I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1165 

To modernize the National Air Toxics Assessment, the Integrated Risk Information System, and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 13, 2019 

Mr. FOSTER (for himself, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. SCHNEIDER, and Mr. CASTEN

of Illinois) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To modernize the National Air Toxics Assessment, the Integrated Risk Information System, and the Agency for 

Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, 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 ‘‘Expanding Trans5 parency of Information and Safeguarding Toxics Act of 

6 2019’’ or the ‘‘ETO is Toxic Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 


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1 (1) AIR ASSESSMENT.—The term ‘‘Air Assess2 ment’’ means the National Air Toxics Assessment 

3 published by the EPA Administrator. 

4 (2) ATSDR ADMINISTRATOR.—The term 

5 ‘‘ATSDR Administrator’’ means the Administrator 

6 of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease 

7 Registry of the Department of Health and Human 

8 Services. 

9 (3) EPA ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘EPA 

10 Administrator’’ means the Administrator of the En11 vironmental Protection Agency. 

12 (4) INFORMATION SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘Infor13 mation System’’ means the Integrated Risk Informa14 tion System of the EPA Administrator. 

15 SEC. 3. STRENGTHENING AND IMPROVING AIR ASSESS16 MENT. 

17 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

18 (1) since 1996, the Air Assessment has helped 

19 Federal, State, and local air quality specialists deter20 mine which air toxics and emission source types may 

21 raise health risks in certain communities; 

22 (2) the Air Assessment is released every 3 

23 years, and the data in the National Air Toxics As24 sessment is used— 


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1 (A) to identify locations of interest for fur2 ther study; 

3 (B) to prioritize pollutants and emission 

4 sources; and 

5 (C) to inform monitoring programs; and 

6 (3) the Air Assessment is a key public health 

7 tool that helps reduce cancer risks and other serious 

8 health effects. 

9 (b) PUBLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—The EPA Ad10 ministrator shall publish— 

11 (1) an updated Air Assessment not less fre12 quently than once every 2 years; 

13 (2) each updated Air Assessment described in 

14 paragraph (1) not later than 180 days after the date 

15 on which the data for the Air Assessment have been 

16 finalized by the EPA Administrator; and 

17 (3) a report describing the results of each up18 dated Air Assessment in the Federal Register. 

19 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

20 authorized to be appropriated $20,000,000 to the EPA 

21 Administrator to carry out the Air Assessment for fiscal 

22 year 2020 and each fiscal year thereafter. 

23 SEC. 4. ENSURING TIMELY REVIEW OF PUBLIC HEALTH 

24 RISKS THROUGH INFORMATION SYSTEM. 

25 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) the Information System is a critical tool to 

2 help protect public health by identifying and charac3 terizing the health hazards of chemicals found in the 

4 environment; and 

5 (2) assessments conducted under the Informa6 tion System are— 

7 (A) an important source of toxicity infor8 mation used by— 

9 (i) State and local health agencies; 

10 (ii) other Federal agencies; and 

11 (iii) international health organiza12 tions; and 

13 (B) used— 

14 (i) to inform clean-up decisions at— 

15 (I) sites on the National Prior16 ities List developed by the President 

17 in accordance with section 

18 105(a)(8)(B) of the Comprehensive 

19 Environmental Response, Compensa20 tion, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 

21 U.S.C. 9605(a)(8)(B)); and 

22 (II) other contaminated sites; 

23 (ii) to set standards to ensure clean 

24 drinking water; 


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1 (iii) to assess health risks from toxic 

2 air emissions; and 

3 (iv) to evaluate health risks of chemi4 cals in commerce. 

5 (b) REQUIREMENTS.— 

6 (1) ASSESSMENTS.— 

7 (A) CONSIDERATION.—If an assessment of 

8 a chemical has been conducted under the Infor9 mation System, the EPA Administrator shall 

10 take into consideration the data obtained by 

11 that assessment when conducting a rulemaking 

12 with respect to that chemical. 

13 (B) RELEASE.—Not later than 180 days 

14 after the date on which an assessment of a 

15 chemical is completed under the Information 

16 System, the EPA Administrator shall publish 

17 the assessment in the Federal Register. 

