Lead Exposure Reduction Act of 1992

Lead Exposure Reduction Act of 1992 - Amends the Toxic Substances Control Act to prohibit the importing, manufacturing, or processing of certain products exceeding a specified percentage of lead content. Exempts from lead content regulation products used: (1) for medical purposes; (2) for purposes in the paramount interest of the United States; (3) for radiation protection; (4) in the mining industry to determine the presence of noble metals in geological materials; and (5) as radiation shielding in electronic devices and in specialized electronic uses where no appropriate substitutes for lead are available.

Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to determine whether there are primer paints suitable for use as electrocoat or electrodeposition primers on motor vehicle parts that: (1) contain less than a specified percentage of lead; (2) have corrosion inhibition and related performance characteristics equivalent to primer paints in use for corrosion inhibition; and (3) do not pose a greater risk to human health and the environment than such primer paints. Prohibits the importing, manufacturing, processing, or distribution in commerce of any electrocoat or electrodeposition primer paint with a lead level exceeding that identified by the Administrator if the Administrator determines that one or more primer paints meeting such characteristics exist and are economically feasible to use. Sets alternative lead content limitations on such paints if the Administrator determines that no paints meeting such characteristics exist. Sets forth similar requirements and restrictions on paints and primers for agricultural, construction, industrial, and forestry equipment and paints containing lead chromate pigments.

Exempts from lead content restrictions: (1) artist paint (pursuant to a specified labeling requirement); and (2) zinc enriched industrial paint that does not exceed a specified incidental lead presence limit.

Prohibits the sale or distribution in commerce of: (1) any packaging or product in packaging that includes any additive to which lead has been intentionally introduced, beginning 48 months after this Act's enactment; and (2) any packaging exceeding specified levels for the incidental presence of lead. Authorizes the Administrator to exempt from such requirements: (1) packaging manufactured prior to this Act's enactment date; and (2) packaging to which lead has been added to comply with Federal, State, or local health or safety requirements. Requires certificates of compliance with lead requirements to be retained by packaging manufacturers or distributors.

Authorizes the Administrator to modify the allowable lead percentage for a product or packaging, subject to certain conditions.

Directs the Administrator to develop an inventory of all lead-containing products sold or distributed in commerce. Lists products that shall comprise the inventory if the Administrator fails to establish the inventory by a specified deadline. Provides for modifications of the inventory.

Requires the Administrator to promulgate a list of lead-containing products that may present a risk to health or the environment due to exposure to lead and to specify the maximum concentration of lead found in such products. Authorizes persons to petition for the addition or deletion of products to or from the list. Requires persons who manufacture, process, or import a product which uses a higher concentration of lead than that specified by the Administrator to notify the Administrator. Directs the Administrator to amend the inventory to include such products, as appropriate. Sets forth alternative requirements if publication of the final list is delayed.

Requires the Administrator to report to the Congress on the rate of diversion of small sealed lead-acid batteries from the solid waste stream and the quantity of lead entering the solid waste stream in the form of such batteries. Includes such batteries on the list for which maximum lead percentages are specified if relevant information is not available.

Exempts specified products from requirements relating to the list.

Directs the Administrator to promulgate labeling requirements for products on the list (except for lead-acid batteries that are subject to labeling regulations under other Federal law and products regulated under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act).

Requires the Administrator to promulgate final regulations governing lead-based paint abatement activities, including requirements for the accreditation of lead-based paint abatement training programs for individuals involved in such activities, the licensing of lead-based paint abatement contractors, and standards for conducting such activities.

Requires the Administrator to: (1) promulgate guidelines for the conduct of renovation and remodeling activities which may create a risk of exposure to lead; (2) study the extent to which persons engaged in such activities are exposed to lead or disturb lead and create a lead hazard; and (3) require the licensing of lead-based paint abatement contractors engaged in such activities that create lead hazards.

Imposes annual fees on persons operating training programs and contractors licensed under this Act. Provides for the suspension or revocation of accreditations or licenses for violations of this Act's requirements.

Requires the Administrator to establish an Advisory Committee on Lead Poisoning Prevention.

Directs the Administrator to promulgate a rule requiring States to conduct and report on inspections of: (1) covered schools and day care facilities to detect lead-based paint that is chipping, peeling, flaking, or chalking; and (2) each room and playground area in significant use by children in kindergarten or by younger children to detect such paint and any interior dust or exterior soil which contains a dangerous level of lead. Directs States to place a priority on inspecting schools and facilities located in areas with the highest suspected lead hazard. Requires owners or operators, in cases where inspections indicate the presence of lead-based paint or dust or soil containing dangerous levels of lead, to submit risk disclosure information (to be prescribed by the Administrator) to school or day care personnel and parents of children attending the school or day care facility.

Establishes requirements for covered schools and day care facilities with respect to renovations and assurances that renovations do not result in dangerous lead levels.

Requires the Administrator to make grants to States for testing for, and abating, lead-based paint and dust or soil containing a dangerous lead level in covered schools and day care facilities. Allocates funds to a State in an amount that bears the same ratio to the appropriated amount as the number of children up to age six bears to the total number of children in all States. Bars payments to a State in a fiscal year unless the aggregate State expenditures for comparable lead inspection and abatement programs equalled or exceeded such expenditures for the most recent fiscal year.

