II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2506 

To require Federal agencies to support health impact assessments and take 

other actions to improve health and the environmental quality of communities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 4, 2006 

Mr. OBAMA (for himself, Mr. DURBIN, Mrs. CLINTON, and Mr. KERRY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To require Federal agencies to support health impact assessments and take other actions to improve health and 

the environmental quality of communities, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Healthy Places Act 

5 of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis2 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ3 mental Protection Agency. 

4 (2) BUILT ENVIRONMENT.—The term ‘‘built 

5 environment’’ means an environment consisting of 

6 all buildings, spaces, and products that are created 

7 or modified by people, including— 

8 (A) homes, schools, workplaces, parks and 

9 recreation areas, greenways, business areas, 

10 and transportation systems; 

11 (B) electric transmission lines; 

12 (C) waste disposal sites; and 

13 (D) land-use planning and policies that im14 pact urban, rural, and suburban communities. 

15 (3) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

16 the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 

17 Prevention. 

18 (4) ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH.—The term ‘‘en19 vironmental health’’ means the health and well-being 

20 of a population as affected by— 

21 (A) the direct pathological effects of chemi22 cals, radiation, and some biological agents; and 

23 (B) the effects (often indirect) of the broad 

24 physical, psychological, social, and aesthetic en25 vironment. 


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1 (5) HEALTH IMPACT ASSESSMENT.—The term 

2 ‘‘health impact assessment’’ means any combination 

3 of procedures, methods, tools, and means used under 

4 section 4 to analyze the actual or potential effects of 

5 a policy, program, or project on the health of a pop6 ulation (including the distribution of those effects 

7 within the population). 

8 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

9 the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 

10 SEC. 3. INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP ON ENVIRON11 MENTAL HEALTH. 

12 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

13 (1) INSTITUTE.—The term ‘‘Institute’’ means 

14 the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies 

15 of Science. 

16 (2) IWG.—The term ‘‘IWG’’ means the inter17 agency working group established under subsection 

18 (b). 

19 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, in coordina20 tion with the Administrator, shall establish an interagency 

21 working group to discuss environmental health concerns, 

22 particularly concerns disproportionately affecting dis23 advantaged populations. 

24 (c) MEMBERSHIP.—The IWG shall be composed of 

25 a representative from each Federal agency (as appointed 


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1 by the head of the agency) that has jurisdiction over, or 

2 is affected by, environmental policies and projects, includ3 ing— 

4 (1) the Council on Environmental Quality; 

5 (2) the Department of Agriculture; 

6 (3) the Department of Commerce; 

7 (4) the Department of Defense; 

8 (5) the Department of Education; 

9 (6) the Department of Energy; 

10 (7) the Department of Health and Human 

11 Services; 

12 (8) the Department of Housing and Urban De13 velopment; 

14 (9) the Department of the Interior; 

15 (10) the Department of Justice; 

16 (11) the Department of Labor; 

17 (12) the Department of State; 

18 (13) the Department of Transportation; 

19 (14) the Environmental Protection Agency; and 

20 (15) such other Federal agencies as the Admin21 istrator and the Secretary jointly determine to be 

22 appropriate. 

23 (d) DUTIES.—The IWG shall— 

24 (1) facilitate communication and partnership on 

25 environmental health-related projects and policies— 


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1 (A) to generate a better understanding of 

2 the interactions between policy areas; and 

3 (B) to raise awareness of the relevance of 

4 health across policy areas to ensure that the po5 tential positive and negative health con6 sequences of decisions are not overlooked; 

7 (2) serve as a centralized mechanism to coordi8 nate a national effort— 

9 (A) to discuss and evaluate evidence and 

10 knowledge on the relationship between the gen11 eral environment and the health of the popu12 lation of the United States; 

13 (B) to determine the range of effective, 

14 feasible, and comprehensive actions to improve 

15 environmental health; and 

16 (C) to examine and better address the in17 fluence of social and environmental deter18 minants of health; 

19 (3) survey Federal agencies to determine which 

20 policies are effective in encouraging, and how best to 

21 facilitate outreach without duplicating, efforts relat22 ing to environmental health promotion; 

23 (4) establish specific goals within and across 

24 Federal agencies for environmental health proVerDate Aug 31 2005 07:09 Apr 05, 2006 Jkt 049196 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2506.IS S2506

