Environmental Health Workforce Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2661 To prioritize educating and training for existing and new environmental health professionals. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 19, 2021 Mrs. LAWRENCE (for herself, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, and Mr. COHEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To prioritize educating and training for existing and new environmental health professionals. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Environmental Health 4 Workforce Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 The Congress finds as follows: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:47 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2661.IH H2661 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2661 IH (1) The environmental health workforce is vital 1 to protecting the health and safety of the public. 2 (2) For years, State and local governmental 3 public health agencies have reported substantial 4 workforce losses and other challenges to the environ- 5 mental health workforce. 6 (3) According to the Association of State and 7 Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) and the Na- 8 tional Association of County and City Health Offi- 9 cials (NACCHO), more than 50,600 State and local 10 environmental health workforce jobs have been lost 11 since 2008. This represents approximately 22 per- 12 cent of the total State and local environmental 13 health workforce. 14 (4) In the coming years, the retiring Baby 15 Boomer Generation will lead to a further decrease in 16 the environmental health workforce. 17 (5) According to the National Environmental 18 Health Association, more than 67 percent of Tribal 19 environmental health programs, 64 percent of State 20 environmental health programs, and 60 percent of 21 local environmental health programs report insuffi- 22 cient staffing capacity to respond to new issues pre- 23 sented by the COVID–19 pandemic. Industry work- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:47 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2661.IH H2661 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2661 IH ers also reported insufficient access to training and 1 high levels of burnout. 2 (6) Currently, only 27 States require a creden- 3 tial for environmental health workers that is an im- 4 partial, third-party endorsement of an individual’s 5 professional knowledge and experience. 6 (7) Educating and training existing and new 7 environmental health professionals should be a na- 8 tional public health goal. 9 SEC. 3. MODEL STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES FOR 10 CREDENTIALING ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH 11 WORKERS. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 13 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and 14 Human Services, in coordination with appropriate na- 15 tional professional organizations, Federal, State, local, 16 and tribal governmental agencies, and private-sector and 17 nongovernmental entities, shall develop model standards 18 and guidelines for credentialing environmental health 19 workers. 20 (b) PROVISION OF STANDARDS AND TECHNICAL AS- 21 SISTANCE.—The Secretary of Health and Human Services 22 shall provide to State, local, and tribal governments— 23 (1) the model standards and guidelines devel- 24 oped under subsection (a); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:47 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2661.IH H2661 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2661 IH (2) technical assistance in credentialing envi- 1 ronmental health workers. 2 SEC. 4. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH WORKFORCE DEVELOP- 3 MENT PLAN. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—To ensure that programs and ac- 5 tivities (including education, training, and payment pro- 6 grams) of the Department of Health and Human Services 7 for developing the environmental health workforce meet 8 national needs, the Secretary of Health and Human Serv- 9 ices shall develop a comprehensive and coordinated plan 10 for such programs and activities that— 11 (1) includes performance measures to more 12 clearly determine the extent to which these programs 13 and activities are meeting the Department’s stra- 14 tegic goal of strengthening the environmental health 15 workforce; 16 (2) identifies and communicates to stakeholders 17 any gaps between existing programs and activities 18 and future environmental health workforce needs 19 identified in workforce projections of the Health Re- 20 sources and Services Administration; 21 (3) identifies actions needed to address such 22 identified gaps; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:47 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2661.IH H2661 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2661 IH (4) identifies any additional statutory authority 1 that is needed by the Department to implement such 2 identified actions. 3 (b) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2 4 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec- 5 retary of Health and Human Services shall submit to the 6 Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of 7 the Senate, and to the Committees on Energy and Com- 8 merce and Education and Labor of the House of Rep- 9 resentatives, the plan developed under subsection (a). 10 SEC. 5. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH WORKFORCE DEVELOP- 11 MENT REPORT. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 13 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 14 of the United States shall examine and identify best prac- 15 tices in 6 States (as described in subsection (b)) related 16 to training and credentialing requirements for environ- 17 mental health workers and submit to the Committee on 18 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and 19 the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House 20 of Representatives a report that includes information con- 21 cerning— 22 (1) types of environmental health workers em- 23 ployed at State, local, and city health departments 24 and independent environmental health agencies; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:47 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2661.IH H2661 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2661 IH (2) educational backgrounds of environmental 1 health workers; 2 (3) whether environmental health workers are 3 credentialed or registered, and what type of creden- 4 tial or registration each worker has received; 5 (4) State requirements for continuing education 6 for environmental health workers; 7 (5) whether State, local, and city health depart- 8 ments and independent environmental health agen- 9 cies track continuing education units for their envi- 10 ronmental health workers; and 11 (6) how frequently any exam required to qualify 12 environmental health workers is updated and re- 13 viewed to ensure that the exam is consistent with 14 current law. 15 (b) SELECTION OF STATES.—The report described in 16 subsection (a) shall be based upon the examination of such 17 best practices with respect to 3 States that have 18 credentialing requirements for environmental health work- 19 ers (such as Maryland, Ohio, and Washington) and 3 20 States that do not have such requirements (such as Indi- 21 ana, Iowa, and Pennsylvania). 22 SEC. 6. PUBLIC SERVICE LOAN FORGIVENESS. 23 Section 455(m) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 24 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(m)) is amended in paragraph (3)(B)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:47 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2661.IH H2661 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2661 IH (1) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end; 1 (2) in clause (ii), by striking the period at the 2 end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 3 (3) by adding at the end the following: 4 ‘‘(iii) a full-time job as an environ- 5 mental health worker (as defined in section 6 7 of the Environmental Health Workforce 7 Act of 2021) who is accredited, certified, 8 or licensed in accordance with applicable 9 law.’’. 10 SEC. 7. DEFINITION. 11 In this Act, the terms ‘‘environmental health worker’’ 12 and ‘‘environmental health workforce’’ refer to public 13 health workers who investigate and assess hazardous envi- 14 ronmental agents in various environmental settings and 15 develop, promote, and enforce guidelines, policies, and 16 interventions to control such hazards. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:47 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2661.IH H2661 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS