I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4234

To require reporting on toxic chemicals, to protect children’s health, and

for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 27, 1996

Mr. PALLONE (for himself, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. TORRICELLI, and Mr. MARKEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Commerce

A BILL

To require reporting on toxic chemicals, to protect children’s

health, 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 ‘‘Public Right-To-Know

5 and Children’s Environmental Health Protection Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; POLICY.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:

8 (1) The public has a fundamental right to know

9 how toxic chemicals are used, including information

10 about toxic chemicals contained in consumer prod-
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1 ucts and foods used at workplaces, stored at indus2 trial facilities, and transported over public highways

3 and railways.

4 (2) This public’s right to know is currently not

5 being met. Without this information, parents cannot

6 take adequate steps to protect their children, con7 sumers cannot make informed choices, and workers

8 and communities cannot protect themselves.

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

10 that—

11 (1) adequate data should be developed with re12 spect to industry’s use of and the public’s exposure

13 to toxic substances, with priority given to the expo14 sure of children to toxic substances; and

15 (2) such data should be generated by manufac16 turers, processors, and users of chemical substances

17 and mixtures and then made available to the general

18 public so that parents can take steps to protect their

19 children, consumers can make informed choices, and

20 workers and communities can protect themselves

21 and work with industries to ensure cleaner and safer

22 methods of production.
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1 TITLE I—TOXICS REPORTING

2 AND PUBLIC RIGHT TO KNOW

3 SEC. 101. PUBLIC RIGHT-TO-KNOW REPORTING.

4 (a) Section 313(g)(1)(C) of the Emergency Planning

5 and Community Right-To-Know Act (42 U.S.C.

6 11023(g)(1)(C)) is amended by inserting at the end the

7 following:

8 ‘‘(v) Number of employees, including contrac9 tors, at the reporting facility; number of employees,

10 including contractors, at the reporting facility ex11 posed to the chemical; and an estimate of occupa12 tional exposures to the chemical during the preced13 ing calendar year.

14 ‘‘(vi) In accordance with the definitions and re15 quirements of the Pollution Prevention Act, the

16 quantity of the toxic chemical reduced prior to recy17 cling, treatment, disposal, or release to the environ18 ment as a result of the following: equipment or tech19 nology modifications; process or procedure modifica20 tions; reformulation or redesign of products; substi21 tution of raw materials; and improvements in house22 keeping, maintenance, training, or inventory control.

23 ‘‘(vii) Annual materials accounting informa24 tion.’’.
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1 (b)(1) Within 12 months after the enactment of this

2 Act, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection

3 Agency shall promulgate regulations requiring submission

4 of annual materials accounting information pursuant to

5 this Act. At a minimum, such requirements shall include

6 the following:

7 (A) A description of the use of the chemical at

8 the facility.

9 (B) The starting inventory of the chemical at

10 the facility.

11 (C) The quantity of the chemical produced at

12 the facility.

13 (D) The quantity of the chemical brought into

14 the facility.

15 (E) The quantity of the chemical consumed at

16 the facility.

17 (F) The quantity of the chemical shipped out of

18 the facility as or in products.

19 (G) The quantity of the chemical reported

20 under section 6607(b) of the Pollution Prevention

21 Act.

22 (H) The ending inventory of the chemical at the

23 facility.
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1 (2) Such regulations shall require that quantities re2 ported are complete and verifiable by computations under

3 conventional materials accounting practices.

4 (c) The Administrator shall integrate the reporting

5 requirements under the Emergency Planning and Commu6 nity Right-To-Know Act (42 U.S.C. 11001 et seq.), the

7 Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et

8 seq.), and this Act.

9 SEC. 102. REPORTING ON HIGHLY TOXIC CHEMICALS.

10 (a) Section 313(f)(1) of the Emergency Planning and

11 Community Right-To-Know Act (42 U.S.C. 11023(f)(1))

12 is amended by striking subparagraphs (A) and (B) and

13 inserting the following:

14 ‘‘(A) With respect to a toxic chemical manufac15 tured, processed or otherwise used at a facility,

16 10,000 pounds of the toxic chemical per year.

