42 U.S.C. § 9660 : US Code - Section 9660: Research, development, and demonstration

Search 42 U.S.C. § 9660 : US Code - Section 9660: Research, development, and demonstration

(a) Hazardous substance research and training
(1) Authorities of Secretary
The Secretary of Health and Human Services (hereinafter in this
subsection referred to as the Secretary), in consultation with
the Administrator, shall establish and support a basic research
and training program (through grants, cooperative agreements, and
contracts) consisting of the following:
(A) Basic research (including epidemiologic and ecologic
studies) which may include each of the following:
(i) Advanced techniques for the detection, assessment, and
evaluation of the effects on human health of hazardous
substances.
(ii) Methods to assess the risks to human health presented
by hazardous substances.
(iii) Methods and technologies to detect hazardous
substances in the environment and basic biological, chemical,
and physical methods to reduce the amount and toxicity of
hazardous substances.
(B) Training, which may include each of the following:
(i) Short courses and continuing education for State and
local health and environment agency personnel and other
personnel engaged in the handling of hazardous substances, in
the management of facilities at which hazardous substances
are located, and in the evaluation of the hazards to human
health presented by such facilities.
(ii) Graduate or advanced training in environmental and
occupational health and safety and in the public health and
engineering aspects of hazardous waste control.
(iii) Graduate training in the geosciences, including
hydrogeology, geological engineering, geophysics,
geochemistry, and related fields necessary to meet
professional personnel needs in the public and private
sectors and to effectuate the purposes of this chapter.
(2) Director of NIEHS
The Director of the National Institute for Environmental Health
Sciences shall cooperate fully with the relevant Federal agencies
referred to in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (5) in carrying out
the purposes of this section.
(3) Recipients of grants, etc.
A grant, cooperative agreement, or contract may be made or
entered into under paragraph (1) with an accredited institution
of higher education. The institution may carry out the research
or training under the grant, cooperative agreement, or contract
through contracts, including contracts with any of the following:
(A) Generators of hazardous wastes.
(B) Persons involved in the detection, assessment,
evaluation, and treatment of hazardous substances.
(C) Owners and operators of facilities at which hazardous
substances are located.
(D) State and local governments.
(4) Procedures
In making grants and entering into cooperative agreements and
contracts under this subsection, the Secretary shall act through
the Director of the National Institute for Environmental Health
Sciences. In considering the allocation of funds for training
purposes, the Director shall ensure that at least one grant,
cooperative agreement, or contract shall be awarded for training
described in each of clauses (i), (ii), and (iii) of paragraph
(1)(B). Where applicable, the Director may choose to operate
training activities in cooperation with the Director of the
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The
procedures applicable to grants and contracts under title IV of
the Public Health Service Act [42 U.S.C. 281 et seq.] shall be
followed under this subsection.
(5) Advisory council
To assist in the implementation of this subsection and to aid
in the coordination of research and demonstration and training
activities funded from the Fund under this section, the Secretary
shall appoint an advisory council (hereinafter in this subsection
referred to as the "Advisory Council") which shall consist of
representatives of the following:
(A) The relevant Federal agencies.
(B) The chemical industry.
(C) The toxic waste management industry.
(D) Institutions of higher education.
(E) State and local health and environmental agencies.
(F) The general public.
(6) Planning
Within nine months after October 17, 1986, the Secretary,
acting through the Director of the National Institute for
Environmental Health Sciences, shall issue a plan for the
implementation of paragraph (1). The plan shall include
priorities for actions under paragraph (1) and include research
and training relevant to scientific and technological issues
resulting from site specific hazardous substance response
experience. The Secretary shall, to the maximum extent
practicable, take appropriate steps to coordinate program
activities under this plan with the activities of other Federal
agencies in order to avoid duplication of effort. The plan shall
be consistent with the need for the development of new
technologies for meeting the goals of response actions in
accordance with the provisions of this chapter. The Advisory
Council shall be provided an opportunity to review and comment on
the plan and priorities and assist appropriate coordination among
the relevant Federal agencies referred to in subparagraph (A) of
paragraph (5).
(b) Alternative or innovative treatment technology research and
demonstration program
(1) Establishment
The Administrator is authorized and directed to carry out a
program of research, evaluation, testing, development, and
demonstration of alternative or innovative treatment technologies
(hereinafter in this subsection referred to as the "program")
which may be utilized in response actions to achieve more
permanent protection of human health and welfare and the
environment.
(2) Administration
The program shall be administered by the Administrator, acting
through an office of technology demonstration and shall be
coordinated with programs carried out by the Office of Solid
Waste and Emergency Response and the Office of Research and
Development.
(3) Contracts and grants
In carrying out the program, the Administrator is authorized to
enter into contracts and cooperative agreements with, and make
grants to, persons, public entities, and nonprofit private
entities which are exempt from tax under section 501(c)(3) of
title 26. The Administrator shall, to the maximum extent
possible, enter into appropriate cost sharing arrangements under
this subsection.
(4) Use of sites
In carrying out the program, the Administrator may arrange for
the use of sites at which a response may be undertaken under
section 9604 of this title for the purposes of carrying out
research, testing, evaluation, development, and demonstration
projects. Each such project shall be carried out under such terms
and conditions as the Administrator shall require to assure the
protection of human health and the environment and to assure
adequate control by the Administrator of the research, testing,
evaluation, development, and demonstration activities at the
site.
(5) Demonstration assistance
(A) Program components
The demonstration assistance program shall include the
following:
(i) The publication of a solicitation and the evaluation of
applications for demonstration projects utilizing alternative
or innovative technologies.
(ii) The selection of sites which are suitable for the
testing and evaluation of innovative technologies.
(iii) The development of detailed plans for innovative
technology demonstration projects.
(iv) The supervision of such demonstration projects and the
providing of quality assurance for data obtained.
(v) The evaluation of the results of alternative innovative
technology demonstration projects and the determination of
whether or not the technologies used are effective and
feasible.
(B) Solicitation
Within 90 days after October 17, 1986, and no less often than
once every 12 months thereafter, the Administrator shall
publish a solicitation for innovative or alternative
technologies at a stage of development suitable for full-scale
demonstrations at sites at which a response action may be
undertaken under section 9604 of this title. The purpose of any
such project shall be to demonstrate the use of an alternative
or innovative treatment technology with respect to hazardous
substances or pollutants or contaminants which are located at
the site or which are to be removed from the site. The
solicitation notice shall prescribe information to be included
in the application, including technical and economic data
derived from the applicant's own research and development
efforts, and other information sufficient to permit the
Administrator to assess the technology's potential and the
types of remedial action to which it may be applicable.
(C) Applications
Any person and any public or private nonprofit entity may
submit an application to the Administrator in response to the
solicitation. The application shall contain a proposed
demonstration plan setting forth how and when the project is to
be carried out and such other information as the Administrator
may require.
(D) Project selection
In selecting technologies to be demonstrated, the
Administrator shall fully review the applications submitted and
shall consider at least the criteria specified in paragraph
(7). The Administrator shall select or refuse to select a
project for demonstration under this subsection within 90 days
of receiving the completed application for such project. In the
case of a refusal to select the project, the Administrator
shall notify the applicant within such 90-day period of the
reasons for his refusal.
(E) Site selection
The Administrator shall propose 10 sites at which a response
may be undertaken under section 9604 of this title to be the
location of any demonstration project under this subsection
within 60 days after the close of the public comment period.
After an opportunity for notice and public comment, the
Administrator shall select such sites and projects. In
selecting any such site, the Administrator shall take into
account the applicant's technical data and preferences either
for onsite operation or for utilizing the site as a source of
hazardous substances or pollutants or contaminants to be
treated offsite.
(F) Demonstration plan
Within 60 days after the selection of the site under this
paragraph to be the location of a demonstration project, the
Administrator shall establish a final demonstration plan for
the project, based upon the demonstration plan contained in the
application for the project. Such plan shall clearly set forth
how and when the demonstration project will be carried out.
(G) Supervision and testing
Each demonstration project under this subsection shall be
performed by the applicant, or by a person satisfactory to the
applicant, under the supervision of the Administrator. The
Administrator shall enter into a written agreement with each
applicant granting the Administrator the responsibility and
authority for testing procedures, quality control, monitoring,
and other measurements necessary to determine and evaluate the
results of the demonstration project. The Administrator may pay
the costs of testing, monitoring, quality control, and other
measurements required by the Administrator to determine and
evaluate the results of the demonstration project, and the
limitations established by subparagraph (J) shall not apply to
such costs.
