II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3495 

To protect pregnant women and children from dangerous lead exposures. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 16, 2008 

Mrs. BOXER (for herself, Mrs. CLINTON, Mr. CARDIN, and Mr. WHITEHOUSE) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To protect pregnant women and children from dangerous 

lead exposures. 

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 ‘‘Protect Pregnant 

5 Women and Children from Dangerous Lead Exposures 

6 Act of 2008’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds that— 

9 (1) the Centers for Disease Control and Preven10 tion recognize that lead is a poison that— 


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1 (A) affects virtually every system in the 

2 human body; and 

3 (B) is particularly harmful to the devel4 oping brains and nervous systems of fetuses 

5 and young children; 

6 (2) the Administrator has determined that 

7 lead— 

8 (A) is associated with a wide array of 

9 harmful impacts, including damage to the nerv10 ous system, the reproductive system, the cardio11 vascular system, physical development, the kid12 neys, hearing, and the immune system; and 

13 (B) can cause adverse behavioral impacts. 

14 (3) the Centers for Disease Control and Preven15 tion and the Administrator have determined that 

16 children in general, and children in low socio17 economic conditions and minority children in par18 ticular, are at increased risk of lead exposure and 

19 adverse health impacts from that exposure; 

20 (4) the Census Bureau estimates that in 2006 

21 more than 12,800,000 children under the age of 18 

22 lived in poverty; 

23 (5) in 1991, the Centers for Disease Control 

24 and Prevention recognized that 10 micrograms per 

25 deciliter of lead in blood should prompt public health 


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1 actions, but that harmful impacts may occur at 

2 blood lead levels below 10 micrograms per deciliter; 

3 (6) the Environmental Protection Agency (in4 cluding the Children’s Health Protection Advisory 

5 Committee of the Environmental Protection Agency) 

6 and other Federal entities recognize that scientific 

7 studies since 1991 have strengthened the evidence 

8 that blood lead levels below 10 micrograms per deci9 liter, particularly in children, can harm human 

10 health; 

11 (7) the Administrator recognizes that recent 

12 studies have demonstrated that some reductions in 

13 cognitive function can occur at the initial and lowest 

14 levels of lead exposure, though additional harm can 

15 occur with continued exposure to lead; 

16 (8) according to the Administrator, approxi17 mately 310,000 children in the United States be18 tween the ages of 1 and 5 years have blood-lead lev19 els greater than 10 micrograms per deciliter; 

20 (9) the Administrator has determined that lead21 based paint can pose a health threat through various 

22 types of exposure, including through indoor dust and 

23 paint chips following renovation activities; 

24 (10) in 1992, Congress passed Public Law 

25 102–550 (106 Stat. 3672), title X of which is cited 


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1 as the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduc2 tion Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 4851 et seq.); 

3 (11) section 1021(a) of the Residential Lead4 Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992 amend5 ed the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 

6 2601 et seq.) by adding a title IV to that Act relat7 ing to lead exposure reduction (106 Stat. 3912); 

8 (12) title IV of the Toxic Substances Control 

9 Act (15 U.S.C. 2681 et seq.) required the Adminis10 trator to undertake a number of actions to protect 

11 individuals, including pregnant women and children, 

12 from dangerous lead exposures, including by requir13 ing the Administrator— 

14 (A) by not later than April 28, 1994, to 

15 promulgate regulations identifying lead-based 

16 paint hazard standards for use in determining 

17 standards and regulations for reducing the risk 

18 of exposure to those hazards; 

19 (B) by not later than April 28, 1995, to 

20 conduct and publish a study on the extent to 

21 which persons engaged in various types of ren22 ovation and remodeling activities in target 

23 housing, public buildings constructed before 

24 1978, and commercial buildings are exposed to 

25 lead in the conduct of the activities, or disturb 


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1 lead and create a lead-based paint hazard, on a 

