II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 76 

To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to investigate and address cancer and disease clusters, including in infants and 

children. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 25 (legislative day, JANUARY 5), 2011 

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 direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

Agency to investigate and address cancer and disease 

clusters, including in infants and children. 

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 Protec5 tions for Children and Communities From Disease Clus6 ters Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) children are particularly at risk from envi2 ronmental pollutants or toxic substances for various 

3 reasons, including because— 

4 (A) the nervous, immune, digestive, and 

5 other systems of children are still developing as 

6 the children move though several stages of 

7 rapid growth and development; 

8 (B) exposure to environmental pollutants 

9 or toxic substances can affect prenatal, infant, 

10 and childhood growth and development; 

11 (C) children may be less able to detoxify 

12 and excrete toxins than adults; 

13 (D) children eat proportionately more food, 

14 drink more fluids, breathe more air, and play 

15 outside more, which means children are more 

16 exposed to environmental pollutants and toxic 

17 substances than adults; 

18 (E) children are less able to protect them19 selves from exposures to environmental pollut20 ants or toxic substances; 

21 (F) the behavior of children exposes chil22 dren to different environmental pollutants and 

23 toxic substances than adults; 

24 (G) the natural curiosity and tendency of 

25 children to explore leaves children open to 


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1 health risks that adults can more easily avoid; 

2 and 

3 (H) the developing brains, reproductive 

4 systems, and other organs of children are more 

5 susceptible to permanent disruption that can re6 sult in health problems during the lives of the 

7 children; 

8 (2) according to the Department of Health and 

9 Human Services, birth defects are the leading cause 

10 of infant death in the first year of life, accounting 

11 for about 20 percent of infant deaths in 2006; 

12 (3) according to the American Cancer Society, 

13 cancer is the second leading cause of death in chil14 dren, exceeded only by accidents; 

15 (4) according to the Centers for Disease Con16 trol and Prevention, an estimated 1 in 110 children 

17 in the United States have an autism spectrum dis18 order; 

19 (5) scientific research on environmental, ge20 netic, and other influences that may affect environ21 mental health is a national priority; 

22 (6) Federal agencies should work to address se23 rious environmental health problems to better pro24 tect children and other individuals in communities, 

25 both large and small, across the United States; and 


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1 (7) according to the National Academy of 

2 Sciences— 

3 (A) it is in the national interest to place a 

4 higher priority on the health of children; 

5 (B) in the short term, that priority will re6 sult in children whose health and quality of life 

7 is improved and who are more ready and able 

8 to learn; 

9 (C) children have important value in their 

10 own right and are worthy of that type of soci11 etal commitment; 

12 (D) it is also in the national interest to op13 timize the health of children because, in the 

14 long term— 

15 (i) the continuing viability of society 

16 depends on a citizenry and a workforce 

17 that are properly equipped to be productive 

18 and committed to serving the country; and 

19 (ii) failure to improve the health of 

20 children will have a substantial long-term 

21 consequence for the health of the adult 

22 population; and 

23 (E) investing in the health of children is 

24 necessary for all of the reasons described in 


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1 subparagraphs (A) through (D) and is the right 

2 thing to do. 

3 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

4 The purposes of this Act are— 

5 (1) to provide to the Administrator the author6 ity to help conduct investigations into the potential 

7 for environmental pollutants or toxic substances to 

8 cause disease clusters; 

9 (2) to ensure that the Administrator has the 

10 authority to undertake actions to help address exist11 ing and potential environmental pollution and toxic 

12 substances that may contribute to the creation of 

13 disease clusters; and 

14 (3) to enable the Administrator to integrate and 

15 work in conjunction with other Federal, State, and 

16 local agencies, institutions of higher education, and 

17 the public in investigating and helping to address 

18 the possible causes of disease clusters. 

19 SEC. 4. GOALS. 

20 The goals of this Act are— 

21 (1) to protect and assist pregnant women, in22 fants, children, and other individuals who have been, 

23 are, or could be harmed by, and become part of, a 

24 disease cluster; 


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1 (2) to enhance Federal resources, expertise, 

2 outreach, transparency, and accountability in re3 sponding to public and State and local government 

4 inquiries about the potential causes of a disease 

5 cluster; 

6 (3) to strengthen Federal analytical capacity 

7 and coordination, including with State and local au8 thorities, in the investigation of the potential causes 

9 of disease clusters; 

10 (4) to develop multidisciplinary teams that un11 dertake a systematic, integrated approach to inves12 tigate and help address the potential causes of dis13 ease clusters that State and local officials cannot ad14 dress or need assistance in addressing; and 

15 (5) to help facilitate the rapid investigation of 

16 potential disease clusters and actions to address the 

17 potential causes of disease clusters. 

