Environmental Health: High-level Strategy and Leadership Needed to Continue Progress toward Protecting Children from Environmental Threats. Report to Congressional Requesters. GAO-10-205

Exposure to toxic chemicals or environmental pollutants may harm the health of the nation's 74 million children and contribute to increases in asthma and developmental impairments. In 2007, 66 percent of children lived in counties exceeding allowable levels for at least one of the six principal air pollutants that cause or aggravate asthma, contributing to medical costs of $3.2 billion per year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 1997, Executive Order 13045 mandated that agencies place a high priority on children's risks and required that policies, programs, activities, and standards address those risks. In response, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) created the Office of Children's Health Protection and convened the Children's Health Protection Advisory Committee. This report assesses the extent to which EPA has institutionalized consideration of children's health through (1) strategies and priorities, (2) key offices and other child-focused resources, and (3) participation in interagency efforts. GAO reviewed numerous documents and met with EPA and other officials for this report. GAO recommends improvements to help EPA protect children, and EPA agreed to implement them. GAO also suggests that Congress consider reinstating a government-wide task force on children's environmental health. Appendices include: (1) Scope and Methodology; (2) EPA Policy on Evaluating Health Risks to Children; (3) Executive Order 13045 and Amendments; (4) EPA Regulations Subject to Executive Order 13045; (5) Comments from the Environmental Protection Agency; and (6) GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments. (Contains 6 tables, 4 figures, and 65 footnotes.)[Key contributions to this report were made by Diane Raynes, Elizabeth Beardsley, Timothy Bober, Mark Braza, Emily Hanawalt, Terrance Horner, Jr., Aaron Shiffrin, Benjamin Shouse, and Kiki Theodoropoulos.]