[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 832 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 832

   To amend the Public Health Service Act to ensure that the Federal 
     Government has independent, peer-reviewed scientific data and 
  information to assess short-term and long-term direct and indirect 
  impacts on the health of oil spill clean-up workers and vulnerable 
residents resulting from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 28, 2011

  Mrs. Capps introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Public Health Service Act to ensure that the Federal 
     Government has independent, peer-reviewed scientific data and 
  information to assess short-term and long-term direct and indirect 
  impacts on the health of oil spill clean-up workers and vulnerable 
residents resulting from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Gulf Coast Health Monitoring and 
Research Program Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. GULF COAST HEALTH MONITORING AND RESEARCH PROGRAM.

    Part P of title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
280g et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 399V-6. GULF COAST HEALTH MONITORING AND RESEARCH PROGRAM.

    ``(a) In General.--To ensure that the Federal Government has 
independent, peer-reviewed scientific data and information to assess 
short-term and long-term direct and indirect impacts on the health of 
oil spill clean-up workers and vulnerable residents resulting from the 
Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the Secretary, in consultation with the 
Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Administrator of 
the Environmental Protection Agency, shall establish as soon as 
practicable after date of enactment of this section, a short-term and 
long-term comprehensive health screening, monitoring, and research 
program of oil spill workers and vulnerable residents, and of food 
safety affected by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
    ``(b) Scope of Program.--The program established under subsection 
(a) shall at a minimum include screening affected individuals for 
physical and behavioral health effects from the oil spill and the 
collection of exposure and health effects data on a statistically 
robust cohort of workers and vulnerable residents. In addition, this 
program shall include research on food safety of Gulf Coast seafood and 
the fresh water supply. This program shall coordinate with other 
Federal agencies, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and 
the Environmental Protection Agency, to ensure that health-related data 
from exposures related to the oil spill or clean-up efforts in the 
possession of such agencies is made available to the program. Data 
collected by or on behalf of BP PLC shall also be included.
    ``(c) Research Advisory Committee.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--Not later than 60 days after the date 
        of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall appoint an 
        independent technical advisory committee to be known as the 
        Gulf Coast Health Research Advisory Committee.
            ``(2) Purpose.--The purpose of the Advisory Committee shall 
        be--
                    ``(A) to offer high quality scientific research 
                advice to the program established under this section, 
                including proactive advice regarding each agency's 
                long-term monitoring and research objectives relating 
                to workers and vulnerable residents at risk from the 
                Deepwater Horizon disaster and other oil spills; and
                    ``(B) to provide a forum for ensuring that health 
                concerns of workers and the public are considered in 
                determining the priorities for scientific research.
            ``(3) Membership.--
                    ``(A) Composition.--The Advisory Committee shall be 
                composed of at least 10 but not more than 15 members. 
                Members shall be qualified by education, training, and 
                experience to provide scientific and technical advice 
                with regard to environmental health and occupational 
                health methods and research, including epidemiology, 
                dose reconstruction, toxicology, risk and health 
                communication, and medical ethics. At least 4 members 
                shall be representative of the concerned and affected 
                populations, including 1 member to represent commercial 
                fishermen who were part of the Vessel of Opportunities 
                program organized by BP PLC to recruit boat owners to 
                assist in the response to the Deepwater Horizon oil 
                spill, 1 member to represent other workers involved in 
                cleanup of spill, and 2 members to represent the 
                potentially affected public in Gulf coastal 
                communities. Consultants and nonvoting liaison 
                representatives may be invited as needed.
                    ``(B) Appointment and terms.--The Secretary shall 
                appoint Advisory Committee members, including a chair 
                and vice chair to the Advisory Committee. Each term of 
                a member's service on the Advisory Committee shall be 3 
                years, except for initial terms, which may be up to 5 
                years in length to allow staggering. Members may be 
                reappointed and may serve after expiration of their 
                terms until their successors have been seated on the 
                Advisory Committee.
                    ``(C) Conflicts of interest.--The Secretary shall 
                establish requirements to ensure that members of the 
                Advisory Committee do not have any conflicts of 
                interest.
            ``(4) Duties.--The Advisory Committee shall--
                    ``(A) provide advice on the development and 
                implementation of the health research program;
