Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB123 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 123
5	5	To direct that certain assessments with respect to toxicity of chemicals be
6	6	carried out by the program offices of the Environmental Protection
7	7	Agency, and for other purposes.
8	8	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
9	9	JANUARY3, 2025
10	10	Mr. B
11	11	IGGSof Arizona introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
12	12	Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and in addition to the
13	13	Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently de-
14	14	termined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions
15	15	as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
16	16	A BILL
17	17	To direct that certain assessments with respect to toxicity
18	18	of chemicals be carried out by the program offices of
19	19	the Environmental Protection Agency, and for other pur-
20	20	poses.
21	21	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
22	22	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
23	23	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
24	24	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improving Science in 4
25	25	Chemical Assessments Act’’. 5
26	26	VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:56 Jan 29, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H123.IH H123
27	27	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2
28	28	•HR 123 IH
29	29	SEC. 2. RESEARCH NEEDS AND PRIORITIES OF EPA PRO-1
30	30	GRAM OFFICES. 2
31	31	The Environmental Research, Development, and 3
32	32	Demonstration Authorization Act of 1978 is amended by 4
33	33	striking section 7 (42 U.S.C. 4364) and inserting the fol-5
34	34	lowing new sections: 6
35	35	‘‘SEC. 7. RESEARCH NEEDS AND PRIORITIES OF EPA PRO-7
36	36	GRAM OFFICES. 8
37	37	‘‘(a) I
38	38	NGENERAL.—The Administrator of the Envi-9
39	39	ronmental Protection Agency shall assure that the expend-10
40	40	iture of any funds appropriated pursuant to this Act or 11
41	41	any other provision of law for environmental research and 12
42	42	development related to regulatory program activities shall 13
43	43	be coordinated with and reflect the research needs and pri-14
44	44	orities of the relevant program offices, as well as the over-15
45	45	all research needs and priorities of the Agency, including 16
46	46	those defined in the five-year research plan. 17
47	47	‘‘(b) H
48	48	AZARDIDENTIFICATION ANDDOSE-RESPONSE 18
49	49	A
50	50	SSESSMENTS.—Beginning on the date of the enactment 19
51	51	of the Improving Science in Chemical Assessments Act, 20
52	52	any covered assessments carried out with respect to a 21
53	53	chemical substance through the Integrated Risk Informa-22
54	54	tion System program of the Environmental Protection 23
55	55	Agency as of the day before such date of enactment shall, 24
56	56	in lieu of being carried out through such program, be car-25
57	57	ried out by the relevant program office of the Environ-26
58	58	VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:56 Jan 29, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H123.IH H123
59	59	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3
60	60	•HR 123 IH
61	61	mental Protection Agency, so long as the relevant program 1
62	62	office determines there is a need for such an assessment. 2
63	63	Such an assessment shall be carried out using the sci-3
64	64	entific standards specified in section 7B and be based on 4
65	65	the weight of the scientific evidence. 5
66	66	‘‘(c) T
67	67	OXICITYVALUES.—In carrying out a covered 6
68	68	assessment with respect to a chemical substance under 7
69	69	subsection (b), the relevant program office shall assign a 8
70	70	toxicity value or values, when scientifically supported by 9
71	71	the available data, for such chemical substance. With re-10
72	72	spect to that assignment, the following shall apply: 11
73	73	‘‘(1) When supported by the available data, the 12
74	74	toxicity value or values shall include a range of point 13
75	75	estimates of risk, as well as sources and magnitudes 14
76	76	of uncertainty associated with the estimates. 15
77	77	‘‘(2) When multiple point estimates can be de-16
78	78	veloped, the relevant program office shall— 17
79	79	‘‘(A) consider all datasets; and 18
80	80	‘‘(B) make a determination about how best 19
81	81	to represent the human health risk posed by the 20
82	82	chemical substance involved. 21
83	83	‘‘(d) C
84	84	HEMICALASSESSMENTDATABASE.— 22
85	85	‘‘(1) I
86	86	N GENERAL.—A toxicity value or values 23
87	87	assigned to a chemical substance under subsection 24
88	88	(c) shall be included in a chemical assessment data-25
89	89	VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:56 Jan 29, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H123.IH H123