18 (C) ADDITIONAL REVIEW.— 

19 (i) IDENTIFICATION.— 

20 (I) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 

21 60 days after the date on which an 

22 assessment of a chemical is completed 

23 under the Information System that 

24 determines that the chemical poses an 


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1 adverse public health risk, the EPA 

2 Administrator shall— 

3 (aa) consult with the direc4 tors of the regional offices of the 

5 Environmental Protection Agency 

6 regarding the determination; and 

7 (bb) identify each facility 

8 that is a significant source of the 

9 chemical to determine whether 

10 the facility poses an adverse pub11 lic health risk. 

12 (II) PUBLICATION.—After com13 pleting the identification of facilities 

14 under subclause (I)(bb), the EPA Ad15 ministrator shall immediately— 

16 (aa) notify Congress of the 

17 identification; and 

18 (bb) make publicly available 

19 a list describing each facility 

20 identified. 

21 (III) CONTINUOUS MONI22 TORING.—The EPA Administrator 

23 shall require the continuous moni24 toring of each facility identified under 

25 subclause (I)(bb) for the chemical deVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:04 Feb 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1165.IH H1165

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1 termined to have an adverse public 

2 health risk as a result of an assess3 ment referred to in subclause (I). 

4 (ii) ADDITIONAL REVIEW.— 

5 (I) IN GENERAL.—The EPA Ad6 ministrator shall examine each facility 

7 identified under clause (i)(I)(bb) to 

8 determine whether the facility poses 

9 an adverse public health risk. 

10 (II) NOTIFICATION.—Not later 

11 than 7 days after the EPA Adminis12 trator completes the additional review 

13 under subclause (I)— 

14 (aa) the EPA Administrator 

15 shall— 

16 (AA) publish the results 

17 of the additional review; and 

18 (BB) notify Congress of 

19 the results described in 

20 subitem (AA); and 

21 (bb) on a determination that 

22 the applicable facility poses an 

23 adverse public health risk, the di24 rector of the applicable regional 

25 office of the Environmental ProVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:04 Feb 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1165.IH H1165

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1 tection Agency shall notify each 

2 affected State and local public 

3 health official and the public of 

4 the adverse public health risk. 

5 (D) APPROVAL OF MAXIMUM ACHIEVABLE

6 CONTROL TECHNOLOGY.—If a maximum 

7 achievable control technology (within the mean8 ing of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et 

9 seq.)) is available for a facility identified under 

10 subparagraph (C)(i)(I)(bb), the EPA Adminis11 trator shall expedite the permitting of that 

12 maximum achievable control technology at the 

13 facility. 

14 (2) TOXICS RELEASE INVENTORY.—Section 

15 313(c) of the Emergency Planning and Community 

16 Right-To-Know Act (42 U.S.C. 11023(c)) is amend17 ed— 

18 (A) by striking the period at the end and 

19 inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

20 (B) by striking ‘‘are those chemicals’’ and 

21 inserting the following: ‘‘are— 

22 ‘‘(1) those chemicals’’; and 

23 (C) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(2) chemicals identified as carcinogenic by an 

2 assessment under the Integrated Risk Information 

3 System of the Administrator.’’. 

4 (c) PROHIBITION.—The EPA Administrator may not 

5 transfer the Information System outside of the Office of 

6 Research and Development of the Environmental Protec7 tion Agency. 

8 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

9 authorized to be appropriated $20,000,000 to the EPA 

10 Administrator to carry out the duties of the Information 

11 System for fiscal year 2020 and each fiscal year there12 after. 

13 SEC. 5. IMPROVING COORDINATION BETWEEN ENVIRON14 MENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY AND AGENCY 

15 FOR TOXIC SUBSTANCES AND DISEASE REG16 ISTRY; COMMUNITY OUTREACH DIVISION. 

17 Section 104(i) of the Comprehensive Environmental 

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

19 U.S.C. 9604(i)) is amended by adding at the end the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(19) CONSULTATIONS REQUIRED.—Not less 

22 frequently than once every 90 days, the Adminis23 trator of ATSDR shall consult with the Assistant 

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1 ment, the Office of Air and Radiation, and the Of2 fice of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention of 