18 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

19 In this Act: 

20 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis21 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ22 mental Protection Agency. 

23 (2) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Agency’’ means the 

24 Environmental Protection Agency. 


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

2 the Director of the National Institute of Environ3 mental Health Sciences. 

4 (4) DISEASE CLUSTER.—The term ‘‘disease 

5 cluster’’ means— 

6 (A) the occurrence of a greater-than-ex7 pected number of cases of a particular disease 

8 within a group of individuals, a geographical 

9 area, or a period of time; or 

10 (B) the occurrence of a particular disease 

11 in such number of cases, or meeting such other 

12 criteria, as the Administrator, in consultation 

13 with the Administrator of the Agency for Toxic 

14 Substances and Disease Registry and the Direc15 tor, may determine. 

16 (5) ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANTS OR TOXIC

17 SUBSTANCES.—The term ‘‘environmental pollutants 

18 or toxic substances’’ includes the substances de19 scribed in paragraph (7). 

20 (6) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal 

21 agency’’ means— 

22 (A) any department, agency, or other in23 strumentality of the Federal Government; 


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1 (B) any independent agency or establish2 ment of the Federal Government (including any 

3 Government corporation); and 

4 (C) the Government Printing Office. 

5 (7) POTENTIAL CAUSES OF A DISEASE CLUS6 TER.—The term ‘‘potential causes of a disease clus7 ter’’ includes environmental and public health fac8 tors that could increase the possibility of disease 

9 clusters, including environmental pollutants or toxic 

10 substances and sources of those pollutants and sub11 stances, including— 

12 (A) emissions of air pollutants that are 

13 regulated under the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 

14 7401 et seq.); and 

15 (B) water pollutants that are regulated 

16 under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 

17 (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.); 

18 (C) a contaminant, as that term is defined 

19 in section 1401 of the Safe Drinking Water Act 

20 (42 U.S.C. 300f); 

21 (D) a hazardous substance, as that term is 

22 defined in section 101 of the Comprehensive 

23 Environmental Response, Compensation, and 

24 Liability Act (42 U.S.C. 9601); 


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1 (E) solid waste and hazardous waste, as 

2 those terms are defined in section 1004 of the 

3 Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6903); 

4 (F) a chemical substance, as that term is 

5 defined in section 3 of the Toxic Substances 

6 Control Act (15 U.S.C. 2602); 

7 (G) a substance that is regulated under 

8 the Emergency Planning and Community 

9 Right-To-Know Act of 1986 (42 U.S.C. 11001 

10 et seq.); and 

11 (H) any other form of environmental pollu12 tion or toxic substance that is a known or po13 tential cause of an adverse health effect, includ14 ing a developmental, reproductive, neurotoxic, 

15 or carcinogenic effect. 

16 (8) REGIONAL RESPONSE CENTER.—The term 

17 ‘‘Regional Response Center’’ means a Regional Dis18 ease Cluster Information and Response Center es19 tablished under section 7. 

20 (9) RESPONSE TEAM.—The term ‘‘Response 

21 Team’’ means a Regional Disease Cluster Informa22 tion and Response Team established under section 7. 

23 (10) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

24 means the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 


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1 SEC. 6. GUIDELINES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INVESTIGA2 TIONS OF DISEASE CLUSTERS. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in con5 sultation with the Administrator of the Agency for 

6 Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, the Sec7 retary, and the Director, shall develop, publish, and 

8 periodically update guidelines that describe a sys9 tematic, integrated approach that uses the best 

10 available science to investigate— 

11 (A) 1 or more suspected or potential dis12 ease clusters; 

13 (B) environmental pollutants or toxic sub14 stances associated with 1 or more suspected or 

15 potential disease clusters; or 

16 (C) potential causes of 1 or more disease 

17 clusters. 

18 (2) COORDINATION.—The Administrator shall 

19 ensure that the Office of Children’s Health Protec20 tion, in consultation with appropriate advisory com21 mittees, such as the Children’s Health Protection 

22 Advisory Committee, has a prominent role on behalf 

23 of the Agency in developing and updating guidelines 

24 under paragraph (1). 

