LEED Report - Environment & Human Health, Inc.

The Green Building DebateThe Central Problem: Federal Failure to Test and RegulateHazardous chemicals have become components of LEED-certified indoorenvironments primarily due to the failures of the Toxic Substances ControlAct (TSCA) and EPA’s neglect of the problem. Congress has provided EPAwith limited authority to require testing of likely hazardous chemicals inbuilding products.Among nearly 80,000 chemicals in commerce, EPA has required toxicitytesting of only 200 in nearly 25 years since TSCA was passed. These testresults led EPA to ban or phase out only five chemicals. The overwhelmingmajority of chemicals in the built environment remain untestedindividually or as chemical mixtures that are routinely released to indoorenvironments.Thus new products may incorporate tens of thousands of untestedchemicals with no government oversight. This absence of regulationcontrasts sharply with more stringent federal statutes that governpesticides, industrial emissions to outdoor environments, pharmaceuticalsand food. Since TSCA places the burden of proof of hazard on EPA before itmay regulate, nearly all chemicals in building materials have escapedfederal testing and regulation.LEED Credit System—Something For All, Guarantees for NoneLEED provides credits in many categories unrelated to human health.In establishing such a diverse set of criteria—energy, materials andresources, site reuse, and so forth—each category accounts for a relativelysmall percentage of the total credit award. The design of the existingcredit system provides opportunities for awards in many differentcategories.The outcome is that low performance, or omissions in one or morecategories, can result in even the most prestigious certification level.52