Health Protection Agency responsibilities

The information provided in this chapter is the responsibility of the authors and has not been verified by the Health Protection Agency. 

HPA Cfl, Health Protection Agency Centre for Infections HPA CEPR, Health Protection Agency Centre for Emergency Preparedness and Response. 

The Health Protection Agency is responsible for health advice on radiation exposure as well as chemical and biological, both locally and at a national level with representation at COBRA and Gold Command. 

The two main federal agencies involved in the protection of human health and the environment are the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). EPA s principal concern is the protection of the environment, in most cases, the area outside of an industrial faciUty. There are 10 regional offices that carry out the regulatory functions of the agency (Table 1). Primary laws covered by EPA are the Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA), the Clean Water Act (CWA), Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and LiabiUty Act (CERCLA), Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), and Eederal Insecticide, Eungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). 

EPA Supefund Public Health Evaluation Manual, EPS /540/1-86 /060, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Emergency and Remedial Response, Washington, D.C., October 1986. 

ATSDR s specific responsibilities related to blood lead screening at lead-contaminated hazardous waste sites include (1) evaluation of site-specific environmental lead exposure information, (2) identification of populations potentially exposed to lead, (3) decision about whether or not to conduct blood lead screening, (4) evaluation of blood lead screening results, and (5) determination of whether the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency s (EPA) proposed site remediation plans are sufficient to protect public health. 

The Super fund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) of 1986 (Public Law 99-499) extended and amended the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA or Superfund). This public law directed the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) to prepare toxicological profiles for hazardous substances which are most commonly found at facilities on the CERCLA National Priorities List and which pose the most significant potential threat to human health, as determined by ATSDR and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The lists of the 250 most significant hazardous substances were published in the Federal Register on April 17, 1987, on October 20, 1988, on October 26, 1989, and on October 17, 1990. 

EPA. 1987b. Health effects assessment for mirex. Prepared by the Office of Health and Environmental Assessment, Environmental Criteria and Assessment Office, Cincinnati, OH for the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. Washington, DC U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Document No. EPA/600/8-88/046. 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). 2003. Large Water System Emergency Response Plan Outline Guidance to Assist Community Water Systems in Complying with the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of2002. EPA 810-F-03-007. www.epa.gov/safewater/security (accessed June 2006). 

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