Congressional Research Service Reports - 168 Matching Results

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Federal and State Authority to Regulate Radioactive Waste Disposal and Transportation
There appears to be a growing controversy concerning whether a state has the authority to prevent the federal government from disposing of nuclear wastes within it and transporting nuclear wastes through it. Several states have statutes purporting to veto the federal government's action in these areas. This report investigates whether these state statutes may be unconstitutional and preempted by federal statutes and regulations.
Agent Orange: Veterans' Complaints Concerning Exposure to Herbicides in South Vietnam
From 1962 to 1971, the United States Air Force (USAF) sprayed various herbicide mixtures (chemicals that kill plants) in South Vietnam. The purpose of the spraying was to defoliate jungle growth to deprive the Communist forces of ground cover, and to destroy enemy crops to restrict food supplies. The most extensively used of these herbicide mixtures was known as Agent Orange, a 50:50 mix of two common herbicides called 1,4,5-T and 2,4-D (2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid). The third chemical present in the mixture in small amounts was TCDD, an inevitable by-product of the manufacture of 2,4,5-T. This chemical, called tetrachlorodibenzo-para-dioxin or simply "dioxin," is highly toxic to laboratory animals when administered in its pure form. CRS has been unable to locate any report of a human death from exposure to pure TCDD. This report discusses the human health effects that have occurred from exposure to TCDD, as well as related Congressional concerns.
Dioxin: Environmental Impacts and Potential Human Health Effects
This issue brief presents a short background on the physical/chemical properties of dioxin, describes several existing sources of possible human exposure, and highlights what is currently known about its environmental impacts and human health effects. Congressional interest is intense at this time because of large numbers of Vietnam veterans' claims for benefits associated with use of herbicides in that war as well as because of certain incidents of potential significance to health involving disposal of wastes containing dioxin.
Urea-Formaldehyde Foam Insulation: Health Effects and Regulation
No Description Available.
Urea-Formaldehyde Foam Insulation: Health Effects and Regulation
No Description Available.
Nuclear Explosions in Space: The Threat of EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse)
No Description Available.
Ethylene Dibromide: Regulatory Background
Much attention has recently been focused on the chemical ethylene dibromide (EDB). This chemical has been widely used in leaded gasoline, and has also been used to treat grains, citrus and other crops. It has been found in foods and in groundwater. This paper examines the possible health effects of exposure to EDB, as well as its regulation. The possible health effects and regulation of various chemical and physical alternatives to EDB are also examined. This paper concludes with some policy considerations pertinent to EDB.
Ethylene Dibromide
Much attention has recently been focused on the chemical ethylene dibromide (EDB). This chemical has been widely used in leaded gasoline, and has also been used to treat grains, citrus and other crops. It has been found in foods and in groundwater. This paper examines the possible health effects of exposure to EDB, as well as its regulation. The possible health effects and regulation of various chemical and physical alternatives to EDB are also examined. This paper concludes with some policy considerations pertinent to EDB.
EDB and the Agriculture Community: A Background Discussion
EDB is being removed from major agricultural uses because of concerns about possible adverse effects on human health. Regulatory actions to remove EDB from the food system will have impacts on the agricultural community. Uses of EDB in agriculture, regulatory actions to remove EDB from the food system quickly, and possible impacts of those regulatory actions on domestic and international markets are discussed.
Ethylene Dibromide: History, Health Effects, and Policy Questions
Much attention has recently been focused on the chemical ethylene dibromide (EDB). This chemical has been widely used in leaded gasoline, and has also been used to treat grains, citrus and other crops. It has been found in foods and in groundwater. This paper examines the possible health effects of exposure to EDB, as well as its regulation. The possible health effects and regulation of various chemical and physical alternatives to EDB are also examined. This paper concludes with some policy considerations pertinent to EDB.
Predator Control and Compound 1080
This reports explains how Compound 1080 was used before 1972, to kill coyotes which hunt on sheep. But this also killed many other non-targeted wildlife. So, the Environmental Protection Agency ( EPA) cancelled the registration predator toxicants which led to even more sheep deaths. During 97th Congress, EPA decided to reevaluate the sue of Compound 1080 with a possibility of re-registering it for the usage. A judge suggested them for the suspension of this poison, and it's finally approved by the EPA on October 31, 1983.
