Children's Environmental Health Center - Administration Of Public Health - CA Health And Safety

Section § 475

The California State Department of Health Services must create a permanent Office of Binational Border Health to work together with Mexico to help prevent disease in the border region. This office should get funds from public or private sources to support its work.

Additionally, the office will assemble a community advisory group composed of up to 12 California representatives, including local governments and health organizations, to create a strategic plan. This plan will have goals and actions to tackle short, medium, and long-term health issues at the border. The advisory group will also consult with Mexican health authorities and the US-Mexico Border Health Commission. An annual report on border health status will be prepared and sent to state leaders.

(a)

(1) The State Department of Health Services shall establish a permanent Office of Binational Border Health to facilitate cooperation between health officials and health professionals in California and Mexico, to reduce the risk of disease in the California border region, and in those areas directly affected by border health conditions.

(2) The department shall administer the office, and shall seek available public or private funding, or both, to support the activities of the office.

(b) The Office of Binational Border Health shall convene a voluntary community advisory group of representatives of border community-based stakeholders to develop a strategic plan with short-term, intermediate, and long-range goals and implementation actions. The advisory group shall include no more than 12 California representatives. The advisory group shall include, but not be limited to, members from local government, hospitals, health plans, community-based organizations, universities, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Imperial County health departments, and a representative from an association of local health officers specializing in border health issues. The office shall invite and request appropriate participation from representatives of the Baja California health department and other Mexican health departments affected by border health issues. Recommendations resulting from the strategic plan shall be developed and shared in consultation with the California appointees to the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission established pursuant to Section 290n of Title 22 of the United States Code, including the Director of Health Services. The office shall prepare an annual border health status report, and shall submit it to the Director of Health Services, the Legislature, and the Governor.

Binational Border Health California-Mexico cooperation disease prevention border health conditions community advisory group strategic health plan public health collaboration health funding border region health stakeholder participation cross-border health initiatives health status report US-Mexico Border Health Commission local health departments Baja California health

(Added by Stats. 1999, Ch. 765, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2000.)

Section § 900

The Children's Environmental Health Center is established within the Environmental Protection Agency. Its main roles include advising the Environmental Protection Secretary and the Governor on children's environmental health, helping evaluate the effectiveness of laws and programs protecting children from environmental hazards, and coordinating research and regulatory efforts on children's environmental health within the agency and with other state and federal bodies. The center must also consult with the State Air Resources Board and the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to report on state efforts and recommend necessary legal changes to protect children from air pollution by the end of 2001.

There is hereby created the Children’s Environmental Health Center within the Environmental Protection Agency. The primary purposes of the center shall include all of the following:

(a) To serve as the chief advisor to the Secretary for Environmental Protection and to the Governor on matters within the jurisdiction of the Environmental Protection Agency relating to environmental health and environmental protection as each of those matters relates to children.

(b) To assist the boards, departments, and offices within the Environmental Protection Agency to assess the effectiveness of statutes, regulations, and programs designed to protect children from environmental hazards.

(c) To coordinate within the Environmental Protection Agency and with other state agencies, regulatory efforts, research and data collection, and other programs and services that impact the environmental health of children, and coordinate with appropriate federal agencies conducting related regulatory efforts and research and data collection.

(d) In consultation with the State Air Resources Board and the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and notwithstanding Section 7550.5 of the Government Code, to report to the Legislature and the Governor no later than December 31, 2001, on the progress of the state board and the office toward implementing the act that added this part during the 1999–2000 Regular Session and to make recommendations for any statutory or regulatory changes that may be necessary to carry out the intent of that act to protect the public health, including infants and children, from air pollutants and toxic air contaminants.

Children's Environmental Health Center Environmental Protection Agency children's health environmental hazards advisory role program effectiveness regulatory coordination research and data collection air pollution toxic air contaminants State Air Resources Board Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment Governor's advisor legislative report public health protection

(Added by Stats. 1999, Ch. 731, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2000.)

