II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1741 

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

Act to authorize the President to carry out a program for the protection 

of the health and safety of residents, workers, volunteers, and others 

in a disaster area. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 21, 2005 

Mr. VOINOVICH (for himself and Mrs. CLINTON) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to authorize the President to carry 

out a program for the protection of the health and safety 

of residents, workers, volunteers, and others in a disaster 

area. 

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 ‘‘Disaster Area Health 

5 and Environmental Monitoring Act of 2005’’. 
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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 A DISASTER AREA. 

8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 ‘‘(1) INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘individual’ in10 cludes— 

11 ‘‘(A) a worker or volunteer who responds 

12 to a disaster, including— 

13 ‘‘(i) a police officer; 

14 ‘‘(ii) a firefighter; 

15 ‘‘(iii) an emergency medical techni16 cian; 

17 ‘‘(iv) any participating member of an 

18 urban search and rescue team; and 

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

20 or volunteer that the President determines 

21 to be appropriate; 

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

23 by assisting in the cleanup or restoration of 

24 critical infrastructure in and around a disaster 

25 area; 
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1 ‘‘(C) a person whose place of residence is 

2 in a disaster area; 

3 ‘‘(D) a person who is employed in or at4 tends school, child care, or adult day care in a 

5 building located in a disaster area; and 

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

7 determines to be appropriate. 

8 ‘‘(2) PROGRAM.—The term ‘program’ means a 

9 program described in subsection (b) that is carried 

10 out for a disaster area. 

11 ‘‘(3) SUBSTANCE OF CONCERN.—The term 

12 ‘substance of concern’ means a chemical or other 

13 substance that is associated with potential acute or 

14 chronic human health effects, the risk of exposure to 

15 which could potentially be increased as the result of 

16 a disaster, as determined by the President. 

17 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM.— 

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

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

20 have been, released in an area declared to be a dis21 aster area under this Act, the President may carry 

22 out a program for the protection, assessment, moni23 toring, and study of the health and safety of individ24 uals to ensure that— 
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1 ‘‘(A) the individuals are adequately in2 formed about and protected against potential 

3 health impacts of any substance of concern and 

4 potential mental health impacts in a timely 

5 manner; 

6 ‘‘(B) the individuals are monitored and 

7 studied over time, including through baseline 

8 and followup clinical health examinations, for— 

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

10 impacts of any substance of concern; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) any mental health impacts; 

12 ‘‘(C) the individuals receive health care re13 ferrals as needed and appropriate; and 

14 ‘‘(D) information from any such moni15 toring and studies is used to prevent or protect 

16 against similar health impacts from future dis17 asters. 

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

19 (1) may include such activities as— 

20 ‘‘(A) collecting and analyzing environ21 mental exposure data; 

22 ‘‘(B) developing and disseminating infor23 mation and educational materials; 
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1 ‘‘(C) performing baseline and followup clin2 ical health and mental health examinations and 

3 taking biological samples; 

4 ‘‘(D) establishing and maintaining an ex5 posure registry; 

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

7 human health impacts of any exposures through 

8 epidemiological and other health studies; and 

9 ‘‘(F) providing assistance to individuals in 

10 determining eligibility for health coverage and 

11 identifying appropriate health services. 

12 ‘‘(3) TIMING.—To the maximum extent prac13 ticable, activities under any program established 

14 under paragraph (1) (including baseline health ex15 aminations) shall be commenced in a timely manner 

16 that will ensure the highest level of public health 

17 protection and effective monitoring. 

18 ‘‘(4) PARTICIPATION IN REGISTRIES AND STUD19 IES.— 

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

21 registry or study that is part of a program 

22 under paragraph (1) shall be voluntary. 

23 ‘‘(B) PROTECTION OF PRIVACY.—The 

24 President shall take appropriate measures to 
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1 protect the privacy of any participant in a reg2 istry or study described in subparagraph (A). 

3 ‘‘(5) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.— 

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

5 carry out a program under paragraph (1) 

6 through a cooperative agreement with a medical 

7 institution, including a local health department, 

8 or a consortium of medical institutions. 

9 ‘‘(B) SELECTION CRITERIA.—To the max10 imum extent practicable, the President shall se11 lect to carry out a program under paragraph 

12 (1) a medical institution or a consortium of 

13 medical institutions that— 

14 ‘‘(i) is located near— 

15 ‘‘(I) the disaster area with re16 spect to which the program is carried 

17 out; and 

18 ‘‘(II) any other area in which 

19 there reside groups of individuals that 

20 worked or volunteered in response to 

21 the disaster; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) has appropriate experience in the 

23 areas of environmental or occupational 

24 health, toxicology, and safety, including ex25 perience in— 
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1 ‘‘(I) developing clinical protocols 

2 and conducting clinical health exami3 nations, including mental health as4 sessments; 

5 ‘‘(II) conducting long-term health 

6 monitoring and epidemiological stud7 ies; 

8 ‘‘(III) conducting long-term men9 tal health studies; and 

10 ‘‘(IV) establishing and maintain11 ing medical surveillance programs and 

12 environmental exposure or disease 

13 registries. 

