[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 52 (Wednesday, May 4, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 4, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                  THE RISK ASSESSMENT IMPROVEMENT ACT

                                 ______


                            HON. HERB KLEIN

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Wednesday, May 4, 1994

  Mr. KLEIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss an issue that is of 
great concern to the American people: environmental risk assessment.
  I have introduced the Risk Assessment Improvement Act of 1994 in 
order to reform and revamp the current duplication and inconsistency in 
the area of risk assessment at the Environmental Protection Agency 
[EPA] and to ensure public health and safety. This legislation 
strengthens and coordinates the scientific methods used to calculate 
threats to human health and the environment and provides a basis for 
protecting the environment while preserving American jobs.
  Environmental regulations are not doing the job they should. Threats 
to our health and safety--the health and safety of our children--are 
not being addressed because Government bureaucrats are not clear on 
real dangers or because valuable resources are being frittered away on 
nonproductive activity. At the same time unnecessary regulations are 
throwing roadblocks in the path of businesses and causing loss of jobs. 
We must establish a sound and scientific basis for a clear, consistent, 
and comprehensive environmental policy.
  Confusion and lack of guidelines have resulted in varying uses of 
risk assessment. We must simply and clearly spell out what needs to be 
accomplished--namely, upholding health and safety considerations. As a 
step in the right direction, my legislation provides consistency to the 
way in which we address our environmental hazards.
  Risk assessment is central to virtually all of our environmental 
laws. Unfortunately, many different standards exist because of the 
piecemeal fashion in which various environmental statues were passed in 
the 1970's and are reauthorized today. This leaves the EPA to deal with 
the cracks and voids that have formed as a result.
  My legislation has three major provisions. First, it establishes a 
Director of Risk Assessment, who will bring together the variety of 
existing risk assessment initiatives spread throughout EPA. The 
Director will regularly develop and update risk assessment guidelines, 
establish principles for implementing these guidelines, regularly 
update guidance for risk characterization, and address risk assessment 
research and training needs.
  Second, this bill establishes a pilot program using comparative risk 
analysis to rank the priority of various hazards. There is consensus 
that this pilot program is needed to rigorously test the use of 
comparative risk analysis for prioritizing EPA programs.
  Finally, my bill calls on the Director of the Office of Science and 
Technology Policy to coordinate the way risks are looked at by 
different Government agencies. It is in the interests of good 
government that there is coordination of the mechanisms of risk 
assessment to ensure that agencies address similar risks in compatible 
ways and that all agencies are making use of state-of-the-art science. 
Also, the Director of OSTP will communicate these guidelines to State-
level government in order to achieve consistency between different 
levels of government.
  There already is a great deal of support for this legislation. 
Original cosponsors of Klein's legislation include: Congressional 
leaders on risk assessment Dick Zimmer and Karen Thurman, as well as 
Science Committee Chairman George E. Brown, Jr., Merchant Marine and 
Fisheries Committee Chairman, Gerry Studds, and coordinator of the 
Conservative Democratic Forum Charlie Stenholm. Also, I would like to 
acknowledge the support, leadership, and advice that I have received in 
drafting this legislation from Technology, Environment and Aviation 
Subcommittee Chairman Tim Valentine, a coauthor of the bill.
  There is also a broad spectrum of support for the Risk Assessment 
Improvement Act from those outside of Government. At a March 9 hearing 
of the Technology, Environment and Aviation Subcommittee, Adam Finkel 
of the Center for Risk Management, Resources for the Future said, ``I 
think with the help of this proposal, risk assessment at EPA can better 
serve both scientific integrity and more important social goals * * 
*''.
  At the same hearing, Ellen Silbergeld, senior scientist for the 
Environmental Defense Fund stated that, ``The real problems with risk 
assessment have not been addressed * * * in legislation that has been 
proposed to date.'' In her written comments on the bill, Dr. Silbergeld 
states, ``I strongly support [this] approach.''
  This legislation is not designed to settle all of the issues 
surrounding risk management, but it does begin to effectively address 
the problem. The establishment of sound scientific basis for conducting 
risk assessments is a first step that we must take before launching 
further initiatives. Consistency and guidelines will better enable 
agencies to assess the possible dangers to health and safety.

                          ____________________