Pesticides Regulation: Current Issues
No Description Available.
Ethylene Dibromide (EDB)
Much attention has recently been focused on the chemical ethylene dibromide (EDB). This chemical has been widely used in leaded gasoline, and has also been used to treat grains, citrus and other crops. It has been found in foods and in groundwater. This paper examines the possible health effects of exposure to EDB, as well as its regulation. The possible health effects and regulation of various chemical and physical alternatives to EDB are also examined. This paper concludes with some policy considerations pertinent to EDB.
The Delaney Clause: The Dilemma of Regulating Health Risk for Pesticide Residues
Under the authority of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for establishing tolerances for pesticide residues in or on foods and feeds. Tolerances are legal limits to the amount of pesticide residues that can be found on a raw agricultural commodity at the farm gate or in a processed food. The FFDCA has two sections, 408 and 409, which set up different and inconsistent criteria for setting tolerances for pesticide residues in foods.
Japan's Sea Shipment of Plutonium
Japan's sea shipment of a ton of plutonium from France to Japan on Nov. 7, 1992, faced strong public opposition, as did a previous one in 1984, from various public interest groups, independent analysts, and Members of Congress. The shipment arrived safely in Tokyo Jan. 4, 1993. Several more shipments at intervals of about 3 years are expected. While the plutonium is owned by Japanese utilities, it was produced from uranium enriched in the United States and supplied under a U.S.-Japan agreement for nuclear cooperation, revised in 1988. Although the agreement ties some strings to what Japan can do with nuclear imports from the United States, it also in effect gives to Japan a 30-year advance consent to ship plutonium subject to informing the United States.
The Delaney Dilemma: Regulating Pesticide Residues in Foods -- Seminar Proceedings, March 16, 1993
A provision in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the Delaney Clause, appears to lower risks in the setting of tolerances for pesticide residues. It prohibits any substance from being added to processed foods if it induces cancer in man or animals. In reality, the provision created a dilemma because the zero-risk statute makes it difficult to regulate pesticides. Because of the prescription of Delaney, tolerances (legal limits) are established differently for carcinogens and non-carcinogens and in raw and processed foods.
Toxic Pollutants and the Clean Water Act: Current Issues
Controlling the discharge of toxic pollutants into the Nation's waters is once again an issue as Congress considers reauthorizing the Clean Water Act. This report describes the evolution of programs and policies in the Act concerning toxic pollutants, discusses current problems with implementation of some of these programs and policies, and outlines a number of issues that are on the legislative agenda.
Brownfields Program: Cleaning Up Urban Industrial Sites
The Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is a pilot project to return idle or underused industrial and commercial facilities back to productive use, in situations where redevelopment is complicated by potential environmental contamination. The program is flexible, allowing cities to use a variety of approaches in utilizing grants of up to $200,000 to develop abandoned and underused sites, neighborhoods, and small regional areas. States and Indian tribes are eligible as well as local governments.
Pesticide Legislation: Food Quality Protection Act of 1996
The 104th congress enacted significant changes to the Federal Insecticide, fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), governing U.S. sale and use of pesticide products, and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), which limits pesticide residues on food. The vehicle of these changes was H.R. 1627, the "Food Quality Protection Act of 1996" (FQPA), enacted August 3, 1996, as Public Law 104-170. Under FIFRA, the new law will facilitate registrations and reregistrations of pesticides for special (so-called"minor") uses and authorize collection of maintenance fees of support pesticide reregistration. Food safety provisions will establish a single standard of safety for pesticide residue on raw and processed foods; provide information through large food retail stores to consumers about the health risks of pesticide residues and how to avoid them; preempt state and local food safety laws if they are based on concentrations of pesticide residues below recently established federal residue limits(called"tolerances"); and ensure that tolerances protect the health of infants and children.
Pesticide Policy Issues
On August 3, 1996, President Clinton signed P.L. 104-170, which contains significant amendments to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA). Although it does not repeal the Delaney Clause, the new law removes pesticide residues from its purview. It requires EPA to set "safe" tolerances for residues of pesticides on both raw and processed food to provide "a reasonable certainty of no harm" from exposure to the pesticide residue, other dietary residues, and non-food sources. It also will expedite pesticide registration under FIFRA for minor uses; improve data collection on the effect of pesticides in children's diets; and prohibit states from regulating food based on pesticide residue concentrations below recently established federal tolerances.
