The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has embarked on an effort to conduct a front-end analysis of the scope of the hazardous waste injury problem and the victim compensation problem. These issues, it is believed, soon will be in the midst of a good deal of action in Congress, and the Administration wanted to be in a good position to respond to that emerging concern. In response, we have gathered together the relevant agencies to form a task force and have decided to focus our efforts on two issues: how big is the problem, and what are some solutions.

You would think that, with all of the data gathered by the federal government, we would have some idea of the extent of the problem. For the purposes of our review, we first defined the problem narrowly, that is, injuries related to hazardous wastes. The data is uncertain, however, despite the fact that we have asked all of the agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control, National Institutes of Health, Environmental Protection Agency, Occupational Safety and Health Administration and a variety of components of each of those agencies to submit data to us on the scope of the problem. I must stress that the lack of data does not necessarily suggest the lack of a problem.

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Because we could not find very much data, we broadened the scope of our review to gather data on certain diseases, primarily cancer, caused by chemicals outside the workplace. The data that came in suggested the following: that some twenty percent of deaths are cancer-related; of that twenty percent, seven to ten percent are related to environmental pollution; of that, half are workplace-related. Once all of the arithmetic is done for the known cancers, we find that something in the range of one percent of all deaths is related to non-occupational environmental cancer. Yet, I must note that even this data collected under the broadened scope review is incomplete.

The data also suggested two important factors in the incidence of cancer: smoking and diet. The data is so unbelievably strong on linking smoking to cancer that the link is beyond doubt. One-third of cancer deaths are due to tobacco smoking. The other factor is a high fat/low fiber diet, although the data on diet is not nearly as strong. This accounts for another third of cancer deaths.

In an unusual move, OMB has made the data available as it has come in. In part, the release of the data and our interpretations was designed to elicit more data. More data is indeed coming in from the agencies and even from the private sector. On the basis of the expanded data base, we are now revising our interpretation studies.

In the second component of our effort, we set out to determine whether victims of chronic exposure to hazardous wastes were being inadequately compensated. We are looking at three possible remedies: the Superfund approach such as the 301(e) Study recommendations and the ELI model statute; modification of the current tort law system; and the workers' compensation system model. We are examining each approach for efficiency, administrative feasibility, and transaction costs, among other features. This review effort is hampered by the unavailability of data in a form from which statistical inferences can be made about the level of compensation that the two existing compensation systems now provide.

We plan to complete both parts of the review in September or October of 1983. It will then be circulated to the agencies and outside the government for review in the standard manner. I believe the issue will be assigned to one of the Cabinet Councils. The Administration will probably developa position — not a bill — by the finish of the calendar year addressing whether the problem is big enough, considering the level of uncertainty in the data, to warrant a change from the status quo, and if so, what type of remedy should that be.