I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1723
To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Director of the
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to make grants
for the development and operation of research centers regarding environ-
mental factors that may be related to the etiology of breast cancer.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 3, 2001
Mrs. LOWEY (for herself and Mrs. MYRICK) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize the
Director of the National Institute of Environmental
Health Sciences to make grants for the development
and operation of research centers regarding environ-
mental factors that may be related to the etiology of
breast cancer.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Breast Cancer and
Environmental Research Act of 2001’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds as follows:
(1) Breast cancer is the second leading cause of
cancer deaths among American women.
(2) More women in the United States are living
with breast cancer than any other cancer (excluding
skin cancer). Approximately 3 million women in the
United States are living with breast cancer: 2 million
who have been diagnosed and an estimated 1 million
who do not yet know they have the disease.
(3) Breast cancer is the most commonly diag-
nosed cancer among women in the United States
and worldwide (excluding skin cancer). In 2001, it
is estimated that 233,000 new cases of breast cancer
will be diagnosed among women in the United
States: 192,000 invasive breast cancer and 40,800
cases of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS).
(4) Breast cancer is the second leading cause of
breast cancer death for women in the United States;
approximately 40,000 women in the U.S. die from
the disease each year. Breast cancer is the leading
cause of cancer death for U.S. women between the
ages of 20 and 59, and the leading cause of cancer
death for women worldwide.
(5) A woman in the United States has a 1 in
8 chance of developing invasive breast cancer in her
lifetime—this risk was 1 in 11 in 1975. In 2001, a
new case of breast cancer will be diagnosed every 2
minutes, and a woman will die from breast cancer
every 13 minutes.
(6) All women are at risk for breast cancer.
About 90 percent of women who develop breast can-
cer do not have a family history of the disease.
(7) The National Action Plan on Breast Can-
cer, a public private partnership, has recognized the
importance of expanding the scope and breadth of
biomedical, epidemiological, and behavioral research
activities related to the etiology of breast cancer and
the role of the environment.
(8) To date, there has been only a limited re-
search investment to expand the scope or coordinate
efforts across disciplines or work with the commu-
nity to study the role of the environment in the de-
velopment of breast cancer.
(9) In order to take full advantage of the tre-
mendous potential for avenues of prevention, the
Federal investment in the role of the environment
and the development of breast cancer should be ex-
panded.
(10) In order to understand the effect of chemi-
cals and radiation on the development of cancer,
multi-generational, prospective studies are probably
required.
SEC. 
3. 
NATIONAL 
INSTITUTE 
OF 
ENVIRONMENTAL
HEALTH SCIENCES; AWARDS FOR DEVELOP-
MENT AND OPERATION OF RESEARCH CEN-
TERS 
REGARDING 
ENVIRONMENTAL 
FAC-
TORS RELATED TO BREAST CANCER.
Subpart 12 of part C of title IV of the Public Health
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 285L et seq.) is amended by adding
at the end the following section:
‘‘SEC. 463B. RESEARCH CENTERS REGARDING ENVIRON-
MENTAL FACTORS RELATED TO BREAST CAN-
CER.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Institute,
based on recommendations from the Breast Cancer and
Environmental Research Advisory Panel (hereafter in this
section referred to as the ‘Panel’), shall make grants, after
a process of peer review and programmatic review, to pub-
lic or nonprofit private entities for the development and
operation of not more than 8 centers for the purpose of
conducting multidisciplinary and multi-institutional re-
search on environmental factors that may be related to
the etiology of breast cancer. Each such center shall be
known as a Breast Cancer and Environmental Research
Center of Excellence. The Panel shall oversee the peer re-
view process and shall conduct a programmatic review.
The Panel will recommend the funding criteria and mech-
anisms by which the grant funds shall be allocated. The
Panel shall make final programmatic recommendations on
allocation of grant funds.
‘‘(b) BREAST CANCER AND ENVIRONMENTAL RE-
SEARCH ADVISORY PANEL.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab-
lish in the Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences the Breast Cancer and Environmental Re-
search Panel (hereafter in this section individually
referred to as the ‘Panel’).
‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP.—The Panel shall be com-
posed of nine appointed members and nonvoting ex
officio members. The Secretary shall appoint—
‘‘(A) six members from physicians, and
other health professionals, who are not officers
or employees of the United States, and who
represent multiple disciplines, including clinical,
basic and public health sciences, and also dif-
ferent geographical regions of the country, indi-
viduals shall come from practice settings as well
as academia and other research settings. Panel
members should be experienced in biomedical
review; and
‘‘(B) three members from the general pub-
lic who are consumer representatives who have
had breast cancer and who represent a constitu-
ency.
‘‘(3) CHAIR.—The members of the Panel shall
select a chairman from among the appointed mem-
bers.
‘‘(4) MEETINGS.—The Panel shall meet at the
call of the chairman or upon the request of the Di-
rector of the Institute, but not less often than once
a year.
‘‘(c) COLLABORATION
WITH
COMMUNITY.—Each
center under subsection (a) shall establish and maintain
ongoing collaborations with community organizations in
the geographic area served by the center, including those
that represent women with breast cancer.
‘‘(d) COORDINATION OF CENTERS; REPORTS.—The
Director of the Institute shall, as appropriate, provide for
the coordination of information among centers under sub-
section (a) and ensure regular communication between
such centers, and may require the periodic preparation of
reports on the activities of the centers and the submission
of the reports to the Director.
‘‘(e) REQUIRED CONSORTIUM.—Each center under
subsection (a) shall be formed from a consortium of co-
operating institutions, meeting such requirements as may
be prescribed by the Director of the Institute. Each center
must require collaboration among highly accomplished sci-
entists, other health professionals and advocates of diverse
backgrounds from various areas of expertise.
‘‘(f) DURATION OF SUPPORT.—Support of a center
under subsection (a) may be for a period not exceeding
5 years. Such period may be extended for one or more
additional periods not exceeding 5 years if the operations
of such center have been reviewed by an appropriate tech-
nical and scientific peer review group established by the
Director of the Institute and if such group has rec-
ommended to the Director that such period should be ex-
tended.
‘‘(g) GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION
OF CENTERS.—
The Director of the Institute shall, to the extent prac-
ticable, provide for an equitable geographical distribution
of centers under this section.
‘‘(h) INNOVATIVE APPROACHES.—Centers shall use
innovative approaches to study unexplored or under ex-
plored areas of the environment and breast cancer.
‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the
purpose of carrying out this section, there is authorized
to be appropriated $30,000,000 for each of the fiscal years
2002 through 2007. Such authorization is in addition to
any other authorization of appropriations that is available
for such purpose.’’.
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