2 regular or occasional basis; and 

3 (C) by not later than October 28, 1996, to 

4 revise the regulations that apply to renovation 

5 and remolding activities in target housing, pub6 lic buildings constructed before 1978, and com7 mercial buildings that create lead-based paint 

8 hazards; 

9 (13) on January 5, 2001, the Administrator 

10 promulgated the lead-based paint hazard regulations 

11 required under section 403 of the Toxic Substances 

12 Control Act (15 U.S.C. 2683), which identified dan13 gerous levels of lead dust on floors at 40 micrograms 

14 per square foot or greater and for window sills at 

15 250 micrograms per square foot or greater; 

16 (14) in promulgating the regulations, the Ad17 ministrator stated that the ‘‘standards [were] based 

18 on the best science available to the Agency. The En19 vironmental Protection Agency recognizes, however, 

20 that the science is constantly developing . . . If new 

21 data become available (e.g., empirical data showing 

22 that very small amounts of deteriorated paint pose 

23 a serious health risk or data showing that hazard 

24 control activities are more effective at reducing long25 term dust-lead levels than assumed by the EnvironVerDate Aug 31 2005 21:56 Sep 18, 2008 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3495.IS S3495

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1 mental Protection Agency), the Agency will consider 

2 changing the standards to reflect these data.’’; 

3 (15) on January 23, 2007, the Administrator 

4 issued a draft final dust study examining renovation 

5 and remodeling activities and lead-contaminated 

6 dust hazards; 

7 (16) on August 30, 2007, the Clean Air Science 

8 Advisory Committee of the Environmental Protec9 tion Agency— 

10 (A) reviewed the study on renovation and 

11 remodeling activities and lead-contaminated 

12 dust hazards and the approach of the Environ13 mental Protection Agency to characterizing 

14 lead-contaminated dust levels after renovation 

15 and remodeling activities; and 

16 (B) concluded that— 

17 (i) ‘‘[s]tandards need to be strength18 ened in view of recent epidemiological data 

19 indicating that children are more suscep20 tible to effects from lead than was pre21 viously thought.’’; 

22 (ii) ‘‘[t]he lead dust loading values of 

40 μg/ft2 for floors and 250 μg/ft2 23 for win24 dow sills are presented as adequately pro25 tective of children against lead poisoning, 


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1 i.e., to guard against blood lead levels of 

2 greater than 10 (>10) μg/dL. However, 

3 the Panel notes that these residual surface 

4 contamination standards are obsolete on 

5 the basis of recent epidemiology findings 

6 that indicate that adverse health effects 

7 are found in children with blood lead levels 

8 less than five (<5) μg/dL. . .).’’; 

9 (iii) ‘‘[t]he cleaning procedures em10 ployed are inadequate, such that post11 cleaning lead levels do not even meet the 

12 existing Environmental Protection Agency 

13 standards. Moreover, the qualitative and 

14 simplistic method used to verify the effec15 tiveness of these cleaning procedures, i.e., 

16 the ‘white cloth verification tests’, does not 

17 yield consistently reliable results, leading 

18 to an inaccurate assessment of cleaning ef19 ficiency after repair and renovation activi20 ties.’’; and 

21 (iv) ‘‘[t]he Panel strongly feels that it 

22 is imprudent to substitute a simplistic and 

23 qualitative white cloth test for highly spe24 cific, analytical measures of lead in house 

25 dust.’’; 


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1 (17) on March 31, 2008, the Administrator 

2 issued final lead-based paint renovation, repair, and 

3 painting regulations that are based on— 

4 (A) cleaning practices that— 

5 (i) the scientific advisors of the Ad6 ministrator have criticized as ‘‘inad7 equate’’; and 

8 (ii) are based on the goal of meeting 

9 the lead dust loading values of 40 

10 micrograms per square foot for floors and 

11 250 micrograms per square foot for win12 dow sills, which those scientific advisors 

13 have called ‘‘obsolete’’ based on studies 

14 demonstrating that the values may be in15 adequately protective of children’s health; 

