II

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 110

To require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to

seek advice concerning environmental risks, and for other purpposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 21 (legislative day, JANUARY 5), 1993

Mr. MOYNIHAN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

A BILL

To require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to seek advice concerning environmental

risks, and for other purpposes.

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 ‘‘Environmental Risk

5 Reduction Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND POLICY.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

8 (1) the cost of protecting the quality of the en9 vironment currently exceeds $115,000,000,000 per

10 year;
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1 (2) providing protection to a continually in2 creasing population from the deleterious effects of

3 global climatic change, stratospheric ozone depletion,

4 the loss of biological diversity, and waste products

5 will result in increases in the cost referred to in

6 paragraph (1);

7 (3) although the cost referred to in paragraph

8 (1) is not necessarily excessive, the amount is too

9 substantial for the funds to be used ineffectively or

10 inefficiently;

11 (4) there is a need to coordinate the develop12 ment and implementation of environmental policies

13 among policymakers of the Federal Government and

14 the governments of States and political subdivisions

15 of States;

16 (5) a key role of the Federal Government in the

17 development of environmental policy is to support

18 research to upgrade environmental science and engi19 neering;

20 (6) ecological resources are extraordinarily valu21 able, and risks to the resources either directly or in22 directly degrade human health and the economy;

23 (7) the most effective use of the funds referred

24 to in paragraph (1) would—
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1 (A) protect the greatest number of individ2 uals from the most harm; and

3 (B) be supported by a public perception

4 that subparagraph (A) is being carried out;

5 (8) pollution prevention and toxic use reduction

6 are preferred techniques for environmental protec7 tion;

8 (9) the techniques referred to in paragraph

9 (8)—

10 (A) should be considered, if feasible, in de11 cisions related to environmental protection; and

12 (B) have recognized limitations, as some

13 environmental hazards cannot be ameliorated

14 through the use of the techniques;

15 (10) the ranking of relative risk is another im16 portant technique for environmental protection;

17 (11) the determination of safety is a social con18 struct instead of a scientific one, and is based more

19 on the values of individual control and social equity

20 than on the knowledge of a defined risk;

21 (12) notwithstanding paragraph (11), scientific

22 information plays an essential role in supporting en23 vironmental decisions by policymakers, as members

24 of the general public use scientific information to
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1 understand the likelihood, nature, and magnitude of

2 potential risks;

3 (13) it is necessary to maintain a clear concep4 tual distinction between the techniques of risk as5 sessment and risk management;

6 (14) a risk assessment should—

7 (A) be the most accurate and informative

8 quantitative evaluation of risk that is prac9 ticable to conduct; and

10 (B) include a statement of important iden11 tifiable uncertainties;

12 (15) risk management is a political process as

13 well as a technical one;

14 (16) risk management integrates the findings of

15 a risk assessment with other considerations, such as

16 economic considerations, legislative mandates, and

17 the level of public concern;

18 (17) good risk management requires a reliable

19 and strictly objective risk assessment;

20 (18) the ranking of relative risks to human

21 health, welfare, and ecological resources is a complex

22 task, and is best performed by technical experts who

23 do not have interests that could bias objective judg24 ment;
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1 (19) applying technology and resources to ad2 dress the highest ranked risks within the intent of

3 existing environmental laws and identifying highly

4 ranked risks not addressed by law can significantly

5 reduce risks to human health, welfare, and ecological

6 resources;

7 (20) some populations of special concern appear

8 to have a greater degree of sensitivity to environ9 mental hazards, including pregnant women and

10 fetuses, children, the elderly, chronically ill individ11 uals, and individuals with certain racial and genetic

12 characteristics;

13 (21) better risk assessment methodologies and

14 a long-term commitment to collecting monitoring

15 data on the condition of ecological resources and ex16 posure of humans and ecosystems to pollutants are

17 necessary to ensure—

18 (A) the identification of the greatest risks

19 to human health and the environment; and

20 (B) that environmental laws are applied in

21 such manner as to accomplishing the intended

22 results of the laws;

23 (22) ranking risks must be an ongoing process

24 and must reflect improvements in environmental

25 data and scientific understanding;
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1 (23) the Administrator needs a major national

2 data base concerning environmental hazards to aid

3 in the adjustment of priorities and programs to di4 rect resources to ensure success in efforts to address

5 the hazards;

6 (24) the environmental monitoring and assess7 ment program created under this Act provides the

8 functional equivalent of an environmental statistics

9 program;

10 (25) although the National Academy of

11 Sciences has documented flaws in the administration

12 and management of the environmental monitoring

13 and assessment program of the Agency in an interim

14 report issued June 1992, the flaws can be addressed

15 through improvements in the program, and more

16 time is needed to address the flaws; and

17 (26) effective and efficient strategies to reduce

18 risks must quantify significant costs and benefits to

19 the greatest extent possible.