14 ‘‘(6) INVOLVEMENT.— 

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

16 maintaining a program under paragraph (1), 

17 the President shall involve interested and af18 fected parties, as appropriate, including rep19 resentatives of— 

20 ‘‘(i) Federal, State, and local govern21 ment agencies; 

22 ‘‘(ii) groups of individuals that worked 

23 or volunteered in response to the disaster 

24 in the disaster area; 
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1 ‘‘(iii) local residents, businesses, and 

2 schools (including parents and teachers); 

3 ‘‘(iv) health care providers; and 

4 ‘‘(v) other organizations and persons. 

5 ‘‘(B) COMMITTEES.—Involvement under 

6 subparagraph (A) may be provided through the 

7 establishment of an advisory or oversight com8 mittee or board. 

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

10 each program under paragraph (1) in accordance 

11 with regulations relating to privacy promulgated 

12 under section 264(c) of the Health Insurance Port13 ability and Accountability Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C. 

14 1320d–2 note; Public Law 104–191). 

15 ‘‘(c) REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year after the es16 tablishment of a program under subsection (b)(1), and 

17 every 5 years thereafter, the President, or the medical in18 stitution or consortium of such institutions having entered 

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

20 shall submit to the Secretary of Homeland Security, the 

21 Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary 

22 of Labor, the Administrator of the Environmental Protec23 tion Agency, and appropriate committees of Congress a 

24 report on programs and studies carried out under the pro25 gram.’’. 
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1 SEC. 3. NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES REPORT ON DIS2 ASTER AREA HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL 

3 PROTECTION AND MONITORING. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu5 rity, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and 

6 the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agen7 cy shall jointly enter into a contract with the National 

8 Academy of Sciences to conduct a study and prepare a 

9 report on disaster area health and environmental protec10 tion and monitoring. 

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

12 shall be prepared with the participation of individuals who 

13 have expertise in— 

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

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

16 (3) clinical medicine, including pediatrics; 

17 (4) toxicology; 

18 (5) epidemiology; 

19 (6) mental health; 

20 (7) medical monitoring and surveillance; 

21 (8) environmental monitoring and surveillance; 

22 (9) environmental and industrial hygiene; 

23 (10) emergency planning and preparedness; 

24 (11) public outreach and education; 

25 (12) State and local health departments; 
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1 (13) State and local environmental protection 

2 departments; 

3 (14) functions of workers that respond to disas4 ters, including first responders; and 

5 (15) public health and family services. 

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

7 shall provide advice and recommendations regarding pro8 tecting and monitoring the health and safety of individuals 

9 potentially exposed to any chemical or other substance as10 sociated with potential acute or chronic human health ef11 fects as the result of a disaster, including advice and rec12 ommendations regarding— 

13 (1) the establishment of protocols for the moni14 toring of and response to chemical or substance re15 leases in a disaster area for the purpose of pro16 tecting public health and safety, including— 

17 (A) chemicals or other substances for 

18 which samples should be collected in the event 

19 of a disaster, including a terrorist attack; 

20 (B) chemical- or substance-specific meth21 ods of sample collection, including sampling 

22 methodologies and locations; 

23 (C) chemical- or substance-specific meth24 ods of sample analysis; 
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1 (D) health-based threshold levels to be 

2 used and response actions to be taken in the 

3 event that thresholds are exceeded for indi4 vidual chemicals or other substances; 

5 (E) procedures for providing monitoring 

6 results to— 

7 (i) appropriate Federal, State, and 

8 local government agencies; 

9 (ii) appropriate response personnel; 

10 and 

11 (iii) the public; 

12 (F) responsibilities of Federal, State and 

13 local agencies for— 

14 (i) collecting and analyzing samples; 

15 (ii) reporting results; and 

16 (iii) taking appropriate response ac17 tions; and 

18 (G) capabilities and capacity within the 

19 Federal Government to conduct appropriate en20 vironmental monitoring and response in the 

21 event of a disaster, including a terrorist attack; 

22 and 

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

24 Homeland Security, the Secretary of Health and 
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1 Human Services, and the Administrator of the Envi2 ronmental Protection Agency. 

3 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

4 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec5 essary to carry out this section. 

6 SEC. 4. PREDISASTER HAZARD MITIGATION. 

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

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

9 5133(m)) is amended by striking ‘‘December 31, 2003’’ 

10 and inserting ‘‘September 30, 2007’’. 

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