[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3495 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3495

 To protect pregnant women and children from dangerous lead exposures.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 16, 2008

Mrs. Boxer (for herself, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Cardin, and Mr. Whitehouse) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
               Committee on Environment and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To protect pregnant women and children from dangerous lead exposures.

    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 ``Protect Pregnant Women and Children 
from Dangerous Lead Exposures Act of 2008''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
        recognize that lead is a poison that--
                    (A) affects virtually every system in the human 
                body; and
                    (B) is particularly harmful to the developing 
                brains and nervous systems of fetuses and young 
                children;
            (2) the Administrator has determined that lead--
                    (A) is associated with a wide array of harmful 
                impacts, including damage to the nervous system, the 
                reproductive system, the cardiovascular system, 
                physical development, the kidneys, hearing, and the 
                immune system; and
                    (B) can cause adverse behavioral impacts.
            (3) the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the 
        Administrator have determined that children in general, and 
        children in low socioeconomic conditions and minority children 
        in particular, are at increased risk of lead exposure and 
        adverse health impacts from that exposure;
            (4) the Census Bureau estimates that in 2006 more than 
        12,800,000 children under the age of 18 lived in poverty;
            (5) in 1991, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
        recognized that 10 micrograms per deciliter of lead in blood 
        should prompt public health actions, but that harmful impacts 
        may occur at blood lead levels below 10 micrograms per 
        deciliter;
            (6) the Environmental Protection Agency (including the 
        Children's Health Protection Advisory Committee of the 
        Environmental Protection Agency) and other Federal entities 
        recognize that scientific studies since 1991 have strengthened 
        the evidence that blood lead levels below 10 micrograms per 
        deciliter, particularly in children, can harm human health;
            (7) the Administrator recognizes that recent studies have 
        demonstrated that some reductions in cognitive function can 
        occur at the initial and lowest levels of lead exposure, though 
        additional harm can occur with continued exposure to lead;
            (8) according to the Administrator, approximately 310,000 
        children in the United States between the ages of 1 and 5 years 
        have blood-lead levels greater than 10 micrograms per 
        deciliter;
            (9) the Administrator has determined that lead-based paint 
        can pose a health threat through various types of exposure, 
        including through indoor dust and paint chips following 
        renovation activities;
            (10) in 1992, Congress passed Public Law 102-550 (106 Stat. 
        3672), title X of which is cited as the Residential Lead-Based 
        Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 4851 et seq.);
            (11) section 1021(a) of the Residential Lead-Based Paint 
        Hazard Reduction Act of 1992 amended the Toxic Substances 
        Control Act (15 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.) by adding a title IV to 
        that Act relating to lead exposure reduction (106 Stat. 3912);
            (12) title IV of the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 
        U.S.C. 2681 et seq.) required the Administrator to undertake a 
        number of actions to protect individuals, including pregnant 
        women and children, from dangerous lead exposures, including by 
        requiring the Administrator--
                    (A) by not later than April 28, 1994, to promulgate 
                regulations identifying lead-based paint hazard 
                standards for use in determining standards and 
                regulations for reducing the risk of exposure to those 
                hazards;
                    (B) by not later than April 28, 1995, to conduct 
                and publish a study on the extent to which persons 
                engaged in various types of renovation and remodeling 
                activities in target housing, public buildings 
                constructed before 1978, and commercial buildings are 
                exposed to lead in the conduct of the activities, or 
                disturb lead and create a lead-based paint hazard, on a 
                regular or occasional basis; and
                    (C) by not later than October 28, 1996, to revise 
                the regulations that apply to renovation and remolding 
                activities in target housing, public buildings 
                constructed before 1978, and commercial buildings that 
                create lead-based paint hazards;
            (13) on January 5, 2001, the Administrator promulgated the 
        lead-based paint hazard regulations required under section 403 
        of the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 2683), which 
        identified dangerous levels of lead dust on floors at 40 
        micrograms per square foot or greater and for window sills at 
        250 micrograms per square foot or greater;
            (14) in promulgating the regulations, the Administrator 
        stated that the ``standards [were] based on the best science 
        available to the Agency. The Environmental Protection Agency 
        recognizes, however, that the science is constantly developing 
        . . . If new data become available (e.g., empirical data 
        showing that very small amounts of deteriorated paint pose a 
        serious health risk or data showing that hazard control 
        activities are more effective at reducing long-term dust-lead 
        levels than assumed by the Environmental Protection Agency), 
        the Agency will consider changing the standards to reflect 
        these data.'';
            (15) on January 23, 2007, the Administrator issued a draft 
        final dust study examining renovation and remodeling activities 
        and lead-contaminated dust hazards;
            (16) on August 30, 2007, the Clean Air Science Advisory 
        Committee of the Environmental Protection Agency--
                    (A) reviewed the study on renovation and remodeling 
                activities and lead-contaminated dust hazards and the 
                approach of the Environmental Protection Agency to 
                characterizing lead-contaminated dust levels after 
                renovation and remodeling activities; and
                    (B) concluded that--
                            (i) ``[s]tandards need to be strengthened 
                        in view of recent epidemiological data 
                        indicating that children are more susceptible 
                        to effects from lead than was previously 
                        thought.'';
                            (ii) ``[t]he lead dust loading values of 40 
                        mg/ft\2\ for floors and 250 mg/ft\2\ for window 
                        sills are presented as adequately protective of 
                        children against lead poisoning, i.e., to guard 
                        against blood lead levels of greater than 10 
                        (>10) mg/dL. However, the Panel notes that 
                        these residual surface contamination standards 
                        are obsolete on the basis of recent 
                        epidemiology findings that indicate that 
                        adverse health effects are found in children 
                        with blood lead levels less than five (<5) mg/
                        dL. . .).'';
                            (iii) ``[t]he cleaning procedures employed 
                        are inadequate, such that post-cleaning lead 
                        levels do not even meet the existing 
                        Environmental Protection Agency standards. 
                        Moreover, the qualitative and simplistic method 
                        used to verify the effectiveness of these 
                        cleaning procedures, i.e., the `white cloth 
                        verification tests', does not yield 
                        consistently reliable results, leading to an 
                        inaccurate assessment of cleaning efficiency 
                        after repair and renovation activities.''; and
                            (iv) ``[t]he Panel strongly feels that it 
                        is imprudent to substitute a simplistic and 
                        qualitative white cloth test for highly 
                        specific, analytical measures of lead in house 
                        dust.'';
            (17) on March 31, 2008, the Administrator issued final 
        lead-based paint renovation, repair, and painting regulations 
        that are based on--
                    (A) cleaning practices that--
                            (i) the scientific advisors of the 
                        Administrator have criticized as 
                        ``inadequate''; and
                            (ii) are based on the goal of meeting the 
                        lead dust loading values of 40 micrograms per 
                        square foot for floors and 250 micrograms per 
                        square foot for window sills, which those 
                        scientific advisors have called ``obsolete'' 
                        based on studies demonstrating that the values 
                        may be inadequately protective of children's 
                        health; and
                    (B) the ``white cloth'' method to verify the 
                effectiveness of cleaning practices, which the 
                scientific advisors of the Administrator have called 
                ``inaccurate'' and ``simplistic''; and
            (18) the revised lead-based paint renovation, repair, and 
        painting rule of the Environmental Protection Agency fails--
                    (A) to use the best available science on the 
                adverse impacts of lead on children's health;
                    (B) to adequately protect the health of pregnant 
                women and children from lead poisoning; and
                    (C) to contain enforceable methods of verifying 
                that lead levels in homes and other facilities are safe 
                following lead-based paint renovation, repair, and 
                painting activities.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
            (2) Best available science.--The term ``best available 
        science'' includes, with respect the establishment of standards 
        for the protection of individuals from exposure to lead, 
        studies on the health effects of lead completed since the 
        Environmental Protection Agency last updated the lead-based 
        paint hazard standard under section 403 of the Toxic Substances 
        Control Act (15 U.S.C. 2683), including especially recent 
        epidemiological studies, demonstrating that lead levels below 
        10 micrograms per deciliter of blood pose a threat to 
        children's health.

