Sec. 204. Lead abatement and measurement
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The Administrator, in cooperation with other appropriate Federal departments and agencies, shall conduct a comprehensive program to promote safe, effective, and affordable monitoring, detection, and abatement of lead-based pipe and other lead exposure hazards. The Administrator shall establish protocols, criteria, and minimum performance standards for laboratory analysis of lead in paint pipes, taps, and water. Within 2 years after the enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall establish a program to certify laboratories as qualified to test substances for lead content unless the Administrator determines, by the date specified in this paragraph, that effective voluntary accreditation programs are in place and operating on a nationwide basis at the time of such determination.
To be certified under such program, a laboratory shall, at a minimum, demonstrate an ability to test substances accurately for lead content. Not later than 24 months after the date of the enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, the Administrator shall publish and make available to the public a list of certified or accredited environmental sampling laboratories. If the Administrator determines that effective voluntary accreditation programs are in place for environmental sampling laboratories, the Administrator shall review the performance and effectiveness of such programs within 3 years after such determination.
If, upon such review, the Administrator determines that the voluntary accreditation programs are not effective in assuring the quality and consistency of laboratory analyses, the Administrator shall, not more than 12 months thereafter, establish a certification program that meets the requirements of paragraph (1). The Secretary of Health and Human Services (in this subsection referred to as the Secretary ), acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and the Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, shall jointly conduct a study of the sources of lead exposure in children who have elevated blood lead levels (or other indicators of elevated lead body burden), as defined by the Director of the Centers for Disease Control.
The Secretary, in consultation with the Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, shall conduct a comprehensive study of means to reduce hazardous occupational lead abatement exposures in water. This study shall include, at a minimum, each of the following: Surveillance and intention capability in the States to identify and prevent hazardous exposures to lead abatement workers. Demonstration of lead abatement control methods and devices and work practices to identify and prevent hazardous lead exposures in the workplace.
Evaluation, in consultation with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, of health effects of low and high levels of occupational lead exposures through fluids on reproductive, neurological, renal, and cardiovascular health. Identification of high-risk occupational settings to which prevention activities and resources should be targeted. A study assessing the potential exposures and risks from lead to janitorial and custodial workers. The studies described in paragraphs
(1)and
(2)shall as appropriate, examine the relative contributions to elevated lead body burden from each of the following: Drinking water. Food. Occupational exposures, and other exposures that the Secretary determines to be appropriate. Not later than 30 months after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall submit a report to the Congress concerning the studies described in paragraphs
(1)and (2). The Administrator, in conjunction with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, and in conjunction with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, shall sponsor public education and outreach activities to increase public awareness of— the scope and severity of lead poisoning from household sources, particularly lead-based pipes; potential exposure to sources of lead in schools and childhood day care centers, particularly lead-based pipes; the implications of exposures for men and women, particularly those of childbearing age; the need for careful, quality, abatement and management actions; the need for universal screening of children; other components of a lead poisoning prevention program; the health consequences of lead exposure resulting from lead-based pipe hazards; risk assessment and inspection methods for lead-based pipe hazards; and measures to reduce the risk of lead exposure from lead-based pipes. The activities described in paragraph
(1)shall be designed to provide educational services and information to— health professionals; the general public, with emphasis on parents of young children; homeowners, landlords, and tenants; consumers of home improvement products; the residential real estate industry; and the home renovation industry. Not later than 6 months after the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall establish, in consultation with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the Director of the Centers for Disease Control, a National Clearinghouse on Childhood Lead Poisoning (in this section referred to as the Clearinghouse ). The Clearinghouse shall— collect, evaluate, and disseminate current information on the assessment and reduction of lead-based pipe hazards, adverse health effects, sources of exposure, detection and risk assessment methods, environmental hazards abatement, and clean-up standards; maintain a rapid-alert system to inform certified lead-based pipe activities contractors of significant developments in research related to lead-based paint hazards; and perform any other duty that the Administration determines necessary to achieve the purposes of this Act. Not later than 6 months after the enactment of this subsection, the Administrator, in cooperation with other Federal agencies and with State and local governments, shall establish a single lead-based pipe hazard hotline to provide the public with answers to questions about lead poison in prevention and referrals to the Clearinghouse for technical information.