Prescribes penalties for violations of inspection and disclosure requirements.

Authorizes appropriations.

Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations for: (1) the identification of dangerous levels of lead in interior dust and exterior soil; and (2) contractors who inspect for, or abate, dangerous levels of lead in exterior soil for compensation.

Authorizes States, subject to the Administrator's approval, to administer the lead-based paint abatement training and licensing program and the school and day care lead inspection and abatement program. Requires the Administrator to establish a model State program. Authorizes grants to States for administering such programs.

Directs the Administrator to conduct a program to promote monitoring, detection, and abatement of lead-based paint and other lead exposure hazards.

Requires the Administrator to chair an Inter-Agency Coordinating Committee on Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention to coordinate Federal lead poisoning prevention programs and to make recommendations for Federal, State, and local lead poisoning prevention programs.

Directs the Administrator to establish: (1) standards for laboratory analysis of lead in paint films, soil, and dust; and (2) programs to certify laboratories as qualified to test substances for lead content, unless voluntary accreditation programs are operating nationwide. Requires the Administrator to make a list of certified or accredited environmental sampling laboratories available to the public. Provides for the review of such programs.

Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control, and the Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health to study the sources of lead exposure in children who have elevated blood lead levels. Directs the Secretary to study a means to reduce hazardous occupational lead abatement exposure. Provides for reports to the Congress on such studies.

Directs the Administrator to sponsor public education and outreach activities to increase awareness of lead poisoning and other components of a lead poisoning prevention program.

Requires the Administrator to develop information to be distributed by retailers of home improvement products to provide consumers with information related to the hazards of renovation and remodeling where lead-based paint may be present.

Directs the Administrator to establish a National Clearinghouse on Childhood Lead Poisoning and a lead hazard hotline.

Requires the President to establish by rule criteria, testing protocols, and performance characteristics necessary to ensure that deleading, encapsulating, testing, or similar lead-based paint abatement products introduced into commerce are effective for the intended use described by the manufacturer.

Applies Federal, State, interstate, and local lead hazard control requirements to Federal facilities in the same manner as such requirements apply to nongovernmental entities.

Authorizes appropriations to carry out this Act.

Directs the Secretary of Labor to issue an interim final regulation regulating occupational exposure to lead in the construction industry. Requires such regulation to provide employment and places of employment to employees which are as safe and healthful as those which would prevail under specified Department of Housing and Urban Development guidelines.

Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to authorize the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to make grants to nonprofit organizations for the training and education of workers who are engaged in lead-based paint abatement activities. Authorizes appropriations. Provides for periodic assessments of grantee training programs.

Amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to direct States to complete testing for lead contamination in drinking water from coolers and other drinking water outlets at schools. Requires the Administrator to establish parallel testing requirements for day care facilities for kindergarten or younger children.

Requires local educational agencies or day care facilities, if testing results show tap water lead concentrations exceeding 15 parts per billion, to provide risk disclosure information (to be prescribed by the Administrator) to school and day care personnel and to parents of children enrolled in the school or day care facility.

Directs the Administrator to identify brands and models of drinking water coolers imported or manufactured before the enactment of the Lead Contamination Control Act of 1988 which contribute 20 parts per billion or more of lead to drinking water. Directs the Consumer Product Safety Commission to issue an order that such coolers are hazardous consumer products and to require manufacturers and importers to repair, replace, recall, or provide a refund for coolers located in schools or day care facilities.

Requires the Administrator to make grants to States for testing for, and remedying, lead in drinking water in schools and day care facilities (currently, schools). Allocates funds to a State in an amount that bears the same ratio to appropriated amounts as the number of children up to age 17 in the State bears to the number of children in all States. Authorizes appropriations.

Imposes civil penalties upon local educational agencies and day care facilities that fail to comply with testing and remedial action requirements.

Requires pipe or plumbing fittings used in public water systems or in plumbing providing water for human consumption to be lead-free. Makes it unlawful to: (1) introduce into commerce any pipe or pipe or plumbing fitting that is not lead-free; (2) sell solder or flux that is not lead-free; or (3) introduce into commerce any solder or flux which is not lead-free unless it bears a label stating that it is illegal to use the material in the installation or repair of plumbing providing water for human consumption.

Requires the Administrator to promulgate regulations setting a health-effects based performance standard establishing minimum leaching levels of lead from new plumbing fittings conveying drinking water. Sets alternative restrictions on the lead content of such fittings if regulations are not promulgated.

Prescribes civil penalties for violations related to requirements for pipe or plumbing fittings.

Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to deem a food to be adulterated if the packaging used for such food contains lead that has been intentionally introduced or if the incidental presence of lead exceeds specified percentages.

Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish standards and testing procedures with respect to lead in ceramic and crystal wares as necessary to make food that contacts such wares unadulterated.

Directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations to reduce lead in processed food.

Prohibits the introduction or delivery into interstate commerce of ceramic or crystal ware or processed food that is not in compliance with regulations or requirements under this Act.