25 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—Guidelines developed under 

26 this section shall include— 


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1 (1) definitions of key concepts and actions; 

2 (2) disease cluster identification and reporting 

3 protocols; 

4 (3) standardized methods of reviewing and cat5 egorizing data, including from health surveillance 

6 systems and disease cluster reports; 

7 (4) guidance for using, in a health-protective 

8 way, an appropriate epidemiological, statistical, or 

9 other approach for the circumstances of an inves10 tigation; 

11 (5) procedures for peer review of key documents 

12 by individuals who have no direct or indirect conflict 

13 of interest; and 

14 (6) a description of roles and responsibilities of 

15 the Administrator and the Administrator of the 

16 Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

17 in conducting investigations described in those 

18 guidelines, in accordance with this Act. 

19 (c) TIMING.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Draft guidelines developed 

21 under this section shall be available for public review 

22 and comment for a period of not less than 60 days. 

23 (2) FINAL GUIDELINES.—Not later than 1 year 

24 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis25 trator, in consultation with the Administrator of the 


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1 Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, 

2 the Secretary, and the Director, shall publish in the 

3 Federal Register final guidelines under this section. 

4 SEC. 7. ENHANCED SUPPORT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INVES5 TIGATIONS OF DISEASE CLUSTERS. 

6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF REGIONAL DISEASE CLUS7 TER INFORMATION AND RESPONSE CENTERS AND

8 TEAMS.— 

9 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in 

11 consultation with the Administrator of the 

12 Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Reg13 istry, the Secretary, and the Director, and other 

14 appropriate Federal agencies, shall establish 

15 and operate Regional Disease Cluster Informa16 tion and Response Centers and Regional Dis17 ease Cluster Information and Response Teams. 

18 (B) PRINCIPAL RESPONSIBILITY.—The Ad19 ministrator shall be principally responsible for 

20 directing, coordinating, and approving Federal 

21 efforts and assistance authorized under this 

22 section. 

23 (2) COORDINATION.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

25 shall ensure that the Office of Children’s 


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1 Health Protection, in consultation with appro2 priate advisory committees, such as the Chil3 dren’s Health Protection Advisory Committee, 

4 has a prominent role on behalf of the Agency 

5 in establishing and operating the Regional Re6 sponse Centers and the Response Teams. 

7 (B) GRANTS AND COOPERATIVE AGREE8 MENTS.— 

9 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

10 shall provide support (including research, 

11 program implementation, and operational 

12 support activities) to individuals on Re13 sponse Teams described in subsection (b) 

14 and Community Disease Cluster Advisory 

15 Committees described in subsection (c) 

16 through grants and cooperative agreements 

17 with institutions of higher education that 

18 have programs or individuals with dem19 onstrated expertise in research, training, 

20 studies, and technical assistance. 

21 (ii) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA22 TIONS.—There are authorized to be appro23 priated to carry out this subparagraph 

24 such sums as are necessary. 


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1 (3) TIMING.—Not later than 1 year after the 

2 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 

3 shall establish at least— 

4 (A) 2 Regional Response Centers; and 

5 (B) 2 Response Teams. 

6 (b) RESPONSE TEAMS.— 

7 (1) MEMBERSHIP.—Each Response Team shall 

8 include individuals who— 

9 (A) have expertise in epidemiology, 

10 toxicogenomics, molecular biology, toxicology, 

11 pollution control requirements, data analysis, 

12 environmental health and disease surveillance, 

13 exposure assessment, pediatric health, commu14 nity outreach and involvement, and other rel15 evant fields; and 

16 (B) have no direct or indirect conflict of 

17 interest. 

18 (2) LEADERSHIP.—Each Response Team shall 

19 have— 

20 (A) an individual who is the leader of the 

21 Response Team and who reports to the Admin22 istrator, the Administrator of the Agency for 

23 Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, and the 

24 Director; and 


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1 (B) an individual who has the skills or ex2 perience necessary to carry out community out3 reach and involvement activities, including— 

4 (i) the establishment of Community 

5 Disease Cluster Advisory Committees 

6 under subsection (c); and 

7 (ii) the facilitation of activities of 

8 those Committees. 

