WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Sen. Arlen Specter said yesterday the asbestos compensation bill he is co-sponsoring is ?very much alive? and that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist told him there would be another vote on it.

The bill to create an industry-financed $140 billion fund to pay injury claims lost a close Senate procedural vote on Tuesday evening.

Specter?s legislation is backed by W.R. Grace and Co. USG Corp. and some of the 70 other companies pushed into bankruptcy by tens of thousands of asbestos injury claims.

However, some smaller companies oppose a compensation fund, fearing they could be forced to pay more into it than they would face in private lawsuits.

Specter, of Pennsylvania, Inouye, was a supporter of the bill ? and Frist had changed his vote to ?no? at the last minute to give himself the option, under Senate rules, of asking the Senate to reconsider.

But Specter acknowledged other senators could change their minds and deprive him of 60 votes. ?Whenever you have a revote, you have a flexible situation.?