Revision: Jan. 27, 2017, 8:51 a.m.
HB 484 - AS INTRODUCED
2017 SESSION
17-0284
01/05
HOUSE BILL 484
AN ACT establishing a commission on the seacoast cancer cluster investigation.
SPONSORS: Rep. Messmer, Rock. 24; Rep. Cushing, Rock. 21; Rep. Malloy, Rock. 23; Rep. Berrien, Rock. 18; Rep. Bean, Rock. 21; Rep. P. Gordon, Rock. 29; Rep. H. Marsh, Rock. 22; Sen. Innis, Dist 24; Sen. Fuller Clark, Dist 21; Sen. Feltes, Dist 15; Sen. Bradley, Dist 3
COMMITTEE: Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs
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This bill establishes a commission on the seacoast cancer cluster investigation.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
17-0284
01/05
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Seventeen
AN ACT establishing a commission on the seacoast cancer cluster investigation.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
I. The general court recognizes that the department of health and human services found on February 2, 2016 the existence of the first cancer cluster ever identified in the state of New Hampshire. Specifically, the department found higher than expected incidences of 2 forms of pediatric cancer, rhabdomyosarcoma and pleuropulmonary blastoma, in a 5-town area of the seacoast.
II. Therefore, the general court hereby establishes a commission to investigate the findings of the department on February 2, 2016.
2 New Subdivision; Commission on the Seacoast Cancer Cluster Investigation. Amend RSA 126-A by inserting after section 72 the following new subdivision:
Commission on the Seacoast Cancer Cluster Investigation
126-A:73 Commission on the Seacoast Cancer Cluster Investigation Established; Membership; Duties.
I. There is established the commission on the seacoast cancer cluster investigation.
II.(a) The members of the commission shall be as follows:
(1) Five members of the house of representatives, appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives.
(2) Two members of the senate, appointed by the president of the senate.
(3) The commissioner of the department of health and human services, or designee.
(4) The commissioner of the department of environmental services, or designee.
(5) The health officers from the towns of Greenland, New Castle, Hampton, and North Hampton.
(6) The chairs of the Rye board of selectmen and the North Hampton board of selectmen, or designees.
(7) Three residents of the seacoast, appointed by the governor.
(8) The New Hampshire remedial project manager, United States Environmental Protection Agency, or designee.
(9) A hydrogeologist, appointed by the New Hampshire chapter of the United States Geologic Survey.
(10) A toxicolgist or environmental health professor from Boston University, appointed by the dean of the Boston University School of Public Health.
(b) Legislative members of the commission shall receive mileage at the legislative rate when attending to the duties of the commission.
III.(a) In response to the department of health and human services' findings on February 2, 2016, the commission shall:
(1) Develop a common understanding of the key definitions and concepts of cancer clusters and environmental investigation.
(2) Review the progress made by state and federal agencies and their partners.
(3) Delineate the potential roles and responsibilities for municipalities, state agencies, and their partners.
(4) Provide informed communication about the cancer cluster investigation to their constituencies.
(5) Calibrate and utilize the Seacoast New Hampshire Groundwater Availability Study developed by the United States Geological Survey in 2003 to assess localized groundwater flow and contaminant migration from sites selected by the commission.
(b) The commission shall solicit information from any person or entity the commission deems relevant to its study.
IV. The members of the commission shall elect a chairperson from among the members. The first meeting of the commission shall be called by the first-named house member. The first meeting of the commission shall be held within 45 days of the effective date of this section. Ten members of the commission shall constitute a quorum.
V. The commission shall make 2 interim reports, one on or before November 1, 2017, and one on or before November 1, 2018, and issue a final report on its findings and any recommendations for proposed legislation to the speaker of the house of representatives, the president of the senate, the house clerk, the senate clerk, the governor, and the state library on or before June 30, 2020.
2 Repeal. RSA 126-A:73, relative to the commission on the seacoast cancer cluster investigation, is repealed.
I. Section 2 of this act shall take effect June 30, 2020.
II. The remainder of this act shall take effect upon its passage.