II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1442 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a Coordinated 

Environmental Health Network, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 21, 2005 

Mrs. CLINTON (for herself, Mr. CHAFEE, and Mr. REID) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a Coordinated Environmental Health Network, 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 ‘‘Coordinated Environ5 mental Health Network Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

8 (1) according to the Centers for Disease Con9 trol and Prevention, approximately 7 out of every 10 
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1 deaths in the United States are attributable to 

2 chronic diseases; 

3 (2) with 90,000,000 people suffering from 

4 chronic diseases each year, and over 

5 $750,000,000,000 in health care costs as a result, 

6 the national cost of chronic disease is extremely high 

7 and must be appropriately addressed; 

8 (3) the rates of many chronic diseases, includ9 ing asthma, some birth defects, cancers, and autism, 

10 appear to be increasing; 

11 (4) there is a growing amount of evidence that 

12 environmental factors are strongly linked with spe13 cific chronic disease; 

14 (5) a major gap in critical knowledge exists re15 garding the prevalence and incidence of chronic dis16 eases; 

17 (6) States, local communities, territories, and 

18 Indian tribes need assistance with public health ef19 forts that would lead to prevention of chronic dis20 ease, including the establishment and maintenance 

21 of necessary infrastructure for disease and environ22 mental hazard exposure surveillance; and 

23 (7) a Coordinated Environmental Health Net24 work will help target resources to areas of chronic 

25 disease prevention most in need. 
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1 (b) PURPOSES.—It is the purpose of this Act to— 

2 (1) develop, operate, and maintain a Coordi3 nated Environmental Health Network, State Envi4 ronmental Health Networks, and rapid response ca5 pabilities so that the Federal Government, States, 

6 local governments, territories, and Indian tribes can 

7 more effectively monitor, investigate, respond to, re8 search, and prevent increases in the incidence and 

9 prevalence of certain chronic diseases and relevant 

10 environmental and other risk factors; 

11 (2) provide information collected through the 

12 Coordinated and State Environmental Health Net13 works to government agencies, public health practi14 tioners and researchers, policy makers, and the pub15 lic; 

16 (3) expand and coordinate among existing sur17 veillance and data collection systems and other infra18 structure for chronic diseases and relevant environ19 mental, and other risk factors, including those rel20 evant to bioterrorism; 

21 (4) improve coordination between the areas of 

22 public health, environmental protection, and chem23 ical, radiological and biological terrorism; 

24 (5) provide necessary support to ensure the 

25 availability of a sufficient number of well-trained en-
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1 vironmental health and public health personnel to 

2 participate and provide leadership in the develop3 ment and maintenance of the Coordinated and State 

4 Environmental Health Networks; and 

5 (6) encourage coordination between researchers 

6 and Federal, State, and local entities, including the 

7 National Institutes of Health, for genetic studies on 

8 diseases associated with environmental factors with 

9 an emphasis on finding genetic risk factors and 

10 mutations associated with such diseases. 

11 SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE 

12 ACT. 

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

14 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘TITLE XXIX—COORDINATED EN16 VIRONMENTAL HEALTH NET17 WORK 

18 ‘‘SEC. 2900. DEFINITIONS. 

19 ‘‘In this title: 

20 ‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATORS.—The term ‘Administra21 tors’ means the Director of the Centers for Disease 

22 Control and Prevention Coordinating Center for En23 vironmental Health, Injury Prevention, and Occupa24 tional Health, and the Administrator of the Environ25 mental Protection Agency. 
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1 ‘‘(2) COMMITTEE.—The term ‘Committee’ 

2 means the Advisory Committee established under 

3 section 2901(d). 

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

5 the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 

6 Prevention. 

7 ‘‘(4) MEDICAL PRIVACY REGULATIONS.—The 

8 term ‘medical privacy regulations’ means the regula9 tions promulgated under section 264(c) of the 

10 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act 

11 of 1996. 

12 ‘‘(5) COORDINATED NETWORK.—The term ‘Co13 ordinated Network’ means the Coordinated Environ14 mental Health Network established under section 

15 2901(a). 

16 ‘‘(6) PRIORITY CHRONIC CONDITION.—The 

17 term ‘priority chronic condition’ means a condition 

18 to be tracked in the Coordinated Network and the 

19 State Networks, including birth defects, develop20 mental disabilities (such as cerebral palsy, autism, 

21 and mental retardation), asthma and chronic res22 piratory diseases, neurological diseases (such as Par23 kinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s dis24 ease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), autoimmune 

25 diseases (such as lupus), cancer, juvenile diabetes, 
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1 and such other priority chronic conditions as the Sec2 retary may specify. 