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1 motion, including determinations of accountability 

2 for reaching those goals; 

3 (5) develop a strategy for allocating responsibil4 ities and ensuring participation in environmental 

5 health promotions, particularly in the case of com6 peting agency priorities; 

7 (6) coordinate plans to communicate research 

8 results relating to environmental health to enable re9 porting and outreach activities to produce more use10 ful and timely information; 

11 (7) establish an interdisciplinary committee to 

12 continue research efforts to further understand the 

13 relationship between the built environment and 

14 health factors (including air quality, physical activity 

15 levels, housing quality, access to primary health care 

16 practitioners and health care facilities, injury risk, 

17 and availability of nutritional, fresh food) that co18 ordinates the expertise of the public health, urban 

19 planning, and transportation communities; 

20 (8) develop an appropriate research agenda for 

21 Federal agencies— 

22 (A) to support— 

23 (i) longitudinal studies; 


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1 (ii) rapid-response capability to evalu2 ate natural conditions and occurrences; 

3 and 

4 (iii) extensions of national databases; 

5 and 

6 (B) to review evaluation and economic data 

7 relating to the impact of Federal interventions 

8 on the prevention of environmental health con9 cerns; 

10 (9) initiate environmental health impact dem11 onstration projects to develop integrated place-based 

12 models for addressing community quality-of-life 

13 issues; 

14 (10) provide a description of evidence-based 

15 best practices, model programs, effective guidelines, 

16 and other strategies for promoting environmental 

17 health; 

18 (11) make recommendations to improve Federal 

19 efforts relating to environmental health promotion 

20 and to ensure Federal efforts are consistent with 

21 available standards and evidence and other programs 

22 in existence as of the date of enactment of this Act; 

23 (12) monitor Federal progress in meeting spe24 cific environmental health promotion goals; 


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1 (13) assist in ensuring, to the maximum extent 

2 practicable, integration of the impact of environ3 mental policies, programs, and activities on the 

4 areas under Federal jurisdiction; 

5 (14) assist in the implementation of the rec6 ommendations from the reports of the Institute of 

7 Medicine entitled ‘‘Does the Built Environment In8 fluence Physical Activity? Examining the Evidence’’ 

9 and dated January 11, 2005, and ‘‘Rebuilding the 

10 Unity of Health and the Environment: A New Vision 

11 of Environmental Health for the 21st Century’’ and 

12 dated January 22, 2001, including recommendations 

13 for— 

14 (A) the expansion of national public health 

15 and travel surveys to provide more detailed in16 formation about the connection between the 

17 built environment and health, including expan18 sion of such surveys as— 

19 (i) the Behavioral Risk Factor Sur20 veillance System, the National Health and 

21 Nutrition Examination Survey, and the 

22 National Health Interview Survey con23 ducted by the Centers for Disease Control 

24 and Prevention; 


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1 (ii) the American Community survey 

2 conducted by the Census Bureau; 

3 (iii) the American Time Use Survey 

4 conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statis5 tics; 

6 (iv) the Youth Risk Behavior Survey 

7 conducted by the Centers for Disease Con8 trol and Prevention; and 

9 (v) the National Longitudinal Cohort 

10 Survey of American Children (the National 

11 Children’s Study) conducted by the Na12 tional Institute of Child Health and 

13 Human Development; 

14 (B) collaboration with national initiatives 

15 to learn from natural experiments such as ob16 servations from changes in the built environ17 ment and the consequent effects on health; 

18 (C) development of a program of research 

19 with a defined mission and recommended budg20 et, concentrating on multiyear projects and en21 hanced data collection; 

22 (D) development of interdisciplinary edu23 cation programs— 

24 (i) to train professionals in conducting 

25 recommended research; and 


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1 (ii) to prepare practitioners with ap2 propriate skills at the intersection of phys3 ical activity, public health, transportation, 

4 and urban planning; 

5 (15) not later than 2 years after the date of en6 actment of this Act, submit to Congress a report 

7 that describes the extent to which recommendations 

8 from the Institute of Medicine reports described in 

9 paragraph (14) were executed; and 

10 (16) assist the Director with the development of 

11 guidance for the assessment of the potential health 

12 effects of land use, housing, and transportation pol13 icy and plans. 

14 (e) MEETINGS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The IWG shall meet at least 

16 3 times each year. 

