Senate Bill 849 Update

For the 2005-2006 legislative session, Senator Martha Escutia has introduced the environmental health data tracking bill (SB 849).

Overview of SB 849

This bill would require the establishment of an Interagency Office of Environmental Health Tracking composed of the California Department of Health Services, the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA), and the University of California for the purpose of implementing the California Health Tracking Program.

Key Points from SB 849

Below are some key points from the bill. More information about the bill including the full text can be found at www.leginfo.ca.gov.

California has an inadequate ongoing surveillance system to describe trends in environmental hazards or exposures and environmentally related diseases, and inadequate resources to carry out special studies to explain the trends or to explore the policy implications of its findings.

Ongoing surveillance of environmentally related diseases and priority environmental hazards should be the function and responsibility of the State of California.

There are multiple agencies in California that collect and manage health and environmental data, and those databases, which could be used for tracking, need to be updated and made uniform. However, there is a lack of systematic analysis of the data.

There needs to be a coordinating body that brings these agencies together and promotes collaboration and sets the priorities for updating these databases and systems. The cost to integrate, coordinate, and analyze the data is only a fraction of the cost of collecting the data. This Interagency Office of Environmental Health Tracking would have the following functions:

Coordinate the multiple tracking data collection activities across various state agencies and work to promote access to priority databases in order to integrate data into the California Environmental Health Tracking System.

Oversee the implementation of the recommendations of the final report of the SB 702 Expert Working Group.

Facilitate the dissemination of surveillance data to the public and researchers and provide technical assistance on how to interpret the data.

Develop data sharing agreements and develop procedures to protect individual privacy.

Collate and analyze data to identify trends and geographic patterns of disease and environmental hazards or exposures in relation to socioeconomic status, race, and ethnicity; provide baseline data and present descriptive information relevant to policy formation; develop a strategic plan, in consultation with the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, for obtaining missing information on chemicals as necessary for analyzing significant environmental exposures and potentially damaging health and environmental effects.