[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9233 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9233

  To amend the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of 
 Health and Human Services to establish a program for the conduct and 
  support of research, training, and health information dissemination 
    with respect to environmental risk factors of neurodegenerative 
                   diseases, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 30, 2024

  Ms. Wexton (for herself and Mr. Bilirakis) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of 
 Health and Human Services to establish a program for the conduct and 
  support of research, training, and health information dissemination 
    with respect to environmental risk factors of neurodegenerative 
                   diseases, 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 ``Harmonizing Environmental Analyses 
and Launching Therapeutic Hubs to Yield Bolstered Research And 
Innovation in Neurological Science Act of 2024'' or the ``HEALTHY 
BRAINS Act of 2024''.

SEC. 2. RESEARCH INTO ENVIRONMENTAL RISK FACTORS THAT MAY CONTRIBUTE TO 
              NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASE.

    Part B of title IV of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 284 
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 409K. NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary, acting through the Director of 
NIH, shall establish a program for the conduct and support of research, 
training, and health information dissemination with respect to 
environmental risk factors (including environmental toxicant exposures) 
of neurodegenerative diseases.
    ``(b) Scope of Research.--Research conducted or supported under 
this section shall--
            ``(1) be focused on--
                    ``(A) potential environmental toxicants, including 
                environmental stressors such as volatile organic 
                compounds, particulate matter, per- and polyfluorinated 
                substances, and heavy metals in environmental media 
                such as air, water, food, and soil;
                    ``(B) the mechanistic interactions of such 
                toxicants with neurodegenerative disease outcomes;
                    ``(C) the presymptomatic markers of 
                neurodegenerative disease; and
                    ``(D) advancing development of environmental health 
                strategies to prevent, manage, treat, or slow the 
                progression of neurodegenerative disease; and
            ``(2) may include research--
                    ``(A) examining environmental exposures, including 
                occupational risk factors, sociobehavioral factors, and 
                social determinants of health;
                    ``(B) using fundamental approaches to identify 
                historical, existing, and emerging environmental risks 
                and factors that affect disease progression;
                    ``(C) examining multifactorial causation from 
                chemical and nonchemical exposures;
                    ``(D) examining prevalence of the disease in 
                relation to the distribution of exposures across 
                communities and populations;
                    ``(E) examining the expression of disease traits 
                that result from the interplay of genes and 
                environment; and
                    ``(F) exploring physiological mechanisms driving 
                neurodegeneration from toxicant exposures.
    ``(c) Coordination Within NIH.--
            ``(1) In general.--In carrying out the program under 
        subsection (a), the Secretary shall--
                    ``(A) provide for coordination across the programs 
                and activities of the National Institutes of Health to 
                avoid duplication; and
                    ``(B) expand the funding of environmental health 
                research by leading an ongoing, coordinated, and 
                focused effort to fund new and existing centers for the 
                study and evaluation of environmental risk factors 
                (including environmental toxicants) of 
                neurodegenerative diseases.
            ``(2) Biennial report.--In carrying out paragraph (1), the 
        Secretary shall--
                    ``(A) submit a biennial report detailing the 
                findings and conclusions of research under this section 
                to--
                            ``(i) the Committees on Appropriations of 
                        the House of Representatives and the Senate;
                            ``(ii) the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
                        of the House of Representatives; and
                            ``(iii) the Committee on Health, Education, 
                        Labor, and Pensions of the Senate;
                    ``(B) post each report under subparagraph (A) on 
                the public website of the National Institutes of 
                Health; and
                    ``(C) include the information reported pursuant to 
                subparagraph (A) in the triennial report under section 
                403.
    ``(d) Collaborative Centers for Neurodegenerative Disease 
Environmental Research.--
            ``(1) In general.--In carrying out the program under 
        subsection (a), the Secretary shall provide for the 
        establishment of research centers, to be known as Collaborative 
        Centers for Neurodegenerative Disease Environmental Research 
        (in this section each referred to as a `CCNDER') at 
        institutions of higher education, medical centers, and other 
        appropriate entities.
            ``(2) Requirements.--With respect to neurodegenerative 
        disease, each CCNDER shall--
                    ``(A) conduct and support basic, applied, and 
                clinical research on the effects of environmental risk 
                factors (including environmental toxicants), including 
                with respect to disease progression;
                    ``(B) use the facilities of a single institution or 
                a consortium of cooperating institutions to administer 
                the CCNDER and meet such qualifications as may be 
                prescribed by the Secretary;
                    ``(C) focus on population-based, environmental 
                health research;
                    ``(D) ensure that the research conducted and 
                supported pursuant to this section is interdisciplinary 
                and collaborative;
                    ``(E) coordinate with existing intramural and 
                extramural efforts of the National Institutes of 
                Health; and
                    ``(F) collaborate with relevant partners and 
                stakeholders, including researchers, health 
                professionals, nonprofit organizations, patients, and 
                caregivers, to understand the effects of environmental 
                risk factors (including environmental toxicants) of 
                neurodegenerative disease and progression thereof.
            ``(3) Discretionary activities.--With respect to 
        neurodegenerative diseases, each CCNDER may--
                    ``(A) provide career enhancement and training 
                opportunities for scientists, researchers, 
                environmental professionals, and health professionals, 
                including through the provision of stipends;
                    ``(B) conduct programs to provide information and 
                continuing education to health professionals, including 
                through the provision of stipends;
                    ``(C) conduct programs for the dissemination of 
                information to the public regarding research findings 
                and proposed prevention strategies when appropriate;
                    ``(D) separately or in collaboration with other 
                CCNDERs or governmental agencies, establish a 
                nationwide data system that--
                            ``(i) includes data derived from 
                        comprehensive and representative patient 
                        populations with neurodegenerative diseases; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) where possible, compares relevant 
                        data involving general populations;
                    ``(E) separately or in collaboration with other 
                CCNDERs, establish a clearinghouse, to be known as the 
                Environmental Contributions to Neurodegenerative 
                Disease Information Clearinghouse, to facilitate and 
                enhance knowledge and understanding of environmental 
                risk factors of neurodegenerative diseases; and
                    ``(F) separately or in collaboration with other 
                CCNDERs, establish a national education program that 
                fosters a national focus on environmental risk factors 
                of neurodegenerative diseases.
            ``(4) Duration of support.--The period of support for a 
        CCNDER under this section shall not exceed 5 years, except that 
        such period may be extended by the Secretary for one or more 
        additional periods of not more than 5 years if--
                    ``(A) the operations of such CCNDER have been 
                reviewed by an appropriate technical and scientific 
                peer review group established by the Secretary; and
                    ``(B) such group has recommended to the Secretary 
                that such period should be extended.
    ``(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section, 
there is authorized to be appropriated $50,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2026 through 2030.''.
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