1.This Act may be cited as the
Protecting Pregnant Women and Children
From Perchlorate Act of 2011
.
2.
(a)Congress finds that—
(1)perchlorate—
(A)is a chemical used as the primary
ingredient of solid rocket propellant; and
(B)is also used in fireworks, road flares, and
other applications;
(2)waste from the manufacture and improper
disposal of chemicals containing perchlorate is increasingly being discovered
in soil and water;
(3)according to the Government Accountability
Office, perchlorate contamination has been detected in water and soil at almost
400 sites in the United States, with concentration levels ranging from 4 parts
per billion to millions of parts per billion;
(4)the Government Accountability Office has
determined that the Environmental Protection Agency does not centrally track or
monitor perchlorate detections or the status of perchlorate cleanup, so a
greater number of contaminated sites may already exist;
(5)according to the Government Accountability
Office, limited Environmental Protection Agency data show that perchlorate has
been found in 35 States and the District of Columbia and is known to have
contaminated 153 public water systems in 26 States;
(6)those data are likely underestimates of
total drinking water exposure, as illustrated by the finding of the California
Department of Health Services that perchlorate contamination sites have
affected approximately 273 drinking water sources and 86 drinking water systems
in the State of California alone;
(7)Food and Drug Administration scientists and
other scientific researchers have detected perchlorate in the United States
food supply, including in lettuce, milk, cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots,
cantaloupe, wheat, and spinach, and in human breast milk;
(8)(A)perchlorate can harm human health,
especially in pregnant women and children, by interfering with uptake of iodide
by the thyroid gland, which is necessary to produce important hormones that
help control human health and development;
(B)in
adults, the thyroid helps to regulate metabolism;
(C)in
children, the thyroid helps to ensure proper mental and physical development;
and
(D)impairment of thyroid function in expectant
mothers or infants may result in effects including delayed development and
decreased learning capability;
(9)(A)in October 2006, researchers from the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published the largest, most
comprehensive study to date on the effects of low levels of perchlorate
exposure in women, finding that—
(i)significant changes existed in thyroid
hormones in women with low iodine levels who were exposed to perchlorate;
and
(ii)even low-level perchlorate exposure may
affect the production of hormones by the thyroid in iodine-deficient women;
and
(B)in
the United States, about 36 percent of women have iodine levels equivalent to
or below the levels of the women in the study described in subparagraph (A);
and
(10)the Environmental Protection Agency has not
established a health advisory or national primary drinking water regulation for
perchlorate, but instead established a Drinking Water Equivalent
Level
of 24.5 parts per billion for perchlorate, which—
(A)does not take into consideration all routes
of exposure to perchlorate;
(B)has been criticized by experts as failing
to sufficiently consider the body weight, unique exposure, and vulnerabilities
of certain pregnant women and fetuses, infants, and children; and
(C)is based primarily on a small study and
does not take into account new, larger studies of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention or other data indicating potential effects at lower
perchlorate levels than previously found.
(b)The purposes of this Act are—
(1)to require the Administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency to establish, by not later than 90 days after
the date of enactment of this Act, a health advisory for perchlorate in
drinking water that—
(A)is fully
protective of, and considers, the body weight and exposure patterns of pregnant
women, infants, and children;
(B)provides an
adequate margin of safety; and
(C)takes into
account all routes of exposure to perchlorate;
(2)to require the Administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency to establish not later than 1 year after the
date of enactment of this Act a national primary drinking water regulation for
perchlorate that fully protects pregnant women, infants, and children, taking
into consideration body weight, exposure patterns, and all routes of exposure
to perchlorate.
3.Health advisory and national primary
drinking water regulation for perchlorateSection 1412(b)(12) of the Safe Drinking
Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300g–1(b)(12)) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
(C)
(i)Notwithstanding any other provision of this
section, not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this
subparagraph, the Administrator shall publish a health advisory for perchlorate
that is fully protective, with an adequate margin of safety, of the health of
vulnerable persons (including pregnant women, infants, and children), taking
into consideration body weight, exposure patterns, and all routes of
exposure.
(ii)Notwithstanding any other provision of this
section, the Administrator shall propose (not later than 180 days after the
date of enactment of this subparagraph) and shall finalize (not later than 1
year after the date of enactment of this subparagraph) a national primary
drinking water regulation for perchlorate—
(I)that based on the
factors in clause (i) and other relevant data, is protective, with an adequate
margin of safety, of vulnerable persons (including pregnant women, infants, and
children); and
(II)the maximum
contaminant level of which is as close to the maximum contaminant level goal
for perchlorate, and as protective of vulnerable persons, as is
feasible.
.