17 (2) ANNUAL CONFERENCE.—The Secretary, 

18 acting through the Director and in collaboration 

19 with the Administrator, shall sponsor an annual con20 ference on environmental health and health dispari21 ties to enhance coordination, build partnerships, and 

22 share best practices in environmental health data 

23 collection, analysis, and reporting. 


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1 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec3 essary to carry out this section. 

4 SEC. 4. HEALTH IMPACT ASSESSMENTS. 

5 (a) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—In this sec6 tion, the term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means any unit of State 

7 or local government the jurisdiction of which includes indi8 viduals or populations the health of which are or will be 

9 affected by an activity or a proposed activity. 

10 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, acting 

11 through the Director and in collaboration with the Admin12 istrator, shall— 

13 (1) establish a program at the National Center 

14 of Environmental Health at the Centers for Disease 

15 Control and Prevention focused on advancing the 

16 field of health impact assessment, including— 

17 (A) collecting and disseminating best prac18 tices; 

19 (B) administering capacity building grants, 

20 in accordance with subsection (d); 

21 (C) providing technical assistance; 

22 (D) providing training; 

23 (E) conducting evaluations; and 

24 (F) awarding competitive extramural re25 search grants; 


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1 (2) in accordance with subsection (f), develop 

2 guidance to conduct health impact assessments; and 

3 (3) establish a grant program to allow eligible 

4 entities to conduct health impact assessments. 

5 (c) GUIDANCE.—The Director, in collaboration with 

6 the IWG, shall— 

7 (1) develop guidance for the assessment of the 

8 potential health effects of land use, housing, and 

9 transportation policy and plans, including— 

10 (A) background on international efforts to 

11 bridge urban planning and public health institu12 tions and disciplines, including a review of 

13 health impact assessment best practices inter14 nationally; 

15 (B) evidence-based causal pathways that 

16 link urban planning, transportation, and hous17 ing policy and objectives to human health objec18 tives; 

19 (C) data resources and quantitative and 

20 qualitative forecasting methods to evaluate both 

21 the status of health determinants and health ef22 fects; and 

23 (D) best practices for inclusive public in24 volvement in planning decision-making; 


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1 (2) not later than 1 year after the date of en2 actment of this Act, promulgate the guidance; and 

3 (3) present the guidance to the public at the 

4 annual conference described in section 3(e)(2). 

5 (d) GRANT PROGRAM.—The Secretary, acting 

6 through the Director and in collaboration with the Admin7 istrator, shall establish a program under which the Sec8 retary shall provide funding and technical assistance to 

9 eligible entities to prepare health impact assessments— 

10 (1) to ensure that appropriate health factors 

11 are taken into consideration as early as practicable 

12 during any planning, review, or decision-making 

13 process; and 

14 (2) to evaluate the effect on the health of indi15 viduals and populations, and on social and economic 

16 development, of decisions made outside of the health 

17 sector that result in modifications of a physical or 

18 social environment. 

19 (e) APPLICATIONS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—To receive a grant under 

21 this section, an eligible entity shall submit to the 

22 Secretary an application in accordance with this sub23 section, in such time, in such manner, and con24 taining such additional information as the Secretary 

25 may require. 


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1 (2) INCLUSION.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—An application under 

3 this subsection shall include an assessment by 

4 the eligible entity of the probability that an ap5 plicable activity or proposed activity will have at 

6 least 1 significant, adverse health effect on an 

7 individual or population in the jurisdiction of 

8 the eligible entity, based on the criteria de9 scribed in subparagraph (B). 

10 (B) CRITERIA.—The criteria referred to in 

11 subparagraph (A) include, with respect to the 

12 applicable activity or proposed activity— 

13 (i) any substantial adverse effect on— 

14 (I) existing air quality, ground or 

15 surface water quality or quantity, or 

16 traffic or noise levels; 

17 (II) a significant habitat area; 

18 (III) physical activity; 

19 (IV) injury; 

20 (V) mental health; 

21 (VI) social capital; 

22 (VII) accessibility; 

23 (VIII) the character or quality of 

24 an important historical, archeological, 

25 architectural, or aesthetic resource 


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1 (including neighborhood character) of 

2 the community of the eligible entity; 

3 or 

4 (IX) any other natural resource; 

