To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to make grants for the development and operation of research centers regarding environmental factors that may be related to the etiology of breast cancer.

Summary: Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act of 2005 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to make grants to public or nonprofit private entities for the development and operation of not more than eight centers to conduct multidisciplinary and multi-institutional research on environmental factors that may be related to the etiology of breast cancer. Requires each such center to: (1) be known as a Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Center of Excellence; (2) establish ongoing collaborations with community organizations; (3) be formed from a consortium of cooperating institutions; (4) be supported under this Act for a period of not more than five years with additional periods allowed after review and recommendation; and (5) use innovative approaches to study unexplored areas of the environment and breast cancer.

Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Panel to make recommendations for and to review grants awarded under this Act.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Breast Cancer and Environmental 
Research Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds as follows:
            (1) Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer 
        deaths among American women.
            (2) More women in the United States are living with breast 
        cancer than any other cancer (excluding skin cancer). 
        Approximately 3,000,000 women in the United States are living 
        with breast cancer, about 2,000,000 of which have been 
        diagnosed and an estimated 1,000,000 who do not yet know that 
        they have the disease.
            (3) Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer 
        among women in the United States and worldwide (excluding skin 
        cancer). In 2005, it is estimated that 269,730 new cases of 
        breast cancer will be diagnosed among women in the United 
        States, 211,240 invasive breast cancers and 58,490 cases of 
        ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS).
            (4) Approximately 40,410 women in the United States will 
        die from the disease in 2005. Breast cancer is the leading 
        cause of cancer death for women in the United States between 
        the ages of 20 and 59, and the leading cause of cancer death 
        for women worldwide.
            (5) A woman who lives into her 80s in the United States has 
        a 1 in 7 chance of developing invasive breast cancer in her 
        lifetime. This risk was 1 in 11 in 1975. In 2005, a new case of 
        breast cancer will be diagnosed every 2 minutes and a woman 
        will die from breast cancer every 13 minutes.
            (6) All women are at risk for breast cancer. About 90 
        percent of women who develop breast cancer do not have a family 
        history of the disease.
            (7) The National Action Plan on Breast Cancer, a public 
        private partnership, has recognized the importance of expanding 
        the scope and breadth of biomedical, epidemiological, and 
        behavioral research activities related to the etiology of 
        breast cancer and the role of the environment.
            (8) To date, there has been only a limited research 
        investment to expand the scope or coordinate efforts across 
        disciplines or work with the community to study the role of the 
        environment in the development of breast cancer.
            (9) In 2003, the National Institute of Environmental Health 
        Sciences awarded grants to four research centers to begin to 
        study the prenatal-to-adult environmental exposures that may 
        predispose a woman to breast cancer. The currently funded 
        research is examining the mammary tissue in animals and young 
        girls and study the subjects' life exposures to environmental, 
        nutritional, and social factors that impact menarche. Early 
        menarche, beginning menstruation before the age of 12, has been 
        shown to increase breast cancer risk later in life.
            (10) The National Cancer Institute and the National 
        Institute of Environmental Health Sciences have paired together 
        to make those four centers possible. The two institutes work 
        well together, combining their respective areas of expertise to 
        the best advantage of the research.
            (11) In order to take full advantage of the tremendous 
        potential for avenues of prevention, the Federal investment in 
        the role of the environment and the development of breast 
        cancer should be expanded. The research conducted at the four 
        centers, while critically important, is one small facet of the 
        many issues that must be addressed in order to gauge the link 
        between environmental factors and breast cancer.
            (12) In order to understand the effect of chemicals and 
        radiation on the development of cancer, multi-generational, 
        prospective studies are probably required.

SEC. 3. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SCIENCES; AWARDS FOR 
              DEVELOPMENT AND OPERATION OF RESEARCH CENTERS REGARDING 
              ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS RELATED TO BREAST CANCER.

    Subpart 12 of part C of title IV of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 285l et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following 
section:

``SEC. 463C. RESEARCH CENTERS REGARDING ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS RELATED 
              TO BREAST CANCER.

