II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1112

To protect children and other vulnerable subpopulations from exposure to

environmental pollutants, to protect children from exposure to pesticides

in schools, and to provide parents with information concerning toxic

chemicals that pose risks to children, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 24, 1999

Mrs. BOXER (for herself and Mr. LAUTENBERG) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and

Public Works

A BILL

To protect children and other vulnerable subpopulations from

exposure to environmental pollutants, to protect children

from exposure to pesticides in schools, and to provide

parents with information concerning toxic chemicals that

pose risks to children, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Children’s Environ5 mental Protection Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION FOR CHILDREN

2 AND OTHER VULNERABLE SUBPOPULATIONS.

3 The Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 2601

4 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

5 ‘‘TITLE V—ENVIRONMENTAL

6 PROTECTION FOR CHILDREN

7 AND OTHER VULNERABLE

8 SUBPOPULATIONS

9 ‘‘SEC. 501. FINDINGS AND POLICY.

10 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

11 ‘‘(1) the protection of public health and safety

12 depends on individuals and government officials

13 being aware of the pollution dangers that exist in

14 their homes, schools, and communities, and whether

15 those dangers present special threats to the health

16 of children and other vulnerable subpopulations;

17 ‘‘(2) children spend much of their young lives

18 in schools and day care centers, and may face sig19 nificant exposure to pesticides and other environ20 mental pollutants in those locations;

21 ‘‘(3) the metabolism, physiology, and diet of

22 children, and exposure patterns of children to envi23 ronmental pollutants differ from those of adults and

24 can make children more susceptible than adults to

25 the harmful effects of environmental pollutants;
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1 ‘‘(4) a study conducted by the National Acad2 emy of Sciences that particularly considered the ef3 fects of pesticides on children concluded that current

4 approaches to assessing pesticide risks typically do

5 not consider risks to children and, as a result, cur6 rent standards and tolerances often fail to ade7 quately protect children;

8 ‘‘(5) there are often insufficient data to enable

9 the Administrator, when establishing an environ10 mental and public health standard for an environ11 mental pollutant, to evaluate the special suscepti12 bility or exposure of children to environmental pol13 lutants;

14 ‘‘(6) when data are lacking to evaluate the spe15 cial susceptibility or exposure of children to an envi16 ronmental pollutant, the Administrator generally

17 does not presume that the environmental pollutant

18 presents a special risk to children and generally does

19 not apply a special or additional margin of safety to

20 protect the health of children in establishing an envi21 ronmental or public health standard for that pollut22 ant; and

23 ‘‘(7) safeguarding children from environmental

24 pollutants requires the systematic collection of data

25 concerning the special susceptibility and exposure of
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1 children to those pollutants, and the adoption of an

2 additional safety factor of at least 10-fold in the es3 tablishment of environmental and public health

4 standards where reliable data are not available.

5 ‘‘(b) POLICY.—It is the policy of the United States

6 that—

7 ‘‘(1) the public has the right to be informed

8 about the pollution dangers to which children are

9 being exposed in their homes, schools and commu10 nities, and how those dangers may present special

11 health threats to children and other vulnerable sub12 populations;

13 ‘‘(2) each environmental and public health

14 standard for an environmental pollutant established

15 by the Administrator must, with an adequate margin

16 of safety, protect children and other vulnerable sub17 populations;

18 ‘‘(3) where data sufficient to evaluate the spe19 cial susceptibility and exposure of children (including

20 exposure in utero) to an environmental pollutant are

21 lacking, the Administrator should presume that the

22 environmental pollutant poses a special risk to chil23 dren and should apply an appropriate additional

24 margin of safety of at least 10-fold in establishing
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1 an environmental or public health standard for that

2 environmental pollutant;

3 ‘‘(4) since it is difficult to identify all conceiv4 able risks and address all uncertainties associated

5 with pesticide use, the use of dangerous pesticides in

6 schools and day care centers should be eliminated;

7 and

8 ‘‘(5) the Environmental Protection Agency, the

9 Department of Health and Human Services (includ10 ing the National Institute of Environmental Health

11 Sciences and the Agency for Toxic Substances and

12 Disease Registry), the National Institutes of Health,

13 and other Federal agencies should support research

14 on the short-term and long-term health effects of cu15 mulative and synergistic exposures of children and

16 other vulnerable subpopulations to environmental

17 pollutants.

