[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1161 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
103d CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1161
To establish a program to ensure nondiscriminatory compliance with
environmental, health, and safety laws and to ensure equal protection
of the public health.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 24 (legislative day, June 22), 1993
Mr. Baucus (for himself, Ms. Moseley-Braun, and Mr. Campbell)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Environment and Public Works
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a program to ensure nondiscriminatory compliance with
environmental, health, and safety laws and to ensure equal protection
of the public health.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Environmental Justice Act of 1993''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that--
(1) Toxic chemicals are being released in significant
amounts into the environment. Over three billion five hundred
million pounds of toxic releases were reported by approximately
nineteen thousand six hundred industrial plants in 1990, under
the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act.
(2) Notwithstanding the benefits of the Emergency Planning
and Community Right-to-Know Act, many toxic chemicals posing
substantial health threats as a result of releases, are not
being reported. The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-
Know Act excludes hundreds of chemicals listed as toxics under
various environmental laws including: sixteen hazardous air
pollutants, and five extremely hazardous substances listed in
the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments; one hundred and forty
chemicals regulated as hazardous waste under the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act because of acute or chronic
toxicity; over two hundred chemicals identified as known or
probable human carcinogens by the EPA and the National
Toxicology Program; sixty-nine special review pesticides
identified under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and
Rodenticide Act and hundreds of restricted use pesticides; and
ninety reproductive toxins identified by the California
Department of Health.
(3) Although environmental and health data of toxic
chemical releases are not routinely collected and analyzed by
income and race, racial and ethnic minorities and lower income
Americans may be disproportionately exposed to toxic chemicals
in their residential and workplace environments.
SEC. 3. PURPOSES AND POLICIES.
The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to establish and maintain information which provides an
objective basis for assessment of health effects by income and
race;
(2) to identify those areas with the largest releases of
toxic chemicals to the air, land, water, and workplace;
(3) to assess the health effects that may be caused by
emissions in those areas of highest environmental impact;
(4) to ensure that groups or individuals residing within
High Environmental Impact Areas have the opportunity and the
resources to participate in the technical process which will
determine the possible existence of adverse health impacts;
(5) to identify those activities in high environmental
impact areas found to have significant adverse impacts on human
health; and
(6) to incorporate environmental equity considerations into
planning and implementation of all Federal environmental
programs and statutes.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
For the purposes of this Act:
(1) The term ``Administrator'' means the Administrator of
the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
(2) The term ``environmental high impact area'' means any
of the one hundred counties or appropriate geographic units
with the highest total weight of toxic chemicals released
during the most recent five-year period for which data is
available, as calculated pursuant to section 4 of this Act.
(3) The term ``toxic chemicals'' means--
(A) all hazardous substances as defined in section
101(14) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C.
9601(14);
(B) all materials registered pursuant to the
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (7
U.S.C. 136 et seq.);
(C) all chemicals subject to section 313 of the
Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of
1986;
(D) all contaminants identified in the Safe
Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300g-1);
(E) all chemicals listed by the National Toxicology
Program as known or probable human carcinogens; and
(F) all materials subject to the requirements
concerning material safety data sheets for hazardous
chemicals under the Occupational and Safety and Health
Act of 1970 (15 U.S.C. 615 et seq.).
(4) The term ``release'' shall have the same meaning as
used in section 101(22) of the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1990 as amended by
the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986, and
shall also include any release which results in exposure to
persons within a workplace.
(5) The term ``toxic chemical facility'' means any
facility--
(A) subject to reporting requirements under the
Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of
1986;
(B) that generates, treats, stores or disposes of a
hazardous waste as defined in section 3001 of the Solid
Waste Disposal Act;
(C) subject to section 112 or 129 of the Clean Air
Act;
(D) subject to sections 307 or 311 of the Federal
Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.);
(E) subject to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide
and Rodenticide Act (7 U.S.C. 136 et seq.); or
(F) subject to the requirements concerning material
safety data sheets for hazardous chemicals under the
Occupational and Safety and Health Act of 1970 (15
U.S.C. 615 et seq.). For the purpose of this Act the
term ``toxic chemical facility'' shall include any
Federal facility that releases a toxic chemical.
SEC. 5. IDENTIFICATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL HIGH IMPACT AREAS.
(a) Determination of Impacted Areas.--Within six months after the
date of enactment, the Administrator in consultation with the Agency
for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, the National Institute for
Environmental Health Sciences, the National Center for Health
Statistics and the Bureau of the Census, shall determine the most
appropriate designation of Environmental High Impact Areas, either
counties or other appropriate geographic unit.
(b) Publication of List.--Within twelve months after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall publish a list, in rank
order, of the total weight of toxic chemicals released in each county
or other appropriate geographic unit in the United States during the
most recent five-year period for which data are available. If less than
five years of data are available the Administrator shall use available
data until further information is reported.
(c) Compilation of List.--(1) In compiling the list under
subsection (a), the Administrator shall consider and utilize all
appropriate and available data compiled pursuant to any environmental
regulatory authority and other sources, including available data on the
presence of lead-based paint and toxic chemicals from mobile vehicles.
(2) For each county or appropriate geographic unit the
Administrator shall calculate and compile in a data base--
(A) the total weight of toxic chemicals released into the
ambient environment;
(B) the total weight of toxic chemicals released into each
environmental media (air, water, land, workplace); and
(C) the total weight of each toxic chemical released into
the ambient environment, and into each environmental media
(air, water, land, workplace);
and whenever possible shall adjust the estimates of each of the items
in subparagraphs (A) through (C) to account for the toxicity of the
toxic chemicals.