Toxics Release Inventory: Do Communities Have a Right to Know More?
In 1986, Congress directed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish a national inventory of toxic releases to the environment by manufacturing facilities and to use the inventory to inform the public about chemicals used and released in their communities. Since enactment of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) more than 10 years ago, manufacturers have been required to report releases of hundreds of hazardous chemicals annually. EPA compiles the reported information into the Toxics Release Inventory (TM) and distributes it in various written and electronic forms.
Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention: Federal Mandates for Local Government
The federal Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act; as amended, established requirements for the detection and control of lead-based paint hazards in public and private housing. Only some local governments have implementation responsibilities, but all local governments are eligible for federal grants to establish poisoning prevention programs.
Waste Trade and the Basel Convention: Background and Update
The United States played a major role in developing the 1989 United Nations-sponsored Basel Convention on the Control of the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, a key purpose of which is to protect countries from receiving unwanted shipments of wastes. The Convention entered into force in 1992, and by mid-1998, 121 countries (but not the United States) had ratified it. In 1991, the Bush Administration transmitted the Convention to the Senate for advice and consent to ratification aid offered implementing legislation. The Senate consented to ratification in 1992; however, implementing legislation has not been enacted. (Although existing U.S. law regulates hazardous waste,
Pesticide Residue Regulation: Analysis of Food Quality Protection Act Implementation
The Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 (FQPA) amended the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, governing U.S. registration, sale, and use of pesticide products, and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, under which the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets allowable pesticide residue levels for food (tolerances). The FQPA directs EPA to ensure a "reasonable certainty of no harm" due to pesticide exposure and requires reevaluation of 33% of existing tolerances against this new safety standard by August 1999, 66% by August 2002, and 100% by August 2006. The Act direct
Asbestos Compensation Act of 2000
This report summarizes H.R. 1283, 106th Congress, the Asbestos Compensation Act of 2000, as ordered to be reported with amendments by the House Committee on the Judiciary on March 16, 2000. The bill would create an administrative procedure for asbestos liability claims.
Hazardous Materials Transportation Safety - Federal Program and Legislative Issues
This report provides Hazardous materials transportation safety - federal program and legislative issues.
Superfund and the Brownfields Issue
No Description Available.
The Liability Exemptions in the Senate Brownfields Bill (S. 350)
No Description Available.
The Liability Exemptions in the Senate Brownfields Bill (S. 350)
This report deals solely with the liability provisions of S. 350, found in Title II of the bill. (The manager’s amendment does not concern these.) These provisions cover three types of innocent parties: (1) owners of properties contaminated from contiguous properties, (2) prospective purchasers, and (3) innocent landowners.
Hazardous Materials Transportation: Vulnerability to Terrorists, Federal Activities, and Options to Reduce Risks
This report discusses the scope and nature of the vulnerability of hazardous materials (hazmats) transportation and its potential relations to terrorists attacks.
Superfund and Brownfields in the 107th Congress
No Description Available.
Superfund and Brownfields in the 107th Congress
No Description Available.
Superfund and Brownfields in the 107th Congress
No Description Available.
Superfund and Brownfields in the 107th Congress
No Description Available.
Superfund and Brownfields in the 107th Congress
No Description Available.
Superfund and Brownfields in the 107th Congress
No Description Available.
Superfund and Brownfields in the 107th Congress
No Description Available.
Chemical Plant Security
Facilities handling large amounts of potentially hazardous chemicals (i.e., chemical facilities) might be of interest to terrorists, either as targets for direct attacks meant to release chemicals into the community or as a source of chemicals for use elsewhere. Because few terrorist attacks have been attempted against chemical facilities in the United States, the risk of death and injury in the near future is estimated to be low, relative to the likelihood of accidents at such facilities or attacks on other targets using conventional weapons. For any individual facility, the risk is very small, but risks may be increasing with potentially severe consequences for human health and the environment. Available evidence indicates that many chemical facilities may lack adequate safeguards.
Brownfields and Superfund Issues in the 108th Congress
The Superfund program for cleaning up the nation’s worst hazardous waste sites was created by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, or CERCLA (P.L. 96-510, as amended). This report discusses recent development and background issues, superfund issues, revenue issues, comprehensive reauthorization, and legislation regarding superfund program.
