[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3639 Placed on Calendar Senate (PCS)]






                                                      Calendar No. 1097
110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3639

                          [Report No. 110-515]

 To protect pregnant women and children from dangerous lead exposures.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

           September 26 (legislative day, September 17), 2008

    Mrs. Boxer, from the Committee on Environment and Public Works, 
 reported the following original bill; which was read twice and placed 
                            on the calendar

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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. REGULATIONS RELATING TO LEAD-BASED PAINT HAZARDS, LEAD-
              CONTAMINATED DUST, AND LEAD-CONTAMINATED SOIL.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Final rule.--The term ``final rule'' means the final 
        rule promulgated by the Administrator entitled ``Lead; 
        Renovation, Repair, and Painting Program'' (73 Fed. Reg. 21692 
        (April 22, 2008)).
            (2) Independent clearance.--The term ``independent 
        clearance'' means clearance of a renovation performed by a 
        certified assessor or certified sampling technician who was not 
        an individual performing the renovation.
    (b) Renovation and Remodeling Regulations.--Not later than 90 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall update 
the final rule to include requirements that--
            (1) independent clearance shall be performed by a certified 
        risk assessor or certified sampling technician to ensure 
        compliance with lead hazard standards relating to lead, lead 
        dust, and lead-based paint in effect as of the date of 
        enactment of this Act, such that--
                    (A) ongoing, periodic random sampling shall be 
                permitted so long as a sufficient number of samples are 
                selected to provide a 95-percent level of confidence 
                that none of the renovations completed by a certified 
                renovation firm would result in levels that exceed the 
                standards, as determined by the Administrator; and
                    (B) if random sampling indicates that a group of 
                particular renovations results in a level that exceeds 
                the standards, until such time as the Administrator 
                determines that the renovations of the individual or 
                entity achieve the level of confidence described in 
                subparagraph (A), the individual or entity that 
                completed the renovations shall be responsible for 
                providing for independent clearance of--
                            (i) each subsequent renovation completed by 
                        the individual or entity; and
                            (ii) each unit renovated during the period 
                        beginning on the date of the most recent clear 
                        inspection and ending on the date of failure of 
                        clearance, including offering to perform 
                        recleaning on any unit that exceeds standards;
            (2) a written renovation completion report shall be 
        provided to both owners and occupants of a covered property 
        describing all the actions that were performed to reduce lead 
        hazards during the work and the results of all tests performed 
        as part of efforts to ensure compliance with the final rule and 
        other applicable regulations;
            (3) work practices used shall be at least as protective as 
        those of the Department of Housing and Urban Development 
        described in 35.1350 of title 24, Code of Federal Regulations 
        (or successor regulations); and
            (4) an individual who has completed a lead-based paint 
        training and certification program shall be present at all 
        times that work is undertaken at a work site.
    (c) Training Opportunities.--
            (1) Grant program to expand training opportunities.--
                    (A) Establishment.--The Administrator shall 
                establish a grant program to expand training 
                opportunities relating to lead-based paint that are 
                available at the State and tribal level.
                    (B) Use of funds.--Funds provided through grants 
                under the program established under subparagraph (A)--
                            (i) shall be used by a recipient to provide 
                        no-cost, culturally and linguistically 
                        appropriate lead-based paint training and 
                        certification opportunities, giving priority to 
                        those opportunities established and carried out 
                        in partnership with nongovernmental 
                        organizations, for low-income workers, in order 
                        to ensure the presence, at all times that work 
                        is undertaken at a work site, of an individual 
                        who has completed a lead-based paint training 
                        and certification program; and
                            (ii) may be used by a recipient--
                                    (I) to expand new and supplemental 
                                training opportunities to increase the 
                                number of individuals who have 
                                completed lead-based paint training and 
                                certification programs that are in 
                                compliance with updates to the final 
                                rule required under subsection (b);
                                    (II) to maintain, improve, or 
                                develop infrastructure and oversight to 
                                ensure that--
                                            (aa) individuals engaged in 
                                        renovation activities are 
                                        properly trained;
                                            (bb) lead-based paint 
                                        training programs are 
                                        accredited;
                                            (cc) contractors and firms 
                                        engaged in renovation 
                                        activities are certified; and
                                            (dd) renovation activities 
                                        are carried out in accordance 
                                        with the final rule (including 
                                        updates to that final rule 
                                        required under subsection (b)) 
                                        and other applicable 
                                        regulations;
                                    (III) to provide for training of 
                                sampling technicians and enforcement 
                                personnel in compliance and lead dust 
                                sampling techniques;
                                    (IV) to implement lead-based paint 
                                compliance assistance programs; and
                                    (V) to engage in education and 
                                outreach activities regarding the final 
                                rule.
                    (C) Treatment of funds.--The program established 
                under subparagraph (A), and funds provided through 
                grants under that program, shall supplement, and not 
                supplant, lead-based paint training programs and grants 
                available as of the date of enactment of this Act.
                    (D) Authorization of appropriations.--There is 
                authorized to be appropriated to carry out this 
                paragraph $7,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 
                2009 through 2012.
            (2) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in collaboration with 
        the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, shall prepare, 
        publish, and submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a 
        report that--
                    (A) analyzes the impact of the final rule on 
                preventing lead poisoning;
                    (B) analyzes training opportunities for contractors 
                and renovators; and
                    (C) makes recommendations for expansion and 
                coordination of that training in a manner that, to the 
                maximum extent practicable--
                            (i) maximizes coordination between the 
                        Department of Housing and Urban Development and 
                        the Environmental Protection Agency to ensure 
                        standard training and curriculum development;
                            (ii) ensures that contractors, renovators, 
                        owners, occupants, and State, tribal, and local 
                        governments are aware of training and 
                        certification activities provided through the 
                        Department of Housing and Urban Development and 
                        the Environmental Protection Agency;
                            (iii) expands the number of individuals who 
                        have completed lead-based paint training and 
                        certification programs so as to ensure that 
                        such an individual is available to be present 
                        at a work site at all times that work is 
                        undertaken during renovations; and
                            (iv) expands the number of individuals who 
                        have completed sampling technician training.

SEC. 6. NO EFFECT ON OTHER EFFECTIVE DATES.

    Except as provided in section 5, nothing in this Act or any 
amendment made by this Act modifies or otherwise affects any effective 
date described in the final rule (as defined in section 5(a)).
                                                      Calendar No. 1097

110th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                                S. 3639

                          [Report No. 110-515]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 To protect pregnant women and children from dangerous lead exposures.

_______________________________________________________________________

           September 26 (legislative day, September 17), 2008

                 Read twice and placed on the calendar