Order Code RS22379
February 15, 2006
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs):
Fact Sheet on Three International Agreements
Linda-Jo Schierow
Specialist in Environmental Policy
Resources, Science, and Industry Division
Summary
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are chemicals that do not break down easily
in the environment, tend to accumulate as they move up the food chain, and may be
harmful to people and wildlife. Between 1998 and 2001, the United States signed two
international treaties and one executive agreement to reduce the production and use of
POPs and to regulate the trade and disposal of them. The President has signed and
submitted the two treaties to the Senate for advice and consent. If the Senate consents
by a two-thirds majority, and if Congress passes legislation needed to implement the
treaties and the executive agreement in the United States, then the treaties can be ratified
and the agreements would become binding U.S. law. Legislation has been introduced
into the 109th Congress that would allow implementation of the agreements. H.R. 4591
would amend the Toxic Substances Control Act, which governs industrial uses of
chemicals; H.R. 3849 and S. 2042 would amend the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and
Rodenticide Act, which regulates the sale and use of pesticides. Prospects for passage
are not yet clear. This report will be updated as warranted.
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are chemicals that can harm human health and
wildlife, do not break down easily in the environment, and tend to accumulate as they
move up the food chain. Many POPs are transported in the air and water across
international boundaries. Most POPs are synthetic, industrial chemicals or pesticides, but
a few are unintentional byproducts of processes such as combustion.
Between 1998 and 2001, the United States participated in the negotiation of three
United Nations-sponsored international agreements to address global problems associated
with POPs. Two are treaties: the 2001 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic
Pollutants (POPs Convention) and the 1998 Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed
Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade
(PIC Convention). The 1998 Aarhus Protocol on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs
Protocol) is an amendment to an executive agreement, the 1979 Geneva Convention on
Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP).
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress

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The Stockholm POPs Convention would ban or severely restrict the production, use,
trade, and disposal of 12 POPs, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs),
polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, the polychlorinated dibenzo-p-furans, and 9
pesticides, all of which are strictly regulated in the United States. Specific exemptions
to the prohibitions are allowed (e.g., the use of DDT to control mosquitos that may carry
malaria). The agreement was signed by 151 nations in May 2001. It has been ratified by
117 nations, and it entered into force on May 17, 2004.1
The Rotterdam PIC Convention was opened for signature in 1998, has been ratified
by 101 nations, and was entered into force February 24, 2004.2 It aims to ensure that
importing nations know about and agree to imports of chemicals that are banned or
severely restricted in the exporting country or that are severely hazardous pesticide
formulations. Many POPs fall into these categories.
The Aarhus POPs Protocol was concluded in 1998, ratified by 25 of the 55 States in
the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), and entered into force
in October 2003.3 The Protocol aims to eliminate or restrict production and use, ensure
environmentally sound disposal, and restrict emissions for many of the same POPs that
are covered by the Stockholm POPs Convention. Most are heavily restricted in the United
States.
The President has signed and submitted the two treaties to the Senate for advice and
consent. If the Senate consents by a two-thirds majority, and if the United States enacts
legislation needed to implement the treaties and the executive agreement in the United
States, then the treaties can be ratified and the agreements would become binding U.S.
law. The POPs Protocol does not require Senate approval; however, legislation is needed
to resolve inconsistencies between provisions of all three agreements and two U.S. laws:
the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which governs industrial uses of chemicals,
and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), which regulates
pesticide sale and use.4
Bills in the 109th Congress would authorize the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency to implement the agreements. H.R. 4591 would amend TSCA, whereas H.R. 3849
and S. 2042 would amend FIFRA. Prospects for passage are not yet clear. Stakeholders
appear united in their support for legislation authorizing regulation of the pesticides and
other chemicals listed in annexes to the agreements. However, views diverge when
changes to TSCA and FIFRA are perceived to either simplify or complicate existing
regulatory procedures or standards under those laws, either for the listed POPs or for other
chemicals that might be added in the future through amendments to the agreements.
1 The latest information on the Stockholm Convention is available at [http://www.pops.int/].
2 The latest information on the PIC Convention is available at [http://www.pic.int/].
3 The UNECE countries are mainly European, former Soviet Union countries, the United States,
and Canada. The latest information on the POPs Protocol may be found at[http://www.unece.org/
env/lrtap/pops_h1.htm].
4 For summaries of these laws, see CRS Report RL31905, The Toxic Substances Control Act: A
Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements
, and CRS Report RL31921, Pesticide Law: A
Summary of the Statutes
, both by Linda-Jo Schierow.

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Some believe that having agreed to international actions, the United States should
expedite them. Others are more concerned with protecting the power of Congress to
decide how and when to regulate particular chemicals.