Superfund Site Public Health Improvement Act

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Superfund Site Public Health 
Improvement Act''.

SEC. 2. PUBLIC HEALTH AT NPL FACILITIES.

    Section 104(i)(6) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 
Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9604(i)(6)) is 
amended as follows:
            (1) By amending subparagraph (A) to read as follows:
    ``(A) The Administrator of ATSDR shall perform a health assessment 
for each facility, including those facilities owned by any department, 
agency, or instrumentality of the United States, on the National 
Priorities List established under section 105. The health assessment 
shall be commenced as soon as practicable after each facility is 
proposed for inclusion on the National Priorities List and shall be 
completed not later than the date of issuance of a remedial 
investigation and feasibility study for the facility to allow full 
consideration in selecting the remedial action of the public health 
implications of any release.''.
            (2) By amending subparagraph (D) to read as follows:
    ``(D)(i) The Administrator and the Administrator of ATSDR shall 
develop strategies to obtain relevant on-site and off-site 
characterization data for use in a health assessment. The Administrator 
shall, to the maximum extent practicable, provide the Administrator of 
ATSDR with the data and information necessary to make health 
assessments sufficiently prior to the initiation of remedial actions to 
allow ATSDR to complete these assessments. Where deemed appropriate, 
the Administrator of ATSDR shall provide to the Administrator as soon 
as practicable after site discovery, recommendations for sampling 
environmental media for hazardous substances of public health concern. 
To the extent feasible, the Administrator shall incorporate such 
recommendations into its site investigation activities.
    ``(ii) In order to improve community involvement in health 
assessments, the Administrator of ATSDR shall carry out each of the 
following duties:
            ``(I) The Administrator of ATSDR shall actively collect 
        data from residents of affected communities and from other 
        sources in communities affected or potentially affected by 
        releases of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants 
        regarding exposure, relevant human activities, and other 
        factors.
            ``(II) The Administrator of ATSDR shall design health 
        assessments that take into account the needs and conditions of 
        the affected community. Community-based research models, 
        building links to local expertise, and local health resources 
        should be used. Each affected community shall be permitted to 
        play an active and early role in reviewing health assessment 
        designs. In preparing such designs, emphasis shall be placed on 
        collection of actual exposure data and sources of multiple 
        exposure shall be considered.''.

SEC. 3. HEALTH STUDIES.

    Subparagraph (A) of section 104(i)(7) of the Comprehensive 
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 
U.S.C. 9604(i)(7)) is amended to read as follows: ``(A) Whenever in the 
judgment of the Administrator of ATSDR it is appropriate on the basis 
of the results of a health assessment or on the basis of other 
appropriate information, the Administrator of ATSDR shall conduct a 
human health study of exposure or other health effects for selected 
groups or individuals in order to determine the desirability of 
conducting full scale epidemiologic or other health studies of the 
entire exposed population.''.

SEC. 4. DISTRIBUTION OF MATERIALS TO HEALTH PROFESSIONALS AND MEDICAL 
              CENTERS.

    Paragraph (14) of section 104(i) of the Comprehensive Environmental 
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9604(i)) 
is amended to read as follows:
    ``(14) In implementing this subsection and other health-related 
provisions of this Act in cooperation with the States, the 
Administrator of ATSDR shall--
            ``(A) assemble, develop as necessary, and distribute to the 
        States, medical colleges, physicians, nursing institutions, 
        nurses, and other health professionals and medical centers, 
        appropriate educational materials (including short courses) on 
        the medical surveillance, screening, and methods of prevention, 
        diagnosis, and treatment of injury or disease related to 
        exposure to hazardous substances (giving priority to those 
        listed in paragraph (2)), through means the Administrator of 
        ATSDR considers appropriate; and
            ``(B) assemble, develop as necessary, and distribute to the 
        general public and to at-risk populations appropriate 
        educational materials and other information on human health 
        effects of hazardous substances.''.
SEC. 5. GRANT AWARDS, CONTRACTS, AND COMMUNITY ASSISTANCE ACTIVITIES.