90	90	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4
91	91	•HR 123 IH
92	92	base to be maintained by the Office of Research and 1
93	93	Development of the Environmental Protection Agen-2
94	94	cy. 3
95	95	‘‘(2) C
96	96	OMPLETED ASSESSMENTS .—All covered 4
97	97	assessments stored, as of the date of the enactment 5
98	98	of this Act, in the IRIS database of the Environ-6
99	99	mental Protection Agency shall be retained in the 7
100	100	chemical assessment database established pursuant 8
101	101	to paragraph (1). 9
102	102	‘‘(3) U
103	103	PDATES.—Such database shall be up-10
104	104	dated pursuant to a covered assessment performed 11
105	105	by a relevant program office, including to make a 12
106	106	change in the existing toxicity value or values for a 13
107	107	chemical substance included in such database. 14
108	108	‘‘(e) C
109	109	ERTIFICATION.—Beginning 2 years after the 15
110	110	date of the enactment of the Improving Science in Chem-16
111	111	ical Assessments Act and every 2 years thereafter, the Of-17
112	112	fice of Research and Development of the Environmental 18
113	113	Protection Agency shall submit to the Committee on 19
114	114	Science, Space, and Technology and the Committee on 20
115	115	Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives 21
116	116	and the Committee on Environment and Public Works of 22
117	117	the Senate a report containing a certification that each 23
118	118	covered assessment completed during the period covered 24
119	119	VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:56 Jan 29, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H123.IH H123
120	120	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5
121	121	•HR 123 IH
122	122	by the report was conducted using the scientific standards 1
123	123	specified in section 7B. 2
124	124	‘‘(f) D
125	125	EFINITIONS.—In this section, section 7A, and 3
126	126	section 7B: 4
127	127	‘‘(1) C
128	128	OVERED ASSESSMENT .—The term ‘cov-5
129	129	ered assessment’ means, with respect to the evalua-6
130	130	tion of the human health effects resulting from 7
131	131	chronic exposure to a chemical substance, a chemical 8
132	132	hazard identification and dose-response assessment 9
133	133	(as such terms are defined by the Environmental 10
134	134	Protection Agency on the day before the date of the 11
135	135	enactment of this section). 12
136	136	‘‘(2) R
137	137	ELEVANT PROGRAM OFFICE .—The term 13
138	138	‘relevant program office’ includes the following of-14
139	139	fices of the Environmental Protection Agency: 15
140	140	‘‘(A) The Office of Water. 16
141	141	‘‘(B) The Office of Air and Radiation. 17
142	142	‘‘(C) The Office of Land and Emergency 18
143	143	Management. 19
144	144	‘‘(D) The Office of Chemical Safety and 20
145	145	Pollution Prevention. 21
146	146	‘‘(E) Any successor to an office specified in 22
147	147	subparagraphs (A) through (D) and any other 23
148	148	office determined to be relevant by the Adminis-24
149	149	trator of the Environmental Protection Agency. 25
150	150	VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:56 Jan 29, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H123.IH H123
151	151	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6
152	152	•HR 123 IH
153	153	‘‘SEC. 7A. HAZARD IDENTIFICATION AND DOSE-RESPONSE 1
154	154	STEERING COMMITTEE. 2
155	155	‘‘(a) E
156	156	STABLISHMENT.—Not later than 30 days after 3
157	157	the date of the enactment of the Improving Science in 4
158	158	Chemical Assessments Act, the Administrator of the Envi-5
159	159	ronmental Protection Agency shall establish a chemical 6
160	160	hazard identification and dose-response steering com-7
161	161	mittee (referred to in this section as the ‘steering com-8
162	162	mittee’) to coordinate the conduct of covered assessments 9
163	163	by relevant program offices for purposes of ensuring that, 10
164	164	with respect to such assessments, there is no duplication 11
165	165	of effort by such offices. 12
166	166	‘‘(b) D
167	167	UTY.—The duties of the steering committee 13
168	168	are the following: 14
169	169	‘‘(1) If the steering committee learns that more 15
170	170	than one relevant program office intends to conduct 16
171	171	covered assessments with respect to the same chem-17
172	172	ical substance, the steering committee shall deter-18
173	173	mine the most effective means of carrying out a sin-19
174	174	gle covered assessment to prevent duplication of ef-20
175	175	fort by such offices. 21
176	176	‘‘(2) For purposes of supplementing a covered 22
177	177	assessment, the steering committee shall consider 23
178	178	any third-party assessment of a chemical substance 24
179	179	generated by another Federal, State, or inter-25
180	180	national agency or agencies or members of the sci-26
