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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 7403. Research, investigation, training, and other activities
(a) Research and development program for prevention and control of
air pollution
The Administrator shall establish a national research and
development program for the prevention and control of air pollution
and as part of such program shall -
(1) conduct, and promote the coordination and acceleration of,
research, investigations, experiments, demonstrations, surveys,
and studies relating to the causes, effects (including health and
welfare effects), extent, prevention, and control of air
pollution;
(2) encourage, cooperate with, and render technical services
and provide financial assistance to air pollution control
agencies and other appropriate public or private agencies,
institutions, and organizations, and individuals in the conduct
of such activities;
(3) conduct investigations and research and make surveys
concerning any specific problem of air pollution in cooperation
with any air pollution control agency with a view to recommending
a solution of such problem, if he is requested to do so by such
agency or if, in his judgment, such problem may affect any
community or communities in a State other than that in which the
source of the matter causing or contributing to the pollution is
located;
(4) establish technical advisory committees composed of
recognized experts in various aspects of air pollution to assist
in the examination and evaluation of research progress and
proposals and to avoid duplication of research, and
(5) conduct and promote coordination and acceleration of
training for individuals relating to the causes, effects, extent,
prevention, and control of air pollution.
(b) Authorized activities of Administrator in establishing research
and development program
In carrying out the provisions of the preceding subsection the
Administrator is authorized to -
(1) collect and make available, through publications and other
appropriate means, the results of and other information,
including appropriate recommendations by him in connection
therewith, pertaining to such research and other activities;
(2) cooperate with other Federal departments and agencies, with
air pollution control agencies, with other public and private
agencies, institutions, and organizations, and with any
industries involved, in the preparation and conduct of such
research and other activities;
(3) make grants to air pollution control agencies, to other
public or nonprofit private agencies, institutions, and
organizations, and to individuals, for purposes stated in
subsection (a)(1) of this section;
(4) contract with public or private agencies, institutions, and
organizations, and with individuals, without regard to section
3324(a) and (b) of title 31 and section 5 of title 41;
(5) establish and maintain research fellowships, in the
Environmental Protection Agency and at public or nonprofit
private educational institutions or research organizations;
(6) collect and disseminate, in cooperation with other Federal
departments and agencies, and with other public or private
agencies, institutions, and organizations having related
responsibilities, basic data on chemical, physical, and
biological effects of varying air quality and other information
pertaining to air pollution and the prevention and control
thereof;
(7) develop effective and practical processes, methods, and
prototype devices for the prevention or control of air pollution;
and
(8) construct facilities, provide equipment, and employ staff
as necessary to carry out this chapter.
In carrying out the provisions of subsection (a) of this section,
the Administrator shall provide training for, and make training
grants to, personnel of air pollution control agencies and other
persons with suitable qualifications and make grants to such
agencies, to other public or nonprofit private agencies,
institutions, and organizations for the purposes stated in
subsection (a)(5) of this section. Reasonable fees may be charged
for such training provided to persons other than personnel of air
pollution control agencies but such training shall be provided to
such personnel of air pollution control agencies without charge.
(c) Air pollutant monitoring, analysis, modeling, and inventory
research
In carrying out subsection (a) of this section, the Administrator
shall conduct a program of research, testing, and development of
methods for sampling, measurement, monitoring, analysis, and
modeling of air pollutants. Such program shall include the
following elements:
(1) Consideration of individual, as well as complex mixtures
of, air pollutants and their chemical transformations in the
atmosphere.
(2) Establishment of a national network to monitor, collect,
and compile data with quantification of certainty in the status
and trends of air emissions, deposition, air quality, surface
water quality, forest condition, and visibility impairment, and
to ensure the comparability of air quality data collected in
different States and obtained from different nations.
