II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 53 

To authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to 

award grants to individuals that may be affected by a reported disease 

cluster. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 22 (legislative day, JANUARY 3), 2013 

Mrs. BOXER (for herself and Mr. CRAPO) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public 

Works 

A BILL 

To authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to award grants to individuals that may 

be affected by a reported disease cluster. 

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 ‘‘Community Disease 

5 Cluster Assistance Act’’. 

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) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

5 the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 

6 SEC. 3. COMMUNITY DISEASE CLUSTER TECHNICAL ASSIST7 ANCE GRANTS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in coordina9 tion with the Secretary may award grants in accordance 

10 with this Act to any individual or group of individuals that 

11 may be affected by a reported community-based disease 

12 cluster— 

13 (1) to pay the Federal share of the technical as14 sistance described in subsection (d); 

15 (2) to protect public health and the environ16 ment; 

17 (3) to promote healthy and safe environments; 

18 and 

19 (4) to prevent and address harmful exposures 

20 to hazardous substances. 

21 (b) APPLICATION.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible for a grant 

23 under this Act, an individual or group of individuals 

24 shall submit to the Administrator and the Secretary 

25 an application that contains a description of the— 


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1 (A) need for technical assistance, including 

2 the need to procure independent technical advi3 sors to help grant recipients interpret the infor4 mation described in subsection (d); 

5 (B) expected outputs, including results, ef6 fects, or consequences that will occur from the 

7 technical assistance; and 

8 (C) expected outcomes, including activity, 

9 effort, or associated work products that will be 

10 produced or provided over a period of time or 

11 by a specific date. 

12 (2) RESPONSE.—Not later than 120 days after 

13 the date on which an application is submitted under 

14 paragraph (1), the Administrator and the Secretary 

15 shall respond to each applicant in writing and de16 scribe whether the application is approved, denied, 

17 or will be considered after the applicant modifies the 

18 application. 

19 (3) CRITERIA.—The Administrator, in coordi20 nation with the Secretary, shall develop criteria that, 

21 if satisfied, would result in the Administrator and 

22 the Secretary accepting an application submitted 

23 under paragraph (1). 

24 (c) AMOUNT.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para2 graph (2), each grant awarded under this Act shall 

3 not exceed $50,000. 

4 (2) WAIVER.—The Administrator, in coordina5 tion with the Secretary, may waive the limitation de6 scribed in paragraph (1) if the waiver is necessary 

7 to provide the technical assistance described in sub8 section (d). 

9 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—Grants awarded under this Act 

10 shall be used to obtain technical assistance in interpreting 

11 information regarding— 

12 (1) investigating reported community-based dis13 ease clusters associated with 1 or more hazardous 

14 chemicals; 

15 (2) the potential hazardous chemicals associated 

16 with a reported community-based disease cluster; 

17 (3) providing individuals or groups of individ18 uals with community-based tools to educate the indi19 viduals on the mitigation of hazardous chemicals as20 sociated with reported community-based disease 

21 clusters; or 

22 (4) other scientific and technical issues related 

23 to reported community-based disease clusters. 


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1 (e) NUMBER OF GRANTS.—No individual or group of 

2 individuals shall be awarded more than 1 grant under this 

3 Act. 

4 (f) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para6 graph (2), the non-Federal share for each grant 

7 awarded under this Act is 20 percent. 

8 (2) WAIVER.—The Administrator, in coordina9 tion with the Secretary, may waive the non-Federal 

10 share described in paragraph (1) if— 

11 (A) the recipient of the grant demonstrates 

12 financial need; and 

13 (B) the waiver is necessary to provide the 

14 technical assistance described in subsection (d). 

15 (g) RENEWAL OF GRANT.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any grant awarded under 

17 this Act may be renewed to facilitate technical as18 sistance to any group of individuals that may be af19 fected by a reported community-based disease clus20 ter. 

21 (2) CONDITIONS.—Each renewal of a grant 

22 awarded under this Act is subject to the same condi23 tions that apply to an initial grant. 

24 (h) REPORTS.—Any recipient of a grant awarded 

25 under this Act shall submit to the Administrator and the 


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1 Secretary a report that describes the progress in address2 ing the needs and achieving the outputs and outcomes de3 scribed in subsection (b). 

4 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

5 For each of fiscal years 2013 through 2018, there 

6 are authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator 

7 and the Secretary from any funds made available to the 

8 Administrator and the Secretary for the purpose of pro9 viding community members with technical assistance and 

10 engagement on environmental health issues from the Haz11 ardous Substance Superfund established under section 

12 9507 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 such sums 

13 as are necessary to carry out section 3. 

14 SEC. 5. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS. 

15 Nothing in this Act modifies, limits, or otherwise af16 fects the application of, or obligation to comply with, any 

17 law, including any environmental or public health law. 

Æ 


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