Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 104 Part 4.djvu/386

 104 STAT. 2702 PUBLIC LAW 101-549—NOV. 15, 1990 ' needed to identify the t5rpes or levels of exposure which may present significant risk of adverse health effects in humans. "(e) ECOSYSTEM RESEARCH.— In carrying out subsection (a), the Administrator, in cooperation, where appropriate, with the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, the Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Secretary of Agriculture, shall conduct a research program to improve understanding of the short-term and long-term causes, effects, and trends of ecosystems damage from air pollutants on ecosystems. Such program shall include the following elements: "(1) Identification of regionally representative and critical ecosystems for research. "(2) Evaluation of risks to ecosystems exposed to air pollutants, including characterization of the causes and effects of chronic and episodic exposures to air pollutants and determination of the reversibility of those effects. "(3) Development of improved atmospheric dispersion models and monitoring systems and networks for evaluating and quantifying exposure to and effects of multiple environmental stresses associated with air pollution. "(4) Evaluation of the effects of air pollution on water quality, including assessments of the short-term and long-term ecological effects of acid deposition and other atmospherically derived pollutants on surface water (including wetlands and estuaries) and groundwater. "(5) Evaluation of the effects of air pollution on forests, materials, crops, biological diversity, soils, and other terrestrial and aquatic systems exposed to air pollutants. "(6) Estimation of the associated economic costs of ecological damage which have occurred as a result of exposure to air pollutants. Consistent with the purpose of this program, the Administrator may use the estuarine research reserves established pursuant to section 315 of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1461) to carry out this research. " (f) LIQUEFIED GASEOUS FUELS SPILX, TEST FACILITY. —(1) The Administrator, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy and the Federal Coordinating Council for Science, Engineering, and Technology, shall oversee an experimental and analytical research effort, with the experimental research to be carried out at the Liquefied Gaseous Fuels Spill Test Facility. In consultation with the Secretary of Energy, the Administrator shall develop a list of chemicals and a schedule for field testing at the Facility. Analysis of a minimum of 10 chemicals per year shall be carried out, with the selection of a minimum of 2 chemicals for field testing each year. Highest priority shall be given to those chemicals that would present the greatest potential risk to human health as a result of an accidental release— "(A) from a fixed site; or "(B) related to the transport of such chemicals. "(2) The purpose of such research shall be to— "(A) develop improved predictive models for atmospheric dispersion which at a minimum— "(i) describe dense gas releases in complex terrain including man-made structures or obstacles with variable winds; "(ii) improve understanding of the effects of turbulence on dispersion patterns; and

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