I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1510

To promote environmental justice, public health, and pollution reduction

efforts.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 21, 1999

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia (for himself, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois,

Mr. HINCHEY, Ms. WATERS, Ms. PELOSI, Ms. LEE, Mrs. MALONEY of

New York, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. BISHOP, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. LAFALCE, Mr. FROST, Mr. FILNER, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. NORTON, Mrs.

CHRISTENSEN, Mr. BROWN of California, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, and Mr.

THOMPSON of Mississippi) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce, and in addition to the Committees

on Transportation and Infrastructure, Agriculture, and Resources, for a

period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To promote environmental justice, public health, and

pollution reduction efforts.

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 Justice

5 Act of 1999’’.
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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

2 The purposes of this Act are—

3 (1) to identify those areas which are subject to

4 the highest levels of toxic chemicals, through all

5 media;

6 (2) to require the collection of data on environ7 mental health effects so that impacts on different in8 dividuals or groups can be understood;

9 (3) to assess the health effects that may be

10 caused by emissions in those areas of highest im11 pact;

12 (4) to ensure that groups or individuals residing

13 within those areas of highest impact have the oppor14 tunity to participate in developing solutions to envi15 ronmental and health problems confronting their

16 community;

17 (5) to promote technologies and practices that

18 reduce or eliminate pollution; and

19 (6) to promote the development and mainte20 nance of parks and green open spaces in polluted

21 communities.

22 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

23 For the purposes of this Act:

24 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis25 trator’’ means the Administrator of the United

26 States Environmental Protection Agency.
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1 (2) ENVIRONMENTAL HIGH IMPACT AREA.—The

2 terms ‘‘Environmental High Impact Area’’ and

3 ‘‘EHIA’’ mean the 20 counties or other geographic

4 units that are designated pursuant to section 101.

5 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

6 the Secretary of the Department of Health and

7 Human Services.

8 (4) TOXIC CHEMICALS.—The term ‘‘toxic

9 chemicals’’ includes all substances as defined in sec10 tion 101(14) of the Comprehensive Environmental

11 Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980;

12 any hazardous waste listed or identified pursuant to

13 the Solid Waste Disposal Act; any pollutant for

14 which air quality standards have been issued pursu15 ant to the Clean Air Act; any pollutant for which

16 water quality standards have been issued pursuant

17 to the Clean Water Act; any pollutant for which a

18 national primary drinking water regulation has been

19 issued pursuant to the Safe Drinking Water Act; all

20 materials registered pursuant to the Federal Insecti21 cide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act; and all sub22 stances and chemicals subject to reporting obliga23 tions pursuant to the Emergency Planning and

24 Community Right-to-Know Act. The Adminis-
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1 trator may add other substances as deemed appro2 priate.

3 (5) TOXIC CHEMICAL FACILITIES.—The term

4 ‘‘toxic chemical facilities’’ includes all facilities in5 cluding Federal facilities subject to a permit, inspec6 tion or review, or registration requirement pursuant

7 to the authority of the Solid Waste Disposal Act; the

8 Clean Air Act; the Clean Water Act; the Federal In9 secticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act; and the

10 OSHA Hazard Communication Standard; as well as

11 any facility subject to reporting obligations pursuant

12 to the Emergency Planning and Community Right13 to-Know Act. The Administrator shall have the au14 thority to examine the level of toxic chemicals re15 leased into the environment by facilities not cur16 rently subject to Federal review, inspection, or re17 porting requirements if (A) a facility is believed to

18 produce a high level of environmental pollution, and

19 (B) the Administrator is petitioned by individuals or

20 groups within such EHIA to conduct the review.
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1 TITLE I—IDENTIFICATION OF

2 ENVIRONMENTAL HIGH IM3 PACT AREAS

4 SEC. 101. IDENTIFICATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL HIGH IM5 PACT AREAS.

6 (a) PUBLICATION OF METHOD.—Within 12 months

7 after the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall

8 publish for public comment the method for selecting the

9 EHIAs.

10 (b) DETERMINATION OF IMPACTED AREAS.—Within

11 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the

12 Administrator shall publish a list of 20 Environmental

13 High Impact Areas that are either counties or other ap14 propriate geographic units in which high levels of chemi15 cals are present and in which the population is exposed

16 to such chemicals. The Administrator shall also take into

17 consideration any geographical areas suggested for review

18 by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry,

19 the National Center for Environmental Health, the Na20 tional Center for Health Statistics, other appropriate Fed21 eral agencies, and State and local health authorities.

