II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 271 

To improve Arctic health. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 11, 2013 

Mr. BEGICH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To improve Arctic health. 

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 ‘‘Better Health in the 

5 Arctic Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The United States is an Arctic nation 

9 with— 

10 (A) an approximately 700-mile border on 

11 the Arctic Ocean; 


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1 (B) more than 100,000,000 acres of land 

2 above the Arctic Circle; and 

3 (C) an even broader area that is defined as 

4 Arctic by temperature, including the Bering Sea 

5 and Aleutian Islands. 

6 (2) The Arctic region of the United States— 

7 (A) is known to the indigenous population 

8 as Inuvikput, or the ‘‘place where we live’’; and 

9 (B) is home to an indigenous population 

10 that has subsisted for millennia on the abun11 dance of marine mammals, fish, and wildlife, 

12 many species of which are unique to the Arctic 

13 region. 

14 (3) Since 1959, temperatures in the Arctic re15 gion of the United States have warmed by 3 to 4 de16 grees Celsius, a rate of increase more than twice the 

17 global average. The Arctic ice pack is rapidly dimin18 ishing and thinning, and the National Oceanic and 

19 Atmospheric Administration estimates the Arctic 

20 Ocean may be ice free during the summer months 

21 in as few as 30 years. 

22 (4) These changes are having a significant im23 pact on the communities and ecosystems of the in24 digenous people of the Arctic, and the marine mamVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:44 Feb 20, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S271.IS S271

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1 mals, fish, and wildlife upon which the indigenous 

2 population depends. 

3 (5) The negative impacts of climate change in4 clude health problems, which are even more exacer5 bated among indigenous people of the North. 

6 (6) Northern people have shorter life expect7 ancy and increased mortality related to suicide and 

8 injuries, when compared to populations living in 

9 more moderate climates. 

10 (7) Among the greatest health disparities af11 fecting Arctic people are higher rates of alcohol 

12 abuse, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), di13 abetes, high blood pressure, injury, and cancer. The 

14 FASD prevalence rate among Alaska Native people 

(4.8) is 31 15 ⁄2 times that for all Alaskans (1.4). 

16 (8) Rates of suicide in Alaska are among the 

17 highest in the Nation, with the suicide rate among 

18 Alaska Native people about 3 times that of non-Na19 tive Alaskans and 4 times that of the national aver20 age of the United States. 

21 (9) Alaska Native children are more than twice 

22 as likely to live in poverty than Alaskans of other 

23 races, 25.7 percent compared to 10.9 percent. 

24 (10) It is unclear why many of these health 

25 problems are greater among northern people or 


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1 whether the health problems are related to toxic in2 fluences, socioeconomic status, cultural change, dis3 tance from sophisticated medical care, or other fac4 tors. 

5 (11) More research is necessary into the causes 

6 of disparities in rates of particular public health 

7 problems in the Arctic and intervention into the pre8 vention and treatment of these problems. 

9 SEC. 3. STUDY OF MENTAL, BEHAVIORAL, AND PHYSICAL 

10 HEALTH ISSUES, INCLUDING ALCOHOL 

11 ABUSE, IN THE ARCTIC. 

12 (a) STUDY AUTHORIZED.—The Arctic Research 

13 Commission established under section 103 of the Arctic 

14 Research and Policy Act of 1984 (15 U.S.C. 4102) shall, 

15 in collaboration with Federal health agencies, directly or 

16 through contract, prepare and submit to Congress a 2- 

17 year study to examine the science base, gaps in knowledge, 

18 and strategies for the prevention and treatment of mental, 

19 behavioral, and physical health problems, including alcohol 

20 abuse, faced by populations in the Arctic, with a focus on 

21 Alaska. 

22 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

23 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

24 a total of $1,200,000 for fiscal years 2014 and 2015. 


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1 SEC. 4. NATIONAL ARCTIC HEALTH SCIENCE POLICY. 

2 (a) UPDATING 1984 POLICY.—The Director of the 

3 National Institutes of Health shall, in collaboration with 

4 other governmental agencies and private and nonprofit en5 tities involved in Arctic health issues, develop a national 

6 Arctic health science policy. In developing the policy, the 

7 Director shall review and take into consideration the Na8 tional Arctic Health Science Policy developed by the 

9 American Public Health Association Task Force in 1984. 

10 (b) DESK FOR ARCTIC HEALTH.—Section 401(c) of 

11 the Public Health Services Act (42 U.S.C. 281(c)) is 

12 amended by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(3) DESK FOR ARCTIC HEALTH.— 

14 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—Within the Divi15 sion, there is established a Desk for Arctic 

16 Health. 

17 ‘‘(B) DUTIES.—The Desk for Arctic 

18 Health shall— 

19 ‘‘(i) work with the Interagency Arctic 

20 Research Policy Committee established 

21 under section 107(b) of the Arctic Re22 search and Policy Act of 1984 (15 U.S.C. 

23 4106(b)) to ensure adequate health rep24 resentation from Federal agencies; 

25 ‘‘(ii) collaborate and consult with gov26 ernmental entities and United States nonVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:44 Feb 20, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S271.IS S271

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1 governmental organizations involved in 

2 Arctic health issues, including the State of 

3 Alaska, University of Alaska, and entities 

4 that handle issues regarding the health of 

5 the indigenous people of the Arctic; and 

6 ‘‘(iii) collaborate with the Canadian 

7 Institutes of Health Research on indige8 nous Arctic people health issues, in accord9 ance with the 2004 agreement between the 

10 National Institutes of Health and the Ca11 nadian Institutes of Health Research, and 

12 with other international entities dealing 

13 with pan-Arctic health issues.’’. 

14 SEC. 5. ARCTIC HEALTH IMPACT ASSESSMENTS. 

15 Part P of title III of the Public Health Service Act 

16 (42 U.S.C. 280g et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

17 the following: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 399V–6. ARCTIC HEALTH IMPACT ASSESSMENTS. 

19 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

20 ‘‘(1) The health impact assessment process can 

21 be a valuable tool for better Arctic health by objec22 tively evaluating the potential health benefits and 

23 risks of a project or policy before the project or pol24 icy is built or put into place. 


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1 ‘‘(2) Health impact assessments can provide 

2 recommendations to increase positive health out3 comes and minimize adverse health outcomes. 

4 ‘‘(3) A major benefit of the health impact as5 sessment process is that it brings public health 

6 issues to the attention of people who make decisions 

7 about areas that fall outside traditional public health 

8 arenas, such as transportation or land use. 

9 ‘‘(b) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 

10 the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre11 vention, shall establish a program at the National Center 

12 of Environmental Health of the Centers for Disease Con13 trol and Prevention to foster advances and help provide 

14 technical support in the field of Arctic health impact as15 sessments. 

16 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION OF HEALTH IMPACT ASSESS17 MENTS.—In this section, the term ‘health impact assess18 ment’ means a combination of procedures, methods, and 

19 tools by which a policy, program, or project may be judged 

20 as to its potential effects on the health of a population, 

21 and the distribution of those effects within the popu22 lation.’’. 

Æ 


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