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

21 that—

22 (1) the environmental protection activities ad23 ministered by the Administrator shall attain the

24 greatest risk reduction possible with the resources

25 available to the Administrator; and
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1 (2) the ability to reduce risks requires—

2 (A) accurate, quantitative estimates of the

3 exposure of humans and ecosystems to all im4 portant risk factors;

5 (B) accurate techniques for predicting the

6 effects of the exposure referred to in subpara7 graph (A);

8 (C) an adequate understanding of tech9 nical, economic, social, and legal alternatives to

10 achieve a reduction in exposure to risk factors;

11 and

12 (D) accurate estimates of the costs and

13 benefits of alternatives for reducing risks.

14 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

15 As used in this Act:

16 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis17 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ18 mental Protection Agency.

19 (2) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Agency’’ means the

20 Environmental Protection Agency.

21 (3) ECOLOGICAL RESOURCE.—The term ‘‘eco22 logical resource’’ means a nonhuman living thing or

23 habitat (and the interaction between a nonhuman

24 living things and habitat) including a lake, stream,

25 forest, wetland, desert, tundra, ocean, estuary,
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1 beach, grassland, agricultural area, or a vegetated

2 urban or suburban area.

3 (4) EFFECT.—The term ‘‘effect’’ means a dele4 terious change in the condition—

5 (A) of a human or other living thing, (in6 cluding death, cancer or other chronic illness,

7 decreased reproductive capacity, or disfigure8 ment); or

9 (B) of an inanimate thing important to

10 human welfare (including destruction, degenera11 tion, the loss of intended function, and in12 creased costs for maintenance).

13 (5) ENVIRONMENTAL LAW.—The term ‘‘envi14 ronmental law’’ means any environmental law ad15 ministered by the Administrator that provides for

16 the protection of the environment, including—

17 (A) title XIV of the Public Health Service

18 Act (commonly known as the Safe Drinking

19 Water Act, 42 U.S.C. 300f et seq.);

20 (B) the Federal Water Pollution Control

21 Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.);

22 (C) the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et

23 seq.);

24 (D) the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and

25 Rodenticide Act (7 U.S.C. 136 et seq.);
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1 (E) the Toxic Substances Control Act (15

2 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.);

3 (F) the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42

4 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.);

5 (G) the Comprehensive Environmental Re6 sponse, Compensation, and Liability Act of

7 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.);

8 (H) the Superfund Amendments and Re9 authorization Act of 1986 (Public Law 99–

10 499);

11 (I) the Marine Protection, Research, and

12 Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1431 et

13 seq.); and

14 (J) any law administered by the Adminis15 trator concerning protection from sources of ra16 diation.

17 (6) EXPOSURE.—The term ‘‘exposure’’ means

18 the juxtaposition in time and space of a stressor

19 with a human or other living thing or an inanimate

20 thing important to human welfare, in such manner

21 that an effect could result.

22 (7) IRREVERSIBILITY.—The term

23 ‘‘irreversibility’’ means the extent to which a return

24 to conditions prior to the occurrence of an effect are
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1 either very slow or will never occur (as determined

2 by the Administrator).

3 (8) LIKELIHOOD.—The term ‘‘likelihood’’

4 means the estimated probability that an effect will

5 occur.

6 (9) MAGNITUDE.—The term ‘‘magnitude’’

7 means the number of individuals or the quantity of

8 ecological resources or other resources that contrib9 ute to human welfare that are affected by exposure

10 to a stressor.

11 (10) RESPONSE.—The term ‘‘response’’ has the

12 same meaning as the term ‘‘effect’’ under paragraph

13 (4).

14 (11) RISK.—The term ‘‘risk’’ means the prob15 ability of the occurrence of an event.

16 (12) RISK ASSESSMENT.—The term ‘‘risk as17 sessment’’ means a process that uses a factual base

18 to—

19 (A) identify, characterize, and to the ex20 tent practicable quantify the potential adverse

21 effects of exposure of individuals, populations,

22 habitats, ecosystems, or materials to hazardous

23 pollutants, environmental activities, or other sit24 uations; and
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1 (B) to the extent practicable, identify and

2 characterize identifiable important uncertain3 ties.

