Chapter 25 - Legislative Aspects of Lead Regulation and Regulatory Policies

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses scientific and regulatory issues for U.S. regulatory initiatives and policies for lead (Pb) in the human environment. It discusses three components of an overall interactive feedback-loop relationship that is tripartite in nature, including scientific research, health risk assessment, and the regulation of lead in the human environment. The chapter presents a brief history and context for the legislative initiatives that laid the groundwork for recent legislative actions on Pb. The earliest legislative actions for environmental control of lead releases and human exposures were general in nature, applicable to contaminants generically or by broad class. The U.S. legislative initiatives at the Federal or lower legislative levels specifically enacted for lead control and public health protection arose considerably later, tracking closely the growth of the scientific and public health history of lead. The chapter includes a discussion of some of the interactions between Congress and various economic and public health stakeholders, including industrial producers and users of lead on the one hand and various public groups on the other. Such interactions have occurred via Congressional committees, subcommittees, and individual members of the House and Senate.