BENER Digest Update.
The Role of U.S. Federal Agencies in ELF EMF Health and Safety Issues

With few exceptions, agencies of the federal government do not authorize or license the construction of transmission facilities. The determination of need, authorization, and licensing of transmission lines is the responsibility of state public service or public utilities commissions. State regulated utilities may need federal permits or approvals from various federal agencies prior to construction near airports, construction crossing highways, navigable waters, or federal property, or construction affecting endangered species. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the successor to the Federal Power Commission (FPC), regulates interstate pipe lines, hydroelectric installations, and interstate electricity sales. FERC requires and approves the interconnection of transmission lines and regulates the wholesale cost of electricity, but does not authorize or license construction. FPC's authority to regulate transmission lines that cross international borders now resides with DOE's Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy.(1) Federal agencies have responded to concerns about electromagnetic fields (EMFs) by including discussions of EMF biological effects in the Environmental Impact Statements they prepare for new federal transmission facilities and adopting siting and design strategies to reduce exposure to magnetic fields.

Federal agencies concerned with health and safety have been assessing the risks of exposure to power frequency electric and magnetic fields since the early 1970s.(2) The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has not established standards for occupational exposure, and there is no federal public health standard for controlling exposure to power frequency fields. No single agency has a clear mandate to regulate public exposure. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) could decide that power lines are electronic devices and regulate their emissions, but in the past they have let other federal agencies take the lead for regulating environmental radiation sources such as radar and transmission lines. Under existing authority, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could develop "exposure guidance" for issuance as a Presidential Executive Order. This Presidential Guidance would not be implemented or enforced by EPA. Federal agencies responsible for transmission lines, OSHA, and other federal agencies would each develop their own regulations for implementing and enforcing the guidance. For public exposure, EPA-developed federal "guidance" would apply to federal utilities, not to utilities regulated by state agencies. However, state-regulated utilities that need federal permits or approvals for the construction of transmission lines might find the issuance of permits conditional upon compliance with federal exposure standards.(3)

In 1994 nine federal agencies conducted EMF programs:

• DOE
• NIEHS
• FDA
• National Cancer Institute (NCI)
• National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• EPA
• Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
• Bonneville Power Administration (BPA)
• Department of Transportation (DOT)

In October 1992, the Congress passed and President Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 1992. Section 2118 of the act requires the development of a program to:

• determine if exposure to power frequency fields affects human health,
• develop and demonstrate mitigation technologies, and
• provide information to the public on health effects, occupational and residential exposure, measurement technologies, and methods to assess and manage exposure to electric and magnetic fields.

• health effects research,
• mitigation research,
• risk assessment, and
• dissemination of information on all aspects of the program.

The General Accounting Office has analyzed the progress of the EMF RAPID program through April 1994 and has criticized both DOE and NIEHS for missing several legislated deadlines in establishing the program.(5) The deadline for establishing the citizens' advisory committee, now called the National Electric and Magnetic Field Advisory Committee (NEMFAC) was December 24, 1992; NEMFAC was chartered on January 14, 1993 and held its first meeting August 5-6, 1993 in Washington, DC. Subsequent meetings occurred November 1993 in Savannah, GA; March 1994 in Washington, DC; and the fourth meeting was hosted by NIEHS in Research Triangle Park, NC, on August 3-4, 1994. The interagency committee which was also to be established by December 24, 1992, held its first meeting on November 15, 1993 and published its research agenda and communication plan in May 1994, almost a year late.(4) NIEHS began distributing requests for applications for research on cellular and in vivo effects of EMF in November 1993 and awards are anticipated by September 30, 1994.(6) Final draft implementation plans for both the communication and the engineering research, development and demonstration aspects of the program were published in July 1994.(7,8) Both NIEHS and EPA currently respond to telephone inquiries on EMF-- NIEHS at 919/541-3345 and EPA at 800/363-2383.(9) On July 12, DOE released, through its contractor, requests for proposals to conduct research in the following five areas:

• Development of recommendations for guidelines for field source measurement,
• Development of recommendations for guidelines for environment-specific field measurements,
• Environmental field surveys,
• Development of recommendations for guidelines for personal exposure measurement, and
• Development of an EMF measurement database.

In late 1992, DOE gave the National Academy of Sciences $600,000 to conduct a 27-month analysis of the potential health risks from EMF exposure.(11) The 17 member committee is chaired by Dr. Charles Stevens, a neurobiologist at the Salk Institute (La Jolla, CA) and cochaired by Dr. David Savitz, an epidemiologist at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.(12) The Committee held its first public meeting in Washington, DC, September 22-23, 1993 and is expected to take about two years to complete its work.

David E. Janes is Vice President of Risk Analysis Corporation, 6723 Whittier Avenue, Suite 202, McLean, VA 22101.

References

1. Draft Environmental Impact Statement: Washington Water Power-B.C. Hydro Transmission Interconnection Project, (DOE/EIS 0141-D), U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, DC, December 1989.
2. Janes, D.E. "Background Information on High Voltage Fields," Environmental Health Perspectives 20:141-147, October 1977.
3. Janes, D.E. "Possible Federal Approaches to Setting Electric and Magnetic Field Policy." Presented at the 12th IEEE/PES Transmission and Distribution Conference, Dallas, TX, September 1991.
4. EMF RAPID Program Interagency Committee, Research Agenda and Communication Plan , Department of Energy (DOE/EE-0021), Washington, DC, May 1994.
5. Electromagnetic Fields: Federal Efforts to Determine Health Effects are Behind Schedule (GAO/RCED-94-115), United States General Accounting Office, Washington, DC, June 1994.
6. "Power Line Talk." Microwave News 13(6):3. November/December 1993.
7. Implementation Plan for Communication , Final Draft, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and Department of Energy, July 1994.
8. Implementation Plan for Engineering Research, Development and Demonstration, Department of Energy, July 1994.
9. "U.S. Agencies Providing EMF Information." EMF Health Report 2(3):9. May/June 1994.
10. Request for Proposal (RFP) SR887-62, Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc, Oak Ridge, TN, July 12, 1994; Addendum 3, August 18, 1994.
11. "DOE Awards Funds to NAS." EMF Health & Safety Digest 10(9):5. October 1992.
12. "NAS-NRC EMF Committee." Microwave News 13(3):4. May/June 1993.