HB0680eng 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB0680 Engrossed LRB095 03973 KBJ 24006 b

AN ACT concerning public health.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Biomonitoring Feasibility Study Act.

Section 5. Findings and purposes.

(a) The General Assembly finds all of the following:

(1) An estimated 100,000 chemicals are on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Toxic Substances Control Act inventory and thousands are in commerce today in the United States.

(2) These chemicals are regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in accordance with the Toxic Substances Control Act.

(3) With advancements in analytical chemistry, scientists can now detect minute quantities of chemicals in humans.

(4) Biomonitoring is one method for assessing human exposure to chemicals by measuring the chemicals or their breakdown products, known as metabolites, in human tissues or specimens, such as blood and urine. In studies conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), biomonitoring data has helped to identify chemicals found in the environment and in human tissues, monitor changes in human exposure to those chemicals, and investigate the distribution of exposure among the general population. The CDC has developed standardized and validated analytical methods for measuring substances in humans. The CDC's National Exposure Report provides statistically valid distribution measurements of chemicals in the U.S. population, including specific age, gender, and ethnic groups. CDC continues to develop new validated methods, and as they do so additional chemicals are being reported.

(b) The purpose of this Act is for the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), Great Lakes Center for Occupational and Environmental Safety and Health to conduct an Environmental Contaminant Biomonitoring Feasibility Study (Study) that proposes the best way to establish an Illinois Environmental Contaminant Biomonitoring Program (Program) that will do all of the following:

(1) monitor the presence and concentration of designated chemicals in a representative sample of the population of this State;

(2) produce biomonitoring studies that provide data for scientists, researchers, public health personnel, and community members to explore potential linkages between chemical exposure and health concerns; and

(3) support Illinois public health by establishing trends in chemical exposures, validating modeling and survey methods, supporting epidemiological studies, identifying highly exposed communities, addressing the data gaps between chemical exposures and specific health outcomes, informing health responses to unanticipated emergency exposures, assessing the effectiveness of current regulations, and setting priorities for research.

Section 10. Definitions. In this Act:

"Agency" means the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

"Department" means the Illinois Department of Public Health.

"Panel" means the Scientific Guidance Panel.

"Program" means the Illinois Environmental Contaminant Biomonitoring Program.

"Study" means the Environmental Contaminant Biomonitoring Feasibility Study.

Section 15. Scientific Guidance Panel.

(a) In implementing the Study, the Department and the Agency shall establish a Scientific Guidance Panel. The Directors of the Department and the Agency shall appoint the members of the Panel. The Panel shall be composed of 11 members, whose expertise shall encompass the disciplines of public health, epidemiology, biostatistics, environmental medicine, risk analysis, exposure assessment, developmental biology, laboratory sciences, bioethics, maternal and child health with a specialty in breastfeeding, and toxicology. Members shall be appointed for 2-year terms. Members may be reappointed for additional terms without limitation. Members shall serve until their successors are appointed and have qualified for membership on the Panel. Vacancies shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointments, and any member so appointed shall serve during the remainder of the term for which the vacancy occurred. The Panel shall meet, at a minimum, 3 times per year. The Agency shall be responsible for staffing and administration of the Panel. Members of the Panel shall be reimbursed for travel and other necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties under this Act, but shall not receive a salary or compensation.

(b) The Panel shall provide guidance to UIC and make recommendations regarding the design and implementation of the Program. The Panel shall recommend:

(1) scientifically sound Program design, rationale, and procedures for selecting and collecting biological samples and for selecting the populations for biomonitoring, taking into account both ethical issues and issues pertaining to confidentiality of data;

(2) scientifically sound, peer-reviewed procedures for incorporating biomonitoring data into risk assessment guidance, policies and regulations;

(3) procedures to accurately and effectively interpret and communicate biomonitoring results within the context of potential risks to human health; and

(4) a procedure for selecting priority chemicals for inclusion in the Program using sound public health criteria, including all of the following criteria:

(A) The degree of potential exposure to the public or specific subgroups, including, but not limited to, certain occupations.

(B) The likelihood of a chemical being a carcinogen or toxicant based on peer-reviewed health data, its chemical structure, or the toxicology of chemically related compounds.

(C) The availability and the limits of validated laboratory detection for the chemical, including the ability to reliably detect and quantify the chemical at levels low enough to be expected in the general population.

(c) The Panel may recommend additional designated chemicals not included in the National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals for inclusion in the Program using all of the following criteria:

(1) Exposure or potential exposure to the public or specific subgroups.

(2) The known or suspected health effects resulting from some level of exposure based on scientifically valid studies.

(3) The need to assess the efficacy of public health actions to reduce exposure to a chemical causally associated with human health effects at environmentally relevant exposure levels.

(4) The availability of a scientifically valid method for accurately and reliably measuring the chemical in human specimens.

Section 20. Study report. Two years after the effective date of this Act, UIC shall release a draft report for public review and comment and for review by the Panel. The draft report shall contain the findings of the Study and shall include in the report recommended activities and estimated costs of establishing the Program. The period for public comment and review by the Panel shall last for 60 days. Within 90 days of the close of the public comment period, the draft report shall be revised, taking into consideration the comments received and the recommendations of the Panel. The final report shall be submitted to the Governor and General Assembly.