Title 42, The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-110

§6939a Exposure Information and Health Assessments

Title 42 › CHAPTER 82 — SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL › SUBCHAPTER III — HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT › § 6939a

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

Owners of landfills or surface impoundments must include, with any final permit application, information they can reasonably find about how the public might be exposed to hazardous waste from the site. This rule started nine months after November 8, 1984. The information must cover likely releases during normal operations and accidents (including transport), how people could be exposed, and how big or serious those exposures might be. If an owner applied before November 8, 1984, they had to send this information by that same nine-month deadline. The EPA or an authorized State must share that information with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). If EPA or the State thinks a site may pose a big risk because of releases, contamination levels, or how many people might be exposed, they can ask ATSDR to do a health assessment and take other steps if allowed and funded. Any member of the public may give evidence about releases, exposures, or health effects to ATSDR, EPA, or the State. ATSDR gives priority to sites with proved releases, the highest health risks, and not enough existing data. ATSDR must publish periodic, peer-reviewed reports of its work. A “health assessment” is a short review of contamination, routes of exposure (like water, air, or food), who might be affected, comparisons of exposure to known health effects and limits, and disease data, to decide if full studies are needed. If an assessment finds people were exposed, its cost can be recovered from the parties responsible for the release.

Full Legal Text

Title 42, §6939a

The Public Health and Welfare, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Exposure information

Beginning on the date nine months after November 8, 1984, each application for a final determination regarding a permit under section 6925(c) of this title for a landfill or surface impoundment shall be accompanied by information reasonably ascertainable by the owner or operator on the potential for the public to be exposed to hazardous wastes or hazardous constituents through releases related to the unit. At a minimum, such information must address:

(1)reasonably foreseeable potential releases from both normal operations and accidents at the unit, including releases associated with transportation to or from the unit;

(2)the potential pathways of human exposure to hazardous wastes or constituents resulting from the releases described under paragraph (1); and

(3)the potential magnitude and nature of the human exposure resulting from such releases.

The owner or operator of a landfill or surface impoundment for which an application for such a final determination under section 6925(c) of this title has been submitted prior to November 8, 1984, shall submit the information required by this subsection to the Administrator (or the State, in the case of a State with an authorized program) no later than the date nine months after November 8, 1984.

(b)Health assessments

(1)The Administrator (or the State, in the case of a State with an authorized program) shall make the information required by subsection (a), together with other relevant information, available to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry established by section 9604(i) of this title.

(2)Whenever in the judgment of the Administrator, or the State (in the case of a State with an authorized program), a landfill or a surface impoundment poses a substantial potential risk to human health, due to the existence of releases of hazardous constituents, the magnitude of contamination with hazardous constituents which may be the result of a release, or the magnitude of the population exposed to such release or contamination, the Administrator or the State (with the concurrence of the Administrator) may request the 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 9604(b) and (i) of this title. 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)“Health assessments” defined

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 full-scale 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 9607 of this title 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.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

42 U.S.C. § 6939a

Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110