I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1585

To provide for a study regarding the proximity of federally assisted housing

to hazardous waste sites.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 25, 2001

Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas introduced the following bill; which

was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to

the Committee on Energy and Commerce, 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 provide for a study regarding the proximity of federally

assisted housing to hazardous waste sites.

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 in Federally Assisted Housing Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. STUDY OF PROXIMITY OF FEDERALLY ASSISTED

2 HOUSING TO HAZARDOUS WASTE SITES.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The advisory commission estab4 lished pursuant to section 3 shall conduct a study of feder5 ally assisted housing to determine—

6 (1) which such housing has a hazardous waste

7 site located within the covered area (as such term is

8 defined in section 4) for the housing;

9 (2) which such housing has located within the

10 covered area for the housing any hazardous waste

11 site having any history of failure to contain the haz12 ardous substances on site and the circumstances re13 garding such failure;

14 (3) the extent to which federally assisted hous15 ing that has a hazardous waste site located within

16 the covered area for the housing is occupied by per17 sons who are members of racial and ethnic minori18 ties and the extent to which this proportion differs

19 from the proportion of residents of all federally as20 sisted housing that are members of racial and ethnic

21 minorities;

22 (4) what types of hazardous substances and

23 health risks are or could be associated with the haz24 ardous waste sites that are located within the cov25 ered areas for federally assisted housing; and
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1 (5) whether there is any history of disease, ill2 ness, or other health problems among the popu3 lations residing within the covered areas for haz4 ardous waste sites (including residents of federally

5 assisted housing) that have been determined to be

6 associated, or could be associated, with such sites.

7 (b) REPORTS.—The advisory commission shall sub8 mit to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development

9 and the Congress the following reports:

10 (1) INTERIM.—Not later than 1 year after the

11 date of the enactment of this Act, an interim report

12 describing the method by which the study under sub13 section (a) is being conducted and setting forth the

14 results of the study available at such time.

15 (2) FINAL.—Not later than 2 years after the

16 date of the enactment of this Act, a final report con17 taining the final results and conclusions of the study

18 under subsection (a).

19 SEC. 3. ADVISORY COMMISSION.

20 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established an Advi21 sory Commission on the Proximity of Hazardous Waste

22 Sites to Federally Assisted Housing (in this section re23 ferred to as the ‘‘advisory commission’’).

24 (b) DUTIES.—The duties of the advisory commission

25 shall be—
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1 (1) to conduct the study and issue the reports

2 required under section 2;

3 (2) to advise the Secretary on issues relating to

4 the proximity of hazardous waste sites to federally

5 assisted housing and respond to any requests from

6 the Secretary regarding such issues;

7 (3) to make recommendations regarding the

8 programs for federally assisted housing to address

9 health and safety issues arising from the proximity

10 of hazardous waste sites to federally assisted hous11 ing;

12 (4) to survey Federal, State, and local agencies,

13 programs, and activities relating to health and safe14 ty risks arising from hazardous waste sites, and to

15 advise the Secretary on means to obtain, compile,

16 publish, and use credible data related to the location,

17 frequency, and severity of such risks; and

18 (5) to recommend to the Secretary research re19 garding the health and safety risks associated with

20 the proximity of hazardous waste sites to federally

21 assisted housing which should be conducted to en22 sure decent, safe, and sanitary federally assisted

23 housing.

24 (c) MEMBERSHIP.—
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1 (1) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The advi2 sory commission shall be composed of 7 members,

3 appointed not later than 180 days after the date of

4 the enactment of this Act, as follows:

5 (A) 1 member appointed by the President.

6 (B) 1 member appointed by the Speaker of

7 the House of Representatives.

8 (C) 1 member appointed by the Minority

9 Leader of the House of Representatives.

10 (D) 1 member appointed by the Majority

11 Leader of the Senate.

12 (E) 1 member appointed by the Minority

13 Leader of the Senate.

14 (F) 1 member appointed by the Secretary.

