United States HR 1165: ETO is Toxic Act

Bill Text

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116TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION H. R. 1165
To modernize the National Air Toxics Assessment, the Integrated Risk Infor-
mation System, and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Reg-
istry, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 13, 2019
Mr. FOSTER (for himself, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. SCHNEIDER, and Mr. CASTEN
of Illinois) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To modernize the National Air Toxics Assessment, the Inte-
grated Risk Information System, and the Agency for
Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Expanding Trans-4
parency of Information and Safeguarding Toxics Act of 5
2019’’ or the ‘‘ETO is Toxic Act’’. 6
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 7
In this Act: 8
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(1) AIR ASSESSMENT.—The term ‘‘Air Assess-1
ment’’ means the National Air Toxics Assessment 2
published by the EPA Administrator. 3
(2) ATSDR ADMINISTRATOR.—The term 4
‘‘ATSDR Administrator’’ means the Administrator 5
of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease 6
Registry of the Department of Health and Human 7
Services. 8
(3) EPA ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘EPA 9
Administrator’’ means the Administrator of the En-10
vironmental Protection Agency. 11
(4) INFORMATION SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘Infor-12
mation System’’ means the Integrated Risk Informa-13
tion System of the EPA Administrator. 14
SEC. 3. STRENGTHENING AND IMPROVING AIR ASSESS-15
MENT. 16
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 17
(1) since 1996, the Air Assessment has helped 18
Federal, State, and local air quality specialists deter-19
mine which air toxics and emission source types may 20
raise health risks in certain communities; 21
(2) the Air Assessment is released every 3 22
years, and the data in the National Air Toxics As-23
sessment is used— 24
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(A) to identify locations of interest for fur-1
ther study; 2
(B) to prioritize pollutants and emission 3
sources; and 4
(C) to inform monitoring programs; and 5
(3) the Air Assessment is a key public health 6
tool that helps reduce cancer risks and other serious 7
health effects. 8
(b) PUBLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—The EPA Ad-9
ministrator shall publish— 10
(1) an updated Air Assessment not less fre-11
quently than once every 2 years; 12
(2) each updated Air Assessment described in 13
paragraph (1) not later than 180 days after the date 14
on which the data for the Air Assessment have been 15
finalized by the EPA Administrator; and 16
(3) a report describing the results of each up-17
dated Air Assessment in the Federal Register. 18
(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 19
authorized to be appropriated $20,000,000 to the EPA 20
Administrator to carry out the Air Assessment for fiscal 21
year 2020 and each fiscal year thereafter. 22
SEC. 4. ENSURING TIMELY REVIEW OF PUBLIC HEALTH 23
RISKS THROUGH INFORMATION SYSTEM. 24
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 25
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(1) the Information System is a critical tool to 1
help protect public health by identifying and charac-2
terizing the health hazards of chemicals found in the 3
environment; and 4
(2) assessments conducted under the Informa-5
tion System are— 6
(A) an important source of toxicity infor-7
mation used by— 8
(i) State and local health agencies; 9
(ii) other Federal agencies; and 10
(iii) international health organiza-11
tions; and 12
(B) used— 13
(i) to inform clean-up decisions at— 14
(I) sites on the National Prior-15
ities List developed by the President 16
in accordance with section 17
105(a)(8)(B) of the Comprehensive 18
Environmental Response, Compensa-19
tion, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 20
U.S.C. 9605(a)(8)(B)); and 21
(II) other contaminated sites; 22
(ii) to set standards to ensure clean 23
drinking water; 24
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(iii) to assess health risks from toxic 1
air emissions; and 2
(iv) to evaluate health risks of chemi-3
cals in commerce. 4
(b) REQUIREMENTS.— 5
(1) ASSESSMENTS.— 6
(A) CONSIDERATION.—If an assessment of 7
a chemical has been conducted under the Infor-8
mation System, the EPA Administrator shall 9
take into consideration the data obtained by 10
that assessment when conducting a rulemaking 11
with respect to that chemical. 12
(B) RELEASE.—Not later than 180 days 13
after the date on whic