3 ‘‘(7) STATE NETWORK.—The term ‘State Net4 work’ means a State Environmental Health Network 

5 established under section 2901(b). 

6 ‘‘(8) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means a State, 

7 territory, or Indian tribe that is eligible to receive a 

8 health tracking grant under section 2901(b). 

9 ‘‘SEC. 2901. ESTABLISHMENT OF COORDINATED AND STATE 

10 ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH NETWORKS. 

11 ‘‘(a) COORDINATED ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH NET12 WORK.— 

13 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 36 

14 months after the date of the enactment of this title, 

15 the Secretary, acting through the Director and in 

16 consultation with the Administrators, State and local 

17 health departments, and the Committee, shall estab18 lish and operate a Coordinated Environmental 

19 Health Network. In establishing and operating the 

20 Coordinated Network, the Secretary shall— 

21 ‘‘(A) identify, build upon, expand, and co22 ordinate among existing data and surveillance 

23 systems, surveys, registries, and other Federal 

24 public health and environmental infrastructure 

25 wherever possible, including— 
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1 ‘‘(i) the National Electronic Disease 

2 Surveillance System; 

3 ‘‘(ii) State birth defects surveillance 

4 systems as supported under section 317C; 

5 ‘‘(iii) State cancer registries as sup6 ported under part M of title III; 

7 ‘‘(iv) State asthma surveillance sys8 tems as supported under section 317I; 

9 ‘‘(v) the National Health and Nutri10 tion Examination Survey; 

11 ‘‘(vi) the Behavioral Risk Factor Sur12 veillance System; 

13 ‘‘(vii) the Hazardous Substance Re14 lease/Health Effects Database; 

15 ‘‘(viii) the Hazardous Substances 

16 Emergency Events Surveillance System; 

17 ‘‘(ix) the National Exposure Registry; 

18 ‘‘(x) the Health Alert Network; and 

19 ‘‘(xi) the State vital statistics systems 

20 as supported under section 306; 

21 ‘‘(B) provide for public access to an elec22 tronic national database that accepts data from 

23 the State Networks on the incidence and preva24 lence of priority chronic conditions and relevant 

25 environmental and other factors, in a manner 
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1 which protects personal privacy consistent with 

2 the medical privacy regulations; 

3 ‘‘(C) not later than 36 months after the 

4 date of the enactment of this title, and annually 

5 thereafter, prepare and publish, in accordance 

6 with paragraph (2), a Coordinated Environ7 mental Health Network Report to provide the 

8 public with the findings of the Coordinated Net9 work; 

10 ‘‘(D) operate and maintain a National En11 vironmental Health Rapid Response Service 

12 within the Epidemic Intelligence Service to 

13 carry out the activities described in paragraph 

14 (3); 

15 ‘‘(E) provide for the establishment of State 

16 Networks, and coordinate the State Networks 

17 as provided for under subsection (b); 

18 ‘‘(F) provide technical assistance to sup19 port the State Networks, including providing— 

20 ‘‘(i) training for environmental health 

21 investigators appointed or hired under sub22 section (b)(3)(D); 

23 ‘‘(ii) technical assistance as needed to 

24 States to build necessary capacity and in25 frastructure for the establishment of a 
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1 State Network, including a computerized 

2 data collection, reporting, and processing 

3 system, and additional assistance identified 

4 by the States under subsection (b)(5)(C) 

5 as necessary for infrastructure develop6 ment; and 

7 ‘‘(iii) such other technical assistance 

8 as the Secretary, in consultation with the 

9 Administrators, determines to be nec10 essary; 

11 ‘‘(G) not later than 12 months after the 

12 date of the enactment of this title, acting 

13 through the Director and consulting with the 

14 Administrators, the Surgeon General, the Di15 rector of the National Institutes of Health, and 

16 States, develop minimum standards and proce17 dures in accordance with paragraph (4) for 

18 data collection and reporting for the State Net19 works, to be updated not less than annually 

20 thereafter; and 

21 ‘‘(H) in developing the minimum standards 

22 and procedures under subparagraph (G), in23 clude mechanisms for allowing the States to set 

24 priorities, and allocate resources accordingly, 
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1 among the factors described in subparagraphs 

2 (A), (B), and (C) of paragraph (4). 