5 (ii) any increase in— 

6 (I) solid waste production; or 

7 (II) problems relating to erosion, 

8 flooding, leaching, or drainage; 

9 (iii) any requirement that a large 

10 quantity of vegetation or fauna be removed 

11 or destroyed; 

12 (iv) any conflict with the plans or 

13 goals of the community of the eligible enti14 ty; 

15 (v) any major change in the quantity 

16 or type of energy used by the community 

17 of the eligible entity; 

18 (vi) any hazard presented to human 

19 health; 

20 (vii) any substantial change in the 

21 use, or intensity of use, of land in the ju22 risdiction of the eligible entity, including 

23 agricultural, open space, and recreational 

24 uses; 


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1 (viii) the probability that the activity 

2 or proposed activity will result in an in3 crease in tourism in the jurisdiction of the 

4 eligible entity; 

5 (ix) any substantial, adverse aggre6 gate impact on environmental health re7 sulting from— 

8 (I) changes caused by the activity 

9 or proposed activity to 2 or more ele10 ments of the environment; or 

11 (II) 2 or more related actions 

12 carried out under the activity or pro13 posed activity; and 

14 (x) any other significant change of 

15 concern, as determined by the eligible enti16 ty. 

17 (C) FACTORS FOR CONSIDERATION.—In 

18 making an assessment under subparagraph (A), 

19 an eligible entity may take into consideration 

20 any reasonable, direct, indirect, or cumulative 

21 effect relating to the applicable activity or pro22 posed activity, including the effect of any action 

23 that is— 

24 (i) included in the long-range plan re25 lating to the activity or proposed activity; 


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1 (ii) likely to be carried out in coordi2 nation with the activity or proposed activ3 ity; 

4 (iii) dependent on the occurrence of 

5 the activity or proposed activity; or 

6 (iv) likely to have a disproportionate 

7 impact on disadvantaged populations. 

8 (f) USE OF FUNDS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity shall use 

10 assistance received under this section to prepare and 

11 submit to the Secretary a health impact assessment 

12 in accordance with this subsection. 

13 (2) PURPOSES.—The purposes of a health im14 pact assessment are— 

15 (A) to facilitate the involvement of State 

16 and local health officials in community planning 

17 and land use decisions to identify any potential 

18 health concern relating to an activity or pro19 posed activity; 

20 (B) to provide for an investigation of any 

21 health-related issue addressed in an environ22 mental impact statement or policy appraisal re23 lating to an activity or a proposed activity; 

24 (C) to describe and compare alternatives 

25 (including no-action alternatives) to an activity 


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1 or a proposed activity to provide clarification 

2 with respect to the costs and benefits of the ac3 tivity or proposed activity; and 

4 (D) to contribute to the findings of an en5 vironmental impact statement with respect to 

6 the terms and conditions of implementing an 

7 activity or a proposed activity, as necessary. 

8 (3) REQUIREMENTS.—A health impact assess9 ment prepared under this subsection shall— 

10 (A) describe the relevance of the applicable 

11 activity or proposed activity (including the pol12 icy of the activity) with respect to health issues; 

13 (B) assess each health impact of the appli14 cable activity or proposed activity; 

15 (C) provide recommendations of the eligi16 ble entity with respect to— 

17 (i) the mitigation of any adverse im18 pact on health of the applicable activity or 

19 proposed activity; or 

20 (ii) the encouragement of any positive 

21 impact of the applicable activity or pro22 posed activity; 

23 (D) provide for monitoring of the impacts 

24 on health of the applicable activity or proposed 


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1 activity, as the eligible entity determines to be 

2 appropriate; and 

3 (E) include a list of each comment received 

4 with respect to the health impact assessment 

5 under subsection (e). 

6 (4) METHODOLOGY.—In preparing a health im7 pact assessment under this subsection, an eligible 

8 entity— 

9 (A) shall follow guidelines developed by the 

10 Director, in collaboration with the IWG, that— 

11 (i) are consistent with subsection (c); 

12 (ii) will be established not later than 

13 1 year after the date of enactment of this 

14 Act; and 

15 (iii) will be made publicly available at 

16 the annual conference described in section 

17 3(e)(2); and 

18 (B) may establish a balance, as the eligible 

19 entity determines to be appropriate, between 

20 the use of— 

21 (i) rigorous methods requiring special 

22 skills or increased use of resources; and 

23 (ii) expedient, cost-effective measures. 