15 (G) 1 member appointed by the Adminis16 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

17 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—Appointees shall have

18 proven expertise in the field of environmental law,

19 public housing, or public health.

20 (d) TERM OF OFFICE.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each member of the advi22 sory commission shall be appointed for a term of of23 fice of 3 years, except as provided in paragraphs (2)

24 and (3).
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1 (2) TERMS OF INITIAL APPOINTEES.—As des2 ignated at the time of appointment, of the members

3 first appointed—

4 (A) the members appointed under subpara5 graphs (B) and (E) of subsection (c)(1) shall

6 each be appointed for a term of 1 year; and

7 (B) the members appointed under subpara8 graphs (A), (C), and (D) of subsection (c)(1)

9 shall each be appointed for terms of 2 years.

10 (3) VACANCIES.—Any member appointed to fill

11 a vacancy occurring before the expiration of the

12 term for which the member’s predecessor was ap13 pointed shall be appointed only for the remainder of

14 that term. A member may serve after the expiration

15 of that member’s term until a successor has taken

16 office. A vacancy in the Commission shall be filled

17 in the manner in which the original appointment was

18 made.

19 (e) CHAIRPERSON.—The members of the advisory

20 commission shall select a chairperson from among the

21 members.

22 (f) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall first meet

23 within 60 days after all members of the advisory commis24 sion are appointed, and thereafter shall meet not less often

25 than 3 times per year and at the call of the chairperson.
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1 A majority of the members of the advisory commission

2 shall constitute a quorum but a lesser number may hold

3 hearings.

4 (g) COMPENSATION.—Members of the advisory com5 mission who are officers or employees of the Federal Gov6 ernment shall serve as members of the advisory commis7 sion without compensation in addition to that received in

8 their regular public employment. Members of the advisory

9 commission who are not officers or employees of the Fed10 eral Government shall be compensated at a rate not to

11 exceed the daily equivalent of the rate in effect for grade

12 GS–18 of the General Schedule for each day (including

13 traveltime) they are engaged in the performance of their

14 duties as members of the advisory commission. Each mem15 ber of the advisory commission shall receive travel ex16 penses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in ac17 cordance with sections 5702 and 5703 of title 5, United

18 States Code.

19 (h) STAFF.—The Secretary shall provide the advisory

20 commission with such meeting space, professional and

21 clerical staff, such information, the services of such con22 sultants, and such other resources as may be necessary

23 to assist the advisory commission in effectively carrying

24 out its duties under this section.
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1 (i) TERMINATION.—The advisory commission shall

2 terminate at the end of December 31, 2008.

3 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

4 For purposes of this Act, the following definitions

5 shall apply:

6 (1) ADVISORY COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘advi7 sory commission’’ means the advisory commission

8 established pursuant to section 3.

9 (2) COVERED AREA.—The term ‘‘covered area’’

10 means, with respect to a federally assisted housing

11 project or a hazardous waste site, as applicable, the

12 square-shaped area that is 2 miles on each side, is

13 aligned on a north-south axis, and has the federally

14 assisted housing project or hazardous waste site, as

15 applicable, as its geographical center.

16 (3) FEDERALLY ASSISTED HOUSING.—The

17 term ‘‘federally assisted housing’’ has the meaning

18 given such term in section 683 of the Housing and

19 Community Development Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C.

20 13641).

21 (4) HAZARDOUS WASTE SITE.—The term ‘‘haz22 ardous waste site’’ means any site or facility—

23 (A) listed on the National Priorities List

24 under the Comprehensive Environmental Re-
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1 sponse, Compensation, and Liability Act of

2 1980; or

3 (B) for which the Environmental Protec4 tion Agency has conducted a remedial prelimi5 nary assessment or a remedial site inspection

6 and has determined that the site or facility has

7 obtained a preliminary score sufficient for pos8 sible listing on such National Priorities List.

9 Such term includes sites and facilities that meet the

10 criteria under subparagraphs (A) and (B) after the

11 date of the enactment of this Act.

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

13 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

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