3 ‘‘(2) COORDINATED ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

4 NETWORK REPORT.—Each Coordinated Environ5 mental Health Network Report prepared under 

6 paragraph (1)(C) shall include— 

7 ‘‘(A) a statement of the activities carried 

8 out under this title; 

9 ‘‘(B) an analysis of the incidence, preva10 lence, and trends of priority chronic conditions 

11 and potentially relevant environmental and 

12 other factors by State and census tract (or 

13 other political or administrative subdivision de14 termined appropriate by the Secretary in con15 sultation with the Administrator of the Envi16 ronmental Protection Agency) for the calendar 

17 year preceding the year for which the report is 

18 prepared; 

19 ‘‘(C) the identification of gaps in the data 

20 of the Coordinated Network, including diseases 

21 of concern and environmental exposures not 

22 tracked; 

23 ‘‘(D) recommendations regarding high risk 

24 populations, public health concerns, response 
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1 and prevention strategies, and additional track2 ing needs; and 

3 ‘‘(E) to the extent possible, a list of genetic 

4 risk factors that have been shown to be associ5 ated with these priority chronic conditions and 

6 recommendations to promote voluntary genetic 

7 testing of populations exposed to specific envi8 ronmental factors linked to these priority condi9 tions. 

10 ‘‘(3) NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

11 RAPID RESPONSE SERVICE.—The National Environ12 mental Health Rapid Response Service operated 

13 under paragraph (1)(D) shall— 

14 ‘‘(A) work with environmental health inves15 tigators appointed or hired under subsection 

16 (b)(3)(D) to develop and implement strategies, 

17 protocols, and guidelines for the coordinated, 

18 rapid responses to actual and perceived higher 

19 than expected incidence and prevalence rates of 

20 priority chronic conditions and to acute and po21 tential environmental hazards and exposures; 

22 ‘‘(B) conduct investigations into higher 

23 than expected incidence and prevalence rates of 

24 priority chronic conditions or environmental ex25 posures after an individual requests, through a 
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1 process established by the Secretary, the inter2 vention of the Service; 

3 ‘‘(C) coordinate activities carried out under 

4 this title with activities carried out under sec5 tions 319 through 319G; 

6 ‘‘(D) coordinate activities carried out 

7 under this title with the Administrators, the 

8 Surgeon General, and the Director of the Na9 tional Institutes of Health; and 

10 ‘‘(E) determine the necessity of, and co11 ordinate the development of voluntary genetic 

12 studies with the National Institutes of Health 

13 for individuals who have experienced environ14 mental exposures associated with these priority 

15 chronic conditions. 

16 ‘‘(4) DATA COLLECTION AND REPORTING BY

17 STATE NETWORKS.—The minimum standards and 

18 procedures referred to in paragraph (1)(G) shall in19 clude— 

20 ‘‘(A) a list and definitions of the priority 

21 chronic conditions to be tracked through the 

22 State Networks; 

23 ‘‘(B) a list and definitions of relevant envi24 ronmental exposures of concern to be tracked, 
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1 to the extent practicable, through the State 

2 Networks, including— 

3 ‘‘(i) hazardous air pollutants (as de4 fined in section 302(g) of the Clean Air 

5 Act); 

6 ‘‘(ii) air pollutants for which national 

7 primary ambient air quality standards 

8 have been promulgated under section 109 

9 of the Clean Air Act; 

10 ‘‘(iii) pollutants or contaminants (as 

11 defined in section 101 of the Comprehen12 sive Environmental Response, Compensa13 tion, and Liability Act of 1980); 

14 ‘‘(iv) toxic chemicals (as described in 

15 section 313 of the Emergency Planning 

16 and Community Right-to-Know Act of 

17 1986); 

18 ‘‘(v) substances reported under the 

19 Toxic Substances Control Act Inventory 

20 Update Rule as provided for in part 710 of 

21 title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, or 

22 successor regulations; 

23 ‘‘(vi) pesticides (as defined in section 

24 2(u) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, 

25 and Rodenticide Act); and 
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1 ‘‘(vii) such other potentially relevant 

2 environmental factors as the Secretary 

3 may specify; 

4 ‘‘(C) a list and definitions of potentially 

5 relevant behavioral, socioeconomic, demo6 graphic, and genetic factors know to be associ7 ated with these priority chronic conditions and 

