(1) Since 1992, the Environmental Protection 
Agency (hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘EPA’’) has 
prohibited the use of phosphogypsum in road con-
struction, citing numerous scenarios that would ex-
pose the public, and especially road construction 
workers, to an unacceptable risk of cancer. 
(2) EPA prohibited use of phosphogypsum in 
roads because it contains uranium and radium that 
produce radionuclides linked to higher risks of can-
cer and genetic damage. The Clean Air Act was 
amended in 1977 after finding that exposure to ra-
dioactive materials can cause serious harm to health, 
and that exposures to radioactivity are cumulative, 
which means each new or additional exposure in-
creases the risk of serious illness. 
(3) EPA found that phosphogypsum used in 
roads could contaminate nearby surface and ground-
water quality through leaching, and that radioactive 
material could be resuspended into the air by wind 
and vehicle traffic. 
(4) EPA found that stacking of phosphogypsum 
presented a lifetime cancer risk of 9.1 in 100,000, 
meaning 
that 
any 
alternative 
distribution 
of 
phosphogypsum must meet this same protective 
threshold. 
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(5) The Director of EPA’s Office of Radiation 
and 
Indoor 
Air 
has 
testified 
that 
use 
of 
phosphogysum as ‘‘road building material could not 
meet the EPA’s risk criteria’’. 
(6) EPA has further acknowledged it cannot 
authorize categorical approvals and requires case-by- 
case consideration of other uses. 
SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF OTHER PURPOSE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of 
the Environmental Protection Agency shall promulgate a 
final rule revising section 61.206 of title 40, Code of Fed-
eral Regulations, to ensure the following: 
(1) Any request that Administrator approve dis-
tribution or use of phosphogypsum for any purpose 
not expressly specified in section 61.204 or 61.205 
of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, shall in-
clude— 
(A) the maximum individual risk imposed 
on a person due to exposure to a pollutant; and 
(B) a description of measures to minimize, 
to the greatest extent possible, exposure to any 
individual who may be directly or indirectly ex-
posed to phosphogypsum, in furtherance of the 
other purpose, including a— 
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(i) construction worker; 
(ii) utility worker; 
(iii) user of any final product that in-
cludes phosphogypsum; or 
(iv) nearby resident of an area of ex-
posure to phosphogypsum. 
(C) a description of both surfacewater and 
groundwater exposure pathways and a moni-
toring program to eliminate potential exposure 
to contaminants within the water pathways that 
includes— 
(i) an estimate of the amount and 
composition 
of 
leachate 
from 
phosphogypsum 
expected 
from 
the 
phosphogypsum application throughout the 
product’s lifecycle; 
(ii) an estimate of ecotoxicity impacts 
from potential leachate contamination of 
nearby or downstream environments (soil, 
vegetation, waterways, and aquatic life); 
and 
(iii) a written plan approved by the 
Administrator for quarterly leachate and 
ecotoxicity monitoring of the nearby and 
immediately downstream environments, in-
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cluding soil, vegetation, waterways, and 
aquatic life. 
(2) Any approval for distribution or use of 
phosphogypsum for any purpose not expressly speci-
fied in sections section 61.204 or 61.205 of title 40, 
Code of Federal Regulations— 
(A) shall be determined on a case-by-case 
basis; and 
(B) may not exceed a maximum individual 
risk of 9.1 in 100,000. 
(3) Any request that the Administrator ap-
proves distribution or use of phosphogypsum for any 
purpose not expressly specified in section 61.204 or 
61.205 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, in-
cluding the results of any required testing specified 
in paragraph (1)(C) shall be made publicly available 
on the public website of the Environmental Protec-
tion Agency. 
(b) MAXIMUM INDIVIDUAL RISK.—In this Act, the 
term ‘‘maximum individual risk’’ means the highest in-
crease in lifetime cancer risk an individual faces in a popu-
lation that is exposed to the highest concentration of 
phosphogypsum over a 70-year period. 
Æ 
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