Sens. Donnelly and Crapo Pass Bipartisan Amendment to Support Action on Cancer Clusters

Today, the Senate passed their version of the Labor-HHS appropriations bill which included an amendment by Senator Joe Donnelly (D-IN) and Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) to assist with the investigation of potential cancer clusters in communities across the United States.

The Donnelly-Crapo amendment provides $1 million to the Health and Human Services Department (HHS) for the agency to update the guidelines for the investigation of potential cancer clusters as directed by Trevor’s Law.

EDF applauds Senators Donnelly and Crapo for their work to support communities facing potential cancer clusters and to strengthen Trevor’s Law.

“Senator Donnelly and Senator Crapo put politics aside and worked together to help communities facing potential cancer clusters,” said Sarah Vogel, Vice President of EDF Health. “It’s the kind of bi-partisan work that’s needed to protect the health of American families. That’s how we passed the chemical safety law in 2016, and we need more of it today.”

Trevor’s Law is a provision in the newly reformed Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) designed to provide federal agencies with the authority to help conduct investigations into potential cancer clusters. The provision ensures the federal government has the authority to undertake actions to help address cancer clusters and factors that may contribute to the creation of clusters and to better enable Federal agencies to coordinate with state and local agencies and the public.

Over 9,000 EDF Members across the country contacted their Senators to urge them to support this commonsense measure.

The Donnelly-Crapo amendment will provide needed funding to implement Trevor’s Law and give the Department of Health & Human Services the resources needed to better protect communities across the country.