8 other risk factors, including race, ethnic status, 

9 gender, age, occupation, and primary language, 

10 to be tracked through the State Networks; 

11 ‘‘(D) procedures for the complete and 

12 timely collection and reporting of data to the 

13 Coordinated Network by census tract, or other 

14 political subdivision determined appropriate by 

15 the Secretary, in consultation with the Adminis16 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency, 

17 regarding the factors described in subpara18 graphs (A), (B), and (C); 

19 ‘‘(E) procedures for making data available 

20 to the public and researchers, and for reporting 

21 to the Coordinated Network, while protecting 

22 the confidentiality of all personal data reported, 

23 in accordance with medical privacy regulations; 

24 ‘‘(F) standards and procedures for the es25 tablishment and maintenance of at least 7 re-
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1 gional biomonitoring laboratories, including pro2 viding for an equitable geographic distribution, 

3 by entering into cooperative agreements with 

4 States, groups of States, and academic institu5 tions or consortia of academic institutions, in 

6 order to expand the scope and amount of bio7 monitoring data collected by the Centers for 

8 Disease Control and Prevention as described in 

9 section 2904; 

10 ‘‘(G) criteria for the environmental health 

11 investigators as required under subsection 

12 (b)(3)(D); 

13 ‘‘(H) procedures for record and data main14 tenance and verification; and 

15 ‘‘(I) a framework for coordinating genetic 

16 studies on these priority chronic conditions as17 sociated with environmental factors including 

18 privacy protections, informed consent, and con19 tact information for patients wishing to enroll 

20 in clinical trials. 

21 ‘‘(b) STATE ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH NET22 WORKS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) GRANTS.—Not later than 24 months after 

24 the date of the enactment of this title, the Secretary, 

25 acting through the Director, in consultation with the 
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1 Administrators, and taking into consideration the 

2 findings of the Committee, shall award grants to 

3 States, local governments, territories, and Indian 

4 tribes for the establishment, maintenance, and oper5 ation of State Environmental Health Networks in 

6 accordance with the minimum standards and proce7 dures established by the Secretary under subsection 

8 (a)(4). 

9 ‘‘(2) SPECIALIZED ASSISTANCE.—The Coordi10 nated Network shall provide specialized assistance to 

11 grantees in the establishment, maintenance, and op12 eration of State Networks. 

13 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.—A State, local govern14 ment, territory, or Indian tribe receiving a grant 

15 under this subsection shall use the grant— 

16 ‘‘(A) to establish an environmental health 

17 network that will provide— 

18 ‘‘(i) for the complete tracking of the 

19 incidence, prevalence, and trends of pri20 ority chronic conditions and potentially rel21 evant environmental and other factors as 

22 set forth in subsection (a), as well as any 

23 additional priority chronic conditions and 

24 potentially related environmental exposures 
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1 of concern to that State, local government, 

2 territory, or Indian tribe; 

3 ‘‘(ii) for identification of priority 

4 chronic conditions and potentially relevant 

5 environmental, genetic, and other factors 

6 that disproportionately impact low income 

7 and minority communities; 

8 ‘‘(iii) for the protection of the con9 fidentiality of all personal data reported, in 

10 accordance with the medical privacy regu11 lations; 

12 ‘‘(iv) a means by which confidential 

13 data may, in accordance with Federal and 

14 State law, be disclosed to researchers for 

15 the purposes of public health research; 

16 ‘‘(v) the fullest possible public access 

17 to data collected by the State Network or 

18 through the Coordinated Network, while 

19 ensuring that individual privacy is pro20 tected in accordance with subsection 

21 (a)(1)(B); and 

22 ‘‘(vi) for the collection of exposure 

23 data through biomonitoring and other 

24 methods, including the entering into of co25 operative agreements with the Coordinated 
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1 Network in the establishment of the re2 gional biomonitoring laboratories as de3 scribed in section 2904; 

4 ‘‘(B) to develop a publicly available plan 

5 for establishing the State Network in order to 

6 meet minimum standards and procedures as de7 veloped by the Coordinated Network under sub8 section (a)(4), including the State’s priorities 

9 within the minimum standards, a timeline by 

10 which all the standards will be met, and a plan 

11 for coordinating and expanding existing data 

12 and surveillance systems within the State in13 cluding any pilot projects established through 

