I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1909 

To prioritize educating and training for existing and new environmental 

health professionals. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 5, 2017 

Mrs. LAWRENCE (for herself, Mr. CONYERS, Ms. NORTON, Mrs. WATSON

COLEMAN, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. EVANS, and Mr. COHEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Education and 

the Workforce, 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 prioritize educating and training for existing and new 

environmental health professionals. 

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 ‘‘Environmental Health 

5 Workforce Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds as follows: 


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1 (1) The environmental health workforce is vital 

2 to protecting the health and safety of the public. 

3 (2) For years, State and local governmental 

4 public health agencies have reported substantial 

5 workforce losses and other challenges to the environ6 mental health workforce. 

7 (3) According to the Association of State and 

8 Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) and the Na9 tional Association of County and City Health Offi10 cials (NACCHO), more than 50,600 State and local 

11 environmental health workforce jobs have been lost 

12 since 2008. This represents approximately 22 per13 cent of the total State and local environmental 

14 health workforce. 

15 (4) In the coming years, the retiring Baby 

16 Boomer Generation will lead to a further decrease in 

17 the environmental health workforce. 

18 (5) Currently, only 28 States require a creden19 tial for environmental health workers that is an im20 partial, third-party endorsement of an individual’s 

21 professional knowledge and experience. 

22 (6) Educating and training existing and new 

23 environmental health professionals should be a na24 tional public health goal. 


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1 SEC. 3. MODEL STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES FOR 

2 CREDENTIALING ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH 

3 WORKERS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

5 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and 

6 Human Services, in coordination with appropriate na7 tional professional organizations, Federal, State, local, 

8 and tribal governmental agencies, and private-sector and 

9 nongovernmental entities, shall develop model standards 

10 and guidelines for credentialing environmental health 

11 workers. 

12 (b) PROVISION OF STANDARDS AND TECHNICAL AS13 SISTANCE.—The Secretary of Health and Human Services 

14 shall provide to State, local, and tribal governments— 

15 (1) the model standards and guidelines devel16 oped under subsection (a); and 

17 (2) technical assistance in credentialing envi18 ronmental health workers. 

19 SEC. 4. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH WORKFORCE DEVELOP20 MENT PLAN. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—To ensure that programs and ac22 tivities (including education, training, and payment pro23 grams) of the Department of Health and Human Services 

24 for developing the environmental health workforce meet 

25 national needs, the Secretary of Health and Human ServVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:22 Apr 12, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1909.IH H1909

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1 ices shall develop a comprehensive and coordinated plan 

2 for such programs and activities that— 

3 (1) includes performance measures to more 

4 clearly determine the extent to which these programs 

5 and activities are meeting the Department’s stra6 tegic goal of strengthening the environmental health 

7 workforce; 

8 (2) identifies and communicates to stakeholders 

9 any gaps between existing programs and activities 

10 and future environmental health workforce needs 

11 identified in workforce projections of the Health Re12 sources and Services Administration; 

13 (3) identifies actions needed to address such 

14 identified gaps; and 

15 (4) identifies any additional statutory authority 

16 that is needed by the Department to implement such 

17 identified actions. 

18 (b) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2 

19 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec20 retary of Health and Human Services shall submit to the 

21 Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of 

22 the Senate, and to the Committees on Energy and Com23 merce and Education and the Workforce of the House of 

24 Representatives, the plan developed under subsection (a). 


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1 SEC. 5. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH WORKFORCE DEVELOP2 MENT REPORT. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 

4 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

5 of the United States shall examine and identify best prac6 tices in 6 States (as described in subsection (b)) related 

7 to training and credentialing requirements for environ8 mental health workers and submit to the Committee on 

9 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and 

10 the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House 

11 of Representatives a report that includes information con12 cerning— 

13 (1) types of environmental health workers em14 ployed at State, local, and city health departments 

15 and independent environmental health agencies; 

16 (2) educational backgrounds of environmental 

17 health workers; 

18 (3) whether environmental health workers are 

19 credentialed or registered, and what type of creden20 tial or registration each worker has received; 

21 (4) State requirements for continuing education 

22 for environmental health workers; 

23 (5) whether State, local, and city health depart24 ments and independent environmental health agen25 cies track continuing education units for their envi26 ronmental health workers; and 


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1 (6) how frequently any exam required to qualify 

2 environmental health workers is updated and re3 viewed to ensure that the exam is consistent with 

4 current law. 

5 (b) SELECTION OF STATES.—The report described in 

6 subsection (a) shall be based upon the examination of such 

7 best practices with respect to 3 States that have 

8 credentialing requirements for environmental health work9 ers (such as Maryland, Ohio, and Washington) and 3 

10 States that do not have such requirements (such as Indi11 ana, Michigan, and Pennsylvania). 

12 SEC. 6. PUBLIC SERVICE LOAN FORGIVENESS. 

13 Section 455(m) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

14 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(m)) is amended in paragraph (3)(B)— 

15 (1) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end; 

16 (2) in clause (ii), by striking the period at the 

17 end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

18 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(iii) a full-time job as an environ20 mental health worker (as defined in section 

21 7 of the Environmental Health Workforce 

22 Act of 2017) who is accredited, certified, 

23 or licensed in accordance with applicable 

24 law.’’. 


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1 SEC. 7. DEFINITION. 

2 In this Act, the terms ‘‘environmental health worker’’ 

3 and ‘‘environmental health workforce’’ refer to public 

4 health workers who investigate and assess hazardous envi5 ronmental agents in various environmental settings and 

6 develop, promote, and enforce guidelines, policies, and 

7 interventions to control such hazards. 

Æ 


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