17 ‘‘(B)(i) Within 24 months of enactment of the

18 Public Right-To-Know and Children’s Environ19 mental Health Protection Act, the Administrator

20 shall establish additional or revised thresholds for

21 reporting under this section for the following highly

22 toxic chemicals:

23 ‘‘(I) Persistent toxic substances including

24 but not limited to dioxin and the following
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1 heavy metals: cadmium, chromium, lead, and

2 mercury.

3 ‘‘(II) Bioaccumulative substances including

4 but not limited to substances listed as bio5 accumulative chemicals of concern at 60 Fed6 eral Register 15393.

7 Any chemical for which a threshold is established

8 under this subparagraph shall be considered a cov9 ered toxic chemical under section 313(c).

10 ‘‘(ii) The Administrator may establish addi11 tional or revised thresholds for reporting under this

12 section for highly toxic chemicals. A chemical which

13 is bioaccumulative or potentially bioaccumulative,

14 has a tendency to persist in the environment, or

15 poses a significant threat to public health or the en16 vironment at annual release levels below 10,000

17 pounds per facility shall be considered highly toxic.

18 ‘‘(iii) The Administrator shall establish thresh19 olds under this subparagraph at a level which will

20 ensure reporting on a substantial majority of total

21 releases of the chemical at all facilities subject to the

22 requirements of this section.’’.

23 (b) Section 313(a) of the Emergency Planning and

24 Community Right-To-Know Act (42 U.S.C. 11023(a)) is
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1 amended by inserting ‘‘or released’’ after ‘‘manufactured,

2 processed, or otherwise used’’.

3 (c) Section 313(b)(1) of the Emergency Planning and

4 Community Right-To-Know Act (42 U.S.C. 11023(b)(1))

5 is amended by inserting ‘‘or released’’ after ‘‘manufac6 tured, processed, or otherwise used’’.

7 (d) Section 326(a)(1)(B) of the Emergency Planning

8 and Community Right-To-Know Act (42 U.S.C.

9 11046(a)(1)(B)) is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing:

11 ‘‘(vii) Establish reporting thresholds for highly

12 toxic chemicals under section 313(f)(1)(B).’’.

13 SEC. 103. COVERED FACILITIES EXPANSION.

14 Section 313(b)(1)(B) of the Emergency Planning and

15 Community Right-To-Know Act (42 U.S.C.

16 11023(b)(1)(B)) is amended—

17 (1) by striking ‘‘(B) The Administrator’’ and

18 inserting ‘‘(B)(i) The Administrator’’; and

19 (2) by adding at the end the following:

20 ‘‘(ii) Effective beginning with the 1997 report21 ing year, facilities identified by the Standard Indus22 trial Codes listed in the Federal Register notice at

23 61 Fed. Reg. 33587–33619 shall be subject to the

24 requirements of this section.
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1 ‘‘(iii) Within 24 months after the enactment of

2 the Public Right-To-Know and Children’s Environ3 mental Health Protection Act, the Administrator

4 shall promulgate a final regulation that adds all ad5 ditional Standard Industrial Codes of facilities that

6 have releases that are similar in volume and toxicity

7 to releases of facilities that are covered by this sec8 tion as of the date of enactment of such Act.’’.

9 SEC. 104. IMPROVED DATA COLLECTION AND DISSEMINA10 TION.

11 Section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Commu12 nity Right-To-Know Act (42 U.S.C. 11023) is amended

13 by adding at the end the following:

14 ‘‘(m) IMPROVED DATA COLLECTION AND DISSEMI15 NATION.—

16 ‘‘(1) To enhance public access and encourage

17 use, improve the management of information re18 sources, and assist agency enforcement, pollution

19 prevention, and multimedia permitting and reporting

20 initiatives, the Administrator shall, within 24

21 months after the enactment of the Public Right-To22 Know and Children’s Environmental Health Protec23 tion Act, develop and implement a plan for integrat24 ing and improving access to publicly available infor-
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1 mation within the jurisdiction of the agency. The