24 (g) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Before preparing and sub2 mitting to the Secretary a final health impact as3 sessment, an eligible entity shall request and take 

4 into consideration public and agency comments, in 

5 accordance with this subsection. 

6 (2) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 30 days 

7 after the date on which a draft health impact assess8 ment is completed, an eligible entity shall submit the 

9 draft health impact assessment to each Federal 

10 agency, and each State and local organization, 

11 that— 

12 (A) has jurisdiction with respect to the ac13 tivity or proposed activity to which the health 

14 impact assessment applies; 

15 (B) has special knowledge with respect to 

16 an environmental or health impact of the activ17 ity or proposed activity; or 

18 (C) is authorized to develop or enforce any 

19 environmental standard relating to the activity 

20 or proposed activity. 

21 (3) COMMENTS REQUESTED.— 

22 (A) REQUEST BY ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—An 

23 eligible entity may request comments with re24 spect to a health impact assessment from— 

25 (i) affected Indian tribes; 


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1 (ii) interested or affected individuals 

2 or organizations; and 

3 (iii) any other State or local agency, 

4 as the eligible entity determines to be ap5 propriate. 

6 (B) REQUEST BY OTHERS.—Any interested 

7 or affected agency, organization, or individual 

8 may— 

9 (i) request an opportunity to comment 

10 on a health impact assessment; and 

11 (ii) submit to the appropriate eligible 

12 entity comments with respect to the health 

13 impact assessment by not later than— 

14 (I) for a Federal, State, or local 

15 government agency or organization, 

16 the date on which a final health im17 pact assessment is prepared; and 

18 (II) for any other individual or 

19 organization, the date described in 

20 subclause (I) or another date, as the 

21 eligible entity may determine. 

22 (4) RESPONSE TO COMMENTS.—A final health 

23 impact assessment shall describe the response of the 

24 eligible entity to comments received within a 90-day 

25 period under this subsection, including— 


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1 (A) a description of any means by which 

2 the eligible entity, as a result of such a com3 ment— 

4 (i) modified an alternative rec5 ommended with respect to the applicable 

6 activity or proposed activity; 

7 (ii) developed and evaluated any alter8 native not previously considered by the eli9 gible entity; 

10 (iii) supplemented, improved, or modi11 fied an analysis of the eligible entity; or 

12 (iv) made any factual correction to the 

13 health impact assessment; and 

14 (B) for any comment with respect to which 

15 the eligible entity took no action, an explanation 

16 of the reasons why no action was taken and, if 

17 appropriate, a description of the circumstances 

18 under which the eligible entity would take such 

19 an action. 

20 (h) HEALTH IMPACT ASSESSMENT DATABASE.—The 

21 Secretary, acting through the Director and in collabora22 tion with the Administrator, shall establish and maintain 

23 a health impact assessment database, including— 

24 (1) a catalog of health impact assessments re25 ceived under this section; 


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1 (2) an inventory of tools used by eligible enti2 ties to prepare draft and final health impact assess3 ments; and 

4 (3) guidance for eligible entities with respect to 

5 the selection of appropriate tools described in para6 graph (2). 

7 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

8 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

9 such sums as are necessary. 

10 SEC. 5. GRANT PROGRAM. 

11 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 (1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

13 the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 

14 Prevention, acting in collaboration with the Adminis15 trator and the Director of the National Institute of 

16 Environmental Health Sciences. 

17 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti18 ty’’ means a State or local community that— 

19 (A) bears a disproportionate burden of ex20 posure to environmental health hazards; 

21 (B) has established a coalition— 

22 (i) with not less than 1 community23 based organization; and 

24 (ii) with not less than 1— 

25 (I) public health entity; 


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1 (II) health care provider organi2 zation; or 

3 (III) academic institution; 

4 (C) ensures planned activities and funding 

5 streams are coordinated to improve community 

6 health; and 

7 (D) submits an application in accordance 

8 with subsection (c). 

9 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director shall establish a 

10 grant program under which eligible entities shall receive 

11 grants to conduct environmental health improvement ac12 tivities. 

13 (c) APPLICATION.—To receive a grant under this sec14 tion, an eligible entity shall submit an application to the 

15 Director at such time, in such manner, and accompanied 

16 by such information as the Director may require. 