    ``(a) In General.--The Director of the Institute, based on 
recommendations from the Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Panel 
established under subsection (b) (referred to in this section as the 
`Panel'), shall make grants, after a process of peer review and 
programmatic review, to public or nonprofit private entities for the 
development and operation of not more than 8 centers for the purpose of 
conducting multidisciplinary and multi-institutional research on 
environmental factors that may be related to the etiology of breast 
cancer. Each such center shall be known as a Breast Cancer and 
Environmental Research Center of Excellence.
    ``(b) Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Panel.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish in the 
        Institute of Environmental Health Sciences a Breast Cancer and 
        Environmental Research Panel.
            ``(2) Composition.--The Panel shall be composed of--
                    ``(A) 9 members to be appointed by the Secretary, 
                of which--
                            ``(i) six members shall be appointed from 
                        among physicians, and other health 
                        professionals, who--
                                    ``(I) are not officers or employees 
                                of the United States;
                                    ``(II) represent multiple 
                                disciplines, including clinical, basic, 
                                and public health sciences;
                                    ``(III) represent different 
                                geographical regions of the United 
                                States;
                                    ``(IV) are from practice settings 
                                or academia or other research settings; 
                                and
                                    ``(V) are experienced in biomedical 
                                review; and
                            ``(ii) three members shall be appointed 
                        from the general public who are representatives 
                        of individuals who have had breast cancer and 
                        who represent a constituency; and
                    ``(B) such nonvoting, ex officio members as the 
                Secretary determines to be appropriate.
            ``(3) Chairperson.--The members of the Panel appointed 
        under paragraph (2)(A) shall select a chairperson from among 
        such members.
            ``(4) Meetings.--The Panel shall meet at the call of the 
        chairperson or upon the request of the Director, but in no case 
        less often than once each year.
            ``(5) Duties.--The Panel shall--
                    ``(A) oversee the peer review process for the 
                awarding of grants under subsection (a) and conduct the 
                programmatic review under such subsection;
                    ``(B) make recommendations with respect to the 
                funding criteria and mechanisms under which amounts 
                will be allocated under this section; and
                    ``(C) make final programmatic recommendations with 
                respect to grants under this section.
    ``(c) Collaboration With Community.--Each center under subsection 
(a) shall establish and maintain ongoing collaborations with community 
organizations in the geographic area served by the center, including 
those that represent women with breast cancer.
    ``(d) Coordination of Centers; Reports.--The Director of the 
Institute shall, as appropriate, provide for the coordination of 
information among centers under subsection (a) and ensure regular 
communication between such centers, and may require the periodic 
preparation of reports on the activities of the centers and the 
submission of the reports to the Director.
    ``(e) Required Consortium.--Each center under subsection (a) shall 
be formed from a consortium of cooperating institutions, meeting such 
requirements as may be prescribed by the Director of the Institute. 
Each center shall require collaboration among highly accomplished 
scientists, other health professionals and advocates of diverse 
backgrounds from various areas of expertise.
    ``(f) Duration of Support.--Support of a center under subsection 
(a) may be for a period not exceeding 5 years. Such period may be 
extended for one or more additional periods not exceeding 5 years if 
the operations of such center have been reviewed by an appropriate 
technical and scientific peer review group established by the Director 
of the Institute and if such group has recommended to the Director that 
such period should be extended.
    ``(g) Geographic Distribution of Centers.--The Director of the 
Institute shall, to the extent practicable, provide for an equitable 
geographical distribution of centers under this section.
    ``(h) Innovative Approaches.--Each center under subsection (a) 
shall use innovative approaches to study unexplored or under-explored 
areas of the environment and breast cancer.
    ``(i) Authorization of Appropriations.--For the purpose of carrying 
out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated $30,000,000 
for each of the fiscal years 2006 through 2011. Such authorization is 
in addition to any other authorization of appropriations that is 
available for such purpose.''.