69. Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974, Pub. L . 93 –523, July 1, 1974, c. 373, Title XIV, as added December 16, 1974, §2(a), 88 Stat. 1669 (codified at 42 U.S.C. §§300f et seq.).
70. 42 U.S.C. §300g-2(c)(1)–(3).
71. General Accounting Office, 1992b.
72. See, for example, MacKenzie et al., 1994; Environmental Protection Agency, 1999.
73. 42 U.S .C . §300g-2(c)(4). Regulations are codified at 40 C.F.R . §141.151 et seq.
74. National Environmental Education and Training Foundation, 1999.
75. Payment et al., 1991.
76. Natural Resources Defense Council, 2003, Chapter 1, p. 2 .
77. Even small amounts of lead can cause neurological problems in children and high blood pressure in adults. The EPA findings are summarized in Congressional Research Service, 2005, p. 2.
78. Congressional Research Service, 2005, p. 5.
79. Natural Resources Defense Council, 2003, Chapter 3.
80. Government Accountability Office, 2004, p. 13.
81. National Research Council, 2002.
82. The series, by KCBS-TV newsman Joel Grover, aired November 16, 17, and 18, 1997, on the Channel 2 News in Los Angeles.
83. Hospitalizations and fatality estimates from Mead et al., 1999. CDC estimates, based on surveillance data from 1993 to 1997, reported in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Surveillance for Foodborne Disease Outbreaks – United States, 1993–1997, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, vol. 49 (SS-1), 2000, pp. 22–26.
84. For a general description, see Simon et al., 2005, pp. 32–36. Los Angeles County Ordinance 97–0071 §2 (part), 1997. http://municipalcodes.lexisnexis.com/codes/lacounty/_DATA/TITLE08/Chapter_8_04_PUBLIC_HEALTH_LICENSE/_8_04_225_Grading_and_letter_gr.html (site accessed June 3, 2006); see also County of Los Angeles Department of Health Services, Public Health Programs and Services, Environmental Health, Posting Requirements Advisory Bulletin: Retail Food Establishments, http://search.ladhs.org/images/nrfood.htm (site accessed April 29, 2006).
85. The cities that had not adopted grade cards in Los Angeles County as of 2005 were Avalon, Azusa, City of Industry, Hidden Hills, La Habra Heights, Montebello, Redondo Beach, San Marino, Sierra Madre, and Signal Hill. Restaurants in those cities were inspected and received grades from the county, but were not required to post them.
86. The DHS provides inspectors a detailed retail food inspection guide, broken into five sections. See County of Los Angeles, Department of Health Services, Retail Food Inspection Guide, H-3046(May2000). A subjective element (based on the inspectors’ overall assessment of hygiene status) was eliminated from the survey in July 1997 to improve the objectivity of the guidelines.
87. The guidelines define an A as “[g]enerally superior in food handling practices and overall food facility maintenance”; a B as “[g]enerally good in food handling practices and overall food facility maintenance”; and a C as “[g]enerally acceptable in food handling practices and overall general food facility maintenance."