(3) Development of improved methods and technologies for
sampling, measurement, monitoring, analysis, and modeling to
increase understanding of the sources of ozone percursors,)1(!
ozone formation, ozone transport, regional influences on urban
ozone, regional ozone trends, and interactions of ozone with
other pollutants. Emphasis shall be placed on those techniques
which -
(A) improve the ability to inventory emissions of volatile
organic compounds and nitrogen oxides that contribute to urban
air pollution, including anthropogenic and natural sources;
(B) improve the understanding of the mechanism through which
anthropogenic and biogenic volatile organic compounds react to
form ozone and other oxidants; and
(C) improve the ability to identify and evaluate
region-specific prevention and control options for ozone
pollution.
(4) Submission of periodic reports to the Congress, not less
than once every 5 years, which evaluate and assess the
effectiveness of air pollution control regulations and programs
using monitoring and modeling data obtained pursuant to this
subsection.
(d) Environmental health effects research
(1) The Administrator, in consultation with the Secretary of
Health and Human Services, shall conduct a research program on the
short-term and long-term effects of air pollutants, including wood
smoke, on human health. In conducting such research program the
Administrator -
(A) shall conduct studies, including epidemiological, clinical,
and laboratory and field studies, as necessary to identify and
evaluate exposure to and effects of air pollutants on human
health;
(B) may utilize, on a reimbursable basis, the facilities of
existing Federal scientific laboratories and research centers;
and
(C) shall consult with other Federal agencies to ensure that
similar research being conducted in other agencies is coordinated
to avoid duplication.
(2) In conducting the research program under this subsection, the
Administrator shall develop methods and techniques necessary to
identify and assess the risks to human health from both routine and
accidental exposures to individual air pollutants and combinations
thereof. Such research program shall include the following
elements:
(A) The creation of an Interagency Task Force to coordinate
such program. The Task Force shall include representatives of the
National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, the
Environmental Protection Agency, the Agency for Toxic Substances
and Disease Registry, the National Toxicology Program, the
National Institute of Standards and Technology, the National
Science Foundation, the Surgeon General, and the Department of
Energy. This Interagency Task Force shall be chaired by a
representative of the Environmental Protection Agency and shall
convene its first meeting within 60 days after November 15, 1990.
(B) An evaluation, within 12 months after November 15, 1990, of
each of the hazardous air pollutants listed under section 7412(b)
of this title, to decide, on the basis of available information,
their relative priority for preparation of environmental health
assessments pursuant to subparagraph (C). The evaluation shall be
based on reasonably anticipated toxicity to humans and exposure
factors such as frequency of occurrence as an air pollutant and
volume of emissions in populated areas. Such evaluation shall be
reviewed by the Interagency Task Force established pursuant to
subparagraph (A).
(C) Preparation of environmental health assessments for each of
the hazardous air pollutants referred to in subparagraph (B),
beginning 6 months after the first meeting of the Interagency
Task Force and to be completed within 96 months thereafter. No
fewer than 24 assessments shall be completed and published
annually. The assessments shall be prepared in accordance with
guidelines developed by the Administrator in consultation with
the Interagency Task Force and the Science Advisory Board of the
Environmental Protection Agency. Each such assessment shall
include -
(i) an examination, summary, and evaluation of available
toxicological and epidemiological information for the pollutant
to ascertain the levels of human exposure which pose a
significant threat to human health and the associated acute,
subacute, and chronic adverse health effects;
(ii) a determination of gaps in available information related
to human health effects and exposure levels; and
(iii) where appropriate, an identification of additional
activities, including toxicological and inhalation testing,
needed to identify the types or levels of exposure which may
present significant risk of adverse health effects in humans.
(e) Ecosystem research
In carrying out subsection (a) of this section, 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
1461 of title 16 to carry out this research.
(f) Liquefied Gaseous Fuels Spill 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
(iii) consider realistic behavior of aerosols by including
physicochemical reactions with water vapor, ground deposition,
and removal by water spray;
(B) evaluate existing and future atmospheric dispersion models
by -
(i) the development of a rigorous, standardized methodology
for dense gas models; and
(ii) the application of such methodology to current dense gas
dispersion models using data generated from field experiments;
and
(C) evaluate the effectiveness of hazard mitigation and
emergency response technology for fixed site and transportation
related accidental releases of toxic chemicals.