(H) Project completion
Each demonstration project under this subsection shall be
completed within such time as is established in the
demonstration plan.
(I) Extensions
The Administrator may extend any deadline established under
this paragraph by mutual agreement with the applicant
concerned.
(J) Funding restrictions
The Administrator shall not provide any Federal assistance
for any part of a full-scale field demonstration project under
this subsection to any applicant unless such applicant can
demonstrate that it cannot obtain appropriate private financing
on reasonable terms and conditions sufficient to carry out such
demonstration project without such Federal assistance. The
total Federal funds for any full-scale field demonstration
project under this subsection shall not exceed 50 percent of
the total cost of such project estimated at the time of the
award of such assistance. The Administrator shall not expend
more than $10,000,000 for assistance under the program in any
fiscal year and shall not expend more than $3,000,000 for any
single project.
(6) Field demonstrations
In carrying out the program, the Administrator shall initiate
or cause to be initiated at least 10 field demonstration projects
of alternative or innovative treatment technologies at sites at
which a response may be undertaken under section 9604 of this
title, in fiscal year 1987 and each of the succeeding three
fiscal years. If the Administrator determines that 10 field
demonstration projects under this subsection cannot be initiated
consistent with the criteria set forth in paragraph (7) in any of
such fiscal years, the Administrator shall transmit to the
appropriate committees of Congress a report explaining the
reasons for his inability to conduct such demonstration projects.
(7) Criteria
In selecting technologies to be demonstrated under this
subsection, the Administrator shall, consistent with the
protection of human health and the environment, consider each of
the following criteria:
(A) The potential for contributing to solutions to those
waste problems which pose the greatest threat to human health,
which cannot be adequately controlled under present
technologies, or which otherwise pose significant management
difficulties.
(B) The availability of technologies which have been
sufficiently developed for field demonstration and which are
likely to be cost-effective and reliable.
(C) The availability and suitability of sites for
demonstrating such technologies, taking into account the
physical, biological, chemical, and geological characteristics
of the sites, the extent and type of contamination found at the
site, and the capability to conduct demonstration projects in
such a manner as to assure the protection of human health and
the environment.
(D) The likelihood that the data to be generated from the
demonstration project at the site will be applicable to other
sites.
(8) Technology transfer
In carrying out the program, the Administrator shall conduct a
technology transfer program including the development,
collection, evaluation, coordination, and dissemination of
information relating to the utilization of alternative or
innovative treatment technologies for response actions. The
Administrator shall establish and maintain a central reference
library for such information. The information maintained by the
Administrator shall be made available to the public, subject to
the provisions of section 552 of title 5 and section 1905 of
title 18, and to other Government agencies in a manner that will
facilitate its dissemination; except, that upon a showing
satisfactory to the Administrator by any person that any
information or portion thereof obtained under this subsection by
the Administrator directly or indirectly from such person, would,
if made public, divulge -
(A) trade secrets; or
(B) other proprietary information of such person,
the Administrator shall not disclose such information and
disclosure thereof shall be punishable under section 1905 of
title 18. This subsection is not authority to withhold
information from Congress or any committee of Congress upon the
request of the chairman of such committee.
(9) Training
The Administrator is authorized and directed to carry out,
through the Office of Technology Demonstration, a program of
training and an evaluation of training needs for each of the
following:
(A) Training in the procedures for the handling and removal
of hazardous substances for employees who handle hazardous
substances.
(B) Training in the management of facilities at which
hazardous substances are located and in the evaluation of the
hazards to human health presented by such facilities for State
and local health and environment agency personnel.
(10) Definition
For purposes of this subsection, the term "alternative or
innovative treatment technologies" means those technologies,
including proprietary or patented methods, which permanently
alter the composition of hazardous waste through chemical,
biological, or physical means so as to significantly reduce the
toxicity, mobility, or volume (or any combination thereof) of the
hazardous waste or contaminated materials being treated. The term
also includes technologies that characterize or assess the extent
of contamination, the chemical and physical character of the
contaminants, and the stresses imposed by the contaminants on
complex ecosystems at sites.
