Environmental Justice Act of 1992

Summary: TABLE OF CONTENTS: 
     Title I:  Identification of Environmental High Impact Areas 
     Title II:  Enforcement Initiatives 
     Title III:  Community Participation 
     Title IV:  Identification and Prevention of Health Impacts 
Environmental Justice Act of 1992 - 
Title I:  Identification of Environmental High Impact Areas
 - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to publish a list, in rank order, of the total weight of toxic chemicals present in each county or other geographic unit in the most recent five-year period for which data are available.  Designates the 100 counties with the highest total weight as Environmental High Impact Areas. 
Title II:  Enforcement Initiatives
 - Directs the Administrator and the Assistant Secretary of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to conduct compliance inspections or reviews of all toxic chemical facilities in such Areas at least every two years. 
Title III:  Community Participation
 - Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make a grant to individuals who may be affected by a release from any toxic chemical facility in such an Area to:  (1) facilitate access to the public participation provisions of this and other Acts; and (2) obtain technical assistance relating to inspections, reviews, and studies. 
Directs the Administrator to impose user fees or assessments on toxic chemical facilities in such Areas to substitute for appropriations as the funding mechanism for the grant program. 
Title  IV:  Identification and Prevention of Health Impacts
 - Requires the Secretary to issue a report identifying the extent of acute and chronic health impacts in such Areas as compared to other counties. 
Requires the President, if the report identifies significant adverse impacts, to report proposed legislation to the Congress to remedy and prevent such impacts.  Includes within such legislation: (1) expansion of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act of 1986 to include additional facilities or chemicals or reduced quantities of chemicals triggering reporting obligations; (2) a means to redress regulatory loopholes (such as wastes exempt from or subject to lessened regulatory requirements); and (3) taxes on emissions or restrictions on releases within such Areas to induce source reduction. 
Establishes a moratorium, with exceptions, on the siting or permitting of any toxic chemical facility in such Areas that may emit toxic chemicals in quantities that cause adverse health impacts if the report identifies adverse health impacts of environmental pollution. Continues the moratorium until certain health-based levels have been attained.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Environmental Justice Act of 1992''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSES AND POLICIES.

    The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to require the collection of data on environmental 
        health effects so that impacts on different individuals or 
        groups can be understood;
            (2) to identify those areas which are subject to the 
        highest loadings of toxic chemicals, through all media;
            (3) to assess the health effects that may be caused by 
        emissions in those areas of highest impact;
            (4) to ensure that groups or individuals residing within 
        those areas of highest impact have the opportunity and the 
        resources to participate in the technical process which will 
        determine the possible existence of adverse health impacts;
            (5) to require that actions be taken by authorized Federal 
        agencies to curtail those activities found to be having 
        significant adverse impacts on human health in those areas of 
        highest impact; and
            (6) to ensure that significant adverse health impacts that 
        may be associated with environmental pollution in the United 
        States are not distributed inequitably.

       TITLE I--IDENTIFICATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL HIGH IMPACT AREAS

SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS.

    For the purposes of this Act:
            (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection 
        Agency.
            (2) Environmental high impact areas.--The terms 
        ``Environmental High Impact Areas'' and ``EHIA'' mean the 100 
        counties or appropriate geographic units with the highest total 
        weight of toxic chemicals present during the course of the most 
        recent 5-year period for which data is available, as calculated 
        pursuant to section 102.
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.
            (4) Toxic chemicals.--The term ``toxic chemicals'' includes 
        all substances as defined in section 101(14) of the 
        Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 
        Liability Act of 1980; any hazardous waste listed or identified 
        pursuant to the Solid Waste Disposal Act; any pollutant for 
        which air quality standards have been issued pursuant to the 
        Clean Air Act; any pollutant for which water quality standards 
        have been issued pursuant to the Clean Water Act; all materials 
        registered pursuant to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and 
        Rodenticide Act; and all substances and chemicals subject to 
        reporting obligations pursuant to the Emergency Planning and 
        Community Right-to-Know Act.
            (5) Toxic chemical facilities.--The term ``toxic chemical 
        facilities'' includes all facilities including Federal 
        facilities subject to a permit, inspection or review, or 
        registration requirement pursuant to the authority of the Solid 
        Waste Disposal Act; the Clean Air Act; the Clean Water Act; the 
        Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act; and the 
        OSHA Hazard Communication Standard; as well as any facility 
        subject to reporting obligations pursuant to the Emergency 
        Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act.