9 (3) ACTIVITIES.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in 

11 consultation with the Administrator of the 

12 Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Reg13 istry and the Director, shall establish the scope 

14 of activities for Response Teams to ensure that 

15 the activities are consistent with achieving the 

16 goals of this Act. 

17 (B) REQUIREMENTS.—The activities of the 

18 Response Teams shall include— 

19 (i) making guidelines, protocols, data, 

20 and other relevant information and exper21 tise available to State and local officials 

22 and the public to assist in efforts— 

23 (I) to investigate suspected or po24 tential disease clusters, environmental 

25 pollutants or toxic substances associVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:14 Jan 28, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S76.IS S76

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1 ated with those disease clusters, and 

2 potential causes of disease clusters; 

3 and 

4 (II) to address potential causes 

5 of disease clusters; 

6 (ii) responding rapidly to a petition 

7 described in subparagraph (C) from any 

8 person, including a State or local official, 

9 regarding the need— 

10 (I) to investigate suspected or po11 tential disease clusters, environmental 

12 pollutants or toxic substances associ13 ated with those disease clusters, and 

14 potential causes of disease clusters; 

15 and 

16 (II) to address the potential 

17 causes of disease clusters; 

18 (iii) providing the best available envi19 ronmental sampling and laboratory equip20 ment to collect, analyze, and interpret 

21 monitoring, health surveillance, and other 

22 relevant information at scales and 

23 timelines appropriate to an action; 

24 (iv) involving community members, in 

25 accordance with established scientific 


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1 methods and norms (including the preser2 vation of the confidentiality of individuals), 

3 in— 

4 (I) investigations of suspected or 

5 potential disease clusters, environ6 mental pollutants or toxic substances 

7 associated with those disease clusters, 

8 or potential causes of disease clusters, 

9 including through— 

10 (aa) environmental exposure 

11 assessments; 

12 (bb) biomonitoring activities; 

13 and 

14 (cc) community-based 

15 participatory research initiatives; 

16 and 

17 (II) other efforts to address the 

18 potential causes of disease clusters; 

19 (v) working with State and local agen20 cies— 

21 (I) to help make the use and 

22 management of integrated environ23 mental health data consistent and 

24 timely; and 

25 (II) to fill data gaps; and 


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1 (vi) investigating suspected or poten2 tial disease clusters, environmental pollut3 ants or toxic substances associated with 

4 those disease clusters, and potential causes 

5 of disease clusters, and addressing the po6 tential causes of disease clusters that the 

7 Administrator determines State and local 

8 officials need assistance in investigating or 

9 addressing, or that the Administrator de10 termines should be investigated or ad11 dressed. 

12 (C) PETITION.— 

13 (i) IN GENERAL.—Any person, includ14 ing a State or local official, may submit a 

15 petition referred to in subparagraph (B)(ii) 

16 to the Administrator, the Administrator of 

17 the Agency for Toxic Substances and Dis18 ease Registry, and the Director that re19 quests that a Response Team conduct an 

20 investigation or take other action to ad21 dress the potential causes of disease clus22 ters in accordance with this Act. 

23 (ii) REQUIREMENTS.—Each petition 

24 submitted under clause (i) shall clearly de25 scribe the basis for the requested investigaVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:14 Jan 28, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S76.IS S76

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1 tion or action, including any data sup2 porting the request. 

3 (iii) CONSIDERATION.—The Adminis4 trator, in consultation with the Adminis5 trator of the Agency for Toxic Substances 

6 and Disease Registry and the Director, 

7 shall establish criteria for the consideration 

8 of petitions submitted under this section 

9 using health-protective factors, including— 

10 (I) evidence of the release of en11 vironmental pollutants or toxic sub12 stances; 

13 (II) the locations in which there 

14 appear to be potentially significant 

15 health threats from the potential 

16 causes of disease clusters; 

17 (III) cases in which existing data 

18 appear to be inadequate to fully as19 sess the potential risks to public 

20 health; and 

21 (IV) such other factors as the 

22 Administrator determines are nec23 essary. 

24 (iv) RESPONSE.—Not later than 60 

25 days after the date of receipt of a petition 


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1 under clause (iii), the Administrator, in 

2 consultation with the Administrator of the 

3 Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease 

4 Registry and the Director, shall provide a 

5 written response that describes— 

6 (I) the investigation or actions 

7 that will be undertaken in response to 

8 the petition, including the timeline 

9 and basis for the investigation or ac10 tions; and 

11 (II) the reasons for any denial or 

12 deferral in providing such a response. 

