S. 3495

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

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II

110th CONGRESS

2d Session

S. 3495

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.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Protect Pregnant Women and Children from Dangerous Lead Exposures Act of 2008.

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 μg/ft2 for floors and 250 μg/ft2 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) µg/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) µg/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.

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.

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.

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)).