SEC. 102. IDENTIFICATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL HIGH IMPACT AREAS.

    (a) Determination of Impacted Areas.--Within 6 months after the 
date of enactment, the Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances 
and Disease Registry, in consultation with the Environmental Protection 
Agency, the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, the 
National Center for Health Statistics and the Bureau of the Census, 
shall determine the basis for designation of Environmental High Impact 
Areas, either counties or another appropriate geographic unit.
    (b) Publication of List.--Within 12 months of enactment, the 
Administrator shall publish a list, in rank order, of the total weight 
of toxic chemicals present in each county or such appropriate 
geographic unit in the United States during the most recent five-year 
period for which data are available. The 100 counties or other 
appropriate geographic unit with the highest total weight shall be 
designated as Environmental High Impact Areas.
    (c) Compilation of List.--In compiling the list under subsection 
(a), the Administrator shall--
            (1) calculate with the best data available the total weight 
        of toxic chemicals present in each county by multiplying the 
        total volume of substances containing toxic chemicals (whether 
        waste, process or other material) by the concentration of toxic 
        chemicals contained in these substances;
            (2) adjust the weights calculated under paragraph (1) to 
        account for the relative toxicity of the toxic chemicals;
            (3) determine, with the best available data, the actual and 
        potential exposures, and toxicity of the toxic chemicals 
        present in each impacted area;
            (4) consider and utilize all appropriate data compiled 
        pursuant to any environmental regulatory authority and other 
        sources, including but not limited to available data on lead-
        based paint and the existence of pollutants from mobile 
        sources; and
            (5) distinguish between toxic chemicals which are (A) in a 
        contained, controlled environment such as barrels, factories, 
        warehouses, or lined landfills for any period of time during 
        the 5-year period; and (B) released into the air, water, soil 
        or groundwater of the area during the 5-year period as a result 
        of authorized or unauthorized activities.
    (d) Methods.--Within 6 months after the enactment of this Act, the 
Administrator in consultation with the Agency for Toxic Substances and 
Disease Registry shall publish for public comment the methods to be 
used to calculate the total weight of toxic chemicals in waste, 
process, or other materials, including the assumptions to be used when 
the precise concentrations of toxic chemicals are not known and the 
criteria used to account for relative toxicity, as required by 
subsection (b)(2).
    (e) Revision and Republication.--The Administrator shall revise and 
republish the list described in subsection (a) of this section not less 
than every 5 years, using data compiled for that 5-year period.

                   TITLE II--ENFORCEMENT INITIATIVES

SEC. 201. MANDATORY INSPECTIONS.

    To assure that facilities with the highest potential for release of 
toxic chemicals into the environment are operating in compliance with 
all applicable environmental, health and safety standards, the 
Administrator, and the Assistant Secretary of the Occupational Safety 
and Health Administration shall conduct compliance inspections or 
reviews of all toxic chemical facilities in Environmental High Impact 
Areas subject to their respective jurisdictions within 2 years after 
the enactment of this Act, and not less than every 2 years thereafter.

                   TITLE III--COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION

SEC. 301. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS.

    Subject to such amounts as may be appropriated and in accordance 
with rules promulgated by the Secretary in consultation with the 
Administrator, the Secretary may make grants available to any 
individual or group of individuals who may be affected by a release or 
threatened release from any toxic chemical facility in an EHIA. Such 
grants shall--
            (1) be designed to facilitate access by representatives of 
        EHIAs to the public participation provisions of this Act and 
        other law;
            (2) be used to obtain technical assistance relating to the 
        inspection and review authorities listed in section 201 of this 
        Act and the Secretarial study described in section 401 of this 
        Act; and
            (3) not exceed $50,000 for a single grant recipient.
Each grant recipient shall be required, as a condition of the grant, to 
contribute 20 percent of the total cost of the grant requested unless 
the grant recipient demonstrates financial need. Not more than one 
grant may be made with respect to each EHIA, but the grant may be 
renewed to facilitate public participation where necessary.

SEC. 302. FUNDING.

    Within one year after the enactment of this Act, the Administrator 
shall promulgate regulations establishing a system of fees or 
assessments on toxic chemical facilities in EHIAs to substitute for 
appropriations as the funding mechanism for the community grant program 
established in section 301. The fees or assessments shall take into 
account the volume adjustments provided in section 102(c).

