The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in a July 8 filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that it will no longer seek to rewrite the 2024 rule that phases out the remaining uses of chrysotile asbestos. Instead, the agency told the court it will defend the Biden-era ban, effectively abandoning an earlier plan to revisit the regulation. The reversal comes less than three weeks after the EPA had asked the same court for time to consider changes it said might be needed because parts of the ban could have gone “beyond what is necessary.” That request would have opened a roughly 30-month rule-making process. Industry groups and the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization, which had separately sued to strengthen the ban, opposed any delay. Chrysotile asbestos is used in products such as brake blocks, diaphragms and sheet gaskets; other forms of the mineral are already prohibited. The EPA has estimated that asbestos exposure contributes to more than 40,000 deaths in the United States each year, including cases of lung cancer and mesothelioma. With the agency’s latest move, the Biden administration’s nationwide ban remains in force while litigation against the rule proceeds. The EPA said it may issue guidance to clarify workplace protections during gasket replacement but will not reopen the regulation itself.