Models pertaining to accidental release shall be evaluated and
improved periodically for their utility in planning and
implementing evacuation procedures and other mitigative strategies
designed to minimize human exposure to hazardous air pollutants
released accidentally.
(3) The Secretary of Energy shall make available to interested
persons (including other Federal agencies and businesses) the use
of the Liquefied Gaseous Fuels Spill Test Facility to conduct
research and other activities in connection with the activities
described in this subsection.
(g) Pollution prevention and emissions control
In carrying out subsection (a) of this section, the Administrator
shall conduct a basic engineering research and technology program
to develop, evaluate, and demonstrate nonregulatory strategies and
technologies for air pollution prevention. Such strategies and
technologies shall be developed with priority on those pollutants
which pose a significant risk to human health and the environment,
and with opportunities for participation by industry, public
interest groups, scientists, and other interested persons in the
development of such strategies and technologies. Such program shall
include the following elements:
(1) Improvements in nonregulatory strategies and technologies
for preventing or reducing multiple air pollutants, including
sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, heavy metals, PM-10 (particulate
matter), carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide, from stationary
sources, including fossil fuel power plants. Such strategies and
technologies shall include improvements in the relative cost
effectiveness and long-range implications of various air
pollutant reduction and nonregulatory control strategies such as
energy conservation, including end-use efficiency, and
fuel-switching to cleaner fuels. Such strategies and technologies
shall be considered for existing and new facilities.
(2) Improvements in nonregulatory strategies and technologies
for reducing air emissions from area sources.
(3) Improvements in nonregulatory strategies and technologies
for preventing, detecting, and correcting accidental releases of
hazardous air pollutants.
(4) Improvements in nonregulatory strategies and technologies
that dispose of tires in ways that avoid adverse air quality
impacts.
Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to authorize the
imposition on any person of air pollution control requirements. The
Administrator shall consult with other appropriate Federal agencies
to ensure coordination and to avoid duplication of activities
authorized under this subsection.
(h) NIEHS studies
(1) The Director of the National Institute of Environmental
Health Sciences may conduct a program of basic research to
identify, characterize, and quantify risks to human health from air
pollutants. Such research shall be conducted primarily through a
combination of university and medical school-based grants, as well
as through intramural studies and contracts.
(2) The Director of the National Institute of Environmental
Health Sciences shall conduct a program for the education and
training of physicians in environmental health.
(3) The Director shall assure that such programs shall not
conflict with research undertaken by the Administrator.
(4) There are authorized to be appropriated to the National
Institute of Environmental Health Sciences such sums as may be
necessary to carry out the purposes of this subsection.
(i) Coordination of research
The Administrator shall develop and implement a plan for
identifying areas in which activities authorized under this section
can be carried out in conjunction with other Federal ecological and
air pollution research efforts. The plan, which shall be submitted
to Congress within 6 months after November 15, 1990, shall include
-
(1) an assessment of ambient monitoring stations and networks
to determine cost effective ways to expand monitoring
capabilities in both urban and rural environments;
(2) a consideration of the extent of the feasibility and
scientific value of conducting the research program under
subsection (e) of this section to include consideration of the
effects of atmospheric processes and air pollution effects; and
(3) a methodology for evaluating and ranking pollution
prevention technologies, such as those developed under subsection
(g) of this section, in terms of their ability to reduce cost
effectively the emissions of air pollutants and other airborne
chemicals of concern.
Not later than 2 years after November 15, 1990, and every 4 years
thereafter, the Administrator shall report to Congress on the
progress made in implementing the plan developed under this
subsection, and shall include in such report any revisions of the
plan.
(j) Continuation of national acid precipitation assessment program
(1) The acid precipitation research program set forth in the Acid
Precipitation Act of 1980 [42 U.S.C. 8901 et seq.] shall be
continued with modifications pursuant to this subsection.
(2) The Acid Precipitation Task Force shall consist of the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Secretary
of Energy, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of
Agriculture, the Administrator of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, the Administrator of the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration, and such additional members
as the President may select. The President shall appoint a chairman
for the Task Force from among its members within 30 days after
November 15, 1990.
(3) The responsibilities of the Task Force shall include the
following:
(A) Review of the status of research activities conducted to
date under the comprehensive research plan developed pursuant to
the Acid Precipitation Act of 1980 [42 U.S.C. 8901 et seq.], and
development of a revised plan that identifies significant
research gaps and establishes a coordinated program to address
current and future research priorities. A draft of the revised
plan shall be submitted by the Task Force to Congress within 6
months after November 15, 1990. The plan shall be available for
public comment during the 60 day period after its submission, and
a final plan shall be submitted by the President to the Congress
within 45 days after the close of the comment period.
(B) Coordination with participating Federal agencies,
augmenting the agencies' research and monitoring efforts and
sponsoring additional research in the scientific community as
necessary to ensure the availability and quality of data and
methodologies needed to evaluate the status and effectiveness of
the acid deposition control program. Such research and monitoring
efforts shall include, but not be limited to -
(i) continuous monitoring of emissions of precursors of acid
deposition;
(ii) maintenance, upgrading, and application of models, such
as the Regional Acid Deposition Model, that describe the
interactions of emissions with the atmosphere, and models that
describe the response of ecosystems to acid deposition; and
(iii) analysis of the costs, benefits, and effectiveness of
the acid deposition control program.
(C) Publication and maintenance of a National Acid Lakes
Registry that tracks the condition and change over time of a
statistically representative sample of lakes in regions that are
known to be sensitive to surface water acidification.
(D) Submission every two years of a unified budget
recommendation to the President for activities of the Federal
Government in connection with the research program described in
this subsection.
(E) Beginning in 1992 and biennially thereafter, submission of
a report to Congress describing the results of its investigations
and analyses. The reporting of technical information about acid
deposition shall be provided in a format that facilitates
communication with policymakers and the public. The report shall
include -
(i) actual and projected emissions and acid deposition
trends;
(ii) average ambient concentrations of acid deposition
percursors )2(! and their transformation products;
(iii) the status of ecosystems (including forests and surface
waters), materials, and visibility affected by acid deposition;
(iv) the causes and effects of such deposition, including
changes in surface water quality and forest and soil
conditions;
(v) the occurrence and effects of episodic acidification,
particularly with respect to high elevation watersheds; and
(vi) the confidence level associated with each conclusion to
aid policymakers in use of the information.
(F) Beginning in 1996, and every 4 years thereafter, the report
under subparagraph (E) shall include -
(i) the reduction in deposition rates that must be achieved
in order to prevent adverse ecological effects; and
(ii) the costs and benefits of the acid deposition control
program created by subchapter IV-A of this chapter.
(k) Air pollution conferences
If, in the judgment of the Administrator, an air pollution
problem of substantial significance may result from discharge or
discharges into the atmosphere, the Administrator may call a
conference concerning this potential air pollution problem to be
held in or near one or more of the places where such discharge or
discharges are occurring or will occur. All interested persons
shall be given an opportunity to be heard at such conference,
either orally or in writing, and shall be permitted to appear in
person or by representative in accordance with procedures
prescribed by the Administrator. If the Administrator finds, on the
basis of the evidence presented at such conference, that the
discharge or discharges if permitted to take place or continue are
likely to cause or contribute to air pollution subject to abatement
under this part, the Administrator shall send such findings,
together with recommendations concerning the measures which the
Administrator finds reasonable and suitable to prevent such
pollution, to the person or persons whose actions will result in
the discharge or discharges involved; to air pollution agencies of
the State or States and of the municipality or municipalities where
such discharge or discharges will originate; and to the interstate
air pollution control agency, if any, in the jurisdictional area of
which any such municipality is located. Such findings and
recommendations shall be advisory only, but shall be admitted
together with the record of the conference, as part of the
proceedings under subsections (b), (c), (d), (e), and (f) of
section 7408 of this title.
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