I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1805 

To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 

Act to provide for the health and safety of certain volunteers and workers 

in disaster areas, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 29, 2007 

Mr. JEFFERSON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to provide for the health and safety 

of certain volunteers and workers in disaster areas, 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 ‘‘Strengthening Public 

5 Health Protections in Major Disasters and Emergencies 

6 Act of 2007’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROTECTION OF HEALTH AND SAFETY OF INDIVID2 UALS IN A DISASTER AREA. 

3 Title IV of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 

4 Emergency Assistance Act is amended by inserting after 

5 section 408 (42 U.S.C. 5174) the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 409. PROTECTION OF HEALTH AND SAFETY OF INDI7 VIDUALS IN DISASTER AREA. 

8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following 

9 definitions apply: 

10 ‘‘(1) INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘individual’ in11 cludes— 

12 ‘‘(A) a worker or volunteer who responded 

13 to Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Rita or re14 sponds to a major disaster or emergency, in15 cluding— 

16 ‘‘(i) a police officer; 

17 ‘‘(ii) a firefighter; 

18 ‘‘(iii) an emergency medical techni19 cian; 

20 ‘‘(iv) any participating member of an 

21 urban search and rescue team; and 

22 ‘‘(v) any other relief or rescue worker 

23 or volunteer that the President determines 

24 to be appropriate; 

25 ‘‘(B) a worker who responds to a disaster 

26 by assisting in the cleanup or restoration of 


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1 critical infrastructure in and around a disaster 

2 area; 

3 ‘‘(C) a person whose place of residence is 

4 in a disaster area; 

5 ‘‘(D) a person who is employed in or at6 tends school, child care, or adult day care in a 

7 building located in a disaster area; and 

8 ‘‘(E) any other person that the President 

9 determines to be appropriate. 

10 ‘‘(2) MEDICAL INSTITUTION.—The term ‘med11 ical institution’ includes a hospital facility (as such 

12 term is defined in section 391 of the Energy Policy 

13 Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6371) and an accred14 ited public or nonprofit school of medicine. 

15 ‘‘(3) PROGRAM.—The term ‘program’ means a 

16 program described in subsection (b) that is carried 

17 out for a disaster area. 

18 ‘‘(4) SUBSTANCE OF CONCERN.—The term 

19 ‘substance of concern’ means a chemical or other 

20 substance that is associated with potential acute or 

21 chronic human health effects, the risk of exposure to 

22 which could potentially be increased as the result of 

23 a disaster, as determined by the President. 

24 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the President determines 

2 that 1 or more substances of concern are being, or 

3 have been, released in an area declared to be a 

4 major disaster area under this Act, the President 

5 may carry out a program for the protection, assess6 ment, monitoring, and study of the health and safety 

7 of individuals to ensure that— 

8 ‘‘(A) the individuals are adequately in9 formed about and protected against potential 

10 health impacts of any substance of concern and 

11 potential mental health impacts in a timely 

12 manner; 

13 ‘‘(B) the individuals are monitored and 

14 studied over time, including through baseline 

15 and follow-up clinical health examinations, 

16 for— 

17 ‘‘(i) any short- and long-term health 

18 impacts of any substance of concern; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) any mental health impacts; 

20 ‘‘(C) the individuals receive health care re21 ferrals as needed and appropriate; and 

22 ‘‘(D) information from any such moni23 toring and studies is used to prevent or protect 

24 against similar health impacts from future dis25 asters. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ACTIVITIES.—A program under paragraph 

2 (1) may include such activities as— 

3 ‘‘(A) collecting and analyzing environ4 mental exposure data; 

5 ‘‘(B) developing and disseminating infor6 mation and educational materials; 

7 ‘‘(C) performing baseline and follow-up 

8 clinical health and mental health examinations 

9 and taking biological samples; 

10 ‘‘(D) establishing and maintaining an ex11 posure registry; 

12 ‘‘(E) studying the short- and long-term 

13 human health impacts of any exposures through 

14 epidemiological and other health studies; and 

15 ‘‘(F) providing assistance to individuals in 

16 determining eligibility for health coverage and 

17 identifying appropriate health services. 

18 ‘‘(3) TIMING.—To the maximum extent prac19 ticable, activities under any program established 

20 under paragraph (1) (including baseline health ex21 aminations) shall be commenced in a timely manner 

22 that will ensure the highest level of public health 

23 protection and effective monitoring. 

24 ‘‘(4) PARTICIPATION IN REGISTRIES AND STUD25 IES.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Participation in any 

2 registry or study that is part of a program 

3 under paragraph (1) shall be voluntary. 

4 ‘‘(B) PROTECTION OF PRIVACY.—The 

5 President shall take appropriate measures to 

6 protect the privacy of any participant in a reg7 istry or study described in subparagraph (A). 

8 ‘‘(5) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The President may 

10 carry out a program under paragraph (1) 

11 through a cooperative agreement with a medical 

12 institution, including a local health department, 

13 or a consortium of medical institutions. 

14 ‘‘(B) SELECTION CRITERIA.—To the max15 imum extent practicable, the President shall se16 lect to carry out a program under paragraph 

17 (1) a medical institution or a consortium of 

18 medical institutions that— 

19 ‘‘(i) is located near— 

20 ‘‘(I) the disaster area with re21 spect to which the program is carried 

22 out; and 

23 ‘‘(II) any other area in which 

24 there reside groups of individuals that 


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1 worked or volunteered in response to 

2 the disaster; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) has appropriate experience in the 

4 areas of environmental or occupational 

5 health, toxicology, and safety, including ex6 perience in— 

7 ‘‘(I) developing clinical protocols 

8 and conducting clinical health exami9 nations, including mental health as10 sessments; 

11 ‘‘(II) conducting long-term health 

12 monitoring and epidemiological stud13 ies; 

14 ‘‘(III) conducting long-term men15 tal health studies; and 

16 ‘‘(IV) establishing and maintain17 ing medical surveillance programs and 

18 environmental exposure or disease 

19 registries. 

20 ‘‘(6) INVOLVEMENT.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In establishing and 

22 maintaining a program under paragraph (1), 

23 the President shall involve interested and af24 fected parties, as appropriate, including rep25 resentatives of— 


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1 ‘‘(i) Federal, State, and local govern2 ment agencies; 

3 ‘‘(ii) groups of individuals that worked 

4 or volunteered in response to the disaster 

5 in the disaster area; 

6 ‘‘(iii) local residents, businesses, and 

7 schools (including parents and teachers); 

8 ‘‘(iv) health care providers; and 

9 ‘‘(v) other organizations and persons. 

10 ‘‘(B) COMMITTEES.—Involvement under 

11 subparagraph (A) may be provided through the 

12 establishment of an advisory or oversight com13 mittee or board. 

14 ‘‘(7) PRIVACY.—The President shall carry out 

15 each program under paragraph (1) in accordance 

16 with regulations relating to privacy promulgated 

17 under section 264(c) of the Health Insurance Port18 ability and Accountability Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C. 

19 11320d–2 note; Public Law 104–191). 

20 ‘‘(c) REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year after the es21 tablishment of a program under subsection (b)(1), and 

22 every 5 years thereafter, the President, or the medical in23 stitution or consortium of such institutions having entered 

24 into a cooperative agreement under subsection (b)(5), 

25 shall submit to the Secretary of Homeland Security, the 


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1 Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary 

2 of Labor, the Administrator of the Environmental Protec3 tion Agency, and appropriate committees of Congress a 

4 report on programs and studies carried out under the pro5 gram.’’. 