                    ``(B) respond to requests for advice from the 
                appropriate Federal official on matters within the 
                Advisory Committee's expertise; and
                    ``(C) as appropriate, review reports or other 
                documents submitted to the appropriate Federal 
                officials pursuant to this section to obtain 
                information on protecting the health and safety of 
                cleanup workers and vulnerable communities.
    ``(d) Cooperation and Consultation.--In developing the research and 
monitoring program established under subsection (a), the Secretary 
shall consult with related agencies in the Department of Labor 
(including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration), the 
Department of Commerce (including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration), and the Environmental Protection Agency, and shall 
consult with--
            ``(1) appropriate representatives from the Gulf Coast 
        States and localities;
            ``(2) local and State health department officials;
            ``(3) academic institutions and other research 
        organizations;
            ``(4) worker representatives, community representatives, 
        and other members of the Gulf Coast communities; and
            ``(5) other experts with expertise in human health and 
        environmental monitoring and research.
    ``(e) Duties.--The primary duty of the program established in 
section (a) is to implement and carry out the health program, including 
collecting baseline health information, and conducting health 
screening, monitoring, surveillance, and research. The program 
specifically shall include the following research elements:
            ``(1) Exposure of workers and vulnerable residents to oil, 
        dispersants, and other chemicals and physical hazards during 
        the clean-up effort, including--
                    ``(A) information about the use of personal 
                protective equipment;
                    ``(B) biological sampling where appropriate; and
                    ``(C) information on such exposure of workers and 
                vulnerable residents who may be more susceptible to 
                environmental health impacts due to their age, 
                preexisting health status, pregnancy status, or other 
                factors determined by the Secretary.
            ``(2) Acute health symptoms or biological findings during 
        the active clean-up period.
            ``(3) Reproductive effects or effects on fetal or infant 
        development, where relevant.
            ``(4) Chronic health effects, including genetic and 
        immunological alterations in cells and tissues.
            ``(5) Mental health effects, including stress, anxiety, 
        depression, PTSD, and related symptoms.
            ``(6) Levels of elevated hazardous substances in Gulf Coast 
        seafood and local fresh water sources.
            ``(7) Other elements considered necessary by the Secretary 
        to ensure a comprehensive environmental health research and 
        monitoring program--
                    ``(A) to comprehend and understand the implications 
                to worker and public health caused by the Deepwater 
                Horizon oil spill; and
                    ``(B) to make such recommendations to the Secretary 
                as may assist in improving the response to, and 
                management and monitoring of, any future oil spills.
    ``(f) Report.--No later than 1 year after the establishment of the 
program under subsection (a), and biennially thereafter, the Secretary 
shall forward to the Congress and make available to the public a 
comprehensive report summarizing the activities and findings of the 
program and detailing areas and issues requiring future monitoring and 
research. Reports shall continue for at least 20 years after the date 
of enactment of this section, and the Secretary may extend the 
reporting provision beyond this initial period based upon a 
determination that additional monitoring and research is warranted. 
After 3 years, the Advisory Committee shall issue a report, forwarded 
to the Congress and made available to the public, examining lessons 
learned and a blueprint of best practices to handle future 
environmental health disasters, including strategies for rapid 
deployment of data collection and health monitoring and registering of 
individuals exposed to the environmental health disaster.
    ``(g) Disclosure Authority.--The Secretary may by order compel BP 
PLC to provide health-related data and information collected by or on 
behalf of BP PLC, except to the extent such data or information is 
protected from disclosure under Federal law.
    ``(h) Availability of Data.--The Secretary shall maintain and 
archive information obtained or generated through the program 
established under subsection (a) in a manner that will facilitate use 
of such information for the health monitoring and research purposes of 
the program and ensure that it is accessible and available to 
governmental and nongovernmental personnel for relevant research in 
accordance with applicable State and Federal law. Individual health 
information shall be handled in a manner that will protect individual 
patient confidentiality.
    ``(i) Definitions.--For the purposes of this section--
            ``(1) the term `Gulf Coast State' means each of the States 
        of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida;
            ``(2) the term `Advisory Committee' means the Gulf Coast 
        Health Research Advisory Committee established under subsection 
        (c).
            ``(3) the term `vulnerable residents' means individuals who 
        live in Gulf Coast States in areas where they may be exposed to 
        hazardous substances related to the oil spill; and
            ``(4) the term `workers' means paid or volunteer staff 
        participating in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill cleanup.''.
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