[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.

                                 <all>