EPA's Office of Children's Health Children's Environmental Health Newsletter March 2019 The Office of Children's Health Protection at EPA has developed this newsletter to get you engaged in children's environmental health activities occurring throughout the agency. Here, you can access information on opportunities for public comment on EPA rulemakings, risk assessments, upcoming outreach events, grant opportunities, and other federal children's environmental health announcements. Proposed EPA Program Would give $50-miliion Boost to Children's Health The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing a new $50-million grant program, the Healthy Schools Grant Program, to expand the Trump Administration's efforts to protect children where they learn and play. The announcement is part of President Trump's proposed Fiscal Year 2020 budget and supports EPA's ongoing commitment to evaluate and address risks to children's health. The Healthy Schools Grant Program is a comprehensive environmental health grant program with the goal of identifying and addressing environmental health risks in and around schools that contribute to increased absenteeism and reduced academic performance. The program would provide a total of $50 million for schools to identify, prevent, reduce and resolve environmental hazards including: * reducing childhood lead exposure; * reducing asthma triggers; * promoting integrated pest management; and 'reducing or eliminating childhood exposure to one or more toxic chemicals in schools. ------- Eligible recipients would include state and local governments, federally recognized tribal governments, and non-profit organizations. Nearly 50 million children attend more than 100,000 K-12 schools every day. Reducing exposures to environmental hazards in schools creates healthier learning environments, which enables children to perform better in the classroom and thereby improve their academic performance and expand their opportunities later in life. The Healthy Schools Grant Program would also support the Federal Action Plan to Reduce Childhood Lead Exposures and Associated Health Impacts (Lead Action Plan), which was unveiled in December by EPA and 16 other federal departments and offices. The Lead Action Plan was developed by the President's Task Force on Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks to Children as a blueprint for reducing lead exposure and associated harms by working with states, tribes and local communities, along with businesses, property owners and parents. Updates to EPA's Healthy School Environments Website EPA has updated our Healthy School Environment website to highlight more about what the EPA is doing to help establish and enhance healthy school environments. Click here to learn more about what EPA is doing to promote healthy schools. What is EPA Doing About Risks to Children from Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals? Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals, or EDCs can affect a range of hormonal systems in ways that interrupt multiple important systems in the body. During fetal development and early childhood, children are exposed to an accumulation of chemicals, which EPA is currently studying to try to understand their impact to human health. EPA screens and prioritizes pesticides and chemicals and conducts toxicity tests to help identify chemicals that have effects on early life development and to determine which life stages are the most vulnerable to EDCs. EPA is also studying how these exposures might interact with other environmental stressors, such as stress or a high-fat diet, to better understand the real-life impact of early exposures to EDCs. Click here to learn more about Research on Lifetime Health Effects of Early Life Exposures to EDCs In This Month's Bulletin Announcements & Updates • EPA is Seeking CASAC Expert Nominations through April 1, 2019 • Final Rulemaking: Primary National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for Sulfur Dioxide Public Comment Opportunities • Petition Seeking Rulemaking or a Formal Agency Interpretation for Planted Seeds Treated with Systemic Insecticides; Request for Public Comment by March 26, 2019 • Sunscreen Drug Products for Over-the-Counter Human Use; Proposed Status of Sunscreen- Insect Repellent Combination Products, Public Comment by May 28, 2019 ------- • Systematic Review Protocol for the Hexavalent Chromium [Cr(VI)] IRIS Assessment: Public Comment by April 29, 2019 Upcoming EPA Webinars, Workshops & Events • Webinar Series: EPA Launches Environmental Justice Training for States Starting April 16, 2019 • Webinar Series: EPA Drinking Water Training: Lead Service Line Identification and Replacement, Next Webinar June 6, 2019 Federal Partners' Children's Environmental Health Announcements • HUD Secretary Visits City of Waco, TX to Award $1.5 million to Protect Families from Lead and Home Hazards Announcements & Updates EPA is Seeking CASAC Expert Nominations Through April 1, 2019 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) invites nominations of scientific experts to be considered for appointment to the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC). The CASAC is a chartered federal advisory committee that provides advice, information and recommendations to the EPA Administrator on the scientific and technical aspects of air quality criteria and National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). On February 28, 2019, EPA published a Federal Register Notice requesting public nominations of candidate experts with expertise in ecology to serve on the CASAC. The SAB Staff Office is especially interested in scientists with expertise described above who have knowledge and experience relating to criteria pollutants (carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen oxides, ozone, particulate matter, and sulfur oxides). Nominations should be submitted in electronic format (preferred) using the online nomination form under "Public Input on Membership" on the CASAC web page at http://www.epa.gov/casac. Nominations should be submitted in time to arrive no later than April 1, 2019. For all inquiries, nominators should contact Mr. Aaron Yeow, Designated Federal Officer (DFO) for the CASAC, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office (1400R), 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460; by telephone at 202-564-2050 or by email at veow.aaron@epa.qov. Final Rulemaking: Primary National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for sulfur dioxide (S02) On February 25, 2019, based on a review of the full body of currently available scientific evidence and exposure/risk information, EPA issued a decision to retain the existing primary NAAQS for S02. EPA's decision is based on its judgment that the current NAAQS protects the public health, with an adequate margin of