
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 42USC6939a]

 
                 TITLE 42--THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
 
                    CHAPTER 82--SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL
 
               SUBCHAPTER III--HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT
 
Sec. 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.

(Pub. L. 89-272, title II, Sec. 3019, as added Pub. L. 98-616, title II, 
Sec. 247(a), Nov. 8, 1984, 98 Stat. 3265.)

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in section 9604 of this title.