18 ‘‘SEC. 502. DEFINITIONS.

19 ‘‘In this title:

20 ‘‘(1) CHILD.—The term ‘child’ means an indi21 vidual 18 years of age or younger.

22 ‘‘(2) DAY CARE CENTER.—The term ‘day care

23 center’ means a center-based child care provider that

24 is licensed, regulated, or registered under applicable

25 State or local law.
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1 ‘‘(3) ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANT.—The term

2 ‘environmental pollutant’ includes a hazardous sub3 stance subject to regulation under the Comprehen4 sive Environmental Response, Compensation, and

5 Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601), a drinking

6 water contaminant subject to regulation under the

7 Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300f et seq.),

8 an air pollutant subject to regulation under the

9 Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.), a water pol10 lutant subject to regulation under the Federal Water

11 Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.), and

12 a pesticide subject to regulation under the Federal

13 Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (7

14 U.S.C. 136 et seq.).

15 ‘‘(4) PESTICIDE.—The term ‘pesticide’ has the

16 meaning given the term in section 2 of the Federal

17 Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (7

18 U.S.C. 136).

19 ‘‘(5) SCHOOL.—The term ‘school’ means an ele20 mentary school (as defined in section 14101 of the

21 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965

22 (20 U.S.C. 8801)), a secondary school (as defined in

23 section 14101 of that Act), a kindergarten, or a

24 nursery school that is public or receives Federal

25 funding.
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1 ‘‘(6) VULNERABLE SUBPOPULATION.—The

2 term ‘vulnerable subpopulation’ means children,

3 pregnant women, the elderly, individuals with a his4 tory of serious illness, and other subpopulations

5 identified by the Administrator as being likely to ex6 perience special health risks from environmental pol7 lutants.

8 ‘‘SEC. 503. SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN AND OTHER VULNER9 ABLE SUBPOPULATIONS.

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall—

11 ‘‘(1) ensure that each environmental and public

12 health standard for an environmental pollutant pro13 tects children and other vulnerable subpopulations

14 with an adequate margin of safety;

15 ‘‘(2) explicitly evaluate data concerning the spe16 cial susceptibility and exposure of children to any

17 environmental pollutant for which an environmental

18 or public health standard is established; and

19 ‘‘(3) adopt an additional margin of safety of at

20 least 10-fold in the establishment of an environ21 mental or public health standard for an environ22 mental pollutant in the absence of reliable data on

23 toxicity and exposure of the child to an environ24 mental pollutant or if there is a lack of reliable data

25 on the susceptibility of the child to an environmental
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1 pollutant for which the environmental and public

2 health standard is being established.

3 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHING, MODIFYING, OR REEVALUATING

4 ENVIRONMENTAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH STANDARDS.—

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In establishing, modifying,

6 or reevaluating any environmental or public health

7 standard for an environmental pollutant under any

8 law administered by the Administrator, the Adminis9 trator shall take into consideration available infor10 mation concerning—

11 ‘‘(A) all routes of children’s exposure to

12 that environmental pollutant; and

13 ‘‘(B) the special susceptibility of children

14 to the environmental pollutant, including neuro15 logical differences between children and adults,

16 the effect of in utero exposure to that environ17 mental pollutant, and the cumulative effect on

18 a child of exposure to that environmental pol19 lutant and other substances having a common

20 mechanism of toxicity.