Section § 901

This section focuses on the responsibilities of the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) in assessing cancer risks to children. Specifically, it mandates OEHHA to review and update cancer risk guidelines considering early-life exposures. By June 30, 2001, the OEHHA must consider state and federal guidelines, create criteria for early-life carcinogen impact, and build a database on early exposure risks. By June 30, 2004, children's cancer guidelines must be published and updated as needed. Further, the OEHHA must issue a guidance document by December 31, 2002, for assessing risks at school sites and identify dangerous chemical contaminants by January 1, 2002, publishing health values for them annually. Finally, the Children's Environmental Health Center reports biennially to the Legislature and Governor on the implementation of these guidelines and updates, ensuring children's health protection within environmental policies.

(a) As used in this section:

(1) “Center” means the Children’s Environmental Health Center established pursuant to Section 900.

(2) “Office” means the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.

(b) On or before June 30, 2001, the office shall review cancer risk assessment guidelines for use by the office and the other entities within the California Environmental Protection Agency to establish cancer potency values or numerical health guidance values that adequately address carcinogenic exposures to the fetus, infants, and children.

(c) The review required by subdivision (b) shall include a review of existing state and federal cancer risk guidelines, as well as new information on carcinogenesis, and shall consider the extent to which those guidelines address risks from exposures occurring early in life.

(d) The review required by subdivision (b) shall also include, but not be limited to, all of the following:

(1) The development of criteria for identifying carcinogens likely to have a greater impact if exposures occur early in life.

(2) The assessment of methodologies used in existing guidelines to address early-in-life exposures.

(3) The construction of a database of animal studies to evaluate increases in risks from short-term early-in-life exposures.

(e) On or before June 30, 2004, the office shall finalize and publish children’s cancer guidelines that shall be protective of children’s health. These guidelines shall be revised and updated as needed by the office.

(f)

(1) On or before December 31, 2002, the office shall publish a guidance document, for use by the Department of Toxic Substances Control and other state and local environmental and public health agencies, to assess exposures and health risks at existing and proposed schoolsites. The guidance document shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:

(A) Appropriate child-specific routes of exposure unique to the school environment, in addition to those in existing exposure assessment models.

(B) Appropriate available child-specific numerical health effects guidance values, and plans for the development of additional child-specific numerical health effects guidance values.

(C) The identification of uncertainties in the risk assessment guidance, and those actions that should be taken to address those uncertainties.

(2) The office shall consult with the Department of Toxic Substances Control and the State Department of Education in the preparation of the guidance document required by paragraph (1) to ensure that it provides the information necessary for these two agencies to meet the requirements of Sections 17210.1 and 17213.1 of the Education Code.

(g) On or before January 1, 2002, the office, in consultation with the appropriate entities within the California Environmental Protection Agency, shall identify those chemical contaminants commonly found at schoolsites and determined by the office to be of greatest concern based on criteria that identify child-specific exposures and child-specific physiological sensitivities. On or before December 31, 2002, and annually thereafter, the office shall publish and make available to the public and to other state and local environmental and public health agencies and school districts, numerical health guidance values for five of those chemical contaminants identified pursuant to this subdivision until the contaminants identified have been exhausted.

(h) On and after January 1, 2002, and biennially thereafter, the center shall report to the Legislature and the Governor on the implementation of this section as part of the report required by subdivision (d) of Section 900. The report shall include, but not be limited to, information on revisions or modifications made by the office and other entities within the California Environmental Protection Agency to cancer potency values and other numerical health guidance values in order to be protective of children’s health. The report shall also describe the use of the revised health guidance values in the programs and activities of the office and the other boards and departments within the California Environmental Protection Agency.

(i) Nothing in this section relieves any entity within the California Environmental Protection Agency of complying with Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 2 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, to the extent that chapter is applicable to the entity on or before July 19, 2000, or January 1, 1998.

Children's Environmental Health Center cancer risk assessment guidelines carcinogenic exposures fetus cancer risk infant cancer risk child cancer risk early-life exposure OEHHA schoolsite environmental risks guidance document chemical contaminants child-specific exposure physiological sensitivities health guidance values biennial report

(Amended by Stats. 2004, Ch. 644, Sec. 7. Effective January 1, 2005.)