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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 10304 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                               H. R. 10304

 To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to 
  revise section 61.206 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, to 
  approve certain distribution or use of phosphogypsum, and for other 
                               purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 5, 2024

  Mr. Frost (for himself and Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                                Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to 
  revise section 61.206 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, to 
  approve certain distribution or use of phosphogypsum, and for other 
                               purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``No Radioactive Roads Act of 2024''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Since 1992, the Environmental Protection Agency 
        (hereinafter referred to as the ``EPA'') has prohibited the use 
        of phosphogypsum in road construction, citing numerous 
        scenarios that would expose the public, and especially road 
        construction workers, to an unacceptable risk of cancer.
            (2) EPA prohibited use of phosphogypsum in roads because it 
        contains uranium and radium that produce radionuclides linked 
        to higher risks of cancer and genetic damage. The Clean Air Act 
        was amended in 1977 after finding that exposure to radioactive 
        materials can cause serious harm to health, and that exposures 
        to radioactivity are cumulative, which means each new or 
        additional exposure increases the risk of serious illness.
            (3) EPA found that phosphogypsum used in roads could 
        contaminate nearby surface and groundwater quality through 
        leaching, and that radioactive material could be resuspended 
        into the air by wind and vehicle traffic.
            (4) EPA found that stacking of phosphogypsum presented a 
        lifetime cancer risk of 9.1 in 100,000, meaning that any 
        alternative distribution of phosphogypsum must meet this same 
        protective threshold.
            (5) The Director of EPA's Office of Radiation and Indoor 
        Air has testified that use of phosphogysum as ``road building 
        material could not meet the EPA's risk criteria''.
            (6) EPA has further acknowledged it cannot authorize 
        categorical approvals and requires case-by-case consideration 
        of other uses.

SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF OTHER PURPOSE.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 2 years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Environmental 
Protection Agency shall promulgate a final rule revising section 61.206 
of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, to ensure the following:
            (1) Any request that Administrator approve distribution or 
        use of phosphogypsum for any purpose not expressly specified in 
        section 61.204 or 61.205 of title 40, Code of Federal 
        Regulations, shall include--
                    (A) the maximum individual risk imposed on a person 
                due to exposure to a pollutant; and
                    (B) a description of measures to minimize, to the 
                greatest extent possible, exposure to any individual 
                who may be directly or indirectly exposed to 
                phosphogypsum, in furtherance of the other purpose, 
                including a--
                            (i) construction worker;
                            (ii) utility worker;
                            (iii) user of any final product that 
                        includes phosphogypsum; or
                            (iv) nearby resident of an area of exposure 
                        to phosphogypsum.
                    (C) a description of both surfacewater and 
                groundwater exposure pathways and a monitoring program 
                to eliminate potential exposure to contaminants within 
                the water pathways that includes--
                            (i) an estimate of the amount and 
                        composition of leachate from phosphogypsum 
                        expected from the phosphogypsum application 
                        throughout the product's lifecycle;
                            (ii) an estimate of ecotoxicity impacts 
                        from potential leachate contamination of nearby 
                        or downstream environments (soil, vegetation, 
                        waterways, and aquatic life); and
                            (iii) a written plan approved by the 
                        Administrator for quarterly leachate and 
                        ecotoxicity monitoring of the nearby and 
                        immediately downstream environments, including 
                        soil, vegetation, waterways, and aquatic life.
            (2) Any approval for distribution or use of phosphogypsum 
        for any purpose not expressly specified in sections section 
        61.204 or 61.205 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations--
                    (A) shall be determined on a case-by-case basis; 
                and
                    (B) may not exceed a maximum individual risk of 9.1 
                in 100,000.
            (3) Any request that the Administrator approves 
        distribution or use of phosphogypsum for any purpose not 
        expressly specified in section 61.204 or 61.205 of title 40, 
        Code of Federal Regulations, including the results of any 
        required testing specified in paragraph (1)(C) shall be made 
        publicly available on the public website of the Environmental 
        Protection Agency.
    (b) Maximum Individual Risk.--In this Act, the term ``maximum 
individual risk'' means the highest increase in lifetime cancer risk an 
individual faces in a population that is exposed to the highest 
concentration of phosphogypsum over a 70-year period.
                                 <all>
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