21 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL SAFETY MARGIN.—If any of

22 the data described in paragraph (1) are not avail23 able, the Administrator shall, in completing a risk

24 assessment, risk characterization, or other assess25 ment of risk underlying an environmental or public
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1 health standard, adopt an additional margin of safe2 ty of at least 10-fold to take into account potential

3 pre-natal and post-natal toxicity of an environmental

4 pollutant, and the completeness of data concerning

5 the exposure and toxicity of an environmental pollut6 ant to children.

7 ‘‘(c) IDENTIFICATION AND REVISION OF CURRENT

8 ENVIRONMENTAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH STANDARDS

9 THAT PRESENT SPECIAL RISKS TO CHILDREN.—

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after

11 the date of enactment of this title and annually

12 thereafter, based on the recommendations of the

13 Children’s Environmental Health Protection Advi14 sory Committee established under section 507, the

15 Administrator shall—

16 ‘‘(A) repromulgate, in accordance with this

17 section, at least 3 of the environmental and

18 public health standards identified by the Chil19 dren’s Environmental Health Protection Advi20 sory Committee as posing a special risk to chil21 dren; or

22 ‘‘(B) publish a finding in the Federal Reg23 ister that provides the Administrator’s basis for

24 declining to repromulgate at least 3 of the envi25 ronmental and public health standards identi-
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1 fied by the Children’s Environmental Health

2 Protection Advisory Committee as posing a spe3 cial risk to children.

4 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION BY ADMINISTRATOR.—If

5 the Administrator makes the finding described in

6 paragraph (1)(B), the Administrator shall repromul7 gate in accordance with this section at least 3 envi8 ronmental and public health standards determined

9 to pose a greater risk to children’s health than the

10 environmental and public health standards identified

11 by the Children’s Environmental Health Protection

12 Advisory Committee.

13 ‘‘(3) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the

14 date of enactment of this title and annually there15 after, the Administrator shall submit a report to

16 Congress describing the progress made by the Ad17 ministrator in carrying out this subsection.

18 ‘‘SEC. 504. PROTECTING CHILDREN FROM EXPOSURE TO

19 PESTICIDES IN SCHOOLS.

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each school and day care center

21 that receives Federal funding shall—

22 ‘‘(1) take steps to reduce the exposure of chil23 dren to pesticides on school grounds, both indoors

24 and outdoors; and
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1 ‘‘(2) provide parents with advance notification

2 of any pesticide application on school grounds in ac3 cordance with subsection (b).

4 ‘‘(b) LEAST TOXIC PEST CONTROL STRATEGY.—

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall

6 distribute to each school and day care center the

7 current manual of the Environmental Protection

8 Agency that guides schools and day care centers in

9 the establishment of a least toxic pest control strat10 egy.

11 ‘‘(2) LIST.—Not later than 180 days after the

12 date of enactment of this Act and annually there13 after, the Administrator shall provide each school

14 and day care center with a list of pesticides that

15 contain a substance that the Administrator has iden16 tified as a known or probable carcinogen, a develop17 mental or reproductive toxin, a category I or II

18 acute nerve toxin, or a known or suspected endocrine

19 disrupter as identified by the endocrine disrupter

20 screening program of the Environmental Protection

21 Agency.

22 ‘‘(3) PROHIBITION OF PESTICIDE APPLICA23 TION.—Effective beginning on the date that is 2

24 years after the date of enactment of this Act, any

25 school or day care center that receives Federal fund-
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1 ing shall not apply any pesticide described in para2 graph (2), either indoors or outdoors.

3 ‘‘(4) EMERGENCY EXEMPTION.—

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An administrator of a

5 school or day care center may suspend the pro6 hibition under paragraph (3) for a period of not

7 more than 14 days if the administrator deter8 mines that a pest control emergency poses an

9 imminent threat to the health and safety of the

10 school or day care center community.

11 ‘‘(B) NOTICE.—

12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Prior to exercising

13 the authority under this paragraph, an ad14 ministrator shall give notice to the board

15 of the school or day care center of the rea16 sons for finding that a pest control emer17 gency exists.