22 (c) REVISION AND REPUBLICATION.—The Adminis23 trator shall revise and republish the list described in sub24 section (a) of this section not less than every 5 years,

25 using data compiled for that 5-year period.
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1 (d) COMPILATION OF LIST.—In selecting a method2 ology and compiling or revising the list of EHIAs, the Ad3 ministrator shall—

4 (1) use the most recent data available;

5 (2) take into account the relative toxicity of the

6 toxic chemicals;

7 (3) determine, with the best available data, the

8 actual and potential exposures, and toxicity of the

9 toxic chemicals present in each impacted area;

10 (4) consider and utilize all appropriate data

11 compiled pursuant to any environmental regulatory

12 authority and other sources, including but not lim13 ited to available data on lead-based paint and the ex14 istence of pollutants from mobile sources;

15 (5) distinguish between toxic chemicals which

16 are (A) in a contained, controlled environment such

17 as barrels, factories, warehouses, or lined landfills;

18 and (B) released into the air, water, soil or ground19 water of the area; and

20 (6) take into account the impact of pollution in

21 high population density areas.
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1 TITLE II—ENFORCEMENT

2 INITIATIVES

3 SEC. 201. MANDATORY INSPECTION.

4 To assure that facilities with the highest potential for

5 release of toxic chemicals into the environment are oper6 ating in compliance with all applicable environmental,

7 health and safety standards, the Administrator, and the

8 Assistant Secretary of the Occupational Safety and Health

9 Administration shall conduct compliance inspections or re10 views of all toxic chemical facilities in Environmental High

11 Impact Areas subject to their respective jurisdictions with12 in 1 year after the publication of each list of EHIAs under

13 title I.

14 TITLE III—COMMUNITY

15 PARTICIPATION

16 SEC. 301. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS.

17 The Administrator shall make a technical assistance

18 grant available to any individual or group of individuals

19 in an EHIA. Such grants shall be used to seek guidance

20 from independent experts for the purpose of improving un21 derstanding of environmental and health concerns related

22 to designation as an EHIA. Not more than one grant may

23 be made with respect to each EHIA, but the grant may

24 be renewed to facilitate public participation where nec25 essary.
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1 TITLE IV—IDENTIFICATION AND

2 PREVENTION OF HEALTH IM3 PACTS

4 SEC. 401. SECRETARIAL STUDY.

5 Within 2 years after the publication of each list of

6 EHIAs under title I, the Secretary shall issue for public

7 comment a report identifying the methodology used and

8 nature and extent, if any, of acute and chronic impacts

9 on human health in EHIAs as compared to non-EHIAs,

10 including impacts on subgroups within EHIAs. Such im11 pacts shall include but not be limited to cancer, birth de12 formities, infant mortality rates, and respiratory diseases.

13 The report shall be coordinated by the Administrator of

14 the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

15 and shall involve the community being assessed. The

16 ATSDR shall work closely with the Directors of the Na17 tional Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, the

18 National Center for Health Statistics, and other appro19 priate Federal agencies to coordinate the report, relying

20 on the expertise of leading health and environmental sci21 entists. The health assessment shall seek to—

22 (1) isolate the impacts of environmental pollu23 tion;

24 (2) segregate the effects of other factors such

25 as health care availability or substance abuse or diet;
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1 (3) evaluate the levels below which release of

2 toxic chemicals, either individually or cumulatively,

3 must be reduced to avoid adverse impacts on human

4 health; and

5 (4) determine the impacts of uncontrolled re6 leases.

7 In conducting health assessments, the Administrator of

8 the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

9 and other Federal agencies shall consider: the differential

10 sensitivities to exposures for vulnerable groups; the effects

11 of low levels of a toxin over a period of time; cumulative

12 and synergistic effects of multiple toxins; and methodo13 logical issues for studying exposures and diseases among

14 small numbers of people, including units of measurement

15 and analyses sensitive to disease clusters; and demo16 graphic information relevant for a determination of envi17 ronmental justice concerns. As a result of the report in

18 communities where the Administrator of the Agency for

19 Toxic Substances Disease Registry has determined that

20 adverse health impacts exist, the agency shall also make

21 this information readily available to members of the com22 munity by providing information directly to the affected

23 communities and tribal governments in the Environmental

24 High Impact Areas.
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1 SEC. 402. MORATORIUM.

2 If the report under section 401 finds significant ad3 verse impacts of environmental pollution on human health

4 in EHIAs, there shall be a moratorium on the siting or

5 permitting of any new toxic chemical facility in any EHIA

6 shown to emit toxic chemicals in quantities found to cause

7 significant adverse impacts on human health. A new toxic

8 chemical facility may be cited or permitted in such an

9 EHIA during this period only if the Secretary and Admin10 istrator agree that—

11 (1) there will be no significant adverse impacts

12 to human health;

13 (2) the owner or operator of the facility dem14 onstrates that the facility has developed a plan to

15 maintain a comprehensive pollution prevention pro16 gram; and

17 (3) the facility demonstrates that it will mini18 mize uncontrolled releases into the environment.

19 The moratorium shall continue in effect in such an EHIA

20 until the Administrator determines, upon petition of any

21 interested party, that the health-based levels identified

22 pursuant to section 401(5) have been attained at the

23 EHIA.
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1 TITLE V—HEALTH REMEDIES

2 SEC. 501. HEALTH SCREENING AND TREATMENT GRANTS.

3 Within 1 year after the Secretary’s biennial health

4 assessment is released, in EHIAs shown to have adverse

5 health outcomes related to environmental exposures, the

6 Secretary shall establish a grant program to make avail7 able to public and nonprofit private entities awards for

8 the purposes of providing community-wide medical screen9 ing and diagnostic services for environmentally related ill10 nesses. Treatment services shall be provided for commu11 nity residents with environmentally related illnesses if they

12 lack private or public health insurance, and shall continue

13 as long as medically necessary. Following community

14 screening, the Secretary shall initiate a review of medical

15 services within EHIAs to determine if the area or popu16 lation would qualify as ‘‘medically underserved’’ or a

17 ‘‘health professional shortage area’’.

18 TITLE VI—POLLUTION

19 REDUCTION

20 SEC. 601. POLLUTION REDUCTION AND PREVENTION

21 GRANTS.

22 In EHIAs where the Secretary has determined that

23 adverse health outcomes are related to environmental ex24 posures, the Administrator shall immediately take efforts

25 to reduce pollution in the area. The Administrator shall
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1 first make available to States with EHIAs pollution reduc2 tion/prevention grants which will involve community rep3 resentatives, public health experts, local business, and gov4 ernment officials located within the EHIA in developing

5 effective pollution reduction strategies. If within 1 year,

6 the Administrator determines that significant steps have

7 not been made to reduce pollution and risk to human

8 health, the Administrator may take regulatory steps to re9 duce pollution in the area.

10 TITLE VII—PROMOTION OF

11 GREEN SPACE

12 SEC. 701. DEVELOPMENT OF PARKS OR RECREATIONAL

13 AREAS.

14 Within 1 year after the Secretary’s biennial health

15 assessment is released, the Secretary of the Interior shall

16 establish a grant program to make available to local public

17 or nonprofit private entities within EHIAs awards for the

18 development of parks and recreational spaces, and provide

19 guidance for promoting environmentally sound use of the

20 land.

21 TITLE VIII—FUNDING

22 SEC. 801. FUNDING.

23 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out

24 this Act such sums as may be necessary.

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