Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican, is leading an effort that would take asbestos lawsuits out of ordinary courts and establish a national system, which some call a trust fund, to compensate victims. The fund would have between $90 billion and $100 billion, people involved in the effort say.

Skyrocketing asbestos injury lawsuits are blamed for clogging U.S. courts and driving over 60 companies into bankruptcy. Hatch wants a bipartisan asbestos reform bill passed as soon as possible.

“There’s a lot of good faith conversations going on about the idea of a trust fund,” said Mike Baroody, executive vice president of the National Association of Manufacturers and chairman of the steering committee of the Asbestos Alliance, a coalition of business and insurers.

“We’re in the process of writing a bill, under the direction of Senator Hatch, and working with (Democrat) Senator (Patrick) Leahy, insurers, the business community and the AFL-CIO (labor union umbrella group),” said Joel Johnson, spokesman for the Asbestos Study Group, comprised of Fortune 500 companies that are defendants in asbestos suits.

“The negotiations are centered on making a trust fund work,” Johnson said.

(via Reuters)