I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2691

To amend the Public Health Service Act to prohibit discrimination regarding

exposure to hazardous substances.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 29, 1995

Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Commerce

A BILL

To amend the Public Health Service Act to prohibit

discrimination regarding exposure to hazardous substances.

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 ‘‘Public Health Equity

5 Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. DISCRIMINATION REGARDING EXPOSURE TO HAZ7 ARDOUS SUBSTANCES.

8 The Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 201 et

9 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following title:
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1 ‘‘TITLE XXVII—DISCRIMINATION REGARDING

2 EXPOSURE TO HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES

3 ‘‘SEC. 2701. COVERED SUBSTANCES.

4 ‘‘For purposes of this title, the term ‘covered sub5 stance’ means each of the following:

6 ‘‘(1) Any contaminant identified in title XIV of

7 this Act.

8 ‘‘(2) Any substance described in section 201(q)

9 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and

10 any material registered pursuant to the Act referred

11 to in such section.

12 ‘‘(3) Any chemical listed by the National Toxi13 cology Program of the Department of Health and

14 Human Services as a known or probable human car15 cinogen.

16 ‘‘(4) Any substance defined in section 101(14)

17 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response,

18 Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 and any

19 chemical subject to section 313 of the Emergency

20 Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act of

21 1986.

22 ‘‘(5) Any material subject to the requirements

23 concerning material safety data sheets for chemicals

24 under the Occupational and Safety and Health Act

25 of 1970.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 2702. PROHIBITION AGAINST DISCRIMINATION.

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An entity receiving Federal fi3 nancial assistance may not, on the ground of race, color,

4 or national origin, subject an individual to a disproportion5 ate level of exposure to any covered substance.

6 ‘‘(b) ENFORCEMENT.—With respect to the provisions

7 of section 602 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that relate

8 to compliance, such provisions apply to subsection (a) to

9 the same extent and in the same manner as the provisions

10 apply to section 601 of such Act. The preceding sentence

11 is subject to section 2703(b).

12 ‘‘SEC. 2703. REGULATIONS.

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall require the

14 appropriate Federal officials to issue regulations to imple15 ment section 2702. Such regulations shall be issued in ac16 cordance with procedures established for the issuance of

17 substantive rules under section 553 of title 5, United

18 States Code.

19 ‘‘(b) ENFORCEMENT.—

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to section 602

21 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as applied for pur22 poses of section 2702(b), the regulations under sub23 section (a) shall provide that the means of providing

24 for the compliance of an entity with section 2702(a)

25 include the termination of all or part of the Federal

26 financial assistance that otherwise would be provided
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1 to the entity, without regard to the limitation de2 scribed in such section 602 with respect to particu3 lar entities, particular recipients, and particular pro4 grams.

5 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE ORDERS; PARTICULAR

6 FACILITIES.—In the case of an entity that is in vio7 lation of section 2702(a), the appropriate Federal

8 official may, pursuant to paragraph (1), issue ad9 ministrative orders regarding the covered substance

10 involved, including as applicable orders regarding

11 the facility that produces the covered substance.

12 ‘‘(c) DATES CERTAIN REGARDING REGULATIONS.—

13 For purposes of regulations under subsection (a), all pro14 posed rules shall be issued not later than 180 days after

15 the date of the enactment of the Public Health Equity

16 Act, all final rules shall be issued not later than 10 months

17 after such date, and all the final rules shall take effect

18 not later than one year after such date.’’.

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