3 the Environmental Protection Agency, and the direc4 tor of any other office of the Environmental Protec5 tion Agency determined to be appropriate by the Ad6 ministrator of ATSDR, regarding— 

7 ‘‘(A) the future schedule of assessments of 

8 chemicals to be conducted under the Integrated 

9 Risk Information System of the Administrator 

10 of EPA; 

11 ‘‘(B) the results of existing assessments 

12 conducted under the Integrated Risk Informa13 tion System of the Administrator of EPA; and 

14 ‘‘(C) the concerns of the Administrator of 

15 ATSDR that merit additional review, if any. 

16 ‘‘(20) REASSESSMENTS.— 

17 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

18 ‘‘(i) HEALTH ASSESSMENT.—The 

19 term ‘health assessment’ means a health 

20 assessment completed by the Administrator 

21 of ATSDR under paragraph (6). 

22 ‘‘(ii) HEALTH CONSULTATION.—The 

23 term ‘health consultation’ means a written 

24 response from the Administrator of 

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1 tion about health risks related to a specific 

2 site, a specific chemical release, or the 

3 presence of hazardous materials in a spe4 cific area. 

5 ‘‘(B) DETERMINATION.—On receiving in6 formation from a consultation under paragraph 

7 (19) that the Integrated Risk Information Sys8 tem of the Administrator of EPA will be con9 ducting an assessment of a chemical, the Ad10 ministrator of ATSDR shall determine which 

11 health assessments or health consultations, as 

12 applicable, need to be reevaluated if the assess13 ment results in a determination that the chem14 ical poses a new adverse public health risk. 

15 ‘‘(C) REEVALUATION.— 

16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 

17 days after the date on which an assess18 ment conducted by the Integrated Risk In19 formation System of the Administrator of 

20 EPA results in a determination that a 

21 chemical has a new adverse public health 

22 risk, the Administrator of ATSDR shall re23 evaluate each health assessment and health 

24 consultation, as applicable, identified under 

25 subparagraph (B). 


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1 ‘‘(ii) NOTIFICATION TO CONGRESS.— 

2 Not later than 14 days after the date on 

3 which the Administrator of ATSDR begins 

4 a reevaluation under clause (i), the Admin5 istrator of ATSDR shall notify Congress 

6 that the reevaluation is being conducted. 

7 ‘‘(iii) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 

8 30 days after the date of completion of a 

9 reevaluation under clause (i), the Adminis10 trator of ATSDR shall— 

11 ‘‘(I) publish in the Federal Reg12 ister any revisions to a health assess13 ment or a health consultation, as ap14 plicable, as a result of the reevalua15 tion; and 

16 ‘‘(II) notify Congress of the revi17 sions described in subclause (I). 

18 ‘‘(21) PERSONAL EXPOSURE TESTING.—The 

19 Administrator of ATSDR, in coordination with the 

20 Administrator, shall administer personal exposure 

21 tests for a chemical that has a new adverse public 

22 health risk as described in paragraph (20)(B)(i), as 

23 available, to vulnerable populations, including chil24 dren and the elderly. 

25 ‘‘(22) COMMUNITY OUTREACH DIVISION.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Adminis2 trator of ATSDR shall establish within the Of3 fice of Communication of ATSDR a division, to 

4 be known as the ‘Community Outreach Divi5 sion’. 

6 ‘‘(B) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the of the 

7 Community Outreach Division shall be— 

8 ‘‘(i) to include communities when de9 termining the priority of chemicals to un10 dergo review by ATSDR; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) to communicate risk assessments 

12 to affected communities. 

13 ‘‘(23) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

14 There is authorized to be appropriated $70,000,000 

15 to carry out the duties of the ATSDR for fiscal year 

16 2020 and each fiscal year thereafter.’’. 

17 SEC. 6. DATA SAMPLING. 

18 If the ATSDR Administrator requests the EPA Ad19 ministrator to conduct a sample for a chemical that poses 

20 an adverse public health risk and the EPA Administrator 

21 rejects that request, the EPA Administrator shall submit 

22 to Congress a notice describing— 

23 (1) the request; and 

24 (2) the reasons for rejecting the request. 

Æ 


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