“Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Protecting the U.S. Stone Slab Industry from Lawfare”
Meeting Status:
Scheduled
Date:
Location:
Capitol Complex, 2141 RHOB, Washington, DC, 20515, USA
Witnesses
Ms. Rebecca Shult
Executive President and General Counsel, Cambria Company LLC
Mr. James A. Hieb
Chief Executive Officer, Natural Stone Institute
Mr. Gary Talwar
Vice President, Natural Stone Resources
Mr. David Michaels
Professor, The George Washington University, The School of Medicine and Health Sciences,
Meeting Documents
- A letter from the American Tort Reform Association to Chairman Jordan dated September 18, 2025, submitted for the Record by Mr. Issa of CA.
- Bill Text of H.R. 5437, submitted for the Record by Mr. Issa of CA.
- A letter from the National Kitchen & Bath Association, NKBA, to Chairman Jordan dated November 21, 2025, submitted for the Record by Mr. Issa of CA.
- A letter from the Natural Stone Institute to Mr. McClintock dated October 10, 2025, submitted for the Record by Mr. Issa of CA.
- A letter from Chris Kubas, Executive Vice President of Elberton Granite Association, and Ross Oglesby, Board of Trustees President of Elberton Granite Association, to Representatives Allen and Collins, submitted for the Record by Mr. Issa of CA
- A verdict from the Superior Court of California in the Reyes-Gonzalez vs. Cambria Company LLC dated June 24, 2024, submitted for the Record by Mr. Raskin of Maryland.
- A letter from the Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics, AOEC, to Chairman Jordan and Ranking Member Raskin dated January 10, 2026, submitted for the Record by Mr. Johnson of GA.
- A letter from the American Public Health Association, APHA, to Chairman Jordan and Ranking Member Raskin dated January 13, 2026, submitted for the Record by Mr. Johnson of GA.
- A letter from Dr. Jane Fazio, Assistant Professor of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, and Dr. Sheiphali Gandhi, Assistant Professor of Occupational/Environmental Medicine and Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, submitted for the Record by Mr. Johnson of GA.
- A letter from AFL-CIO to Chairman Issa and Ranking Member Johnson dated January 13, 2026, submitted for the Record by Mr. Johnson of GA.
- A letter from the Western Occupational & Environmental Medical Association, WOEMA, to Joseph Alioto, Chair of the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, dated December 12, 2025, submitted for the Record by Mr. Johnson of GA.
- A document from Breton titled “Pioneer in the development of advanced technologies and materials”, submitted for the Record by Mr. Johnson of GA.
- A document from a Public and Business Meeting for the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board dated August 21, 2025, submitted for the Record by Mr. Johnson of GA.
- An article from Sage Journals titled “The Banning of Engineered Stone in Australia: An Evidence-Based and Precautionary Policy”, submitted for the Record by Mr. Johnson of GA.
- A Case Report titled “Interstitial pulmonary disease and aluminum trihydrate exposure: A single case report detailed workplace analysis”, submitted for the Record by Mr. Johnson of GA.
- A document from the Occupational Health Branch titled “Engineered Stone (ES) Silicosis Surveillance Dashboard” dated December 11, 2025, submitted for the Record by Mr. Johnson of GA.
- A document from JAMA Internal Medicine titled “Silicosis Among Immigrant Engineered Stone (Quartz) Countertop Fabrication Workers in California”, submitted for the Record by Mr. Johnson of GA.
- An article from AJPH titled “Silicosis Surveillance in California, 2019-2024: Tracking an Epidemic”, submitted for the Record by Mr. Johnson of GA.
- An article from Viewpoint: Turning the Air Blue titled “Deadly Countertops: An Urgent Need to Eliminate Silicosis among Engineered Stone Workers”, submitted for the Record by Mr. Johnson of GA.
- An article from BMJ titled “Prevalence and risk factors for silicosis among a large cohort of stone benchtop industry workers”, submitted for the Record by Mr. Johnson of GA.
- An article titled “Engineered Stone and Silicosis: An Acceptable Risk?”, submitted for the Record by Mr. Johnson of GA.
- An article from the American Journal of Industrial Medicine titled “Work Practices and Respirable Crystalline Silica Exposures in Stone Countertop Fabrication Shops”, submitted for the Record by Mr. Johnson of GA.
- An article from Experimental Lung Research titled “Artificial stone dust affects oxidative stress and epithelial barrier in CALU 3 cells” dated October 6, 2025, submitted for the Record by Mr. Johnson of GA.
- An article from ACS Organic & Inorganic titled “The Combined Role of Silanols and Oxidative Stress in Determining Engineered Stone Dust Toxicity”, submitted for the Record by Mr. Johnson of GA.
- A document from The Alpha Consulting Group titled “Stone Fabrication Silicosis Epidemic Expert Witness Report” dated January 14, 2026, submitted for the Record by Mr. Johnson of GA.
- A petition to Revise 8 CCR§ 5204 (Occupational Exposures to Respirable Crystalline Silica) Literature Index dated December 13, 2025, submitted for the Record by Mr. Johnson of GA.
- A letter to Joseph Alioto, Chair of the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, from Rosalie Banasiak, President of Western Occupational & Environmental Medical Association, submitted for the Record by Mr. Johnson of GA.
- A document from The New England Journal of Medicine titled “Pulmonary Fibrosis Associated with Aluminum Trihydrate (Corian) Dust” dated May 29, 2014, submitted for the Record by Mr. Johnson of GA.
- A document titled “Engineered Stone Fabrication Work Releases Volatile Organic Compounds Classified as Lung Irritants”, submitted for the Record by Mr. Johnson of GA.
- An article from the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health titled “From Engineered Stone Slab to Silicosis: A Synthesis of Exposure Science and Medical Evidence”, submitted for the Record by Mr. Johnson of GA.
- An article from Scientific Reports titled “Physico-chemical features and membranolytic activity of dust from low or no crystalline silica engineered stone with implications for toxicological assessment”, submitted for the Record by Mr. Johnson of GA.
- An article from Adelaide Exposure Science and Health titled “Engineered stone is now banned. How safe are new-generation low and no-silica stone materials?” dated 2025, submitted for the Record by Mr. Johnson of GA.
- An article from AVS Omega titled “Release of Crystalline Silica Nanoparticles during Engineered Stone Fabrication”, submitted for the Record by Mr. Johnson of GA.
- A document from Safe Work Australia titled “Review of the engineered stone prohibition” dated July 2025, submitted for the Record by Mr. Johnson of GA.
- An article from Wiley titled “Elevated exposures to respirable crystalline silica among engineered stone fabrication workers in California, January 2019 – February 2020, submitted for the Record by Mr. Johnson of GA.
- An article from CSIRO Public Health Research & Practice titled “Opening the policy window: How Australia banned engineered stone”, submitted for the Record by Mr. Johnson of GA.
- An article from BMJ titled “Doctors call for ban on cutting artificial stone after reporting first UK cases of silicosis” dated August 7, 2024, submitted for the Record by Mr. Johnson of GA.
- A document to OSHA's Docket Office from James Heib, Marble Institute of America, titled "OSHA's Proposed Silica Rule A Serious Concern for Construction Industry According to MIA" dated August 29, 2013, submitted for the Record by Mr. Johnson of GA.
- A document titled "Countertop Fabrication Operations in California" updated on January 13, 2026, submitted for the Record by Mr. Johnson of GA.
- A press release from the Milken Institute of Public Health dated February 10, 2017, submitted for the Record by Mr. Issa of CA.