16 and 

17 (B) the ‘‘white cloth’’ method to verify the 

18 effectiveness of cleaning practices, which the 

19 scientific advisors of the Administrator have 

20 called ‘‘inaccurate’’ and ‘‘simplistic’’; and 

21 (18) the revised lead-based paint renovation, re22 pair, and painting rule of the Environmental Protec23 tion Agency fails— 

24 (A) to use the best available science on the 

25 adverse impacts of lead on children’s health; 


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1 (B) to adequately protect the health of 

2 pregnant women and children from lead poi3 soning; and 

4 (C) to contain enforceable methods of 

5 verifying that lead levels in homes and other fa6 cilities are safe following lead-based paint ren7 ovation, repair, and painting activities. 

8 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

10 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis11 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ12 mental Protection Agency. 

13 (2) BEST AVAILABLE SCIENCE.—The term 

14 ‘‘best available science’’ includes, with respect the 

15 establishment of standards for the protection of indi16 viduals from exposure to lead, studies on the health 

17 effects of lead completed since the Environmental 

18 Protection Agency last updated the lead-based paint 

19 hazard standard under section 403 of the Toxic 

20 Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 2683), including 

21 especially recent epidemiological studies, dem22 onstrating that lead levels below 10 micrograms per 

23 deciliter of blood pose a threat to children’s health. 


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1 SEC. 4. PROTECTION OF PREGNANT WOMEN AND CHIL2 DREN. 

3 (a) BEST AVAILABLE SCIENCE.— 

4 (1) FINAL REGULATIONS.—Not later than April 

5 30, 2009, the Administrator shall use the best avail6 able science— 

7 (A) to promulgate a final rule revising the 

8 lead-based paint hazard standard of the Envi9 ronmental Protection Agency promulgated 

10 under section 403 of the Toxic Substances Con11 trol Act (15 U.S.C. 2683) to a more protective 

12 level that safeguards the health of pregnant 

13 women and children; and 

14 (B) to require the use of a lead dust clean15 ing clearance methodology that ensures lead 

16 dust levels meet the standard revised under 

17 subparagraph (A). 

18 (2) PEER REVIEW OF ANALYSES.—The Admin19 istrator shall ensure that the Clean Air Science Ad20 visory Committee of the Environmental Protection 

21 Agency peer reviews the analyses that the Adminis22 trator uses— 

23 (A) to revise the lead-based paint hazard 

24 standard; and 

25 (B) to require the use of a lead dust clean26 ing clearance methodology. 


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1 (b) IMPLEMENT PROTECTIONS FOR PREGNANT

2 WOMEN AND CHILDREN.—Not later than April 22, 2010, 

3 the Administrator shall integrate into the revised rules of 

4 the Environmental Protection Agency on renovation and 

5 remolding activities that create lead-based paint haz6 ards— 

7 (1) the lead-based paint hazard standard re8 vised under subsection (a)(1)(A); and 

9 (2) the lead dust cleaning clearance method10 ology required under subsection (a)(1)(B). 

11 (c) PERIODIC REVALUATION.—The Administrator 

12 shall review and reevaluate the health protectiveness of the 

13 rule promulgated under subsection (a)(1)(A), for the sole 

14 purpose of determining whether to increase protections for 

15 the health of pregnant women and children, with the re16 view and reevaluation occurring— 

17 (1) at least once every 5 years; or 

18 (2) more frequently, as necessary, if significant 

19 scientific findings indicate that the standard de20 scribed in subsection (a)(1)(A) should be revised to 

21 increase protections for the health of pregnant 

22 women and children. 

23 SEC. 5. NO EFFECT ON OTHER EFFECTIVE DATES. 

24 Nothing in this Act or any amendment made by this 

25 Act modifies or otherwise affects any effective date deVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:21 Sep 17, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3495.IS S3495

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1 scribed in the final rule of the Environmental Protection 

2 Agency entitled ‘‘Lead; Renovation, Repair, and Repaint3 ing Program’’ (73 Fed. Reg. 21692 (April 22, 2008)). 

Æ 


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