18 ‘‘(ii) ACTION TAKEN.—An adminis19 trator that exercises the authority under

20 subparagraph (A) shall report any action

21 taken by personnel or outside contractors

22 in response to the pest control emergency

23 to the board of the school or day care cen24 ter at the next scheduled meeting of the

25 board.
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1 ‘‘(c) PARENTAL NOTICE PRIOR TO ANY PESTICIDE AP2 PLICATION.—

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An administrator of the

4 school or day care center shall provide written notice

5 to parents not later than 72 hours before any indoor

6 or outdoor pesticide application on the grounds of

7 the school or day care center.

8 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF NOTICE.—A notice under

9 this subsection shall include a description of the in10 tended area of application and the name of each pes11 ticide to be applied.

12 ‘‘(3) FORM.—A pesticide notice under this sub13 section may be incorporated into any notice that is

14 being sent to parents at the time the pesticide notice

15 is required to be sent.

16 ‘‘(4) WARNING SIGN.—

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An administrator of a

18 school or day care center shall post at any area

19 in the area of the school or day care center

20 where a pesticide is to be applied a warning

21 sign that is consistent with the label of the pes22 ticide and prominently displays the term ‘warn23 ing’, ‘danger’, or ‘poison’.

24 ‘‘(B) PERIOD OF DISPLAY.—During the

25 period that begins not less than 24 hours before
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1 the application of a pesticide and ends not less

2 than 72 hours after the application, a sign

3 under this subparagraph shall be displayed in a

4 location where it is visible to all individuals en5 tering the area.

6 ‘‘SEC. 505. SAFER ENVIRONMENT FOR CHILDREN.

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the

8 date of enactment of this title, the Administrator shall—

9 ‘‘(1) identify environmental pollutants com10 monly used or found in areas that are reasonably ac11 cessible to children;

12 ‘‘(2) create a scientifically peer reviewed list of

13 substances identified under paragraph (1) with

14 known, likely, or suspected health risks to children;

15 ‘‘(3) create a scientifically peer reviewed list of

16 safer-for-children substances and products rec17 ommended by the Administrator for use in areas

18 that are reasonably accessible to children that, when

19 applied as recommended by the manufacturer, will

20 minimize potential risks to children from exposure to

21 environmental pollutants;

22 ‘‘(4) establish guidelines to help reduce and

23 eliminate exposure of children to environmental pol24 lutants in areas reasonably accessible to children, in-
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1 cluding advice on how to establish an integrated pest

2 management program;

3 ‘‘(5) create a family right-to-know information

4 kit that includes a summary of helpful information

5 and guidance to families, such as the information

6 created under paragraph (3), the guidelines estab7 lished under paragraph (4), information on the po8 tential health effects of environmental pollutants,

9 practical suggestions on how parents may reduce

10 their children’s exposure to environmental pollut11 ants, and other relevant information, as determined

12 by the Administrator in cooperation with the Direc13 tor of the Centers for Disease Control and Preven14 tion;

15 ‘‘(6) make all information created pursuant to

16 this subsection available to Federal and State agen17 cies, the public, and on the Internet; and

18 ‘‘(7) review and update the lists created under

19 paragraphs (2) and (3) at least once each year.’’.

20 SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL REPORTING OF TOXIC CHEMICAL RE21 LEASES THAT AFFECT CHILDREN.

22 Section 313(f)(1) of the Emergency Planning and

23 Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (42 U.S.C.

24 11023(f)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the fol25 lowing:
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1 ‘‘(C) CHILDREN’S HEALTH.—

2 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—With respect to

3 each of the toxic chemicals described in

4 clause (ii) that are released from a facility,

5 the amount described in clause (iii).