13 (v) TIMING OF ISSUANCE OF CRI14 TERIA.— 

15 (I) IN GENERAL.—The Adminis16 trator, in consultation with the Ad17 ministrator of the Agency for Toxic 

18 Substances and Disease Registry and 

19 the Director, shall provide for public 

20 notice of draft criteria established 

21 under this subparagraph for a period 

22 of not less than 60 days. 

23 (II) FINAL CRITERIA.—Not later 

24 than 1 year after the date of enact25 ment of this Act, the Administrator, 


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1 in consultation with the Administrator 

2 of the Agency for Toxic Substances 

3 and Disease Registry and the Direc4 tor, shall publish in the Federal Reg5 ister final criteria required under this 

6 subparagraph. 

7 (4) USE OF PUBLICLY AVAILABLE REPORTS.— 

8 Response Team investigations and actions shall— 

9 (A) include publicly available reports pre10 pared by the Response Team that contain state11 ments of facts, findings, and recommendations 

12 for actions, to the extent appropriate; and 

13 (B) be prepared in a manner that pre14 serves the confidentiality of individuals. 

15 (5) TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY.— 

16 Response Team activities shall include measures to 

17 ensure— 

18 (A) transparency and accountability to po19 tentially affected individuals, State and local of20 ficials, the public, and other persons and agen21 cies, while preserving the confidentiality of indi22 viduals; 

23 (B) that consistent, accurate, and mean24 ingful information is provided to potentially af25 fected individuals, State and local officials, the 


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1 public, and other persons and agencies through 

2 the use of comprehensive, community-based 

3 communications plans; and 

4 (C) accountability to meeting goals and 

5 timetables. 

6 (6) DATABASE.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in 

8 consultation with the Administrator of the 

9 Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Reg10 istry, the Secretary, and the Director, shall 

11 compile and regularly update information in a 

12 comprehensive electronic database that— 

13 (i) is publicly accessible through the 

14 Internet; 

15 (ii) provides a centralized location for 

16 information relating to— 

17 (I) disease cluster reports and in18 vestigations; 

19 (II) environmental pollutants or 

20 toxic substances that are associated 

21 with suspected or potential disease 

22 clusters; 

23 (III) illnesses associated with 

24 suspected or potential disease clusters, 


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1 including locally generated informa2 tion; 

3 (IV) systematic tracking of envi4 ronmental pollutants or toxic sub5 stances and illnesses associated with 

6 suspected or potential disease clusters; 

7 (V) actions to help address the 

8 potential causes of disease clusters; 

9 and 

10 (VI) any other information that 

11 the Administrator determines to be 

12 necessary; and 

13 (iii) facilitates the rapid reporting and 

14 analysis of information described in clause 

15 (ii). 

16 (B) CONFIDENTIALITY.—A database de17 scribed in subparagraph (A) shall be main18 tained in a manner that preserves the confiden19 tiality of individuals. 

20 (c) COMMUNITY DISEASE CLUSTER ADVISORY COM21 MITTEES.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall es23 tablish Community Disease Cluster Advisory Com24 mittees to provide oversight, guidance, and advice 

25 relating to— 


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1 (A) the investigation of suspected and po2 tential disease clusters; 

3 (B) the investigation of environmental pol4 lutants or toxic substances associated with sus5 pected or potential disease clusters; 

6 (C) the investigation of potential causes of 

7 disease clusters; 

8 (D) efforts to address the potential causes 

9 of disease clusters; and 

10 (E) the most effective means of ensuring 

11 outreach to and involvement of community 

12 members. 

13 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—Membership on Community 

14 Disease Cluster Advisory Committees shall be com15 prised of representatives that include— 

16 (A) individuals who are or may be im17 pacted by a suspected or potential disease clus18 ter, and the designee of such an individual who 

19 may participate with or in the place of such an 

20 individual; 

21 (B) State or local government health or 

22 environmental agencies; 

23 (C) at least 2 individuals, appointed by the 

24 Administrator in consultation with the Adminis25 trator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and 


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1 Disease Registry and the Director, with dem2 onstrated knowledge of the activities described 

3 in paragraph (1); and 

4 (D) other appropriate individuals, as deter5 mined by the Administrator, in consultation 

6 with the Administrator of the Agency for Toxic 

7 Substances and Disease Registry and the Direc8 tor. 

9 (3) PROHIBITION.—No member of a Committee 

10 may have any direct or indirect conflict of interest. 

