Washington, July 16--Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist proposes to resolve legal claims over asbestos exposure with a $140 billion industry-financed fund to pay victims, aides close to lawmakers' talks said on Thursday.
The proposal from Frist, a Tennessee Republican, narrowed the differences between himself and Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota, who has suggested a $141 billion fund.
The leaders are trying to agree on the outlines of a fund that could be written into legislation. The idea is to establish a fund to pay victims' claims, to be financed by asbestos litigation defendants and insurers, while ending victims' right to sue.
A Senate aide said the gap between Frist's and Daschle's proposals may be about $4 billion wider than it appears because of differences in the way the two are calculated.
Another big issue is whether pending asbestos claims should be paid from the fund, or just those claims filed in the future, leaving pending claims to work their way through courts.
Asbestos was widely used for fireproofing and insulation until the 1970s. Scientists say inhaled fibers are linked to cancer and other diseases. Companies already have paid an estimated $70 billion on some 730,000 asbestos personal injury claims, according to the RAND Institute for Civil Justice.
Frist tried in April to bring an asbestos bill with a fund of up to $124 billion to the Senate floor, but was rebuffed by Democrats. They said it fell far short of the amount -- estimated at $149 billion by organized labor -- needed to compensate victims stretching years into the future.
"We thought Daschle's proposal, while a step forward, was not really sufficient. And if this counterproposal is less than that, it obviously is less sufficient," said Peg Seminario, the AFL-CIO's occupational health official.
Frist's proposal assumes $4 billion will come from existing asbestos bankruptcy trusts, one Senate aide said, although it is unclear how much of this money could be tapped.
The Manville Trust, set up in the 1980s to pay people sickened by asbestos after asbestos maker Johns-Manville Corp. filed for bankruptcy, opposes using its assets for any national trust fund.
Companies facing large asbestos liabilities include oil field services giant Halliburton Co, which has a pending $4.3 billion settlement with thousands of people who have filed asbestos and silica injury claims.
