Legal Basis
The legal basis of RadNet originated in Executive Order 10831, which was
issued by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1959 and was reiterated as part
of the legislative history of the 1959 amendments to the
Atomic
Energy Act (Public Law 86-373)
.
Radioactive fallout and environmental radiation monitoring became the responsibility
of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) under these legal
mandates. In 1970, HEW transferred these responsibilities to EPA based on
Reorganization Plan. EPA describes
these responsibilities in
EPA
Order 1110.2. In 1973, through its Office of Radiation Programs (ORP),
EPA established RadNet by consolidating various components of the various
radiation monitoring networks that had been developed to that point, including
the Radiation Alert Network, the Tritium Surveillance System, the Interstate
Carrier Drinking Water Network, and the Pasteurized Milk Network. The responsibility
for operating RadNet currently is assigned to the Director of the National
Air and Radiation Environmental Laboratory (NAREL), Montgomery, Alabama.
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