2 plan shall include, at a minimum—

3 ‘‘(A) creating standard data formats for

4 information management;

5 ‘‘(B) integrating information resources, in6 cluding the development and implementation of

7 common company, facility, geographic, and

8 chemical identifiers, and other identifiers as the

9 Administrator deems appropriate; and

10 ‘‘(C) establishing a system for indexing, lo11 cating, and obtaining agency-held information

12 about parent companies, facilities, chemicals,

13 geographic locations, and the regulatory status

14 of entities subject to agency oversight.

15 ‘‘(2) The Administrator shall coordinate the

16 data collection and dissemination activities of the

17 Environmental Protection Agency with other rel18 evant Federal, State, and local agencies in order to

19 promote greater integration of information and re20 duce the burden on regulated entities. The Adminis21 trator may provide for the integration and dissemi22 nation of publicly available data not collected by the

23 agency.

24 ‘‘(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of

25 law, no information shall be treated as a trade secret
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1 or confidential business information unless the sub2 mitter demonstrates upon submission that—

3 ‘‘(A) the information has not been dis4 closed to any other person, except the Govern5 ment or those bound by confidentiality agree6 ments, and the submitter has taken reasonable

7 measures to ensure the confidentiality of the in8 formation;

9 ‘‘(B) the information is not required to be

10 disclosed to the public under any other Federal,

11 State, or local statute or regulation;

12 ‘‘(C) the information is not readily discov13 erable through reverse engineering; and

14 ‘‘(D) disclosure of the information is likely

15 to cause substantial harm to the competitive po16 sition of the submitter.’’.

17 SEC. 105. CIVIL ACTIONS.

18 Section 326(a)(1)(A) of the Emergency Planning and

19 Community Right-To-Know Act (42 U.S.C.

20 11046(a)(1)(A)) is amended by inserting ‘‘any past or on21 going’’ after ‘‘An owner or operator of a facility for’’.

22 SEC. 106. REGULATIONS.

23 The text of section 328 of the Emergency Planning

24 and Community Right-To-Know Act (42 U.S.C. 11048)

25 is amended to read as follows: ‘‘The Administrator may
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1 prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to carry

2 out this title and the Pollution Prevention Act.’’

3 TITLE II—CHILDREN’S ENVIRON4 MENTAL PROTECTION ACT

5 SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE.

6 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Children’s Environ7 mental Health Protection Act’’.

8 SEC. 202. FINDINGS.

9 Congress finds that information disclosure imposes a

10 lesser burden than mandatory controls and is appro11 priately required for hazardous chemical risks that are less

12 well characterized than those that trigger mandatory con13 trols. Requirements to disclose have been shown to im14 prove safety and certainty by stimulating avoidance of

15 hazardous chemical risks in the marketplace by manufac16 turers and sellers of products as well as by consumers.

17 SEC. 203. DISCLOSURE.

18 Commencing 3 years after the date of enactment of

19 this Act, no person in the course of doing business shall

20 knowingly expose any infant or young child to a hazardous

21 synthetic chemical listed pursuant to section 204(a) in any

22 children’s food or children’s consumer product without

23 first providing a clear and reasonable warning of the expo24 sure, on or immediately adjacent to the food or product
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1 at its point of sale to the retail customer, except as pro2 vided in section 205.

3 SEC. 204. LISTINGS.

4 (a) Within 1 year after the date of enactment of this

5 Act, and annually thereafter, the Administrator shall pub6 lish in the Federal Register a list of all hazardous syn7 thetic chemicals that have been identified or regulated as

8 carcinogens, reproductive toxins, or neurotoxins by any

9 agency of the Federal Government.