14 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

15 prior to the date of the enactment of this title; 

16 ‘‘(C) to appoint a lead environmental 

17 health department or agency that will be re18 sponsible for the development, operation, and 

19 maintenance of the State Network, and ensure 

20 the appropriate coordination among State and 

21 local agencies regarding the development, oper22 ation, and maintenance of the State Network; 

23 ‘‘(D) to appoint or hire an environmental 

24 health investigator who meets criteria estab25 lished by the Secretary under subsection 
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1 (a)(4)(G) and who will coordinate the develop2 ment and maintenance of the rapid response 

3 protocol established under subparagraph (E); 

4 ‘‘(E) to establish a rapid response protocol, 

5 coordinated by the grantee’s environmental 

6 health investigator, in order to respond in a 

7 timely manner to actual and perceived incidence 

8 and prevalence rates of priority chronic diseases 

9 that are higher than expected, acute and poten10 tial environmental hazards and exposures, and 

11 other environmental health concerns, including 

12 warning the public when emergent public health 

13 concerns are detected through the State Net14 work, and concerns regarding vulnerable sub15 populations and disproportionately impacted 

16 subpopulations; 

17 ‘‘(F) to establish an advisory committee to 

18 ensure local community input to the State Net19 work; and 

20 ‘‘(G) to recruit and train public health offi21 cials to continue to expand the State Network. 

22 ‘‘(4) LIMITATION.—A State, local government, 

23 territory, or Indian tribe that receives a grant under 

24 this section may not use more than 10 percent of 
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1 the funds made available through the grant for ad2 ministrative costs. 

3 ‘‘(5) APPLICATION.—To seek a grant under this 

4 section, a State, local government, territory, or In5 dian tribe shall submit to the Secretary an applica6 tion at such time, in such form and manner, and ac7 companied by such information as the Secretary may 

8 specify. The Secretary may not approve an applica9 tion for a grant under this subsection unless the ap10 plication— 

11 ‘‘(A) contains assurances that the State, 

12 local government, territory, or tribe will— 

13 ‘‘(i) use the grant only in compliance 

14 with the requirements of this title; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) establish such fiscal control and 

16 fund accounting procedures as may be nec17 essary to ensure the proper disbursement 

18 and accounting of Federal funds paid to 

19 the State, local government, territory, or 

20 tribe under the grant; 

21 ‘‘(B) contains the assurance that the 

22 State, local government, territory, or tribe will 

23 establish a State Network as required by this 

24 subsection; and 
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1 ‘‘(C) contains assurances that if the State, 

2 local government, territory, or tribe is unable to 

3 meet all of the requirements described in this 

4 subsection within the prescribed time period, 

5 the State, local government, territory, or tribe 

6 will use grant funds to increase the public 

7 health infrastructure of the State, local govern8 ment, territory, or tribe, acting in cooperation 

9 with the Coordinated Network, in order to im10 plement and maintain a State Network within 

11 24 months of the receipt of such grant. 

12 ‘‘(c) PILOT PROJECTS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning in fiscal year 

14 2006, a State, local government, territory, or Indian 

15 tribe may apply for a grant under this subsection to 

16 implement a pilot project that is approved by the 

17 Secretary, acting through the Director and in con18 sultation with the Administrators and the Com19 mittee. 

20 ‘‘(2) ACTIVITIES.—A State, local government, 

21 territory, or Indian tribe shall use amounts received 

22 under a grant under this subsection to carry out a 

23 pilot project designed to develop State Network en24 hancements and to develop programs to address spe25 cific local and regional concerns, including— 
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1 ‘‘(A) the expansion of the State Network 

2 to include additional chronic diseases or envi3 ronmental exposures; 

4 ‘‘(B) the conduct of investigations of local 

5 concerns of increased incidence or prevalence of 

6 priority chronic conditions and environmental 

7 exposures; and 

8 ‘‘(C) the carrying out of other activities as 

9 determined to be a priority by the State or con10 sortium of regional States, local government, 

11 territory, or tribe and the Secretary. 

12 ‘‘(3) RESULTS.—The Secretary may consider 

13 the results of the pilot projects under this subsection 

14 for inclusion into the Coordinated Network. 

15 ‘‘(d) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.— 

16 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 3 

17 months after the date of the enactment of this title, 

18 the Secretary acting jointly with the Administrators, 

19 shall establish an Advisory Committee in accordance 

20 with the Federal Advisory Committee Act. 

