Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 98 Part 3.djvu/894

 98 STAT. 3266

42 USC 9604.

42 USC 9607.

PUBLIC LAW 98-616—NOV. 8, 1984

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 104(b) and (i) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980. 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). "(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) DEFINITION.—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 fullscale 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 107 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 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.". (b) The table of contents for such subtitle C is amended by inserting the following new item after the item relating to section 3018: "Sec. 3019. Exposure information and health assessments.".

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