17 (d) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—An eligible entity 

18 may use a grant under this section— 

19 (1) to promote environmental health; and 

20 (2) to address environmental health disparities. 

21 (e) AMOUNT OF COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall award 

23 grants to eligible entities at the 2 different funding 

24 levels described in this subsection. 

25 (2) LEVEL 1 COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity 

2 awarded a grant under this paragraph shall use 

3 the funds to identify environmental health prob4 lems and solutions by— 

5 (i) establishing a planning and 

6 prioritizing council in accordance with sub7 paragraph (B); and 

8 (ii) conducting an environmental 

9 health assessment in accordance with sub10 paragraph (C). 

11 (B) PLANNING AND PRIORITIZING COUN12 CIL.— 

13 (i) IN GENERAL.—A prioritizing and 

14 planning council established under sub15 paragraph (A)(i) (referred to in this para16 graph as a ‘‘PPC’’) shall assist the envi17 ronmental health assessment process and 

18 environmental health promotion activities 

19 of the eligible entity. 

20 (ii) MEMBERSHIP.—Membership of a 

21 PPC shall consist of representatives from 

22 various organizations within public health, 

23 planning, development, and environmental 

24 services and shall include stakeholders 

25 from vulnerable groups such as children, 


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1 the elderly, disabled, and minority ethnic 

2 groups that are often not actively involved 

3 in democratic or decision-making proc4 esses. 

5 (iii) DUTIES.—A PPC shall— 

6 (I) identify key stakeholders and 

7 engage and coordinate potential part8 ners in the planning process; 

9 (II) establish a formal advisory 

10 group to plan for the establishment of 

11 services; 

12 (III) conduct an in-depth review 

13 of the nature and extent of the need 

14 for an environmental health assess15 ment, including a local epidemiological 

16 profile, an evaluation of the service 

17 provider capacity of the community, 

18 and a profile of any target popu19 lations; and 

20 (IV) define the components of 

21 care and form essential programmatic 

22 linkages with related providers in the 

23 community. 

24 (C) ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH ASSESS25 MENT.— 


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1 (i) IN GENERAL.—A PPC shall carry 

2 out an environmental health assessment to 

3 identify environmental health concerns. 

4 (ii) ASSESSMENT PROCESS.—The 

5 PPC shall— 

6 (I) define the goals of the assess7 ment; 

8 (II) generate the environmental 

9 health issue list; 

10 (III) analyze issues with a sys11 tems framework; 

12 (IV) develop appropriate commu13 nity environmental health indicators; 

14 (V) rank the environmental 

15 health issues; 

16 (VI) set priorities for action; 

17 (VII) develop an action plan; 

18 (VIII) implement the plan; and 

19 (IX) evaluate progress and plan20 ning for the future. 

21 (D) EVALUATION.—Each eligible entity 

22 that receives a grant under this paragraph shall 

23 evaluate, report, and disseminate program find24 ings and outcomes. 


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1 (E) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Direc2 tor may provide such technical and other non3 financial assistance to eligible entities as the 

4 Director determines to be necessary. 

5 (3) LEVEL 2 COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.— 

6 (A) ELIGIBILITY.— 

7 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall 

8 award grants under this paragraph to eli9 gible entities that have already— 

10 (I) established broad-based col11 laborative partnerships; and 

12 (II) completed environmental as13 sessments. 

14 (ii) NO LEVEL 1 REQUIREMENT.—To 

15 be eligible to receive a grant under this 

16 paragraph, an eligible entity is not re17 quired to have successfully completed a 

18 Level 1 Cooperative Agreement (as de19 scribed in paragraph (2). 

20 (B) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—An eligible 

21 entity awarded a grant under this paragraph 

22 shall use the funds to further activities to carry 

23 out environmental health improvement activi24 ties, including— 


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1 (i) addressing community environ2 mental health priorities in accordance with 

3 paragraph (2)(C)(ii), including— 

4 (I) air quality; 

5 (II) water quality; 

6 (III) solid waste; 

7 (IV) land use; 

8 (V) housing; 

9 (VI) food safety; 

10 (VII) crime; 

11 (VIII) injuries; and 

12 (IX) healthcare services; 

13 (ii) building partnerships between 

14 planning, public health, and other sectors, 

15 to address how the built environment im16 pacts food availability and access and 