21 ‘‘(2) COMPOSITION.—The Advisory Committee 

22 shall be composed of 16 members to be appointed by 

23 the Secretary. Each member of the Advisory Com24 mittee shall serve a 3-year term, except that the Sec25 retary may appoint the initial members of the Advi-
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1 sory Committee for lesser terms in order to comply 

2 with the following sentence. In appointing the mem3 bers of the Advisory Committee, the Secretary shall 

4 ensure that the terms of 5 or 6 members expire each 

5 year. The Advisory Committee shall include at least 

6 9 members that have experience in the areas of— 

7 ‘‘(A) public health; 

8 ‘‘(B) the environment, especially toxic 

9 chemicals and human exposure; 

10 ‘‘(C) epidemiology; 

11 ‘‘(D) biomonitoring and other relevant ex12 posure technologies; and 

13 ‘‘(E) human disease genetics. 

14 ‘‘(3) REPORTING.—The Advisory Committee 

15 shall not later than 12 months after the date of the 

16 enactment of this title, and at least once every 12 

17 months thereafter, report to Congress on the 

18 progress of the Coordinated Network. 

19 ‘‘(4) HEARINGS.—The Advisory Committee 

20 shall hold such hearings, sit and act at such times 

21 and places, take such testimony, and receive such 

22 evidence as the Committee considers appropriate to 

23 carry out the objectives of the Coordinated Network. 

24 ‘‘(5) DUTIES.—The Advisory Committee 

25 shall— 
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1 ‘‘(A) review and provide input for the Co2 ordinated Environmental Health Network Re3 port prior to publication, and make rec4 ommendations as to the progress of the Coordi5 nated Network, including identifying informa6 tion gaps in the network; 

7 ‘‘(B) assist in developing the minimum 

8 standards and procedures for the State Net9 works under subsection (a)(4); and 

10 ‘‘(C) provide ongoing public input to the 

11 Coordinated Network. 

12 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

13 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

14 $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2006 and such sums as may 

15 be necessary for each of fiscal years 2007 through 2010. 

16 ‘‘SEC. 2902. INCREASING PUBLIC HEALTH PERSONNEL CA17 PACITY. 

18 ‘‘(a) SCHOOLS OR PROGRAMS OF PUBLIC HEALTH

19 CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE.— 

20 ‘‘(1) GRANTS.—Beginning in fiscal year 2006, 

21 the Secretary may award grants to at least 5 accred22 ited schools or programs of public health for the es23 tablishment, maintenance, and operation of Centers 

24 of Excellence for research and demonstration with 
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1 respect to chronic conditions and relevant environ2 mental factors. 

3 ‘‘(2) ACTIVITIES.—A Center of Excellence es4 tablished or operated under paragraph (1) shall un5 dertake research and development projects in at 

6 least 1 of the following areas: 

7 ‘‘(A) Investigating causal connections be8 tween chronic conditions and environmental fac9 tors. 

10 ‘‘(B) Increasing the understanding of the 

11 causes of higher than expected incidence and 

12 prevalence rates of priority chronic conditions 

13 and developing more effective intervention 

14 methods for when such elevated rates occur. 

15 ‘‘(C) Identifying additional chronic condi16 tions and environmental factors that could be 

17 tracked by the Coordinated Network. 

18 ‘‘(D) Improving translation of Coordinated 

19 Network tracking results into effective preven20 tion activities. 

21 ‘‘(E) Improving the training of public 

22 health workforce in environmental epidemiology. 

23 ‘‘(F) Establishing links to the Coordinated 

24 Network and the State Networks to identify as25 sociations that warrant further study. 
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1 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS FOR CENTERS OF EXCEL2 LENCE.—To be eligible to receive a grant under 

3 paragraph (1), a school or program of public health 

4 shall provide assurances that the school or pro5 gram— 

6 ‘‘(A) meets the minimum requirements as 

7 established by the Secretary in consultation 

8 with the Director; 

9 ‘‘(B) maintains privacy for public health 

10 information if appropriate to the project; and 

11 ‘‘(C) makes public information regarding 

12 the findings and results of the programs. 

13 ‘‘(4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

14 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

15 this subsection $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

16 2006 through 2010. 

