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[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1821 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1821

To authorize the United States to recover from a third party the value 
 of any housing, education, or medical care or treatment furnished or 
   paid for by the United States and provided to any victim of lead 
                               poisoning.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 28, 1999

  Mr. Reed (for himself and Mr. Torricelli) introduced the following 
    bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
To authorize the United States to recover from a third party the value 
 of any housing, education, or medical care or treatment furnished or 
   paid for by the United States and provided to any victim of lead 
                               poisoning.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Lead Poisoning Expense Recovery Act 
of 1999''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Lead poisoning is the number 1 environmental health 
        threat to young children, affecting an estimated 890,000 
        children.
            (2) Most children are poisoned in their homes through 
        exposure to lead particles when lead-based paint deteriorates 
        or is disturbed during home renovation or repainting.
            (3) Lead paint remains in almost \2/3\ of the housing stock 
        of the United States.
            (4) Lead poisoning may cause serious, long-term harm to 
        children, including reduced intelligence and attention span, 
        behavior problems, learning disabilities, and impaired growth.
            (5) Research shows that children with elevated levels of 
        lead in their blood are 7 times more likely to drop out of high 
        school than children without elevated blood-lead levels.
            (6) Children from low-income families are 8 times more 
        likely to be poisoned by lead than children from high-income 
        families.
            (7) African-American children are 5 times more likely to be 
        poisoned by lead than white children.

SEC. 3. SUITS BY THE UNITED STATES AUTHORIZED.

    (a) In General.--In any case in which the United States is 
authorized or required to furnish housing, education, or medical care 
or treatment to an individual who suffers from or is at risk of lead 
poisoning (or to pay for the housing, education, or medical care or 
treatment of such an individual) under circumstances creating liability 
upon any third party, the United States shall have the right to recover 
(independent of the rights of the injured or diseased individual) the 
value of the housing (including the cost of lead hazard evaluation and 
control), education, or medical care or treatment furnished or paid for 
by the United States before, on, or after the date of enactment of this 
Act.
    (b) Amounts Recovered.--Any amount recovered by the United States 
under subsection (a) shall be available, subject to authorization and 
appropriations Acts, to enhance childhood lead poisoning prevention and 
treatment activities, including lead hazard evaluation and control.
    (c) Third Party Defined.--In this section, the term ``third party'' 
means any manufacturer of lead or lead compound for use in paint or any 
trade association that represents such a manufacturer.
    (d) Statute of Limitations.--No action may be brought under this 
section more than 6 years after the later of--
            (1) the date of enactment of this Act; or
            (2) the date on which the United States incurs the expense.
                                 <all>
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