4 (13) RISK MANAGEMENT.—The term ‘‘risk

5 management’’ means, with respect to environmental

6 decisionmaking, the process of weighing policy alter7 natives and seeking the most appropriate regulatory

8 action that integrates the results of a risk assess9 ment with social, economic, political, and other ap10 propriate concerns to arrive at a decision.

11 (14) SERIOUSNESS.—The term ‘‘seriousness’’

12 means the intensity of effect, independent of the

13 magnitude.

14 (15) STRESSOR.—The term ‘‘stressor’’ means a

15 physical, chemical, or biological factor resulting from

16 human activity that is capable of causing an effect

17 on human health, welfare, or ecological resources.

18 (16) SUSTAINABILITY.—With respect to ecologi19 cal resources, the term ‘‘sustainability’’ means the

20 ability to maintain diverse, self-reproducing biologi21 cal communities that are capable of meeting the cur22 rent needs of humans without compromising the

23 ability of future generations to meet needs, includ24 ing—
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1 (A) needs for natural resources such as

2 food, fiber, lumber, fish, and game;

3 (B) environmental services such as flood

4 mitigation, water storage, and the regulation of

5 the chemistry of the atmosphere, oceans, and

6 inland waters;

7 (C) opportunities for recreation and sci8 entific study; and

9 (D) the need for appreciation of the beauty

10 and diversity of nature.

11 (17) UNCERTAINTY.—The term ‘‘uncertainty’’

12 means the quantifiable and unquantifiable potential

13 error in the estimation of risk that is caused by the

14 quality of data, or the assumptions used in risk esti15 mation.

16 SEC. 4. EXPERT ADVISORY COMMITTEES.

17 (a) REDUCTION.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Through the careful assess19 ment and ranking of relative risks and the options

20 for the management of the risks, the Administrator

21 shall use the resources available to the Adminis22 trator pursuant to environmental laws to reduce

23 those risks to human health and welfare, and risks

24 to ecological resources, that the Administrator deter-
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1 mines to be the most likely, most serious, most irre2 versible, and of the greatest magnitude.

3 (2) OPERATION OF LAW.—In carrying out para4 graph (1) the Administrator shall—

5 (A) conduct a reduction of risk in a man6 ner consistent with the requirements of the en7 vironmental laws and any other law; and

8 (B) consider social, economic, and such

9 other related concerns as the Administrator de10 termines to be appropriate.

11 (3) ADVISORY COMMITTEES.—In order to en12 sure that the reduction of risks referred to in para13 graph (1) is based on the best available scientific un14 derstanding, the Administrator shall seek the advice

15 of the expert advisory committees established under

16 subsections (b) and (c).

17 (b) COMMITTEE ON RELATIVE RISKS.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall es19 tablish a Committee on Relative Risks (hereafter in

20 this subsection referred to as the ‘‘Committee’’). The

21 Committee shall be independent from the Science

22 Advisory Board.

23 (2) PURPOSE.—The Committee shall provide

24 expert advice concerning ranking the relative risks of
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1 stressors to human health, welfare, and ecological

2 resources.

3 (3) MEMBERS.—

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator

5 shall appoint 15 members to the Committee. In

6 making appointments to the Committee, the

7 Administrator may request nominations from

8 the heads of the National Academy of Sciences,

9 the National Academy of Engineering, the

10 Science Adviser of the President, and such

11 other individuals as the Administrator deter12 mines to be appropriate.

13 (B) REPRESENTATION.—The Adminis14 trator shall appoint a representative group of

15 individuals on the basis of the recognized exper16 tise and ability of the individuals in the areas

17 of human health effects, ecological effects, wel18 fare effects, engineering, economics, risk com19 munications, and such other specialties related

20 to risk management and risk assessment (that

21 do not incorporate a purely statistical ap22 proach) as the Administrator considers appro23 priate.

24 (C) CONSIDERATIONS OF THE ADMINIS25 TRATOR.—In making the appointments, the Ad-
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1 ministrator shall appoint members so as to rep2 resent a balanced spectrum of expertise and

3 ability. The Administrator shall take such ac4 tion as is necessary to ensure that—

5 (i) the appointments are made only on

6 the basis of the criteria referred to in the

7 previous sentence, and not on other cri8 teria, such as political affiliation; and

9 (ii) each member appointed to the

10 Committee has no real or apparent conflict

11 of interest with respect to serving on the

12 Committee.

13 (D) LIST.—The Administrator shall pub14 lish a list of the individuals who supply nomina15 tions pursuant to this paragraph.