SEC. 4. PROTECTION OF PREGNANT WOMEN AND CHILDREN.

    (a) Best Available Science.--
            (1) Final regulations.--Not later than April 30, 2009, the 
        Administrator shall use the best available science--
                    (A) to promulgate a final rule revising the lead-
                based paint hazard standard of the Environmental 
                Protection Agency promulgated under section 403 of the 
                Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 2683) to a more 
                protective level that safeguards the health of pregnant 
                women and children; and
                    (B) to require the use of a lead dust cleaning 
                clearance methodology that ensures lead dust levels 
                meet the standard revised under subparagraph (A).
            (2) Peer review of analyses.--The Administrator shall 
        ensure that the Clean Air Science Advisory Committee of the 
        Environmental Protection Agency peer reviews the analyses that 
        the Administrator uses--
                    (A) to revise the lead-based paint hazard standard; 
                and
                    (B) to require the use of a lead dust cleaning 
                clearance methodology.
    (b) Implement Protections for Pregnant Women and Children.--Not 
later than April 22, 2010, the Administrator shall integrate into the 
revised rules of the Environmental Protection Agency on renovation and 
remolding activities that create lead-based paint hazards--
            (1) the lead-based paint hazard standard revised under 
        subsection (a)(1)(A); and
            (2) the lead dust cleaning clearance methodology required 
        under subsection (a)(1)(B).
    (c) Periodic Revaluation.--The Administrator shall review and 
reevaluate the health protectiveness of the rule promulgated under 
subsection (a)(1)(A), for the sole purpose of determining whether to 
increase protections for the health of pregnant women and children, 
with the review and reevaluation occurring--
            (1) at least once every 5 years; or
            (2) more frequently, as necessary, if significant 
        scientific findings indicate that the standard described in 
        subsection (a)(1)(A) should be revised to increase protections 
        for the health of pregnant women and children.

SEC. 5. NO EFFECT ON OTHER EFFECTIVE DATES.

    Nothing in this Act or any amendment made by this Act modifies or 
otherwise affects any effective date described in the final rule of the 
Environmental Protection Agency entitled ``Lead; Renovation, Repair, 
and Repainting Program'' (73 Fed. Reg. 21692 (April 22, 2008)).
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