(2) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—In addition to the
identification required by paragraph (1), the report
referred to in such paragraph shall include—
(A) an assessment of the research that has
been, or is being, conducted by the Environ-
mental Protection Agency with respect to each
issue identified under such paragraph;
(B) an identification, with respect to each
such issue, of the significant scientific uncertain-
ties that exist with respect to the assessment of
the environmental risks posed by the issue;
(C) an identification of the research that
needs to be conducted by the Environmental Pro-
tection Agency to reduce significantly such sci-
entific uncertainties, the amount of time nec-
essary to conduct such research, and the cost of
such research; and
(D) a list that identifies such issues in
order of the priority in which such research
should be conducted and includes the reasons for
that priority.
(b) RESEARCH PROGRAM.—The Administrator shall
carry out a research program within the Office of Research
and Development to reduce the scientific uncertainties with
respect to the assessment of the environmental risks posed
by the issues identified under subsection (a). In conducting
the research, the Administrator shall consider the priority
list referred to in subsection (a)(2)(D).
(c) BUDGET COORDINATION.—In the first budget sub-
mitted by the President to the Congress immediately follow-
ing the submission required by subsection (a), and in the
next four budgets submitted immediately after such budget,
the Administrator shall include a report that identifies the
research conducted by the Administrator in accordance with
the priority list referred to in subsection (a)(2)(D).
SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act:
(1) The term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Admin-
istrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
(2) The term ‘‘comparative risk analysis’’ means
a process to systematically estimate, compare, and
rank the size and severity of environmental risks in
order to provide a common basis for evaluating strat-
egies for reducing or preventing those risks.
(3) The term ‘‘default option’’ means a condi-
tion, assumption, or fact that is presumed on the
basis of available data and prevailing theory.
(4) The term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director of
the Risk Assessment Program established in section 4.
(5) The term ‘‘environmental hazard’’ means
any physical, chemical, or biological agent, or a situ-
ation or circumstance presented through an environ-
mental medium, which may impose an adverse effect
upon human health or ecological resources.
(6) The term ‘‘environmental medium’’ means
the natural occurrence of air, water, soil, or bio-
logically-derived material, or any combination or
process thereof.
(7) The term ‘‘risk assessment’’ means the proc-
ess or procedure by which the potential adverse health
or ecological effects of exposure of human or
nonhuman species to environmental hazards is char-
acterized.
(8) The term ‘‘risk assessment guideline’’ means
a document of a Federal agency that contains prin-
ciples pertaining to the practice or application of risk
assessment.
(9) The term ‘‘risk characterization’’ means the
final component of a risk assessment, that quali-
tatively or quantitatively (or both) describes the mag-
nitude and consequences of that risk in terms of the
population exposed to the risk and the types of poten-
tial effects of the exposure.
(10) The term ‘‘scientific peer review’’ means the
process of rigorously evaluating the technical accu-
racy, validity, and clarity of a risk assessment by an
impartial group of technically qualified individuals.
(11) The term ‘‘uncertainty analysis’’ means the
systematic process of identifying that which is not
known or is unclear, including measurement errors,
the lack of fundamental knowledge needed to choose
among alternative hypotheses, and assumptions, or
experimental models.
(12) The term ‘‘central estimates’’ means esti-
mates of central tendencies or expected risk based, to
the extent feasible, on the most plausible and unbiased
assumptions, given the scientific information avail-
able to the Administrator.
(13) The term ‘‘substitution risk’’ means a po-
tential increase in certain types of risk from a strat-
egy designed to decrease other risks.
HR 4306 RH——2
HR 4306 RH——3