6 SEC. 3. NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES REPORT ON 

7 HURRICANE KATRINA AND RITA DISASTER 

8 AREA HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL PRO9 TECTION AND MONITORING. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu11 rity, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and 

12 the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agen13 cy shall jointly enter into a contract with the National 

14 Academy of Sciences to conduct a study and prepare a 

15 report on disaster area health and environmental protec16 tion and monitoring. 

17 (b) EXPERTISE.—The report under subsection (a) 

18 shall be prepared with the participation of individuals who 

19 have expertise in— 

20 (1) environmental health, safety, and medicine; 

21 (2) occupational health, safety, and medicine; 

22 (3) clinical medicine, including pediatrics; 

23 (4) toxicology; 

24 (5) epidemiology; 

25 (6) mental health; 


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1 (7) medical monitoring and surveillance; 

2 (8) environmental monitoring and surveillance; 

3 (9) environmental and industrial hygiene; 

4 (10) emergency planning and preparedness; 

5 (11) public outreach and education; 

6 (12) State and local health departments; 

7 (13) State and local environmental protection 

8 departments; 

9 (14) functions of workers that respond to disas10 ters, including first responders; 

11 (15) public health and family services; 

12 (16) environmental justice; and 

13 (17) health and health care disparities. 

14 (c) CONTENTS.—The report under subsection (a) 

15 shall provide advice and recommendations regarding pro16 tecting and monitoring the health and safety of individuals 

17 potentially exposed to any chemical or other substance as18 sociated with potential acute or chronic human health ef19 fects as the result of a disaster, including advice and rec20 ommendations regarding— 

21 (1) the establishment of protocols for the moni22 toring of and response to chemical or substance re23 leases in a disaster area for the purpose of pro24 tecting public health and safety, including— 


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1 (A) chemicals or other substances for 

2 which samples should be collected in the event 

3 of a disaster, including a terrorist attack; 

4 (B) chemical- or substance-specific meth5 ods of sample collection, including sampling 

6 methodologies and locations; 

7 (C) chemical- or substance-specific meth8 ods of sample analysis; 

9 (D) health-based threshold levels to be 

10 used and response actions to be taken in the 

11 event that thresholds are exceeded for indi12 vidual chemicals or other substances; 

13 (E) procedures for providing monitoring 

14 results to— 

15 (i) appropriate Federal, State, and 

16 local government agencies; 

17 (ii) appropriate response personnel; 

18 and 

19 (iii) the public; 

20 (F) responsibilities of Federal, State and 

21 local agencies for— 

22 (i) collecting and analyzing samples; 

23 (ii) reporting results; and 

24 (iii) taking appropriate response ac25 tions; and 


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1 (G) capabilities and capacity within the 

2 Federal Government to conduct appropriate en3 vironmental monitoring and response in the 

4 event of a disaster, including a terrorist attack; 

5 and 

6 (2) other issues as specified by the Secretary of 

7 Homeland Security, the Secretary of Health and 

8 Human Services, and the Administrator of the Envi9 ronmental Protection Agency. 

10 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

11 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec12 essary to carry out this section. 

13 SEC. 4. PREDISASTER HAZARD MITIGATION. 

14 Section 203(m) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 

15 Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

16 5133(m)) is amended by striking ‘‘December 31, 2008’’ 

17 and inserting ‘‘September 30, 2010’’. 

18 SEC. 5. PREVENTIVE HEALTH SERVICES BLOCK GRANTS; 

19 USE OF ALLOTMENTS. 

20 Section 1904(a)(1) of the Public Health Service Act 

21 (42 U.S.C. 300w–3(a)(1)) is amended— 

22 (1) in subparagraph (G)— 

23 (A) by striking ‘‘through (F)’’ and insert24 ing ‘‘through (G)’’; and 


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1 (B) by redesignating such subparagraph as 

2 subparagraph (H); and 

3 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (F), the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(G) Community outreach and education 

6 programs and other activities designed to ad7 dress and prevent health and health care dis8 parities.’’. 

Æ 


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