181	181	VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:56 Jan 29, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H123.IH H123
182	182	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7
183	183	•HR 123 IH
184	184	entific community that meets the requirements spec-1
185	185	ified in subsection (e). 2
186	186	‘‘(c) C
187	187	HAIR; COMPOSITION.— 3
188	188	‘‘(1) C
189	189	HAIR.—The steering committee shall be 4
190	190	chaired by the Assistant Administrator of the Office 5
191	191	of Research and Development of the Environmental 6
192	192	Protection Agency. 7
193	193	‘‘(2) C
194	194	OMPOSITION.—The steering committee 8
195	195	shall be composed of 15 members, all of whom shall 9
196	196	be active, full-time employees of the Environmental 10
197	197	Protection Agency, with at least one member rep-11
198	198	resenting each relevant program office and each re-12
199	199	gional office of the Environmental Protection Agen-13
200	200	cy. The members of the steering committee shall be 14
201	201	appointed by the Administrator of the Environ-15
202	202	mental Protection Agency. Any vacancy shall be 16
203	203	filled in the same manner as the initial appointment. 17
204	204	‘‘(d) M
205	205	EETINGS.—The steering committee shall meet 18
206	206	at least once each calendar year. 19
207	207	‘‘(e) T
208	208	HIRD-PARTYASSESSMENTREQUIREMENTS.— 20
209	209	The requirements specified in this subsection with respect 21
210	210	to a third-party assessment of a chemical substance are 22
211	211	that the assessment— 23
212	212	‘‘(1) is conducted using scientific standards 24
213	213	specified in section 7B; 25
214	214	VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:56 Jan 29, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H123.IH H123
215	215	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8
216	216	•HR 123 IH
217	217	‘‘(2) has undergone independent scientific re-1
218	218	view for transparency, completeness, and quality; 2
219	219	and 3
220	220	‘‘(3) reflects the best available science and the 4
221	221	weight of the available scientific evidence. 5
222	222	‘‘SEC. 7B. SCIENTIFIC STANDARDS. 6
223	223	‘‘Covered assessments carried out under section 7 7
224	224	and discussion of such assessments and review of third- 8
225	225	party assessments carried out under section 7A shall be 9
226	226	conducted using scientific information, technical proce-10
227	227	dures, measures, methods, protocols, methodologies, or 11
228	228	models in a manner consistent with the best available 12
229	229	science. In carrying out such an assessment, the relevant 13
230	230	program office shall integrate all lines of scientific evi-14
231	231	dence and consider, as applicable, the following: 15
232	232	‘‘(1) The extent to which the scientific informa-16
233	233	tion, technical procedures, measures, methods, proto-17
234	234	cols, methodologies, or models employed to generate 18
235	235	the scientific information are reasonable for and con-19
236	236	sistent with the intended use of the scientific infor-20
237	237	mation. 21
238	238	‘‘(2) The extent to which the scientific informa-22
239	239	tion is relevant for the relevant program office’s use 23
240	240	in making a decision regarding a chemical sub-24
241	241	stance. 25
242	242	VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:56 Jan 29, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H123.IH H123
243	243	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 9
244	244	•HR 123 IH
245	245	‘‘(3) The degree of clarity and completeness 1
246	246	with which the data, assumptions, methods, quality 2
247	247	assurance, and analyses employed to generate the 3
248	248	scientific information are documented and publicly 4
249	249	available in a manner that honors legal and ethical 5
250	250	obligations to reduce the risks of unauthorized dis-6
251	251	closure and re-identification. 7
252	252	‘‘(4) The extent to which the variability and un-8
253	253	certainty in the scientific information, or in the pro-9
254	254	cedures, measures, methods, protocols, methodolo-10
255	255	gies, or models, are evaluated and characterized. 11
256	256	‘‘(5) The extent of independent verification or 12
257	257	peer review of the scientific information or of the 13
258	258	procedures, measures, methods, protocols, meth-14
259	259	odologies, or models. 15
260	260	‘‘(6) The ability of the scientific findings and 16
261	261	research to be replicated or reproduced. 17
262	262	‘‘(7) The extent to which the available scientific 18
263	263	information supports dose-response modeling, using 19
264	264	non-linear approaches.’’. 20
265	265	Æ
266	266	VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:56 Jan 29, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H123.IH H123
267	267	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB