423 



bamied-' while pesticide producers and users, in an overreaction to 

 this response, had contended that "no problem whatsoever existed." 

 Government witnesses concerned with administrative aspects of the 

 problem, had "attempted to oversell their present work and to mini- 

 mize past deficiencies." ^^ Then the committee offered four groups of 

 specific recommendations. These were : 



1. To strengthen the present regulatory system : 



(a) Enact legislation to prevent contamination of the environment by 

 unintentional release of hazardous substances through industrial waste dis- 

 posal, used containers, mislabeling, or faulty application. Such legislation 

 should include registration with the Secretary of Agriculture of facilities for 

 pesticide manufacture, compounding, processing or packaging, assurance of 

 good operating practice and product quality control by factory inspection, 

 sampling and analysis; provision for deeming "misbranded" any pesticide 

 made in an unregistered or substandard facility ; and Federal court injunc- 

 tion authority and civil penalties for enforcement of the law. 



(&) rrovide Federal grants to the States to promote uniform training, 

 methods and equipment in monitoring pesticides in the environment and 

 detecting residues in food stuffs. 



(c) Emphasize the education and information requirements on manufac- 

 turers and Federal recommending agencies with respect to the nonagricul- 

 tural or nonprofessional user of pesticides. 



(d) Arrange international agreements on pesticide residue tolerances, 

 detection and analysis techniques, monitoring networks and effects on migra- 

 tory birds. 



(e) Enact legislation providing uniform indemnification for bona fide 

 injuries resulting from legal actions by the Food and Drug Administration, 

 after accurately following recommendations of another Federal agency or 

 due to good-faith mistakes by Federal officials performing inspection activi- 

 ties. The Federal Tort Claims Act now specifically excepts these claims. 



2. To improve coordination of Federal programs which affect the environment : 



(a) Provide legislative authority for the mission and activities of the 

 present Federal Committee on Pest Control. 



(&) Improve the quality and speed of translation of scientific information 

 into policy terms, and from scientists to agency decisionmakers. 



(c) Improve the coordination of research by requiring agencies to register 

 programs with the Science Information Exchange: and obtaining annual 

 budgetary summations of work in different agencies in a common framework 

 of terminology. 



3. To increase human health and longevity with respect to the debilitating 

 effects of exposure to environmental contaminants : 



(a) Encourage, within the DHEW. the rapid formulation of the environ- 

 mental health program. 



(6) Increase, by means of FDA or NIH grants, research in human 

 pharmacology. 



(c) Encourage the chemical industry to develop chemical pesticides which 

 are safer for human beings. 



(d) Accelerate the development of nonehemical pest-control methods. 



(e) Enact legislation, if necessary, to provide good hygiene practice among 

 agricultural workers with pesticides. 



(/) Foster an awareness of possible danger from improper use of hazardous 

 substances by educational programs on health in the chemical age. 



4. To develop a more adequate basis for future national policy in environ- 

 mental management : 



(a) Establish, within the appropriate science based executive agency, a 

 program to accumulate factual knowledge on the present and future status 

 of the environment. 



( 6 ) Encourage, as public policy, the concept that Federal activities which 

 affect the environment shall be administered to provide the greatest net 

 gain for society in accomplishing broad national objectives. 



^ Interagency Environmental Hazards Coordination. Pesticides and Public Policy. Re- 

 port * * •. Op. cit., p. 65. 