11 (4) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in 

13 consultation with the Administrator of the 

14 Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Reg15 istry and the Director, may make grants avail16 able to any group of individuals that may be af17 fected by a suspected or potential disease clus18 ter. 

19 (B) USE OF FUNDS.—Grants made avail20 able under subparagraph (A) may be used to 

21 facilitate active involvement in all aspects of 

22 Committee activities and to assist Committee 

23 members in obtaining technical assistance in in24 terpreting information with regard to— 

25 (i) the investigation of— 


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1 (I) suspected or potential disease 

2 clusters; 

3 (II) environmental pollutants or 

4 toxic substances that are associated 

5 with suspected or potential disease 

6 clusters; and 

7 (III) the potential causes of dis8 ease clusters; 

9 (ii) addressing the potential causes of 

10 disease clusters; 

11 (iii) understanding the health con12 cerns associated with suspected or poten13 tial disease clusters; and 

14 (iv) understanding other scientific and 

15 technical issues relating to the activities of 

16 a Regional Response Team and Commu17 nity Disease Cluster Advisory Committee, 

18 including the potential need for and inter19 pretation of any biomonitoring of individ20 uals in the area. 

21 (d) ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS.— 

22 The Administrator, in consultation with the Administrator 

23 of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, 

24 the Secretary, and the Director, shall use available au25 thorities and programs to compile, research, and analyze 


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1 information generated by actions authorized under this 

2 section, including by— 

3 (1) using those authorities to test environ4 mental pollutants or toxic substances identified 

5 under subsection (b)(6); and 

6 (2) incorporating environmental pollutants or 

7 toxic substances identified under subsection (b)(6) in 

8 appropriate national biomonitoring initiatives. 

9 SEC. 8. FEDERAL REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 

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

11 date of enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the 

12 Administrator, in consultation with the Administrator of 

13 the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, 

14 the Secretary, and the Director, shall prepare a report 

15 that describes— 

16 (1) the status of activities under this Act to in17 vestigate and address the suspected and potential 

18 causes of disease clusters; 

19 (2) environmental pollutants or toxic substances 

20 that are associated with suspected or potential dis21 ease clusters; 

22 (3) the potential causes of disease clusters; and 

23 (4) ways to address the potential causes of 

24 those disease clusters. 


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1 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The report shall include a de2 scription of— 

3 (1) outreach activities to State and local offi4 cials and communities; 

5 (2) actions that the Administrator has taken to 

6 prioritize the testing of environmental pollutants or 

7 toxic substances; 

8 (3) actions that the Administrator has taken to 

9 include environmental pollutants or toxic substances 

10 identified under section 7(b)(7) in appropriate na11 tional biomonitoring initiatives; 

12 (4) actions that the Administrator is taking or 

13 plans to take to address problems in implementing 

14 this Act; 

15 (5) actions that the Secretary is taking or plans 

16 to take to address problems in implementing this 

17 Act; 

18 (6) actions that the Administrator of the Agen19 cy for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry has 

20 undertaken or is considering taking with respect to 

21 any disease clusters under subparagraphs (D) and 

22 (E) of section 104(i)(1) of Comprehensive Environ23 mental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act 

24 (42 U.S.C. 9604(i)(1)) and other provisions of that 

25 section; 


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1 (7) actions that the Director is taking or plans 

2 to take to address problems in implementing this 

3 Act; and 

4 (8) other relevant information. 

5 (c) SUBMISSION AND AVAILABILITY.—The Adminis6 trator shall— 

7 (1) submit the report under this subsection 

8 to— 

9 (A) the Committees on Environment and 

10 Public Works and Health, Education, Labor, 

11 and Pensions of the Senate; and 

12 (B) the Committee on Energy and Com13 merce of the House of Representatives; and 

14 (2) make the report available to the public. 

15 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

16 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

17 as are necessary to carry out this Act. 

18 SEC. 10. EFFECT ON OTHER LAW. 

19 Nothing in this Act modifies, limits, or otherwise af20 fects the application of, or obligation to comply with, any 

21 law, including any environmental or public health law. 

Æ 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS