special consideration for the health problems, the deaths, the economic losses that we've had," Commissioner Rita Windom said.
The commissioners have been supportive of efforts to find funding for asbestos-related health care, Commissioner John Konzen said. The health care plan initiated by W.R. Grace isn't enough, especially with Grace in bank
ruptcy, Konzen said.
"The Grace plan under bankruptcy scares us," he said. "When do they pull the plug, and these people get left in the lurch?"
Grace's bankruptcy underscores the importance of the Libby fix, Windom said. She said that as a conservative, she isn't inclined to look to the government for solutions to problems but in this case there doesn't seem to be any other answer.
"We would like to see W.R. Grace remain a viable company and foot these bills, but I don't think that's going to happen," she said.