I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2661 

To prioritize educating and training for existing and new environmental 

health professionals. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 19, 2021 

Mrs. LAWRENCE (for herself, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, 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 Labor, 

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 2021’’. 

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) According to the National Environmental 

19 Health Association, more than 67 percent of Tribal 

20 environmental health programs, 64 percent of State 

21 environmental health programs, and 60 percent of 

22 local environmental health programs report insuffi23 cient staffing capacity to respond to new issues pre24 sented by the COVID–19 pandemic. Industry workVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:47 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2661.IH H2661

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1 ers also reported insufficient access to training and 

2 high levels of burnout. 

3 (6) Currently, only 27 States require a creden4 tial for environmental health workers that is an im5 partial, third-party endorsement of an individual’s 

6 professional knowledge and experience. 

7 (7) Educating and training existing and new 

8 environmental health professionals should be a na9 tional public health goal. 

10 SEC. 3. MODEL STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES FOR 

11 CREDENTIALING ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH 

12 WORKERS. 

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

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

15 Human Services, in coordination with appropriate na16 tional professional organizations, Federal, State, local, 

17 and tribal governmental agencies, and private-sector and 

18 nongovernmental entities, shall develop model standards 

19 and guidelines for credentialing environmental health 

20 workers. 

21 (b) PROVISION OF STANDARDS AND TECHNICAL AS22 SISTANCE.—The Secretary of Health and Human Services 

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

24 (1) the model standards and guidelines devel25 oped under subsection (a); and 


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1 (2) technical assistance in credentialing envi2 ronmental health workers. 

3 SEC. 4. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH WORKFORCE DEVELOP4 MENT PLAN. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—To ensure that programs and ac6 tivities (including education, training, and payment pro7 grams) of the Department of Health and Human Services 

8 for developing the environmental health workforce meet 

9 national needs, the Secretary of Health and Human Serv10 ices shall develop a comprehensive and coordinated plan 

11 for such programs and activities that— 

12 (1) includes performance measures to more 

13 clearly determine the extent to which these programs 

14 and activities are meeting the Department’s stra15 tegic goal of strengthening the environmental health 

16 workforce; 

17 (2) identifies and communicates to stakeholders 

18 any gaps between existing programs and activities 

19 and future environmental health workforce needs 

20 identified in workforce projections of the Health Re21 sources and Services Administration; 

22 (3) identifies actions needed to address such 

23 identified gaps; and 


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1 (4) identifies any additional statutory authority 

2 that is needed by the Department to implement such 

3 identified actions. 

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

5 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec6 retary of Health and Human Services shall submit to the 

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

8 the Senate, and to the Committees on Energy and Com9 merce and Education and Labor of the House of Rep10 resentatives, the plan developed under subsection (a). 

11 SEC. 5. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH WORKFORCE DEVELOP12 MENT REPORT. 

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

14 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

15 of the United States shall examine and identify best prac16 tices in 6 States (as described in subsection (b)) related 

17 to training and credentialing requirements for environ18 mental health workers and submit to the Committee on 

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

20 the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House 

21 of Representatives a report that includes information con22 cerning— 

23 (1) types of environmental health workers em24 ployed at State, local, and city health departments 

25 and independent environmental health agencies; 


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1 (2) educational backgrounds of environmental 

2 health workers; 

3 (3) whether environmental health workers are 

4 credentialed or registered, and what type of creden5 tial or registration each worker has received; 

6 (4) State requirements for continuing education 

7 for environmental health workers; 

8 (5) whether State, local, and city health depart9 ments and independent environmental health agen10 cies track continuing education units for their envi11 ronmental health workers; and 

12 (6) how frequently any exam required to qualify 

13 environmental health workers is updated and re14 viewed to ensure that the exam is consistent with 

15 current law. 

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

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

18 best practices with respect to 3 States that have 

19 credentialing requirements for environmental health work20 ers (such as Maryland, Ohio, and Washington) and 3 

21 States that do not have such requirements (such as Indi22 ana, Iowa, and Pennsylvania). 

23 SEC. 6. PUBLIC SERVICE LOAN FORGIVENESS. 

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

25 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(m)) is amended in paragraph (3)(B)— 


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

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

3 end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

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

5 ‘‘(iii) a full-time job as an environ6 mental health worker (as defined in section 

7 7 of the Environmental Health Workforce 

8 Act of 2021) who is accredited, certified, 

9 or licensed in accordance with applicable 

10 law.’’. 

11 SEC. 7. DEFINITION. 

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

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

14 health workers who investigate and assess hazardous envi15 ronmental agents in various environmental settings and 

16 develop, promote, and enforce guidelines, policies, and 

17 interventions to control such hazards. 

Æ 


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