Virginia Department of Health
The Virginia General Assembly in its 1984 Session, pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution No. 26, resolved to establish a joint subcommittee to study the adequacy of the State Corporation Commission (SCC) oversight, the health and safety rules and regulations, and the statutes in the Code of Virginia in protecting the citizens of the Commonwealth when high voltage electrical transmission lines are constructed and maintained. The joint subcommittee held its first meeting on June 8, 1984, during which the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) was asked to review the human health effects of high voltage transmission lines. A report, "Health Effects of High Voltage Transmission Lines," dated August 15, 1984, was formally submitted to the members of the joint subcommittee during a meeting held on November 16, 1984.
Pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution No. 126 of the 1985 Session of the General Assembly (Appendix A), the SCC and VDH were requested to monitor the ongoing research on the health and safety effects of high voltage transmission lines. Further, the Department of Health, after consultation with the State Corporation Commission, was requested to report its findings annually to the General Assembly.
The 1993 Session of the General Assembly adopted Senate Joint Resolution No. 278 (Appendix B), requesting that the Department of Health and the State Corporation Commission continue to monitor relevant ongoing research as described in Senate Joint Resolution No. 126 of the 1985 Session and to submit annual reports thereon. Senate Joint Resolution No. 278 of the 1993 Session also requested that as part of the foregoing activity, the Department of Health and the State Corporation Commission monitor and, if feasible, participate in the study of electric and magnetic fields pursuant to the Federal Energy Policy Act of 1992.
This tenth annual update of the 1984 report supplements information contained in the preceding reports. Previous reports in the series are listed in Appendix C. An overview of the literature published during 1993-1994 on the subject is presented in this report. Pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution No. 126 of the 1985 Session and Senate Joint Resolution No. 278 of the 1993 Session, this tenth annual report on monitoring of ongoing research on the human health effects of high voltage transmission lines is submitted to the members of the 1995 Virginia General Assembly.