17 ‘‘(b) JOHN H. CHAFEE PUBLIC HEALTH SCHOLAR

18 PROGRAM.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 

20 scholarships, to be known as John H. Chafee Public 

21 Health Scholarships, to eligible students who are en22 rolled in an accredited school of public health or 

23 medicine. The Secretary shall determine both the 

24 criteria and eligibility requirements for such scholar25 ships, after consultation with the Committee. 
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1 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

2 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

3 this subsection $2,500,000 for each of fiscal years 

4 2006 through 2010. 

5 ‘‘(c) APPLIED EPIDEMIOLOGY FELLOWSHIP PRO6 GRAMS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning in fiscal year 

8 2006, the Secretary, acting through the Director, 

9 shall enter into a cooperative agreement with the 

10 Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists to 

11 train and place, in State and local health depart12 ments, applied epidemiology fellows to enhance State 

13 and local epidemiology capacity in the areas of envi14 ronmental health, chronic disease, and birth defects 

15 and development disabilities. 

16 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

17 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

18 this subsection $2,500,000 for fiscal year 2006, and 

19 such sums as may be necessary in each of fiscal 

20 years 2007 through 2010. 

21 ‘‘SEC. 2903. GENERAL PROVISIONS. 

22 ‘‘(a) INTERNAL MONITORING AND COORDINATION

23 REGARDING CDC.—The Secretary, acting through the Di24 rector, shall place primary responsibility for the coordina25 tion of the programs established under this title in the 
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1 Office of the Director. The officers or employees of the 

2 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who are as3 signed responsibility for monitoring and coordinating the 

4 activities carried out under this title by the Director shall 

5 include officers or employees within the Office of the Di6 rector. 

7 ‘‘(b) FUNDING THROUGH APPROPRIATIONS AC8 COUNT FOR PUBLIC HEALTH IMPROVEMENT.—All au9 thorizations of appropriations established in this title are 

10 authorizations exclusively for appropriations to the ac11 count that, among appropriations accounts for the Centers 

12 for Disease Control and Prevention, is designated ‘Public 

13 Health Improvement’. 

14 ‘‘(c) DATE CERTAIN FOR OBLIGATION OF APPRO15 PRIATIONS.—With respect to the process of receiving ap16 plications for and making awards of grants, cooperative 

17 agreements, and contracts under this title, the Secretary, 

18 acting through the Director, shall to the extent practicable 

19 design the process to ensure that amounts appropriated 

20 under this title for such awards for a fiscal year are obli21 gated not later than the beginning of the fourth quarter 

22 of the fiscal year, subject to compliance with section 1512 

23 of title 31, United States Code (relating to deficiency or 

24 supplemental appropriations), and other applicable law re25 garding appropriations accounting. 
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1 ‘‘(d) COORDINATION WITH AGENCY FOR TOXIC SUB2 STANCES AND DISEASE REGISTRY.—In carrying out this 

3 title, the Secretary, acting through the Director, shall co4 ordinate activities and responses with the Agency for 

5 Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. 

6 ‘‘(e) COORDINATION WITH EXISTING PILOT

7 PROJECTS THROUGH CDC.—The Secretary shall inte8 grate the enactment of this title with all environmental 

9 health tracking pilot projects funded prior to the date of 

10 enactment of this title. 

11 ‘‘SEC. 2904. EXPANSION OF BIOMONITORING CAPABILITIES 

12 AND DATA COLLECTION. 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall expand the 

14 scope and amount of biomonitoring data collected by the 

15 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including the 

16 collection of biomonitoring data through the National 

17 Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, so that such 

18 biomonitoring data will provide robust information, by 

19 census tract or other political or administrative subdivi20 sion determined appropriate by the Secretary, on a range 

21 of environmental exposures, including prenatal exposures. 

22 ‘‘(b) INCREASING REGIONAL LABORATORY CAPAC23 ITY.—The Secretary, acting through the Director of the 

24 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shall enter 

25 into cooperative agreements with States, groups of States, 
30 

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1 academic institutions, or consortia of academic institu2 tions to establish and operate at least 7 regional biomoni3 toring laboratories to support the purposes of this title. 

4 ‘‘(c) GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION.—In entering 

5 into cooperative agreements under this section, the Sec6 retary shall provide for an equitable geographical distribu7 tion of regional biomonitoring laboratories. 

8 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

9 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 

10 $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2006, and such sums as may 

11 be necessary for each of fiscal years 2007 through 2010.’’. 

Æ