6 ‘‘(ii) CHEMICALS.—Not later than 2

7 years after the date of enactment of this

8 subparagraph, the Administrator shall

9 identify each toxic chemical that the Ad10 ministrator determines may present a sig11 nificant risk to children’s health or the en12 vironment due to the potential of that

13 chemical to bioaccumulate, disrupt endo14 crine systems, remain in the environment,

15 or other characteristics, including—

16 ‘‘(I) any chemical or group of

17 chemicals that persists in any environ18 mental medium for at least 60 days

19 (as defined by half life) or that have

20 bioaccumulation or bioconcentration

21 factors greater than 1,000;

22 ‘‘(II) any chemical or group of

23 chemicals that, despite a failure to

24 meet the specific persistence or bio25 accumulation measuring criteria de-
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1 scribed in subclause (I), can be rea2 sonably expected to degrade into a

3 substance meeting those criteria; and

4 ‘‘(III) lead, mercury, dioxin, cad5 mium, and chromium and pollutants

6 that are bioaccumulative chemicals of

7 concern listed in subparagraph (A) of

8 table 6 of the tables to part 132 of

9 title 40, Code of Federal Regulations.

10 ‘‘(iii) THRESHOLD.—The Adminis11 trator shall establish a threshold for each

12 toxic chemical described in clause (ii) at a

13 level that shall ensure reporting for at

14 least 80 percent of the aggregate of all re15 leases of the chemical from facilities that—

16 ‘‘(I) have 10 or more full-time

17 employees; and

18 ‘‘(II) are in Standard Industrial

19 Classification Codes 20 through 39 or

20 in the Standard Industrial Classifica21 tion Codes under subsection

22 (b)(1)(B).

23 ‘‘(iv) ADDITIONAL FACILITIES.—If the

24 Administrator determines that a facility

25 other than a facility described in clause
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1 (iii) contributes substantially to total re2 leases of toxic chemicals described in

3 clause (ii), the Administrator shall require

4 that facility to comply with clause (iii).’’.

5 SEC. 4. RESEARCH TO IMPROVE INFORMATION ON THE EF6 FECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANTS ON

7 CHILDREN.

8 The Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 2601

9 et seq.) (as amended by section 2) is amended by adding

10 at the end the following:

11 ‘‘SEC. 506. RESEARCH TO IMPROVE INFORMATION ON THE

12 EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANTS

13 ON CHILDREN.

14 ‘‘(a) EXPOSURE AND TOXICITY DATA.—The Admin15 istrator, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Secretary

16 of Health and Human Services shall coordinate and sup17 port the development and implementation of basic and ap18 plied research initiatives to examine the health effects and

19 toxicity of pesticides (including active and inert ingredi20 ents) and other environmental pollutants on children and

21 other vulnerable subpopulations, and the exposure of chil22 dren and vulnerable subpopulations to environmental pol23 lutants.

24 ‘‘(b) BIENNIAL REPORTS.—The Administrator, the

25 Secretary of Agriculture, and the Secretary of Health and
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1 Human Services shall submit biennial reports to Congress

2 describing actions taken to carry out this section.’’.

3 SEC. 5. CHILDREN’S ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PROTEC4 TION ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

5 The Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 2601

6 et seq.) (as amended by section 4) is amended by adding

7 at the end the following:

8 ‘‘SEC. 507. CHILDREN’S ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PROTEC9 TION ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

10 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator shall es11 tablish a Children’s Environmental Health Protection Ad12 visory Committee to assist the Administrator in carrying

13 out this title.

14 ‘‘(b) COMPOSITION.—The Committee shall be com15 prised of medical professionals specializing in pediatric

16 health, educators, representatives of community groups,

17 representatives of environmental and public health non18 profit organizations, industry representatives, and State

19 environmental and public health department representa20 tives.

21 ‘‘(c) DUTIES.—Not later than 2 years after the date

22 of enactment of this title and annually thereafter, the

23 Committee shall develop a list of standards that merit re24 evaluation by the Administrator in order to better protect

25 children’s health.
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1 ‘‘(d) TERMINATION.—The Committee shall terminate

2 not later than 15 years after the date on which the Com3 mittee is established.

4 ‘‘SEC. 508. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

5 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

6 as are necessary to carry out this title.’’.

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