16 (4) TERMS.—

17 (A) INITIAL TERMS.—Members initially

18 appointed to the Committee shall serve for the

19 following terms:

20 (i) Five members shall serve for an

21 initial term of 2 years.

22 (ii) Five members shall serve for an

23 initial term of 4 years.

24 (iii) Five members shall serve for an

25 initial term of 6 years.
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1 (B) SUBSEQUENT TERMS.—Upon comple2 tion of a term referred to under subparagraph

3 (A), each member of the Committee subse4 quently appointed or reappointed shall serve for

5 a term of 6 years. A vacancy on the Committee

6 shall be filled in the same manner as the ap7 pointment was made.

8 (5) CHAIRPERSON.—Members of the Committee

9 shall elect a Chairperson from among the members.

10 The Chairperson shall serve for a term of 2 years.

11 (6) CRITERIA AND GUIDELINES.—The Commit12 tee shall establish appropriate criteria and guidelines

13 to carry out the duties of the Committee under para14 graph (7).

15 (7) DUTIES.—The Committee shall—

16 (A) identify and rank the greatest environ17 mental risks to human health, welfare, and eco18 logical resources, and incorporate the overall

19 likelihood, seriousness, magnitude, and

20 irreversibility of each of the risks;

21 (B) identify a common list of the greatest

22 risks to human health, welfare, and ecological

23 resources; and
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1 (C) assess the state of pertinent scientific

2 understanding and other factors contributing to

3 uncertainty in the ranking of relative risk.

4 (8) IDENTIFICATION.—The Committee shall

5 identify risks in such manner as to also identify—

6 (A) the need for new laws; and

7 (B) priorities under existing laws.

8 (9) PUBLIC MEETINGS.—The Committee shall

9 hold open public meetings to solicit input from the

10 general public and such other sources as the Com11 mittee determines to be appropriate.

12 (10) REPORTS.—

13 (A) REPORTS TO THE ADMINISTRATOR.—

14 In accordance with this subsection, the Chair15 person of the Committee shall report to the Ad16 ministrator the findings of the Committee.

17 (B) FREQUENCY OF REPORTS.—The

18 Chairperson of the Committee shall report the

19 findings of the Committee to the Administrator

20 on or before August 1, 1995, and not less fre21 quently than every 2 years thereafter. Upon re22 ceipt of the report, the Administrator shall for23 ward a copy of the report to the Science Advi24 sory Board.

25 (11) REVIEW BY SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD.—
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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Science Advisory

2 Board shall review each report submitted to the

3 Administrator and to Congress pursuant to

4 paragraph (10) by not later than 6 months

5 after the date of issuance of the report, and re6 port the findings of each review to the Commit7 tee and to the Administrator.

8 (B) REVIEW BY COMMITTEE.—The Com9 mittee shall review the findings of the Science

10 Advisory Board, and shall by not later than 6

11 months after the date of receipt of the findings,

12 revise the content of the report to take into

13 consideration the findings of the Science Advi14 sory Board, and submit the revised report to

15 the Administrator.

16 (C) REVISED REPORT.—The Administrator

17 shall make available copies of the revised report

18 to the individuals and entities referred to in

19 subsection (e).

20 (c) COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall es22 tablish a Committee on Environmental Benefits

23 (hereafter in this subsection referred to as the

24 ‘‘Committee’’) to provide expert advice on estimating

25 quantitative benefits of reducing risks. The Commit-
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1 tee shall be independent from the Science Advisory

2 Board.

3 (2) MEMBERS.—

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator

5 shall appoint 15 members to the Committee. In

6 making appointments to the Committee, the

7 Administrator may request nominations from

8 the Association of Environmental and Resource

9 Economists and such other groups and individ10 uals as the Administrator determines to be ap11 propriate.

12 (B) REPRESENTATION.—The Adminis13 trator shall appoint a representative group of

14 individuals on the basis of the recognized exper15 tise and ability in areas including economics,

16 engineering, public administration, health care,

17 risk communication, and such other specialties

18 related to risk management and risk assessment

19 (that do not incorporate a purely statistical ap20 proach) as the Administrator considers to be

21 appropriate.