17 physical activity to promote healthy behav18 iors and lifestyles and reduce obesity and 

19 related co-morbidities; 

20 (iii) establishing programs to ad21 dress— 

22 (I) how environmental and social 

23 conditions of work and living choices 

24 influence physical activity and dietary 

25 intake; or 


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1 (II) how those conditions influ2 ence the concerns and needs of people 

3 who have impaired mobility and use 

4 assistance devices, including wheel5 chairs and lower limb prostheses; and 

6 (iv) convening intervention programs 

7 that examine the role of the social environ8 ment in connection with the physical and 

9 chemical environment in— 

10 (I) determining access to nutri11 tional food; and 

12 (II) improving physical activity to 

13 reduce morbidity and increase quality 

14 of life. 

15 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

16 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this sec17 tion— 

18 (1) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; and 

19 (2) such sums as are necessary for the period 

20 of fiscal years 2008 through 2011. 

21 SEC. 6. ADDITIONAL RESEARCH ON THE RELATIONSHIP BE22 TWEEN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT AND THE 

23 HEALTH OF COMMUNITY RESIDENTS. 

24 (a) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION.—In this 

25 section, the term ‘‘eligible institution’’ means a public or 


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1 private nonprofit institution that submits to the Secretary 

2 and the Administrator an application for a grant under 

3 the grant program authorized under subsection (b)(2) at 

4 such time, in such manner, and containing such agree5 ments, assurances, and information as the Secretary and 

6 Administrator may require. 

7 (b) RESEARCH GRANT PROGRAM.— 

8 (1) DEFINITION OF HEALTH.—In this section, 

9 the term ‘‘health’’ includes— 

10 (A) levels of physical activity; 

11 (B) consumption of nutritional foods; 

12 (C) rates of crime; 

13 (D) air, water, and soil quality; 

14 (E) risk of injury; 

15 (F) accessibility to healthcare services; and 

16 (G) other indicators as determined appro17 priate by the Secretary. 

18 (2) GRANTS.—The Secretary, in collaboration 

19 with the Administrator, shall provide grants to eligi20 ble institutions to conduct and coordinate research 

21 on the built environment and its influence on indi22 vidual and population-based health. 

23 (3) RESEARCH.—The Secretary shall support 

24 research that— 


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1 (A) investigates and defines the causal 

2 links between all aspects of the built environ3 ment and the health of residents; 

4 (B) examines— 

5 (i) the extent of the impact of the 

6 built environment (including the various 

7 characteristics of the built environment) on 

8 the health of residents; 

9 (ii) the variance in the health of resi10 dents by— 

11 (I) location (such as inner cities, 

12 inner suburbs, and outer suburbs); 

13 and 

14 (II) population subgroup (such as 

15 children, the elderly, the disadvan16 taged); or 

17 (iii) the importance of the built envi18 ronment to the total health of residents, 

19 which is the primary variable of interest 

20 from a public health perspective; 

21 (C) is used to develop— 

22 (i) measures to address health and the 

23 connection of health to the built environ24 ment; and 


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1 (ii) efforts to link the measures to 

2 travel and health databases; 

3 (D) distinguishes carefully between per4 sonal attitudes and choices and external influ5 ences on observed behavior to determine how 

6 much an observed association between the built 

7 environment and the health of residents, versus 

8 the lifestyle preferences of the people that 

9 choose to live in the neighborhood, reflects the 

10 physical characteristics of the neighborhood; 

11 and 

12 (E)(i) identifies or develops effective inter13 vention strategies to promote better health 

14 among residents with a focus on behavioral 

15 interventions and enhancements of the built en16 vironment that promote increased use by resi17 dents; and 

18 (ii) in developing the intervention strate19 gies under clause (i), ensures that the interven20 tion strategies will reach out to high-risk popu21 lations, including low-income urban and rural 

22 communities. 

23 (4) PRIORITY.—In providing assistance under 

24 the grant program authorized under paragraph (2), 


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1 the Secretary and the Administrator shall give pri2 ority to research that incorporates— 

3 (A) interdisciplinary approaches; or 

4 (B) the expertise of the public health, 

5 physical activity, urban planning, and transpor6 tation research communities in the United 

7 States and abroad. 

8 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

9 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec10 essary to carry out this section. 

Æ 


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