10 (b) The Administrator may publish in the Federal

11 Register a list of children’s foods and children’s consumer

12 products that are known or likely to expose children to

13 1 or more hazardous synthetic chemicals and may identify

14 those, if any, for which the Administrator has determined

15 that there is a reasonable certainty of no harm from any

16 hazardous synthetic chemical listed pursuant to subsection

17 (a).

18 SEC. 205. EXEMPTIONS.

19 (a) Section 203 shall not apply to any exposure to

20 a chemical that takes place less than 1 year following the

21 listing of the chemical as a hazardous synthetic chemical

22 pursuant to section 204(a).

23 (b) Section 203 shall not apply to any business with

24 fewer than 50 employees or to any public entity.
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1 (c) Section 203 shall not apply to any food or

2 consumer product for which the Administrator has deter3 mined that there is a reasonable certainty of no harm from

4 any hazardous synthetic chemical listed pursuant to sec5 tion 204(a).

6 (d) Section 203 shall not apply if the person respon7 sible for the exposure can show that there is a reasonable

8 certainty of no harm from the exposure. In an action to

9 enforce section 203, the burden of proof to establish that

10 an exposure qualifies for exemption under this subsection

11 shall be on the defendant.

12 SEC. 206. IMPLEMENTATION AND ENFORCEMENT.

13 The Administrator is authorized, in the Administra14 tor’s discretion, to promulgate regulations and to take

15 other appropriate action to carry out the purposes of this

16 title, including the bringing of civil actions on behalf of

17 the United States to redress any action or inaction in vio18 lation of this title. In carrying out the Administrator’s re19 sponsibilities under this title, the Administrator may con20 sult with the Secretary of Health and Human Services,

21 the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Agriculture, the

22 Consumer Product Safety Commission, and any other

23 Federal agency with relevant expertise. In carrying out the

24 Administrator’s responsibilities under section 204, the Ad25 ministrator shall secure data sufficient to identify hazard-
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1 ous synthetic chemicals to which infants and young chil2 dren are exposed by requiring manufacturers or producers

3 to generate such data and by obtaining existing data from

4 any Federal, State, or local government agency.

5 SEC. 207. JURISDICTION OF DISTRICT COURTS.

6 The district courts of the United States shall have

7 jurisdiction over civil actions to redress any action or inac8 tion that is alleged to be or to have been in violation of

9 this title and may—

10 (1) restrain any person from taking any action

11 prohibited under this title;

12 (2) compel any person to take action required

13 under this title; and

14 (3) impose civil penalties.

15 SEC. 208. PRIVATE CITIZEN ENFORCEMENT.

16 (a) Any person other than the Administrator may

17 commence a civil action on its own behalf—

18 (1) against any person for violation of section

19 203; or

20 (2) against the Administrator for the failure to

21 perform any nondiscretionary act or duty under this

22 title.

23 (b) No action may be commenced pursuant to this

24 section unless—
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1 (1) the plaintiff has given notice of its intent to

2 bring such action at least 60 days prior to the com3 mencement of the action to the Administrator and,

4 for a violation of section 203, to the violator; and

5 (2) for a violation of section 203, the Adminis6 trator has not commenced and is not diligently pur7 suing a civil action on behalf of the United States

8 seeking the civil relief applicable under section 209.

9 (c) In any action brought on behalf of the United

10 States following receipt of a notice pursuant to subsection

11 (b)(1), the person giving the notice may intervene as of

12 right as a plaintiff in such action.

13 (d) In an action brought under subsection (a), the

14 court shall award to any substantially prevailing plaintiff

15 (and in an action brought under subsection (c), to the

16 party intervening pursuant to subsection (c) if that party

17 contributed significantly to the success of the plaintiff) the

18 costs of litigation including reasonable attorney fees, un19 less the court finds such award to be inappropriate under

20 the circumstances.

21 SEC. 209. CIVIL PENALTIES.

22 In addition to any other remedy, including any pen23 alty under other applicable law, any person doing business

24 who is found to have violated section 203 shall be liable

25 to the United States for a civil penalty in an amount de-
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1 termined by the court not to exceed the larger of (1)

2 $25,000 per day for each violation, or (2) one-half of the

3 total retail sales price of all the food and consumer prod4 ucts in violation.

