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Animal Waste and Hazardous Substances: Current Laws and Legislative Issues

Description: This report describes the provisions of the Superfund law and Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), and enforcement actions under these laws that have increasingly been receiving attention. Congressional scrutiny in the form of legislative proposals and a House hearing in the 109th Congress are discussed.
Date: September 10, 2013
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Chemical Facility Security: Issues and Options for the 112th Congress

Description: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has statutory authority to regulate chemical facilities for security purposes. This report provides a brief overview of the existing statutory authority and the regulation implementing this authority. It describes several policy issues raised in previous debates regarding chemical facility security and identifies policy options for congressional consideration. Finally, the report discusses legislation in the Congress regarding whether funding should be… more
Date: September 29, 2011
Creator: Shea, Dana A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA): Implementation and New Challenges

Description: This report provides an overview of basic Toxic Supstances Control Act (TSCA) provisions, briefly examines the history of TSCA implementation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and describes the legal, scientific, and technological developments that are being used to provide support to calls for TSCA reform.
Date: September 18, 2008
Creator: Schierow, Linda-Jo
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Bisphenol A (BPA) in Plastics and Possible Human Health Effects

Description: Bisphenol A (BPA) is used to produce certain types of plastic. Containers made of these plastics may expose people to small amounts of BPA in food and water. Some animal experiments have found that fetal and infant development may be harmed by small amounts of BPA, but scientists disagree about the value of the animal studies for predicting harmful effects in people. This report discusses this issue and relevant legislation, as well as inquiries into studies currently underway to determine the … more
Date: September 8, 2008
Creator: Schierow, Linda-Jo & Lister, Sarah A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention: Federal Mandates for Local Government

Description: 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.
Date: September 11, 1998
Creator: Schierow, Linda-Jo
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Chemical Facility Security: Reauthorization, Policy Issues, and Options for Congress

Description: This report provides a brief overview of the existing statutory authority of the Department of Homeland Security to regulate chemical facilities and the regulation implementing this authority. It describes several policy issues raised in previous debates regarding chemical facility security and identifies policy options that might resolve components of these issues. Finally, legislation introduced in the 111th Congress is discussed.
Date: September 3, 2009
Creator: Shea, Dana A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Federal Food Safety System: A Primer

Description: The combined efforts of the food industry and the regulatory agencies often are credited with making the U.S. food supply among the safest in the world. Nonetheless, many food-related health issues persist. At issue is whether the current U.S. regulatory system has the resources and structural organization to protect consumers from these dangers. Also at issue is whether the federal food safety laws themselves, first enacted in the early 1900s, have kept pace with the significant changes that h… more
Date: September 22, 2010
Creator: Johnson, Renée
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Veterans Affairs: Health Care and Benefits for Veterans Exposed to Agent Orange

Description: This report provides an overview of health care services and disability compensation benefits available to Vietnam veterans, Children of Vietnam Era veterans, and non-Vietnam veterans exposed to herbicides. This is followed by a discussion of litigation pertaining to Navy veterans of the Vietnam Era who served offshore and were never physically present on Vietnamese soil. The report concludes with a discussion of epidemiologic research conducted to study the health effects of Agent Orange and d… more
Date: September 22, 2010
Creator: Panangala, Sidath Viranga & Weimer, Douglas Reid
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Pesticide Legislation: Food Quality Protection Act of 1996

Description: 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 spec… more
Date: September 11, 1996
Creator: Schierow, Linda-Jo
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Toxic Pollutants and the Clean Water Act: Current Issues

Description: 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.
Date: September 21, 1993
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Brownfields and Superfund Issues in the 108th Congress

Description: 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.
Date: September 25, 2003
Creator: Reisch, Mark
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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