(3) Within six months after the date of enactment the Administrator
shall review the methodology used to compile and summarize information
collected under section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community
Right-to-Know Act, and publish for public comment any proposed changes
to the methodology necessary to calculate and compile the information
required in paragraph (1).
(4) The Administrator shall revise and republish the list described
in subsection (c) by the date that is five years after the date of
initial publication, and not less frequently than every five years
thereafter, using data compiled during the preceding five-year period.
(d) Environmental High Impact Areas.--(1) Within twelve months
after the date of enactment, and every five years thereafter, the
Administrator shall publish a list of the one hundred counties or other
appropriate geographic unit with the highest total toxic chemical
releases based on the list published in subsection (b). Such counties
or other appropriate geographic unit shall be designated as
``Environmental High Impact Areas''.
(2)(A) To ensure that facilities with the highest potential for
release of toxic chemicals are operating in compliance with all
applicable environmental health and safety standards, the
Administrator, and the Secretary of Labor, shall conduct compliance
inspections of all toxic chemical facilities subject to their
jurisdiction in Environmental High Impact Areas within two years after
the date of enactment of this Act, and not less frequently than every
two years thereafter.
(B) Notwithstanding the requirements in subparagraph (A), the
Administrator or the Secretary of Labor may authorize any state or
Indian tribe which has been delegated authority to administer any
Federal law regulating a toxic chemical which authorizes the inspection
of toxic chemical facilities for compliance with applicable Federal
environmental laws, to conduct such inspections in lieu of the
Administrator or the Secretary of Labor.
(3) Within twenty-four months after the date of enactment of this
Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with
the Administrator, the Secretary of Labor, the Bureau of Indian
Affairs, and the Commissioners of the United States Commission on Civil
Rights, shall issue for public comment a report identifying the nature
and extent, if any, of acute and chronic impacts on human health in
Environmental High Impact Areas from exposure to toxic chemicals. Such
impacts shall include incidence of cancer, birth deformities, infant
mortality rates, and respiratory diseases. Such report shall include a
comparison of the health impact from exposure to toxic chemicals in
Environmental High Impact Areas with other counties in the United
States. The report shall be coordinated by the Administrator of the
Agency for Toxic Substances Disease Registry of the Department of
Health and Human Services, and in coordinating the report, the
Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
shall seek to--
(A) isolate the impacts of environmental pollution;
(B) segregate the effects of other factors such as health
care availability or substance abuse;
(C) rank the relative risks posed by the toxic chemicals
present in Environmental High Impact Areas and by the varied
sources of toxic chemicals both individually and cumulatively;
(D) take into account the need to remedy the impacts of
such toxic chemicals in high population density areas;
(E) evaluate the levels below which release of toxic
chemicals, either individually or cumulatively, must be reduced
to avoid adverse impacts on human health; and
(F) determine the impacts of maintaining toxic chemical
releases at the current levels.
(4) If the report under paragraph (3) identifies significant
adverse impacts from exposure to toxic chemicals on human health in
Environmental High Impact Areas as a group, the President shall submit
to Congress within one year after publication of the report, proposed
administrative and legislative changes to remedy and prevent such
impacts, including--
(A) the addition of facilities or chemicals to be subject
to reporting requirements of the Emergency Planning and
Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986, or a reduction in
threshold quantities of chemicals that trigger reporting
requirements under such Act;
(B) the regulation of toxic chemicals not subject to
Federal law based on a statutory or administrative exemption;
and
(C) the imposition of additional regulatory measures for
toxic chemical facilities in an Environmental High Impact Area,
such as emissions fees, source reduction requirements, or
restrictions on toxic chemical releases.
SEC. 6. REDUCTION OF TOXIC CHEMICALS
If the report under section 4(d)(3) identifies significant adverse
impacts on human health from exposure to toxic chemicals in an
Environmental High Impact Area, the Administrator shall promulgate
regulations applicable to any Federal permit for construction or
modification of a toxic chemical facility in that area. Such
regulations shall require a net reduction in the release of any toxic
chemical determined to cause such significant adverse impacts on human
health in that area.
SEC. 7. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS.
(a) In General.--Subject to appropriations, and in accordance with
rules promulgated by the Secretary of Health and Human Services in
consultation with the Administrator, the Secretary may award a grant to
any individual or group of individuals who may be affected by a release
or threatened release of a toxic chemical from any toxic chemical
facility in an environmental high impact area.
(b) Grant requirements.--(1) A grant awarded under this section
shall--
(A) be designed to facilitate access by representatives of
environmental high impact areas to the activities that involve
public participation under this Act and any other related law.
(B) be used to obtain technical assistance relating to the
inspection and review authorities described in section 4(d)(2)
and the study described in section 4(d)(3); and
(C) be in an amount not to exceed $50,000.
(2) Each grant recipient shall be required, as a condition of the
grant, to pay a non-Federal share equal to 20 percent of the grant
amount. The Administrator may waive the 20 percent contribution
requirement if the grant recipient demonstrates financial need to the
satisfaction of the Administrator. Not more than one grant may be made
with respect to each environmental high impact area for the period of a
grant (as determined by the Administrator). At the end of the period, a
grant may be renewed if the Administrator determines that the renewal
is necessary to facilitate public participation.
(3) Grants under this subsection shall be considered to be grants
under section 117(e) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 as amended by the Superfund
Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986, and shall be funded in the
same manner.
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