BILL REQ. #: S-0849.1
| State of Washington | 58th Legislature | 2003 Regular Session |
Read first time 01/28/2003. Referred to Committee on Health & Long-Term Care.
AN ACT Relating to creating the environmental health tracking system; and adding a new chapter to Title 70 RCW.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 The legislature finds and declares that:
(1) There currently exist several health and environmental data
bases maintained by the state. However, there is little or no
coordination between the use and analysis of these data as they pertain
to environmental health issues or accessibility of this information by
interested parties and researchers. In its fight against chronic
diseases, including birth defects, that are related to the environment,
the state must give communities and public health professionals solid,
reliable information, which is the most basic tool with which to
undertake the prevention of these diseases.
(2) Analysis of available data used to track and monitor chronic
diseases is critical to all of the following:
(a) Knowing where and how to put in place the most effective
strategies to prevent diseases;
(b) Assessing the contribution of diseases to disabilities and
premature mortality;
(c) Measuring the effectiveness of prevention strategies; and
(d) Generating hypotheses that may lead to new scientific knowledge
about the causes of, and most effective ways to fight, chronic
diseases.
(3) State government agencies and universities are the appropriate
and necessary institutions to examine whether or not, and, if so, the
extent to which, past environmental exposures might increase the risk
of chronic diseases, including, but not limited to, birth defects,
diabetes, heart disease, thyroid disease, reproductive disorders,
cancer, asthma and other respiratory conditions, Parkinson's disease,
Alzheimer's disease, and other neurologically degenerative diseases.
(4) The initial investment to establish the environmental health
tracking system, including an analysis of infrastructure to develop
preventive strategies, would constitute a small fraction of the annual
costs of controlling chronic diseases in the state.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2 It is the intent of the legislature in
creating the environmental health tracking system to form a partnership
to do all of the following:
(1) Provide a continually updated data base, with linkages to the
survey, biomonitoring, and disease data collected under section 3 of
this act, in order to assess the impact of environmental contaminants
on the human body;
(2) On an ongoing basis, track and evaluate a variety of chronic
diseases in relation to environmental exposures, including state and
local data on actual incidences of chronic disease;
(3) Make the data available to the public in an accessible and
useful format; and
(4) Ultimately provide the data to the relevant board, division, or
office within the department of health, the department of ecology, the
department of labor and industries, and the University of Washington
school of public health for the development of appropriate preventive
strategies.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3 (1) The environmental health tracking system
is established in the department of health. The purpose of the
environmental health tracking system is to monitor environmental
exposures and chronic diseases affecting residents of the state. The
department of health is directed to cooperate with the department of
ecology, the department of labor and industries, and the University of
Washington school of public health in establishing the environmental
health tracking system.
(2) The objectives of the environmental health tracking system are
as follows:
(a) To track and evaluate a variety of chronic diseases in relation
to environmental exposures;
(b) To allow both government and university investigators and
public health officials to assess the impact of environmental
contaminants on the human body; and
(c) To provide information to the department of health, the
department of ecology, the department of labor and industries, and the
University of Washington school of public health for the development of
appropriate preventive strategies.
(3) To examine the relationships between chronic diseases and the
environment, using, to the maximum extent possible, existing health and
environmental data, the department of health, based upon the
recommendations of the working group established under subsection (4)
of this section, shall:
(a) On an ongoing basis, survey a cross section of the overall
population of the state, including, to the extent possible, regional
data to assess geographic variation, including chronically ill
patients, and their environmental exposures;
(b) On a continuing and periodic basis, conduct biomonitoring for
a cross section of the population, including, to the extent possible,
regional data to assess geographic variation; and
(c) On an ongoing basis, link data created by the surveys and
biomonitoring activities to other health and environmental data bases,
such as birth certificates, neonatal blood tests, records of hospital
admissions, records of emergency room visits, and mortality data.
(4) On or before September 1, 2004, the department of health, in
consultation with the department of ecology, the department of labor
and industries, and the University of Washington school of public
health, shall create a working group of technical experts, including
experts who have knowledge of the sensitivity and exposure of children,
women of child-bearing age, seniors, and disparately affected
populations to environmental hazards, to do all of the following:
(a) Develop possible approaches to implementing the environmental
health tracking system, including an estimated cost for each approach;
(b) On or before September 1, 2005, prepare and submit a report to
the department of health, the department of ecology, the department of
labor and industries, the University of Washington school of public
health, and the legislative committees with jurisdiction on the
possible approaches to implementing an environmental health tracking
system for the state; and
(c) Determine the health and environmental criteria needed to
examine the relationship between chronic diseases, including birth
defects, and the environment.
(5) On or before January 1, 2006, the department of health shall
adopt and implement the approach recommended by the working group that
it determines most closely meets the purpose, objectives, and
requirements of this section, after opportunity for public comment.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4 The department of ecology shall cooperate
with state agencies and universities to provide all information and
other relevant and necessary expertise to meet the requirements of
section 3 of this act.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5 The department of labor and industries shall
cooperate with state agencies and universities to provide all
information and other relevant and necessary expertise to meet the
requirements of section 3 of this act.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6 The University of Washington school of
public health shall participate in the creation of the environmental
health tracking system working group under section 3 of this act.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 7 Nothing contained in this chapter may be
construed to supersede any confidentiality provisions of any law.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 8 Sections 1 through 7 of this act constitute
a new chapter in Title