5 SEC. 210. PREEMPTION.

6 Nothing in this title shall affect the authority of any

7 State or political subdivision of a State to establish or con8 tinue in effect any regulation or any other measure relat9 ing to any chemical substance or article containing a

10 chemical substance, including foods and consumer prod11 ucts.

12 SEC. 211. DEFINITIONS.

13 For purposes of this title, the following definitions

14 apply:

15 (1) The term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad16 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

17 (2) The term ‘‘infant or young child’’ means an

18 individual younger than 7 years of age.

19 (3) The term ‘‘children’s food’’ means raw or

20 processed food, including food as defined in section

21 201(f) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act

22 (21 U.S.C. 321(f)), which is normally consumed by

23 infants or young children.

24 (4) The term ‘‘children’s product’’ means a

25 consumer product, including—
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1 (A) consumer products as defined in sec2 tion 3(a) of the Consumer Product Safety Act

3 (15 U.S.C. 2052(a)); and

4 (B) drugs, devices, and cosmetics as de5 fined in section 201 of the Federal Food, Drug,

6 and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 321);

7 which are sold or intended for use or consumption

8 by infants or young children or for which normal

9 and expected use or consumption in the home or in

10 schools will result in potentially greater exposure to

11 a hazardous synthetic chemical listed pursuant to

12 section 204(a) for infants or young children than for

13 adults.

14 (5) The term ‘‘reasonable certainty of no harm’’

15 has the meaning given the term ‘‘safe’’ by section

16 408(b)(2)(A)(ii) of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic

17 Act (21 U.S.C. 346a(b)(2)(A)(ii)).

18 TITLE III—ENDOCRINE

19 DISRUPTORS

20 SEC. 301. TESTING AUTHORITY.

21 In addition to the substances referred to in section

22 408(p)(3)(B) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic

23 Act (21 U.S.C. 346a(p)(3)(B)), the Administrator of the

24 Environmental Protection Agency shall provide for testing

25 under the screening program authorized by section 408(p)
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1 of such Act, in accordance with the provisions of section

2 408(p) of such Act, of any substance to which the Admin3 istrator determines a substantial population may be ex4 posed.

5 SEC. 302. WARNING LABEL REQUIREMENT.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—On the basis of the results of the

7 screening program authorized by section 408(p) of the

8 Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C.

9 346a(p)), the Administrator may require a warning label

10 on or near any product at the product’s point of sale if

11 such product contains a substance which has an endocrine

12 disrupting effect.

13 (b) CONTENTS OF LABEL.—Any warning label re14 quired under subsection (a) shall state the name of the

15 substance for which labeling is required and shall state

16 in plain language the potential effects of consumption of

17 endocrine disruptors.

18 (c) PUBLIC PETITION.—Any person may petition the

19 Administrator to take action under this section. The Ad20 ministrator shall decide whether to act upon such petition

21 and respond in writing within 90 days after receipt of the

22 petition.

23 SEC. 303. REGULATORY DECISIONS.

24 If, on the basis of the results of the screening pro25 gram authorized by section 408(p) of the Federal Food,
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1 Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 346a(p)), the Admin2 istrator finds that a substance may have an endocrine dis3 rupting effect, such finding shall be sufficient basis for

4 applying by rule 1 or more of the requirements under sub5 section (a) of section 6 of the Toxic Substances Control

6 Act (15 U.S.C. 2605(a)) to such substance. No other sub7 section of section 6 or other section of the Toxic Sub8 stances Control Act shall apply to such rule. Such rule

9 shall be considered a rule under this Act.

10 SEC. 304. ENFORCEMENT.

11 The Administrator may promulgate regulations and

12 take other appropriate action to carry out sections 302

13 and 303, including the bringing of civil actions for enforce14 ment purposes. Any person may commence a civil action

15 on its own behalf against any person for violation of the

16 requirements of section 302 or 303.

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