(c) Hazardous substance research
The Administrator may conduct and support, through grants,
cooperative agreements, and contracts, research with respect to the
detection, assessment, and evaluation of the effects on and risks
to human health of hazardous substances and detection of hazardous
substances in the environment. The Administrator shall coordinate
such research with the Secretary of Health and Human Services,
acting through the advisory council established under this section,
in order to avoid duplication of effort.
(d) University hazardous substance research centers
(1) Grant program
The Administrator shall make grants to institutions of higher
learning to establish and operate not fewer than 5 hazardous
substance research centers in the United States. In carrying out
the program under this subsection, the Administrator should seek
to have established and operated 10 hazardous substance research
centers in the United States.
(2) Responsibilities of centers
The responsibilities of each hazardous substance research
center established under this subsection shall include, but not
be limited to, the conduct of research and training relating to
the manufacture, use, transportation, disposal, and management of
hazardous substances and publication and dissemination of the
results of such research.
(3) Applications
Any institution of higher learning interested in receiving a
grant under this subsection shall submit to the Administrator an
application in such form and containing such information as the
Administrator may require by regulation.
(4) Selection criteria
The Administrator shall select recipients of grants under this
subsection on the basis of the following criteria:
(A) The hazardous substance research center shall be located
in a State which is representative of the needs of the region
in which such State is located for improved hazardous waste
management.
(B) The grant recipient shall be located in an area which has
experienced problems with hazardous substance management.
(C) There is available to the grant recipient for carrying
out this subsection demonstrated research resources.
(D) The capability of the grant recipient to provide
leadership in making national and regional contributions to the
solution of both long-range and immediate hazardous substance
management problems.
(E) The grant recipient shall make a commitment to support
ongoing hazardous substance research programs with budgeted
institutional funds of at least $100,000 per year.
(F) The grant recipient shall have an interdisciplinary staff
with demonstrated expertise in hazardous substance management
and research.
(G) The grant recipient shall have a demonstrated ability to
disseminate results of hazardous substance research and
educational programs through an interdisciplinary continuing
education program.
(H) The projects which the grant recipient proposes to carry
out under the grant are necessary and appropriate.
(5) Maintenance of effort
No grant may be made under this subsection in any fiscal year
unless the recipient of such grant enters into such agreements
with the Administrator as the Administrator may require to ensure
that such recipient will maintain its aggregate expenditures from
all other sources for establishing and operating a regional
hazardous substance research center and related research
activities at or above the average level of such expenditures in
its 2 fiscal years preceding October 17, 1986.
(6) Federal share
The Federal share of a grant under this subsection shall not
exceed 80 percent of the costs of establishing and operating the
regional hazardous substance research center and related research
activities carried out by the grant recipient.
(7) Limitation on use of funds
No funds made available to carry out this subsection shall be
used for acquisition of real property (including buildings) or
construction of any building.
(8) Administration through the Office of the Administrator
Administrative responsibility for carrying out this subsection
shall be in the Office of the Administrator.
(9) Equitable distribution of funds
The Administrator shall allocate funds made available to carry
out this subsection equitably among the regions of the United
States.
(10) Technology transfer activities
Not less than five percent of the funds made available to carry
out this subsection for any fiscal year shall be available to
carry out technology transfer activities.
(e) Report to Congress
At the time of the submission of the annual budget request to
Congress, the Administrator shall submit to the appropriate
committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate and to
the advisory council established under subsection (a) of this
section, a report on the progress of the research, development, and
demonstration program authorized by subsection (b) of this section,
including an evaluation of each demonstration project completed in
the preceding fiscal year, findings with respect to the efficacy of
such demonstrated technologies in achieving permanent and
significant reductions in risk from hazardous wastes, the costs of
such demonstration projects, and the potential applicability of,
and projected costs for, such technologies at other hazardous
substance sites.
(f) Saving provision
Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect the
provisions of the Solid Waste Disposal Act [42 U.S.C. 6901 et
seq.].
(g) Small business participation
The Administrator shall ensure, to the maximum extent
practicable, an adequate opportunity for small business
participation in the program established by subsection (b) of this
section.