Senate Bill sb0148
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Florida Senate - 2001 SB 148
By Senator Meek
36-132-01
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to protection of children's
3 health; providing legislative findings and
4 intent; providing definitions; providing for
5 appointment of the Children's Health and
6 Environmental Protection Advisory Committee;
7 providing for organization and meetings and for
8 termination of the advisory committee;
9 providing for staff support by the Department
10 of Environmental Protection; providing for
11 reimbursement of members' per diem and travel
12 expenses; providing duties of the advisory
13 committee; requiring a report and
14 recommendations; providing an effective date.
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16 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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18 Section 1. Legislative findings and intent.--
19 (1) The Legislature finds that:
20 (a) Children today face an array of preventable
21 exposures to environmental hazards in their schools, homes,
22 and communities.
23 (b) Children are at greater risk than adults for
24 exposure to and possible illness from environmental hazards
25 due to their:
26 1. Decreased abilities to detoxify substances.
27 2. Greater sensitivity to environmental hazards during
28 the stages of development and growth as a result of their
29 immature body organs and tissues and weaker immune systems.
30 3. Different exposure and behavior patterns, such as
31 hand-to-mouth behavior, spending a greater amount of time
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1 outdoors, and spending more time on the floor and on the
2 ground where contaminants can concentrate.
3 4. Ingestion of a greater amount of contaminants due
4 to eating proportionately more food, breathing proportionately
5 more air, and drinking proportionately more fluids than
6 adults.
7 (b) Children in poverty and children from racial and
8 ethnic communities may suffer more frequent and direct
9 exposure to many more chemicals and pollutants.
10 (c) Solutions to complex environmental health problems
11 require the ongoing communication and collaboration of
12 affected communities and many disciplines, including science,
13 medicine, public health, economics, planning, law, and policy.
14 (2) The Legislature recognizes its responsibilities:
15 (a) To enable all children to grow up in a safe and
16 healthy environment.
17 (b) To use its resources to ensure that every child is
18 provided with an environmentally safe and healthy learning
19 environment in which to grow, develop, and mature into a
20 productive and healthy adult.
21 (3) The Legislature intends to meet these
22 responsibilities by creating an advisory committee to identify
23 environmental hazards to children through interdisciplinary
24 problem solving and coalition building.
25 Section 2. Definitions.--As used in this act, the
26 terms:
27 (1) "Advisory committee" means the Children's Health
28 and Environmental Protection Advisory Committee.
29 (2) "Environmental hazard" means exposure to harmful
30 chemicals and pollutants such as lead, pesticides, air
31 pollutants, contaminated drinking water, polluted waters,
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1 toxic waste dumps, polychlorinated biphenyls, second-hand
2 tobacco smoke, industrial chemicals, and other chemicals and
3 pollutants that may affect children's health.
4 (3) "Protect the health of children" means to protect
5 the health of children by taking into account the special
6 vulnerabilities of children because of their developing
7 physiology and because their exposures, behaviors, and diet
8 can differ greatly from those of adults.
9 Section 3. Children's Health and Environmental
10 Protection Advisory Committee.--
11 (1) The Children's Health and Environmental Protection
12 Advisory Committee shall be composed of 13 members, as
13 follows:
14 (a) A member of the Senate appointed by the President
15 of the Senate.
16 (b) A member of the House of Representatives appointed
17 by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
18 (c) The Secretary of Health, or the secretary's
19 designee.
20 (d) The Secretary of Environmental Protection, or the
21 secretary's designee.
22 (e) The Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer
23 Services, or the commissioner's designee.
24 (f) The Commissioner of Education, or the
25 commissioner's designee.
26 (g) The Secretary of Children and Family Services, or
27 the secretary's designee.
28 (h) The Secretary of Community Affairs, or the
29 secretary's designee.
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1 (i) Two licensed pediatric health care providers who
2 have expertise in the field of children's environmental
3 health, appointed by the Governor.
4 (j) A licensed social worker who has expertise in the
5 field of children's environmental health, appointed by the
6 Governor.
7 (k) A parent or guardian whose child has been exposed
8 to environmental health hazards, including lead paint or
9 pesticides, appointed by the Governor.
10 (l) A pediatric environmental health researcher,
11 appointed by the Governor.
12 (m) An economist skilled in measuring the economic
13 costs of illness and the benefits of prevention, appointed by
14 the Governor.
15 (2) The Secretary of Health, or that secretary's
16 designee, and the Secretary of Environmental Protection, or
17 that secretary's designee, shall serve as co-chairs of the
18 advisory committee.
19 (3)(a) The advisory committee shall terminate on June
20 30, 2003.
21 (b) In the case of a vacancy of an appointed member,
22 the appointing authority shall appoint a successor to fill the
23 remainder of the term.
24 (4) The advisory committee shall meet at least six
25 times during its term, at such times and places as it
26 determines.
27 (5) A majority of the membership of the advisory
28 committee shall constitute a quorum.
29 (6) The Department of Environmental Protection shall
30 provide staff to the advisory committee.
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1 (7) Each member of the advisory committee is entitled
2 to reimbursement for per diem and travel expenses as specified
3 in section 112.061, Florida Statutes.
4 (8) The advisory committee shall:
5 (a) Review existing state laws and rules to ensure
6 that they adequately protect the health of children from
7 environmental hazards and recommend changes to those that the
8 advisory committee finds do not adequately protect the health
9 of children from environmental hazards.
10 (b) Gather and disseminate to the public, including
11 the research and medical communities, community-based
12 organizations, schools, and state agencies, information
13 concerning ways to reduce, treat, and eliminate children's
14 exposures to environmental hazards which will further the
15 public's understanding of the environmental hazards that
16 potentially affect children.
17 (c) Develop uniform guidelines for state agencies to
18 follow which will assist in reducing and eliminating the
19 exposure of children to environmental hazards, especially in
20 areas reasonably accessible to children.
21 (d) Produce a report of its recommendations to the
22 Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the
23 House of Representatives by February 15, 2003.
24 Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
25 law.
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2 SENATE SUMMARY
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Provides for appointment of the Children's Health and
4 Environmental Protection Advisory Committee, under the
Department of Environmental Protection. Provides that the
5 duties of the advisory committee include reviewing and
recommending changes to existing state laws and rules to
6 ensure adequate protection of the health of children from
environmental hazards, disseminating information
7 regarding the exposure of children to environmental
hazards, and developing uniform guidelines for state
8 agencies to follow to assist in the reduction and
elimination of such exposures. Requires the advisory
9 committee to submit a report to the Governor and
Legislature by February 15, 2003. Provides for
10 termination of the advisory committee on June 30, 2003.
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