Brownfields and Superfund Issues in the 108th Congress
The Superfund program for cleaning up the nation’s worst hazardous waste sites was created by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, or CERCLA (P.L. 96-510, as amended). This report discusses recent development and background issues, superfund issues, revenue issues, comprehensive reauthorization, and legislation regarding superfund program.
Brownfields and Superfund Issues in the 108th Congress
The Superfund program for cleaning up the nation’s worst hazardous waste sites was created by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, or CERCLA (P.L. 96-510, as amended). This report discusses recent development and background issues, superfund issues, revenue issues, comprehensive reauthorization, and legislation regarding superfund program.
Brownfields and Superfund Issues in the 108th Congress
The Superfund program for cleaning up the nation’s worst hazardous waste sites was created by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, or CERCLA (P.L. 96-510, as amended). This report discusses recent development and background issues, superfund issues, revenue issues, comprehensive reauthorization, and legislation regarding superfund program.
Brownfields and Superfund Issues in the 108th Congress
The Superfund program for cleaning up the nation’s worst hazardous waste sites was created by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, or CERCLA (P.L. 96-510, as amended). This report discusses recent development and background issues, superfund issues, revenue issues, comprehensive reauthorization, and legislation regarding superfund program.
Chemical Facility Security: A Comparison of S. 157 and S. 994
The 108th Congress is considering legislation to reduce chemical facilities’ vulnerability to acts of terrorism, so as to protect critical sectors of the U.S. infrastructure and reduce risks to public health and the environment. Competing bills, S. 994 and S. 157, have been introduced into the Senate. Both would require chemical facilities to conduct vulnerability assessments and develop and implement site security plans, but the approaches of the bills differ with respect to the chemicals and facilities covered, planning requirements and mechanisms for federal and facility accountability.
Brownfields and Superfund Issues in the 108th Congress
The Superfund program for cleaning up the nation’s worst hazardous waste sites was created by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, or CERCLA (P.L. 96-510, as amended). This report discusses recent development and background issues, superfund issues, revenue issues, comprehensive reauthorization, and legislation regarding superfund program.
Brownfields and Superfund Issues in the 108th Congress
The Superfund program for cleaning up the nation’s worst hazardous waste sites was created by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, or CERCLA (P.L. 96-510, as amended). This report discusses recent development and background issues, superfund issues, revenue issues, comprehensive reauthorization, and legislation regarding superfund program.
Brownfields and Superfund Issues in the 108th Congress
The Superfund program for cleaning up the nation’s worst hazardous waste sites was created by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, or CERCLA (P.L. 96-510, as amended). This report discusses recent development and background issues, superfund issues, revenue issues, comprehensive reauthorization, and legislation regarding superfund program.
Brownfields and Superfund Issues in the 108th Congress
This report discusses the Superfund program designed for cleaning up the nation’s worst hazardous waste sites was created by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, or CERCLA (P.L. 96-510, as amended). This report discusses recent development and background issues, superfund issues, revenue issues, comprehensive reauthorization, and legislation regarding superfund program.
Chemical Plant Security
Facilities handling large amounts of potentially hazardous chemicals (i.e., chemical facilities) might be of interest to terrorists, either as targets for direct attacks meant to release chemicals into the community or as a source of chemicals for use elsewhere. Because few terrorist attacks have been attempted against chemical facilities in the United States, the risk of death and injury in the near future is estimated to be low, relative to the likelihood of accidents at such facilities or attacks on other targets using conventional weapons. For any individual facility, the risk is very small, but risks may be increasing with potentially severe consequences for human health and the environment. Available evidence indicates that many chemical facilities may lack adequate safeguards.
Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act of 2004 (S. 2290, 108th Congress)
This report provides an overview of S. 2290, 108th Congress, the Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act of 2004 (or FAIR Act of 2004). The bill is a revised version of S. 1125, 108th Congress, and would create the Office of Asbestos Disease Compensation to award damages to asbestos claimants on a no-fault basis. Asbestos claims could no longer be filed or pursued under state law, except for the enforcement of judgments no longer subject to any appeal or judicial review before the date of enactment of the bill.
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