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newly formed American Radon Policy Coalition
March 4, 2003 Dear Radon Industry Member,
The American Association of Radon Scientists and Technologists (AARST) would
like to introduce you to the newly formed American Radon Policy Coalition. ARPC
is a not-for profit AARST subcommittee whose sole mission is to enforce, strengthen,
and shape public policy for the prevention of lung cancer caused by needless
indoor radon exposure. Please take a moment to read through the following goals
and our proposed strategies for fulfilling them: The enforcement of the U.S.
Code of Federal Regulations 24CFR50.3(i)1 "Environmental Policy" that
states, "It is HUD policy that all property proposed for use in HUD programs
be free of hazardous materials, contamination, toxic chemicals and gasses, and
radioactive substances, where a hazard could affect the health and safety of
occupants or conflict with the intended utilization of the property;”
Indoor radon is both a toxic gas and radioactive substance, yet HUD only acknowledges
the need for a property to be tested for radon if the local or state government
requires it. ARPC asserts “all property proposed for use in HUD programs”
to apply to homes for which the purchaser is seeking a federally insured mortgage,
at least those homes in Zones 1&2 of EPA’s Map of Radon Zones.
The enforcement of the Stewart B. McKinney Amendments that require the U.S.
Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to develop and implement a policy
to protect residents of HUD assisted housing from the dangers of indoor radon
exposure; The U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) concluded in 1991 that HUD’s
recommended radon policy does not meet the basic requirements of the legislation;
Twelve years later, HUD’s radon policy is to ignore it.
The enforcement of HUD compliance with The 1988 Indoor Radon Abatement Act
that states, “The Secretary [of HUD] shall utilize any guideline, information,
or standards established by the Environmental Protection Agency for testing
residential and nonresidential radon, identifying elevated radon levels, identifying
when remedial actions should be taken.”
The implementation and enforcement of policies that fulfill the goal of The1988
Indoor Radon Abatement Act that states, “ The national long-term goal
of the United States with respect to radon levels in buildings is that the air
within buildings in the United States should be as free of radon as the ambient
air outside of buildings.”
The enforcement of Executive Order 11514 Protection and Enhancement of Environmental
Quality, Section 1, that states, “Federal agencies shall initiate measures
needed to direct their policies, plans and programs so as to meet national environmental
goals”.
The enforcement of Section 204 42USC 4344 of the National Environmental Policy
Act (NEPA) that states, “It shall be the duty and function of the Council
on Environmental Quality (4) to develop and recommend to the President national
policies to foster and promote…[environmental] goals of the Nation.”
The enforcement of Executive Order 12898, Section 1-101 that states, “Each
Federal agency shall make achieving environmental justice part of its mission
by identifying and addressing, as appropriate, disproportionately high and adverse
human health or environmental effects of its programs, policies and activities
on minority populations and low-income populations;” According to CDC
studies, “people in minority groups or with low levels of income or education
were significantly less likely to have heard of residential radon and its potential
health risks than were whites or people with higher levels of income or education”
The encouragement of local, state and federal legislators to pass legislation
to disclose EPA recommendations that all homebuyers test for radon, to provide
tax incentives for radon testing and mitigation, to implement radon resistant
building codes, and to enforce radon in water standards.
Strategies Until we achieve enforcement of the public policy that is already
in place, the radon issue will never truly be legitimized in the eyes of real
estate agents, homebuyers, and the public at large. To date we’ve initiated
a large Congressional letter campaign and formally submitted an Open Records
Request to HUD for the issuance of more documentation. We’re seeking to
further understand how they can justify such a benign position on radon in the
wake of the citations above. We have also solicited the support of the American
Lung Association resulting in a recent letter to HUD expressing their concerns
and requesting a meeting with HUD officials on behalf of the ARPC.
To strengthen our appeals to the lawmakers, we have begun actively educating
the nation’s cancer doctors and hospice workers by presenting them with
the latest research on the risks of radon exposure. A website indexing PFD files
of that research along with easy to read summaries has been prepared and posted
at www.radonnews.org. We have requested Dr. Bill Field and other researchers
to submit abstracts for presentations at the annual conferences of the American
Society of Clinical Oncologists and the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology
and Oncology.
Recently, Dr. Lane Price, an oncologist in Decatur Alabama, stood up at a community
discussion to adopt new building codes and allegedly stated, “Today, I
signed four death certificates for lung cancer victims. Two of them never smoked
a cigarette. Now, when are we going to do something about this?” Needless
to say, Madison County and surrounding communities now have Radon Resistant
New Construction Requirements in the code. By the way, Dr. Price has been invited
to be the keynote speaker at this year’s International Radon Symposium
in Nashville. Thanks to the inspiration of Dr. Price and the Alabama Dept. of
Health, AARST has initialized a campaign to contact state associations of oncologists
to solicit their support. We’ll be requesting they encourage newly diagnosed
lung cancer victims to contact AARST to receive a free radon test kit. Alabama
DEH has been conducting a similar program and has discovered a high percentage
of these patients have been living in elevated radon concentrations. Finally,
we have begun the task of putting a “face” on the issue by encouraging
the lung cancer victims who contact us, particularly non-smokers, to come forward
and tell their stories to the media. By having the doctors disseminate radon
information that directs patients to contact AARST, we hope to enroll them and
their families in a Lung Cancer Advocacy Group. Efforts to find new treatments
for lung cancer get a disproportionate amount of the available research dollars
because public opinion is lung cancer is self-induced by smoking cigarettes.
An advocacy group will give an opportunity for victims who are non-smokers and
their families to pool their voices and bring much needed attention to the risks
of indoor radon. AARST is exploring joining the Alliance for Lung Cancer Advocacy,
Support and Education www.alcase.org for the purpose of initiating a dialogue
to solicit their support in this effort. We have also begun working with the
American Cancer Prevention Coalition and we plan to seek the support of the
American Association of Hospice Nurses. Who, more than they, have the opportunity
to spend time with the victims and their families?
I have inserted a link to a PSA from Health Canada that is a perfect model
for portraying the radon message. Although, its purpose is to address the risks
of second hand smoke, you can see how urgently we need to create a similar message
for radon risk.
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hecs-sesc/tobacco/facts/mild/flash_heather.html Obviously,
such a large undertaking is going to take the wholehearted support of the entire
radon industry. AARST needs your time and yes, the ARPC Project desperately
needs your dollars to pay for items like Director, Peter Hendrick’s time
spent on the project, his administrative overhead, his travel expenses to Washington
for meetings with lawmakers, HUD, EPA and ALA, the creation of professional
literature to disseminate to the oncology associations and cancer treatment
centers, the setting up of the victims advocacy group, the cost of purchasing
test kits for victims’ families, the hiring media consultants, the filming
of interviews with doctors and patients, and to pay legal counsel for further
reviewing the fruits of our Open Records Request and directing us on our legal
position as we begin to negotiate with HUD.
Attached is a Remittance Form listing the rates for how you can participate.
Each “Sponsor” will receive display advertising commensurate with
your “Sponsorship Level” in the Radon Advocacy Journal to be published
at the annual International Radon Symposium and receive a acknowledgement on
the ARPC website (www.radonnews.org) also according to your level. (In other
words, it’s a direct advertising expense). Radalink, Inc. has pledged
$5000 to be the first Platinum Sponsor. I challenge all of you to look hard
at what investment your company is willing to make in the future of our industry.
Together, I know we’ll be successful. Checks should be made to AARST-
ARPC Program Fee.
Warm regards to all,
Dallas L. Jones AARST –ARPC Committee Chairman Radalink, Inc.
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