I 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5235 
To direct the President to enter into an arrangement with the National 
Academy of Sciences to evaluate certain Federal rules and regulations 
for potentially harmful impacts on public health, air quality, water qual-
ity, plant and animal wildlife, global climate, or the environment; and 
to direct Federal departments and agencies to create plans to reverse 
those impacts that are determined to be harmful by the National Acad-
emy of Sciences. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 27, 2006 
Ms. LEE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Trans-
portation and Infrastructure, Resources, and Agriculture, for a period to 
be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
A BILL 
To direct the President to enter into an arrangement with 
the National Academy of Sciences to evaluate certain 
Federal rules and regulations for potentially harmful im-
pacts on public health, air quality, water quality, plant 
and animal wildlife, global climate, or the environment; 
and to direct Federal departments and agencies to create 
plans to reverse those impacts that are determined to 
be harmful by the National Academy of Sciences. 
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22:06 Apr 30, 2006
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Environment and Pub-
lic Health Restoration Act of 2006’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
(a) GENERAL FINDINGS.—The Congress finds as fol-
lows: 
(1) Our natural environment encompasses a 
wide variety of habitats and ecosystems that nurture 
and sustain a diversity of species, including the 
human race. 
(2) The abundance of natural resources in our 
environment forms the basis for our economy and 
has greatly contributed to human development 
throughout history. 
(3) The accelerated pace of human development 
over the last several hundred years has significantly 
impacted our natural environment and its resources, 
the health and diversity of plant and animal wildlife, 
the availability of critical habitats, the quality of our 
air and our water, and our global climate. 
(4) The intervention of the Federal Government 
is necessary to minimize and mitigate human impact 
on the environment for the benefit of public health, 
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maintain air quality and water quality, sustain the 
diversity of plants and animals, combat global cli-
mate change, and protect the environment. 
(5) Laws and regulations in the United States 
have been created and promulgated to minimize and 
mitigate human impact on the environment for the 
benefit of public health, maintain air quality and 
water quality, sustain wildlife, and protect the envi-
ronment. 
(6) Such laws include the Antiquities Act of 
1906 (16 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) initiated by President 
Theodore Roosevelt to create the national park sys-
tem, the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the Clean Air Act (42 
U.S.C. 7401 et seq.), the Federal Water Pollution 
Control Act Amendments of 1972 (Public Law 92– 
500), the Clean Water Act of 1977 (Public Law 95– 
217), the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 
Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (Public 
Law 96–510), the Endangered Species Act of 1973 
(Public Law 93–205), and the National Forest Man-
agement Act of 1976 (Public Law 94–588). 
(7) Attempts to repeal or weaken key environ-
mental safeguards pose dangers to the public health, 
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air quality, water quality, wildlife, and the environ-
ment. 
(b) FINDINGS ON CHANGES AND PROPOSED CHANGE 
IN LAW.—The Congress finds that, since 2001, the fol-
lowing changes and proposed changes to existing law or 
regulations have or will negatively impact the environment 
and public health: 
(1) CLEAN WATER.— 
(A) On May 9, 2002, the Environmental 
Protection Agency and the United States Army 
Corps of Engineers put forth a final rule that 
reconciled section 404 regulations of the Clean 
Water Act by redefining the term ‘‘fill mate-
rial’’ and amending the definition of the term 
‘‘discharge of fill material’’, reversing a 25- 
year-old Clean Water Act regulation. The new 
rule fails to restrict the dumping of hardrock 
mining waste, construction debris, and other in-
dustrial wastes into rivers, streams, lakes, and 
wetlands. The rule further allows destructive 
mountaintop removal coal mining companies to 
dump waste into streams and lakes, polluting 
the surrounding natural habitat and poisoning 
plants and animals that depend on those water 
sources. 
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