I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1969

To amend the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and

Liability Act of 1980, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 29, 1995

Mr. STUDDS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Commerce

A BILL

To amend the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, 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 ‘‘Superfund Site Public

5 Health Improvement Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. PUBLIC HEALTH AT NPL FACILITIES.

7 Section 104(i)(6) of the Comprehensive Environ8 mental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of

9 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9604(i)(6)) is amended as follows:
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1 (1) By amending subparagraph (A) to read as

2 follows:

3 ‘‘(A) The Administrator of ATSDR shall perform a

4 health assessment for each facility, including those facili5 ties owned by any department, agency, or instrumentality

6 of the United States, on the National Priorities List estab7 lished under section 105. The health assessment shall be

8 commenced as soon as practicable after each facility is

9 proposed for inclusion on the National Priorities List and

10 shall be completed not later than the date of issuance of

11 a remedial investigation and feasibility study for the facil12 ity to allow full consideration in selecting the remedial ac13 tion of the public health implications of any release.’’.

14 (2) By amending subparagraph (D) to read as

15 follows:

16 ‘‘(D)(i) The Administrator and the Administrator of

17 ATSDR shall develop strategies to obtain relevant on-site

18 and off-site characterization data for use in a health as19 sessment. The Administrator shall, to the maximum ex20 tent practicable, provide the Administrator of ATSDR

21 with the data and information necessary to make health

22 assessments sufficiently prior to the initiation of remedial

23 actions to allow ATSDR to complete these assessments.

24 Where deemed appropriate, the Administrator of ATSDR

25 shall provide to the Administrator as soon as practicable
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1 after site discovery, recommendations for sampling envi2 ronmental media for hazardous substances of public

3 health concern. To the extent feasible, the Administrator

4 shall incorporate such recommendations into its site inves5 tigation activities.

6 ‘‘(ii) In order to improve community involvement in

7 health assessments, the Administrator of ATSDR shall

8 carry out each of the following duties:

9 ‘‘(I) The Administrator of ATSDR shall ac10 tively collect data from residents of affected commu11 nities and from other sources in communities af12 fected or potentially affected by releases of hazard13 ous substances, pollutants, or contaminants regard14 ing exposure, relevant human activities, and other

15 factors.

16 ‘‘(II) The Administrator of ATSDR shall design

17 health assessments that take into account the needs

18 and conditions of the affected community. Commu19 nity-based research models, building links to local

20 expertise, and local health resources should be used.

21 Each affected community shall be permitted to play

22 an active and early role in reviewing health assess23 ment designs. In preparing such designs, emphasis

24 shall be placed on collection of actual exposure data
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1 and sources of multiple exposure shall be consid2 ered.’’.

3 SEC. 3. HEALTH STUDIES.

4 Subparagraph (A) of section 104(i)(7) of the Com5 prehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and

6 Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9604(i)(7)) is amended

7 to read as follows: ‘‘(A) Whenever in the judgment of the

8 Administrator of ATSDR it is appropriate on the basis

9 of the results of a health assessment or on the basis of

10 other appropriate information, the Administrator of

11 ATSDR shall conduct a human health study of exposure

12 or other health effects for selected groups or individuals

13 in order to determine the desirability of conducting full

14 scale epidemiologic or other health studies of the entire

15 exposed population.’’.

16 SEC. 4. DISTRIBUTION OF MATERIALS TO HEALTH PROFES17 SIONALS AND MEDICAL CENTERS.

18 Paragraph (14) of section 104(i) of the Comprehen19 sive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liabil20 ity Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9604(i)) is amended to read

21 as follows:

22 ‘‘(14) In implementing this subsection and other

23 health-related provisions of this Act in cooperation with

24 the States, the Administrator of ATSDR shall—
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1 ‘‘(A) assemble, develop as necessary, and dis2 tribute to the States, medical colleges, physicians,

3 nursing institutions, nurses, and other health profes4 sionals and medical centers, appropriate educational

5 materials (including short courses) on the medical

6 surveillance, screening, and methods of prevention,

7 diagnosis, and treatment of injury or disease related

8 to exposure to hazardous substances (giving priority

9 to those listed in paragraph (2)), through means the

10 Administrator of ATSDR considers appropriate; and

11 ‘‘(B) assemble, develop as necessary, and dis12 tribute to the general public and to at-risk popu13 lations appropriate educational materials and other

14 information on human health effects of hazardous

15 substances.’’.

16 SEC. 5. GRANT AWARDS, CONTRACTS, AND COMMUNITY AS17 SISTANCE ACTIVITIES.

18 Section 104(i)(15) of the Comprehensive Environ19 mental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of

20 1980 (42 U.S.C. 6904(i)(15)) is amended as follows:

21 (1) By inserting ‘‘(A)’’ before ‘‘The activities’’.

22 (2) In the first sentence, by striking ‘‘coopera23 tive agreements with States (or political subdivisions

24 thereof)’’ and inserting ‘‘grants, cooperative agree25 ments, or contracts with States (or political subdivi-
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1 sions thereof), other appropriate public authorities,

2 public or private institutions, colleges, universities,

3 and professional associations giving consideration to

4 those colleges and universities that are historically

5 black colleges and universities and to other edu6 cational institutions that primarily serve minorities

7 or represent the interests of affected communities’’.

8 (3) By adding at the end the following new sub9 paragraphs:

10 ‘‘(B) When a health assessment is conducted at a fa11 cility on the National Priorities List, or a release is being

12 evaluated for inclusion on the National Priorities List, the

13 Administrator of ATSDR may provide the assistance spec14 ified in this paragraph to public or private nonprofit enti15 ties, individuals, and community-based groups that may

16 be affected by the release or threatened release of hazard17 ous substances in the environment.

18 ‘‘(C) The Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Sub19 stances and Disease Registry, pursuant to the grants, co20 operative agreements and contracts referred to in this

21 paragraph, is authorized and directed to provide, where

22 appropriate, health services to communities affected by the

23 release of hazardous substances. Such health services may

24 include diagnostic services, specialized treatment, health

25 data registries and preventative public health education.’’.
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1 SEC. 6. PUBLIC HEALTH RECOMMENDATIONS IN REMEDIAL

2 ACTIONS.

3 Section 121(c) of the Comprehensive Environmental

4 Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42

5 U.S.C. 9621(c)) is amended in the first sentence by insert6 ing after ‘‘remedial action’’ the second time it appears the

7 following: ‘‘, including public health recommendations and

8 decisions resulting from activities under section 104(i),’’.

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