22 (C) CONSIDERATIONS OF THE ADMINIS23 TRATOR.—In making the appointments, the Ad24 ministrator shall appoint members in such fash25 ion as to represent a balanced spectrum of ex-
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1 pertise and ability. The Administrator shall

2 take such action as is necessary to ensure

3 that—

4 (i) the appointments are made only on

5 the basis of the criteria referred to in the

6 previous sentence, and not on other cri7 teria, such as political affiliation; and

8 (ii) each member appointed to the

9 Committee has no real or apparent conflict

10 of interest with respect to serving on the

11 Committee; and

12 (D) LIST.—The Administrator shall pub13 lish a list of the individuals who supply nomina14 tions pursuant to this paragraph.

15 (3) TERMS.—

16 (A) INITIAL TERMS.—Members initially

17 appointed to the Committee shall serve for the

18 following terms:

19 (i) Five members shall serve for an

20 initial term of 2 years.

21 (ii) Five members shall serve for an

22 initial term of 4 years.

23 (iii) Five members shall serve for an

24 initial term of 6 years.
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1 (B) SUBSEQUENT TERMS.—Upon comple2 tion of a term referred to under subparagraph

3 (A), each member of the Committee subse4 quently appointed or reappointed shall serve for

5 a term of 6 years. A vacancy on the Committee

6 shall be filled in the same manner as the ap7 pointment was made.

8 (4) CHAIRPERSON.— Members of the Commit9 tee shall elect a chairperson from among the mem10 bers. The Chairperson shall serve for a term of 2

11 years.

12 (5) CRITERIA AND GUIDELINES.—The Commit13 tee shall establish appropriate criteria and guidelines

14 to carry out the duties of the Committee under para15 graph (6).

16 (6) DUTIES OF THE COMMITTEE.—The Com17 mittee shall estimate, to the extent practicable, the

18 monetary value, and such other values as the Com19 mittee determines to be appropriate, of—

20 (A) avoiding premature mortality;

21 (B) avoiding cancer, diseases, birth de22 fects, and other health effects that reduce the

23 quality of life;

24 (C) preserving biological diversity and the

25 sustainability of ecological resources;
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1 (D) an aesthetic environment;

2 (E) services performed by ecosystems

3 (such as flood mitigation, provision of food or

4 materials, or regulating the chemistry of the air

5 or water) that, if lost or degraded, would have

6 to be replaced by technology; and

7 (F) avoiding other risks identified by the

8 Committee.

9 (7) PUBLIC MEETINGS.—The Committee shall

10 hold open public meetings to solicit input from the

11 general public and such other sources as the Com12 mittee determines to be appropriate.

13 (8) REPORTS.—

14 (A) REPORTS TO THE ADMINISTRATOR.—

15 In accordance with this subsection, the Chair16 person of the Committee shall report to the Ad17 ministrator the findings of the Committee.

18 (B) FREQUENCY OF REPORTS.—The

19 Chairperson of the Committee shall report the

20 findings of the Committee to the Administrator

21 on or before August 1, 1995, and not less fre22 quently than every 2 years thereafter. Upon re23 ceipt of the report, the Administrator shall for24 ward a copy of the report to the Science Advi25 sory Board.
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1 (9) REVIEW BY SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD.—

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Science Advisory

3 Board shall review each report submitted to the

4 Administrator and to Congress pursuant to

5 paragraph (8) by not later than 6 months after

6 the date of issuance of the report, and report

7 the findings of each review to the Committee

8 and to the Administrator.

9 (B) REVIEW BY COMMITTEE.—The Com10 mittee shall review the findings of the Science

11 Advisory Board, and shall by not later than 6

12 months after the date of receipt of the findings,

13 revise the content of the report to take into

14 consideration the findings of the Science Advi15 sory Board, and submit the revised report to

16 the Administrator.

17 (C) REVISED REPORT.—The Administrator

18 shall make available copies of the revised report

19 to the individuals and entities referred to in

20 subsection (e).

21 (d) COMPENSATION.—

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each member of a commit23 tee established under this section who is not an offi24 cer or employee of the Federal Government shall be

25 compensated at a rate not to exceed the daily equiv-
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1 alent of the annual rate of basic pay prescribed for

2 level IV of the Executive Schedule under section

3 5315 of title 5, United States Code, for each day

4 (including travel time) during which the member is

5 engaged in the performance of the duties of the com6 mittee. Each member of a committee established

7 under this section who is an officer or employee of

8 the United States shall serve without compensation

9 in addition to that received for service as an officer

10 or employee of the United States.

