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The Electric and Magnetic Fields Research and Public Information Dissemination (EMF RAPID) Program, established by Sect. 2118 of the National Energy Policy Act of 1992, focuses on finding answers to these key questions: Does exposure to EMFs produced by the generation, transmission, and use of electric energy pose a risk to human health? If so, how significant is the risk, who is at risk, and how can the risk be reduced?
Research conducted under the EMF RAPID Program covers a broad range of scientific disciplines and complements EMF research already under way in the United States and abroad. The program coordinates and focuses the federal EMF research effort and provides a central point from which to evaluate research results and interpret them for the public.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) administers the overall program and directs research on exposure assessment and field management techniques. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) directs the risk assessment and health effects research. The public information component of the program is the responsibility of both DOE and NIEHS.
An Interagency Committee representing nine federal agencies is responsible for developing the program agenda; establishing guidelines for interagency coordination; and monitoring, evaluating, and reporting program results. The Interagency Committee includes representative from
The program receives guidance from the National EMF Advisory Committee, whose members come from diverse constituencies, including public advocacy groups, organized labor, state governments, academia, and industry. The National Academy of Sciences will evaluate the research conducted under the EMF RAPID Program.
Health effects research will receive most of the funding under the EMF RAPID Program, and the research findings will be used to assess risk and develop risk assessment models. Research will focus on effects suggested by previous studies, such as childhood leukemia, brain cancer, breast cancer, neurobehavioral effects, and certain adverse reproductive effects, and will cover a wide range of disciplines, including epidemiology, toxicology, basic biology, and physiology. DOE and NIEHS will work together to ensure common, controlled exposures in EMF studies, and quality control procedures will be instituted for all health effect experiments.
Exposure assessment research is required for EMF risk assessment. Researchers will study various environments to try to determine what kinds of EMF exposures are typical in those settings. Source characterization will also provide information for assessing potential EMF exposures by studying how people are exposed to specific EMF sources.
Field management research and development will be supported at this stage. If it is determined that EMF exposure poses a risk to human health, the results of this research will provide decision makers with options for reducing risk.
Hazard identification, risk assessment, and risk evaluation models will be developed under the direction of NIEHS to provide a framework for using the scientific and engineering results in deciding whether there is any risk to human health from exposure to EMF. During the development of these models, the public will be kept informed and asked to comment.
The EMF RAPID Program will provide a source of up-to-date information for the general public about various aspects of the EMF issue: possible human health effects, the types and extent of human exposure, technologies for measuring and characterizing fields, and methods for assessing and managing exposure. This booklet, the first public information product of the RAPID Program, is also available in Spanish.
To facilitate the collection and dissemination of technical information on EMF, NIEHS and DOE are establishing an EMF Biomedical Science and Engineering Information Clearinghouse. The clearinghouse and its databases will include all available information about federally and privately funded EMF research.
Public information materials will include brochures for various audiences (including some Spanish language materials), resource guides and information summaries for policymakers, measurement manuals, news media briefing materials, and an EMF public information hotline. Both the EMF Interagency Committee and the National EMI Advisory Committee will review public information materials developed under this program. The EMF RAPID Program is not intended to replace or duplicate existing public information networks but rather will take full advantage of these resources.
The law requires that at least 50% of the total costs of the EMF RAPID Program be offset by contributions from nonfederal sources. The program has a total authorization of $65 million over a 5-year period. Nonfederal contributions are solicited based on the annual federal appropriation.
Early nonfederal contributors to the EMF RAPID Program include member companies of the Edison Electric Institute, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, the American Public Power Association, the Electric Power Research Institute, and the National Electrical Manufacturers Association.