I
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1419
To authorize research and evaluation programs for monitoring, detecting,
and abating lead based paint and other lead exposure hazards in housing,
and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 18, 1993
Mrs. MORELLA (for herself and Mr. LEWIS of Florida) introduced the follow-
ing bill; which was referred jointly to the Committees on Science, Space,
and Technology and Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To authorize research and evaluation programs for monitor-
ing, detecting, and abating lead based paint and other
lead exposure hazards in housing, and for other pur-
poses.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that—
(1) lead is a naturally occurring element which
has been used in a variety of industrial applications
including radiation shields, storage batteries, paint,
and gasoline;
(2) 1 in 6 United States children are victims of
lead poisoning, according to the Agency for Toxic
Substances and Disease Registry;
(3) lead poses a significant environmental
health problem since adverse effects have been con-
clusively demonstrated at relatively low exposures;
(4) lead exposures to children under age 7 are
of greatest concern because of its association with
significant neurotoxic effects, including reduction in
intelligence, attention span deficits, and reading and
learning disabilities;
(5) the quantity of lead in house dust appears
to be the best single indicator of lead levels in the
blood of an infant;
(6) past efforts to abate lead-based paint have
relied on methods which endangered workers and
often resulted in more available lead dust for the oc-
cupants;
(7) improving methods for testing and abating
lead-based paint offers a highly cost effective means
of reducing exposures and thus preventing childhood
lead poisoning; and
(8) the efforts of the Federal Government to
develop and disseminate information on the most ef-
fective techniques to lower human exposure to lead
should be improved.
SEC. 2. DETECTION TECHNOLOGIES.
(a) EMERGING
TECHNOLOGIES
RESEARCH.—The
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, in
consultation with the heads of other appropriate Federal
agencies, shall develop methods for conducting evaluations
of lead detection products and techniques. The Adminis-
trator shall make available to the public the results of any
evaluations conducted by such methods as the results of
the evaluations become available.
(b) STANDARDIZATION.—Within 2 years after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Na-
tional Institute of Standards and Technology, in consulta-
tion with the Administrator of the Environmental Protec-
tion Agency, shall establish protocols, criteria, and mini-
mum performance standards to be used in the evaluations
described in subsection (a) and to ensure reliable, accu-
rate, and effective lead detection technologies.
SEC. 3. LEAD EXPOSURE IN CHILDREN.
The Administrator of the Environmental Protection
Agency, in consultation with the heads of other appro-
priate Federal agencies, shall conduct a long-term re-
search study to establish the sources of lead exposure for
children under the age of seven years. The research shall,
to the greatest extent possible—
(1) establish profiles for the percentage of such
children who have an exposure to a particular lead
source (such as lead-based paint and dust from lead-
based paint), and the particular route of such expo-
sure (such as drinking water, food, air, and soil);
(2) establish the percentage of each particular
kind of exposure and route of exposure described in
paragraph (1); and
(3) be broken down by region, economic strata,
and any other demographic feature the Adminis-
trator considers to be appropriate.
SEC. 4. RESEARCH ON ABATEMENT AND IN-PLACE MAN-
AGEMENT TECHNIQUES.
The Director of the National Institute of Standards
and Technology, in consultation with the Administrator of
the Environmental Protection Agency and the heads of
other appropriate Federal agencies, shall carry out re-
search studies to evaluate which practices and techniques
are most effective in reducing human exposure to lead.
The research studies shall emphasize the development of
new technologies and shall address the cost effectiveness
of such practices and techniques. The Administrator shall
make available to the public the results of such studies
as the results become available.
SEC. 5. LEAD REMOVAL AND CONTAINMENT PRODUCTS.
(a) RESEARCH.—The Director of the National Insti-
tute of Standards and Technology, in consultation with
the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agen-
cy and the heads of other appropriate Federal agencies,
shall conduct research on the safety, efficacy, durability,
and other relevant performance properties of lead removal
and containment products.
(b) STANDARDIZATION.—Within 24 months after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the National
Institute of Standards and Technology shall establish per-
formance criteria and standards for lead removal and con-
tainment products.
SEC. 6. PUBLIC EDUCATION.
The Administrator of the Environmental Protection
Agency, in cooperation with other appropriate Federal
agencies, shall sponsor public education and outreach ef-
forts to increase awareness of the scope, severity, and
sources of lead exposure. The Administrator shall focus
such public education and efforts in a manner which pro-
vides, to the greatest extent possible, information to the
children for whom profiles are established in section 3
about the particular kind and route of lead exposure of
such children.
SEC. 7. USE OF CLEARINGHOUSE AND TELEPHONE HOT-
LINE.
The Administrator of the Environmental Protection
Agency shall ensure that any information which is made
available to the public pursuant to this Act is made avail-
able through the clearinghouse and hotline established
pursuant to section 405(e) of the Toxic Control Sub-
stances Act (15 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.) in addition to any
other means of availability the Administrator considers to
be appropriate.
SEC. 8. STATE PROGRAMS.
(a) GRANT ASSISTANCE.—The Governor of a State
may apply to the Administrator of the Environmental Pro-
tection Agency for a grant to compile (particularly
through the use of questionnaires) data on lead exposure
in the State, to coordinate with other States the collection
of such data in order to build a national data base on
lead exposure, and to carry out public outreach programs
on lead exposure.
(b) GRANT MANAGEMENT.—
(1) CRITERIA
FOR
SELECTION.—In selecting
States for grants under subsection (a) the Adminis-
trator shall review—