Lawmakers are working to pass a bill to protect Americans from the dangers of asbestos exposure.

In December 2015, a group of senators led by Democratic Sen. Tom Udall of New Mexico and Republican Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana successfully passed the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21^st Century Act, an update to earlier federal laws that regulate toxic substances.

The new bill would give the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) greater authority and funding to handle asbestos regulation, among other provisions. It is a product of years of careful negotiation and compromise. The new measure partially came about in response to concerns that current EPA regulations do not adequately protect the public from asbestos.

“[The new law] updates environmental standards in this part of the law, it updates EPA’s authority in a proper way, but it also focuses EPA on the chemicals it needs to focus on, demands complete transparency and use of sound science and has a national program so that American industry can remain innovators and don’t get burdened by 51 rulebooks from states all around the country,” Vitter said. “It strikes an appropriate balance between states’ role and EPA’s leading role.”

Republicans have praised the new bill as a job creator, while Democrats, for the most part, have championed the law on the grounds that it will help protect workers and the environment but giving the EPA more authority to regulate asbestos exposure laws.

Asbestos remains a major public health issue, despite regulations on the material. Asbestos first fell into widespread use during the Industrial Revolution. However, within the first few decades of the 20th century, doctors and medical researchers began to discover that asbestos exposure could lead to diseases such as mesothelioma and asbestosis.

Over the course of decades, regulations greatly decreased the uses of asbestos. Despite this, asbestos exposure remains a problem.

There are three main reasons asbestos exposure is still a problem. First, asbestos was never fully phased out. According to the EPA, a few uses remain, like certain car components and building materials. But this source of asbestos exposure is only the tip of the iceberg.

The second major reason asbestos exposure is still a hot-button issue is that asbestos exposure can cause disease decades after the initial exposure. In fact, it’s rare for a person to get mesothelioma less than a decade after the asbestos exposure. As such, asbestos mesothelioma lawsuits are still working their way through the courts.

Lastly, asbestos that was already in use did not disappear just because new asbestos was banned. Many homes and vehicles have asbestos built into them. For the most part, the asbestos that is bound up in building materials or sealed within walls and ceilings cannot hurt a person. But when such buildings are demolished or renovated improperly, the microscopic asbestos particles may be liberated and asbestos exposure may result.

Giving the EPA better enforcement authority and funding may help to reduce the risk of asbestos exposure. But many Americans have already developed asbestos diseases like mesothelioma and other asbestos cancers. Asbestos exposure will most likely continue to be an issue for decades to come.