42 U.S.C. § 6939a : US Code - Section 6939A: Exposure information and health assessments

Search 42 U.S.C. § 6939a : US Code - Section 6939A: Exposure information and health assessments

(a) Exposure information
Beginning on the date nine months after November 8, 1984, each
application for a final determination regarding a permit under
section 6925(c) of this title for a landfill or surface impoundment
shall be accompanied by information reasonably ascertainable by the
owner or operator on the potential for the public to be exposed to
hazardous wastes or hazardous constituents through releases related
to the unit. At a minimum, such information must address:
(1) reasonably foreseeable potential releases from both normal
operations and accidents at the unit, including releases
associated with transportation to or from the unit;
(2) the potential pathways of human exposure to hazardous
wastes or constituents resulting from the releases described
under paragraph (1); and
(3) the potential magnitude and nature of the human exposure
resulting from such releases.
The owner or operator of a landfill or surface impoundment for
which an application for such a final determination under section
6925(c) of this title has been submitted prior to November 8, 1984,
shall submit the information required by this subsection to the
Administrator (or the State, in the case of a State with an
authorized program) no later than the date nine months after
November 8, 1984.
(b) Health assessments
(1) The Administrator (or the State, in the case of a State with
an authorized program) shall make the information required by
subsection (a) of this section, together with other relevant
information, available to the Agency for Toxic Substances and
Disease Registry established by section 9604(i) of this title.
(2) Whenever in the judgment of the Administrator, or the State
(in the case of a State with an authorized program), a landfill or
a surface impoundment poses a substantial potential risk to human
health, due to the existence of releases of hazardous constituents,
the magnitude of contamination with hazardous constituents which
may be the result of a release, or the magnitude of the population
exposed to such release or contamination, the Administrator or the
State (with the concurrence of the Administrator) may request the
Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry to conduct a health assessment in connection with such
facility and take other appropriate action with respect to such
risks as authorized by section 9604(b) and (i) of this title. If
funds are provided in connection with such request the
Administrator of such Agency shall conduct such health assessment.
(c) Members of the public
Any member of the public may submit evidence of releases of or
exposure to hazardous constituents from such a facility, or as to
the risks or health effects associated with such releases or
exposure, to the Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances
and Disease Registry, the Administrator, or the State (in the case
of a State with an authorized program).
(d) Priority
In determining the order in which to conduct health assessments
under this subsection, the Administrator of the Agency for Toxic
Substances and Disease Registry shall give priority to those
facilities or sites at which there is documented evidence of
release of hazardous constituents, at which the potential risk to
human health appears highest, and for which in the judgment of the
Administrator of such Agency existing health assessment data is
inadequate to assess the potential risk to human health as provided
in subsection (f) of this section.
(e) Periodic reports
The Administrator of such Agency shall issue periodic reports
which include the results of all the assessments carried out under
this section. Such assessments or other activities shall be
reported after appropriate peer review.
(f) "Health assessments" defined
For the purposes of this section, the term "health assessments"
shall include preliminary assessments of the potential risk to
human health posed by individual sites and facilities subject to
this section, based on such factors as the nature and extent of
contamination, the existence of potential for pathways of human
exposure (including ground or surface water contamination, air
emissions, and food chain contamination), the size and potential
susceptibility of the community within the likely pathways of
exposure, the comparison of expected human exposure levels to the
short-term and long-term health effects associated with identified
contaminants and any available recommended exposure or tolerance
limits for such contaminants, and the comparison of existing
morbidity and mortality data on diseases that may be associated
with the observed levels of exposure. The assessment shall include
an evaluation of the risks to the potentially affected population
from all sources of such contaminants, including known point or
nonpoint sources other than the site or facility in question. A
purpose of such preliminary assessments shall be to help determine
whether full-scale health or epidemiological studies and medical
evaluations of exposed populations shall be undertaken.
(g) Cost recovery
In any case in which a health assessment performed under this
section discloses the exposure of a population to the release of a
hazardous substance, the costs of such health assessment may be
recovered as a cost of response under section 9607 of this title
from persons causing or contributing to such release of such
hazardous substance or, in the case of multiple releases
contributing to such exposure, to all such release.