    Section 104(i)(15) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 
Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 6904(i)(15)) is 
amended as follows:
            (1) By inserting ``(A)'' before ``The activities''.
            (2) In the first sentence, by striking ``cooperative 
        agreements with States (or political subdivisions thereof)'' 
        and inserting ``grants, cooperative agreements, or contracts 
        with States (or political subdivisions thereof), other 
        appropriate public authorities, public or private institutions, 
        colleges, universities, and professional associations giving 
        consideration to those colleges and universities that are 
        historically black colleges and universities and to other 
        educational institutions that primarily serve minorities or 
        represent the interests of affected communities''.
            (3) By adding at the end the following new subparagraphs:
    ``(B) When a health assessment is conducted at a facility on the 
National Priorities List, or a release is being evaluated for inclusion 
on the National Priorities List, the Administrator of ATSDR may provide 
the assistance specified in this paragraph to public or private 
nonprofit entities, individuals, and community-based groups that may be 
affected by the release or threatened release of hazardous substances 
in the environment.
    ``(C) The Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and 
Disease Registry, pursuant to the grants, cooperative agreements and 
contracts referred to in this paragraph, is authorized and directed to 
provide, where appropriate, health services to communities affected by 
the release of hazardous substances. Such health services may include 
diagnostic services, specialized treatment, health data registries and 
preventative public health education.''.

SEC. 6. PUBLIC HEALTH RECOMMENDATIONS IN REMEDIAL ACTIONS.

    Section 121(c) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 
Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9621(c)) is amended 
in the first sentence by inserting after ``remedial action'' the second 
time it appears the following: ``, including public health 
recommendations and decisions resulting from activities under section 
104(i),''.

Summary: Superfund Site Public Health Improvement Act - Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 to include US Government facilities on the National Priorities List (NPL) among those requiring a health assessment by the Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). Requires all health assessments to be commenced as soon as practicable after proposal for inclusion on the NPL and to be completed no later than the date of issuance of a remedial investigation and feasibility study. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the ATSDR Administrator to develop strategies to obtain characterization data for use in health assessments. Requires the EPA Administrator to provide data sufficiently prior to initiation of remedial actions to allow ATSDR to complete its assessments and requires the ATSDR Administrator, where appropriate, to provide EPA as soon as practicable after site discovery with recommendations for sampling environmental media for hazardous substances of public health concern. Directs the ATSDR Administrator to improve community involvement in health assessments by: (1) collecting data from residents of affected communities and other sources in communities affected or potentially affected by hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants. And (2) designing assessments that take into account the needs and conditions of the community and permitting affected communities to play an active and early role in reviewing assessment designs. Directs the ATSDR Administrator to include other appropriate information as a basis for conducting human health studies of exposure or other health effects in order to determine whether to conduct full-scale epidemiological or other health studies of the exposed population. Revises provisions regarding distribution by ATSDR of educational materials concerning hazardous substance exposure to health professionals and medical centers to: (1) include nursing institutions and nurses as recipients of such materials, (2) add materials on methods of prevention. And (3) require distribution to the general public and at-risk populations of such materials and other information. Authorizes the ATSDR Administrator, in addition to using cooperative agreements, to carry out activities through grants to or contracts with States and political subdivisions, other public authorities, institutions, colleges, universities, and professional associations, giving consideration to historically black colleges and other educational institutions that primarily serve minorities or represent the interests of affected communities. Authorizes assistance, when a health assessment is conducted at a facility on the NPL or a release is being evaluated for inclusion on such list, to public and nonprofit entities, individuals, and community-based groups that may be affected by the release or threatened release. Authorizes and directs the provision of health services to affected communities. Requires the President to add to the review at least every five years of remedial actions that result in a site remaining contaminated a review of public health recommendations and decisions resulting from ATSDR activities.