       TITLE IV--IDENTIFICATION AND PREVENTION OF HEALTH IMPACTS

SEC. 401. SECRETARIAL STUDY.

    Within 24 months after the enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in 
consultation with the Administrator, the Secretary of the Department of 
Labor, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Commissioners of the 
United States Commission on Civil Rights, shall issue for public 
comment a report identifying the nature and extent, if any, of acute 
and chronic impacts on human health in EHIAs as compared to other 
counties. Such impacts shall include but not be limited to cancer, 
birth deformities, infant mortality rates, and respiratory diseases. 
The report shall be coordinated by the Administrator of the Agency for 
Toxic Substances Disease Registry, who shall work closely with the 
Directors of the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, 
the National Center for Health Statistics, and the Center for Disease 
Control, and shall seek to--
            (1) isolate the impacts of environmental pollution;
            (2) segregate the effects of other factors such as health 
        care availability or substance abuse or diet;
            (3) rank the relative risks posed by the toxic chemicals 
        present in EHIAs and by the varied sources of toxic chemicals, 
        both individually and cumulatively;
            (4) take into account the need to remedy the impacts of 
        pollution in high population density areas;
            (5) evaluate the levels below which release of toxic 
        chemicals, either individually or cumulatively, must be reduced 
        to avoid adverse impacts on human health; and
            (6) determine the impacts of uncontrolled releases.
As a result of the report in communities where the Administrator of the 
Agency for Toxic Substances Disease Registry has determined that 
adverse health impacts exist, the agency shall also make this 
information readily available to members of the community by providing 
information directly to the affected communities and tribal governments 
in the Environmental High Impact Areas about the release of toxic 
chemicals and the potential effects of such exposure.

SEC. 402. LEGISLATIVE RESPONSE.

    (a) Report.--If the report under section 401 identifies significant 
adverse impacts of environmental pollution on human health in EHIAs as 
a group, the President shall submit to Congress within one year after 
publication of the report, proposed legislation to remedy and prevent 
such impacts. Such legislation shall include--
            (1) expansion of EPCRA to include additional facilities, 
        additional chemicals, or reduced quantities of chemicals 
        triggering reporting obligations;
            (2) means to redress regulatory loopholes (such as 
        recycling and industrial wastes exempt from regulation under 
        subtitle C of the Solid Waste Disposal Act and wastes subject 
        to lessened regulatory requirements); and
            (3) measures such as taxes on uncontrolled or controlled 
        emissions, or restrictions on toxic chemical releasing 
        activities within an EHIA to induce source reduction in EHIAs, 
        regardless of whether facilities are in compliance with 
        existing law.
    (b) Report on Changes and Recommendations.--Within 2 years after 
publication of the report, the Administrator shall provide a report to 
the Congress which identifies all of the changes made or recommended to 
be made to the Environmental Protection Agency's existing regulations, 
the purpose for each change and the goals to be achieved as a result of 
the substantive changes. The Administrator shall also advise Congress 
of the regulatory changes that were not made because of the presence of 
conflicting statutory mandates or the lack of statutory authority.
    (c) Proposed Legislation.--Within 3 years after publication of the 
health impact study, the President shall submit to Congress proposed 
legislation to remedy the problems of conflicting statutory mandates or 
the lack of statutory authority identified in the report to Congress 
pursuant to subsection (b).

SEC. 403. MORATORIUM.

    If the report under section 401 finds significant adverse impacts 
of environmental pollution on human health in EHIAs, there shall be a 
moratorium on the siting or permitting of any new toxic chemical 
facility in any EHIA shown to emit toxic chemicals in quantities found 
to cause significant adverse impacts on human health. A new toxic 
chemical facility may be cited or permitted in such an EHIA during this 
period only if--
            (1) the need for the activity is shown to the Secretary;
            (2) the owner or operator of the facility demonstrates that 
        the facility will develop a plan and maintain a comprehensive 
        pollution prevention program; and
            (3) the facility demonstrates that it will minimize 
        uncontrolled releases into the environment.
The moratorium shall continue in effect in such an EHIA until the 
Administrator determines, upon petition of any interested party, that 
the health-based levels identified pursuant to section 401(5) have been 
attained at the EHIA.