Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs): Fact Sheet on Three International Agreements

Publication Date: January 2007

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Environment

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Abstract:

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 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, which governs industrial uses of chemicals, and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, which regulates the sale and use of pesticides. Proposals to amend these statutes were considered but not enacted in the 107th, 108th, and 109th Congresses. Prospects for the 110th Congress are unclear.