Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs):
Fact Sheet on Three International Agreements
Linda-Jo Schierow
Specialist in Environmental Policy
June 15, 2010
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
RS22379
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repared for Members and Committees of Congress
Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs): Fact Sheet on Three International Agreements
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. President Bush 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
that would be needed to implement the treaties and the executive agreement in the United States,
then the treaties could be ratified and the agreements would become binding U.S. law. Two U.S.
statutes are inconsistent with the agreements: the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which
governs production and use of chemicals in U.S. commerce, and the Federal Insecticide,
Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), which regulates the sale and use of pesticides within
the United States. Proposals to amend these statutes were considered but not enacted in the 107th,
108th, and 109th Congresses. In the 111th Congress, S. 519 would amend pesticide law to permit
implementation of the agreement, while S. 3209 would amend TSCA. A House draft bill that is
posted on the website of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the Toxic Chemicals Safety
Act, also would amend TSCA. Both TSCA bills would comprehensively revise current law, well
beyond what might be necessary to allow treaty implementation.
Congressional Research Service
Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs): Fact Sheet on Three International Agreements
ersistent 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
P 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 two United Nations-
sponsored international agreements to address global problems associated with POPs, and a third
agreement that addresses hazardous chemicals in international commerce, including some POPs.
Two are treaties that cannot come into force for the United States unless the U.S. Senate provides
its advice and consent: 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 third
agreement, the 1998 Aarhus Protocol on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs Protocol), does not
require the advice and consent of the Senate because it is an amendment to an executive
agreement, the 1979 Geneva Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP).
The Stockholm POPs Convention bans or severely restricts the production, use, trade, and
disposal of 12 POPs, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-
dioxins, the polychlorinated dibenzo-p-furans, and nine pesticides, all of which are strictly
regulated in the United States. Limited exemptions to some of the prohibitions would be allowed
(e.g., the use of DDT to control mosquitoes that may carry malaria). The agreement has been
ratified by 169 nations. It entered into force on May 17, 2004.1 Nine chemicals were added to the
treaty when the Conference of the Parties adopted amendments to the treaty annexes May 9,
2009.2 Restrictions on these chemicals will take effect August 26, 2010, for those nations that
have ratified the treaty and, if necessary, accepted the amendments.
The Rotterdam PIC Convention was opened for signature in 1998, has been ratified by 131
nations, and entered into force February 24, 2004.3 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, has been ratified by 29 of the 55 States in the
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), and entered into force October 23,
2003.4 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.
President Bush signed and submitted the Stockholm and Rotterdam 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
1 The latest information on the Stockholm Convention is available at http://chm.pops.int/.
2 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, March 24, 2010, http://chm.pops.int/Convention/tabid/54/
language/en-US/Default.aspx#convtext.
3 The latest information on the PIC Convention is available at http://www.pic.int/home.php?type=t&id=63&sid=17.
4 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/status/98pop_st.htm.
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Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs): Fact Sheet on Three International Agreements
States, then the treaties could 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 production and use of chemicals in U.S.
commerce, and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), which regulates
pesticide sale and use within the United States.5 Although Congress has not granted implementing
authority specific to the international agreements, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) has developed and implemented various programs to address risks of POPs using its
existing legal authorities for regulating chemicals in U.S. commerce.6
Bills in the 107th, 108th, and 109th Congresses would have authorized EPA to implement the
agreements, but no proposal was enacted. No implementing legislation was proposed in the 110th
Congress. In the 111th Congress, S. 519 would amend FIFRA to permit implementation of these
agreements with respect to pesticides, while S. 3209 would amend TSCA. A House draft bill that
is posted on the website of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the Toxic Chemicals Safety
Act, also would amend TSCA. However, both TSCA bills would comprehensively revise current
law, well beyond what might be necessary to allow treaty implementation.
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 about the extent
to which procedures used to regulate chemicals under TSCA or FIFRA should be tailored for the
listed POPs or for other chemicals that might be added in the future through amendments to the
agreements. Some believe that having agreed to international actions, the United States should
expedite them. Others are more concerned about preserving U.S. autonomy (or a congressional
role) in decisions about how and when to regulate particular chemicals.
Author Contact Information
Linda-Jo Schierow
Specialist in Environmental Policy
lschierow@crs.loc.gov, 7-7279
5 For summaries of these laws, see CRS Report RL31905, The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA): 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.
6 EPA, Persistent Organic Pollutants: A Global Issue, A Global Response, http://www.epa.gov/oia/toxics/
pop.html#domestic, June 15, 2010.
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