safety, including the health of at-risk populations with asthma. The current evidence continues to support the conclusion that respiratory effects are causally related to short- term SO2 exposures, with the effects related to asthma exacerbation in people with asthma, particularly children with asthma. ------- The existing standard, established in 2010, is 75 parts per billion based on the 3-year average of the 99th percentile of the yearly distribution of 1-hour daily maximum concentrations. The final action is available on the NAAQS website. Public Comment Opportunities Petition Seeking Rulemaking or a Formal Agency Interpretation for Planted Seeds Treated with Systemic Insecticides; Request for Comment by March 26, 2019 EPA is seeking public comment on a petition from the Center for Food Safety (CSF) requesting that the Agency either initiate a rulemaking or issue a formal Agency interpretation for planted seeds treated with systemic insecticides. CSF believes that the Agency has improperly applied the treated article exemption in exempting these products from registration and labeling requirements under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The petitioners contend that there are unassessed releases into the environment from treated seeds that may impact the environment and public health, including children. Click here to read the petition. Click here to read the Federal Register Notice. Click here to read the Treated Article Exemption. Click here to make comments. Sunscreen Drug Products for Over-the-Counter Human Use; Proposed Status of Sunscreen- Insect Repellent Combination Products, Public Comment by May 28, 2019 The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a proposed rule that would update regulatory requirements for nonprescription, over-the-counter sunscreen products, including sunscreen-insect repellent products, which are jointly regulated by FDA and EPA. FDA is proposing to classify these products as not generally recognized as safe and effective (GRASE) because incompatibilities between FDA and EPA labeling requirements prevent these products from being labeled in a manner that sufficiently ensures safe and effective use. In addition, there are data suggesting that combining some sunscreen active ingredients with the insecticide DEET may increase absorption of either or both components. Next steps: FDA will consider public comments submitted by May 28, 2019. Click here to see FDA's Proposed Rule. Click here to provide comments. Click here for additional documents and more information (Docket FDA-1978-N-0018) Systematic Review Protocol for the Hexavalent Chromium [Cr(VI)] IRIS Assessment: Public Comment by April 29, 2019 EPA's Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) Program has announced a 45-day public comment period associated with the Systematic Review Protocol for the Hexavalent Chromium [Cr(VI)] IRIS Assessment. IRIS systematic review protocols describe the methods used for conducting an ------- assessment of the available scientific literature for the purpose of evaluating hazard and deriving toxicity values for the chemical of interest. The IRIS CrVI assessment will include evaluations for cancer and noncancer effects, including immunological and reproductive/developmental effects. As there is evidence for carcinogenicity, mutagenicity will be evaluated because it influences the approach to dose-response assessment and subsequent application of adjustment factors for exposures early in life as described in EPA's Supplemental Guidance for Assessing Susceptibility from Early-Life Exposure to Carcinogens. Comments should be submitted by April 29, 2019, to Docket ID: EPA-HQ-ORD-2014-0313 on Regulations.gov. Upcoming EPA Webinars. Workshops & Events EPA Launches Environmental Justice Training for States Webinar Series: On March 15,2019, EPA announced an Environmental Justice Training for States, that will build the capacity of states to integrate environmental justice into their decision-making process. Over the next year, EPA will conduct a national webinar series developed in collaboration with state partners. The five national training webinars, which will be accessible through a publicly available website, will serve as an ongoing resource for state staff and others interested in developing their environmental justice knowledge and expertise. Planned topics include identifying and prioritizing environmentally-impacted and vulnerable communities, enhancing community involvement in the regulatory process, using an area-wide planning approach to promote equitable development, and application of environmental justice to state environmental impact assessments. To complement the online trainings, EPA Regions will conduct training on environmental justice for their respective states. The first webinar entitled, Identifying and Prioritizing Environmentally Impacted and Vulnerable Communities, will be held on April 16, 2019 (2:00 - 3:30 PM EDT). To register for this webinar and for more information about the webinar series click here. Webinar Series: Lead Service Line Identification and Replacement EPA's Office of Water is hosting a series of quarterly webinars highlighting challenges and successes in lead service line identification and replacement. The webinar series showcases how states and public water systems have successfully identified lead service lines and shared that information with the public to raise awareness about the presence of lead service lines in their communities. Upcoming Webinars: June 6, 2019, 2:00-3:30 pm ET: Focus on State Programs September 5, 2019, 2:00-3:30 pm ET: Focus on Large Public Water Systems December 5, 2019, 2:00-3:30 pm ET: Focus on Small Public Water Systems Click here for more information on the webinar series. ------- Federal Partners' Children's Environmental Health Announcements HUD Secretary Visits City of Waco, TX to Award $1.5 million to Protect Families from Lead and Home Hazards U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson presented $1.5 million to the City of Waco to protect children and families from lead-based paint and home health hazards. "We're proud to be here with the City of Waco and Mayor Deaver today as they take another important step towards creating safer and healthier homes for the most vulnerable families and children in their community" said HUD Secretary Ben Carson. "These grants will help the city eliminate lead-based paint and other health hazards from low-income households and ensure they live in safe and reliable homes." - Secretary Ben Carson HUD, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Health and Human Services, through the Federal Action Plan to Reduce Childhood Lead Exposure, are working collaboratively to diminish childhood exposure to lead from lead-based paint and other sources. Click here to read more. ------- ------- |