§2077 Chronic Hazard Advisory Panels

Summary

The Commission must set up Chronic Hazard Advisory Panels to give advice about long-term health risks from consumer products, like cancer, birth defects, and gene mutations. Each Panel has 7 members chosen by the Commission from a list of nominees the President of the National Academy of Sciences provides (the list must include three times as many names as there are seats—21 names for a 7-member Panel). Members must not be U.S. officers or employees (except workers at the NIH, the National Toxicology Program, or the National Center for Toxicological Research), must not have big financial ties to product makers, and must be able to judge health risks from toxic exposures. Panel members pick a Chair and Vice Chair from among themselves and keep those roles while the Panel exists. The Panel decides by majority vote. The Commission gives the Panel needed administrative help. Members are paid up to the daily equivalent of the GS‑18 pay rate for each day they do Panel work, including travel. The Panel must ask for and release information only through the Commission. Federal agencies must provide requested information to the Panel even if other laws limit sharing. A separate law (section 2055) governs public disclosure by the Panel, but it does not stop agencies from giving information to the Panel.