11 (2) TRAVEL.—The members of the committees

12 established under this section shall be allowed travel

13 expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence,

14 at rates authorized for employees of agencies under

15 subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States

16 Code, while away from their homes or regular places

17 of business in the performance of services for the

18 Commission.

19 (e) FINDINGS.—To ensure extensive opportunities for

20 public participation and access, the Administrator shall

21 communicate the findings in the reports of the committees

22 and the Science Advisory Board reviews submitted to the

23 Administrator pursuant to this section to—

24 (1) Congress;
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1 (2) such other Federal agencies as the Adminis2 trator determines to be appropriate;

3 (3) the governments of such States and political

4 subdivisions of States as the Administrator deter5 mines to be appropriate; and

6 (4) the general public.

7 (f) DISCLOSURE.—Each member of a committee es8 tablished under this section shall, as a condition to serving

9 on the committee, agree to fully disclose financial inter10 ests. The Administrator shall ensure that appropriate

11 measures are carried out to avoid any conflict of interest

12 with respect to a member.

13 (g) STUDIES.—The Administrator may enter into a

14 contract, execute an agreement, or issue a grant for carry15 ing out studies to generate information to assist a commit16 tee established under this section in efforts to rank relative

17 risks and estimate environmental benefits.

18 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry

19 out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated

20 to the Agency $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1994

21 through 2000.

22 SEC. 5. RISK ASSESSMENT GUIDELINES.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—

24 (1) RISK ASSESSMENTS.—To the extent prac25 ticable, the Administrator shall protect human
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1 health and the environment by using careful risk as2 sessments and the evaluation of options for reducing

3 risks.

4 (2) PROHIBITION.—The Administrator may not

5 interpret or apply any provision of this Act in such

6 manner as to delay a pending regulatory decision

7 based on the outcome of research or analysis of the

8 Administrator.

9 (b) RISK ASSESSMENT GUIDELINES.—The Adminis10 trator shall develop, and revise as appropriate, guidelines

11 to ensure consistency and technical quality in risk assess12 ments by specifying such minimum standards for different

13 risk assessment approaches, as are appropriate for the

14 scale of the problem, the level of scientific understanding,

15 and the available data.

16 (c) INITIAL GUIDELINES.—The initial set of guide17 lines referred to in subsection (b) shall include risk assess18 ments involving—

19 (1) human mutagenicity;

20 (2) human carcinogenicity;

21 (3) human developmental toxicants;

22 (4) human reproductive effects;

23 (5) human systemic toxicants;

24 (6) ecological effects of sources of pollutants

25 from single sites;
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1 (7) ecological effects of pollutants that originate

2 from many sites;

3 (8) ecological effects from physical alteration of

4 the environment;

5 (9) ecological effects of introducing nonnative

6 or genetically engineered organisms;

7 (10) pollutants affecting manmade materials;

8 and

9 (11) pollutants affecting the productivity of

10 soils.

11 (d) ADDITIONAL GUIDELINES.—The Administrator

12 shall develop such additional risk assessment guidelines as

13 the Administrator determines to be warranted—

14 (1) by the state of pertinent scientific under15 standing; and

16 (2) by the need for sound decisions to protect

17 human health, welfare, and the environment.

18 (e) MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS.—The risk assessment

19 guidelines developed under this section shall include the

20 following components:

21 (1) A hazard identification that demonstrates

22 whether exposure to a stressor is causally linked to

23 an effect.
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1 (2) An assessment that measures or estimates

2 the exposure of well-defined individuals, habitats,

3 populations, ecosystems, or materials to a stressor.

4 (3) An assessment that determines or estimates

5 the magnitude of response of affected individuals,

6 habitats, populations, ecosystems, or materials asso7 ciated with different levels of exposure to a stressor

8 under representative or reasonably foreseeable envi9 ronmental conditions.

10 (4) A risk characterization that provides an

11 overall description of the nature and magnitude of

12 probable effects resulting from alternative risk man13 agement options (including no action), together with

14 a quantitative estimate of the accompanying uncer15 tainties.

16 (f) PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER AND

17 REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Administrator shall—

18 (1) publish all initial risk assessment guidelines

19 referred to in subsection (c) in the Federal Register

20 not later than 5 years after the date of the enact21 ment of this Act, and report annually to Congress

22 on progress toward this goal;

23 (2) ensure that the guidelines are reviewed by

24 the Science Advisory Board; and
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1 (3) after taking into account the findings of the

2 review of the Science Advisory Board and public

3 comments, modify the guidelines and publish such

4 revised guidelines in the Federal Register as are re5 quired to meet under subsection (d).

6 SEC. 6. RISK ASSESSMENT RESEARCH.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—In order to provide the most cost8 effective use of environmental resources and to ensure that

9 the risk assessment process of the Agency is based on sta10 tistically sound and adequate environmental data and sci11 entific understanding, the Administrator shall conduct a

12 long-term core research program concerning environ13 mental risk assessment research.

14 (b) ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND ASSESS15 MENT PROGRAM.—As part of the program referred to in

16 subsection (a), the Administrator shall conduct a research

17 program to—

18 (1) design and evaluate methods and networks

19 to collect monitoring data on the current and chang20 ing condition of the environment (including human

21 health, ecological resources, materials, and exposure

22 to environmental stressors) that are relevant to mak23 ing decisions at the Federal level about alternative

24 risk assessment and risk reduction options;
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1 (2) in cooperation with the heads of other Fed2 eral agencies with relevant programs, implement the

3 monitoring programs referred to in paragraph (1);

4 (3) manage data from the monitoring programs

5 in forms and formats that are technically accurate,

6 objective, and readily accessible to the scientific com7 munity and the general public (including providing

8 attention to unavoidable uncertainties with respect

9 to the data and the interpretation of the data); and

10 (4) provide annual statistical reports and peri11 odic interpretive reports of the results of the mon12 itoring programs to Congress and the general public.

13 (c) ENVIRONMENTAL RISK ASSESSMENT RESEARCH

14 PROGRAM.—As part of the program referred to in sub15 section (a), the Administrator shall conduct a long-term

16 core program to establish a firm scientific basis for initial

17 and subsequent risk assessment guidelines, including

18 methods for—

19 (1) assessing the exposure of humans, ecological

20 resources, and materials to stressors and combina21 tions of stressors, including methods for determining

22 the relation between an environmental exposure and

23 the probability of and scope of the effect;
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1 (2) accurately predicting the effects of exposure

2 to stressors on human health, ecological resources,

3 and materials;

4 (3) quantifying statistical uncertainty in expo5 sure and stress-response estimates;

6 (4) quantifying the social and economic values

7 of effects on human health, welfare, and ecological

8 resources;

9 (5) evaluating and developing measurements to

10 aid in understanding and defining public awareness

11 of the likelihood, seriousness, magnitude, and

12 irreversibility of each risk examined in a risk assess13 ment; and

14 (6) developing methods for the effective commu15 nication of the degree of risk.

16 (d) LONG-TERM RESEARCH PLANNING.—At least

17 one-half of the research activities conducted under this Act

18 shall be under contracts or assistance agreements with

19 universities and other nonprofit or not-for-profit organiza20 tions (as defined by the Administrator). The assistance

21 and contracts shall be—

22 (1) awarded under full and open competition;

23 and
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1 (2) for a period of at least 3 years, under which

2 full funding shall be obligated at the beginning of

3 the contract or agreement.

4 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

5 are authorized to be appropriated to the Agency to carry

6 out this section $80,000,000 for fiscal year 1994,

7 $130,000,000 for fiscal year 1995, and $200,000,000 for

8 each of fiscal years 1996 through 2000.

9 SEC. 7. INVOLVEMENT OF THE SCIENTIFIC AND TECH10 NICAL COMMUNITY.

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—In developing the risk assessment

12 guidelines under section 5 and in developing and imple13 menting the core research program concerning environ14 mental risk assessment research under section 6, the Ad15 ministrator shall, to the maximum extent practicable, use

16 the resources and personnel of the Agency.

17 (b) INTENT OF CONGRESS.—It is the intent of Con18 gress that the Administrator, in addition to using the re19 sources and personnel of the Agency pursuant to sub20 section (a), should aggressively solicit the advice of the

21 Science Advisory Board and such other specialists in sci22 entific fields as the Administrator determines to be appro23 priate to develop, evaluate, and interpret technical and sci24 entific information.
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1 SEC. 8. INTERAGENCY PANEL ON RISK ASSESSMENT AND

2 REDUCTION.

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established an Inter4 agency Panel on Risk Assessment and Reduction (here5 after in this section referred to as the ‘‘Interagency

6 Panel’’) for the purpose of coordinating Federal research,

7 data gathering, and implementation of environmental risk

8 assessment and risk reduction activities.

9 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Interagency Panel shall con10 sist of one representative from each of the following Fed11 eral agencies, nominated by the head of the agency (or

12 with respect to an individual described in paragraph (9),

13 nominated by the President Chairperson of the Commit14 tee, as appropriate) and appointed by the President:

15 (1) The Environmental Protection Agency.

16 (2) The Department of the Interior.

17 (3) The Department of Health and Human

18 Services.

19 (4) The Department of Energy.

20 (5) The Department of Commerce.

21 (6) The Department of Agriculture.

22 (7) The Corps of Engineers.

23 (8) The Council on Environmental Quality.

24 (9) Any other Federal department or agency

25 that the President, or the Chairperson of the Inter26 agency Panel, considers appropriate.
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1 (c) CHAIRPERSON.—The member of the Interagency

2 Panel representing the Environmental Protection Agency

3 shall serve as the Chairperson of the Interagency Panel.

4 (d) COORDINATION.—The Interagency Panel shall

5 ensure that individual risk assessments and generic risk

6 assessment practices carried out by agencies of the Fed7 eral Government are coordinated and made consistent to

8 the greatest extent practicable.

9 (e) IDENTIFICATION OF INCONSISTENCIES.—The

10 Interagency Panel shall—

11 (1) identify any inconsistencies between the risk

12 assessments and practices carried out by Federal

13 agencies, and document the reasons for the incon14 sistencies; and

15 (2) make recommendations concerning whether

16 changes should be made in the practices of the Fed17 eral agencies to minimize the inconsistencies, or

18 whether the inconsistencies should be encouraged.

19 (f) REPORTS.—Not later than August 31, 1996, and

20 every 2 years thereafter, the Chairperson of the Inter21 agency Panel shall submit a report to the appropriate

22 committees of Congress that summarizes the findings and

23 recommendations of the Interagency Panel under this sec24 tion.
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1 SEC. 9. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.

2 (a) ASSESSMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL RISK REDUC3 TION OPTIONS.—Not later than 24 months after the date

4 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall prepare

5 and submit a report to Congress that includes—

6 (1) a prioritized list of the human health, wel7 fare, and ecological resource risks considered by the

8 Committee on Relative Risks established under sec9 tion 4(b);

10 (2) an identification of public awareness of the

11 likelihood, seriousness, magnitude, and irreversibility

12 of each risk referred to in paragraph (1);

13 (3) alternative options for reducing the risks re14 ferred to in paragraph (1) and corresponding esti15 mated costs and benefits to society, including costs

16 to Federal agencies and the private sector, and any

17 adverse effects that cannot (as of the date of the re18 port) be quantified in monetary terms;

19 (4) the period of time required for reducing the

20 risks through each option referred to in paragraph

21 (3);

22 (5) an evaluation of the uncertainty associated

23 with relevant aspects of the assessment process;

24 (6) an identification of research or data collec25 tion that would significantly reduce the uncertainty
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1 in any assessment in the 2-year period following the

2 date of submission of the report to Congress; and

3 (7) such other recommendations as the Admin4 istrator determines to be appropriate.

5 (b) INTENT OF CONGRESS.—It is the intent of Con6 gress that the information contained in the annual report

7 under this section be used to assist in directing the activi8 ties of the Agency so as to result in reducing the most

9 serious and probable risks to the greatest number of indi10 viduals and reducing the most serious and probable risks

11 to the sustainability of ecological resources.

12 (c) DUTIES OF THE ADMINISTRATOR.—The Adminis13 trator shall consider social and economic concerns and

14 such other concerns as the Administrator considers to be

15 appropriate to carry out this Act in a reasonable and pru16 dent manner to ensure the protection of public health and

17 the environment. In carrying out this Act, the Adminis18 trator shall comply with applicable legal requirements and

19 ensure that the activities of the Administrator are open

20 to public inspection. Nothing in this Act is intended to

21 delay the activities of the Administrator in carrying out

22 responsibilities under other environmental laws.

23 (d) ONGOING ASSESSMENT.—The Administrator

24 shall revise and update the report submitted under this

25 section to reflect new data or scientific understanding not
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1 later than 2 years after submitting the initial report, and

2 at least every 2 years thereafter.

3 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

4 Except as provided in sections 4 and 6, nothing in

5 this Act shall constitute a new authorization for the appro6 priation of funds.

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