Minutes of the Meetings of the Legislation Pertinent Federal Laws and Regulations NIH Publication No. 81-2196 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Public Health Service National Institutes of Health For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402 812 3-12-81 CONTENTS PART B Minutes, Legislation, Pertinent Federal Laws and Regulations List of Hearings and Committee Reports Relating to Ionizing Radiation. . . .788 Selected Public Laws, Resolutions, and Bills Relating to Ionizing Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation, Pertinent Federal Laws and Regulations, August 1979 (NIH Pub. 79-2060) [Summaries of research and Appendix I-Volume 1, Statutes, Titles 5-30 (NIH Pub. 79-2061), GPO stock no. 017-040-00456-7, price $8.50. Washington: Superintendent of Appendix I-Volume 2, Statutes, Titles 33-50 (NIH Pub. 79-2062), GPO stock no. 017-040-00457-5, price $8.00. Washington: Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Govt. Printing Office, 1979 (iv, 456 pp.). Appendices II and III, Regulations, Memoranda of Understanding (NIH Pub. 79-2063), GPO stock no. 017-040-00458-3, price $7.50. Washington: Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Govt. Printing Office, 1979 (viii, Preamble CHARTER COMMITTEE ON FEDERAL RESEARCH INTO THE BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF IONIZING RADIATION Federal research and regulatory programs on radiation matters have been examined at hearings by a number of Congressional committees. The Congressional committees that have investigated these issues since 1974 include, in the Senate, the Governmental Affairs Committee; the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation; the Subcommittee on Nuclear Regulation of the Committee on Environment and Public Works; and the Subcommittee on Health and Scientific Research of the Committee on Human Resources. In the House of Representatives, they include the Subcommittees on Health and the Environment and Oversight and Investigations of the Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee; the Subcommittee on the Environment and Atmosphere of the Science and Technology Committee; the Subcommittee on Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources of the Government Operations Committee; and the Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. A number of other committees, such as the House Armed Services Committee and the Veterans Affairs Committees of both Houses, maintain an interest in particular aspects of radiation use. Among the issues highlighted by these hearings are scientific uncertainty about radiation health effects, Federal management of research, adequacy of standards, medical uses of radiation, consequences of weapons tests, nuclear wastes, and Federal agency coordination. In May 1978 the White House, by memorandum, asked the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) to coordinate the formulation of a program to address these questions, working with the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Energy, and the Administrator of Veterans Affairs. As a result of that request, the Secretary of HEW established an Interagency Task Force under the direction of the General Counsel of HEW. The Task Force includes representatives of the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, and the Veterans Administration, as well as representatives of three agencies with related concerns--the Department of Labor, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The reports of the Interagency Task Force on Ionizing Radiation released on February 27, 1979, and April 17, 1979, stressed the following objectives for Federal programs in this area: (1) safeguard the public |