The Environmental Health Policy Committee (EHPC) has been established to coordinate policy development for environmental health activities related to the mission of the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) and its agencies. In this regard, it will serve as the primary focal point within the Department of Health and Human Services for promoting the exchange of environmental health information, and for providing review, advice, and consensus facilitation where necessary on environmental health research, exposure assessments, risk assessments, and risk management procedures.
The EHPC shall be chaired by the Assistant Secretary for Health and composed of representatives of the organizations listed below, who have been nominated by their Agency head. The Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health (Disease Prevention and Health Promotion) will serve as the Vice Chair and will be responsible for the day-to-day direction of the EHPC.
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention
National Center for Environmental Health
National Center for Health Statistics
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
Food and Drug Administration
Center for Devices and Radiological Health
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition
National Center for Toxicological Research
Indian Health Service
Office of Environmental Health and Engineering
National Institutes of Health
National Cancer Institute
National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences
National Institute of Mental Health
National Library of Medicine
To facilitate its objectives, liaison membership will be invited from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Labor.
The Chair of the EHPC shall appoint an Executive Secretary who will provide all staff support to the EHPC. There will also be established an Executive Committee chaired by the EHPC Vice Chair, and which will include the chairs of the subcommittees and the Executive Secretary. The Executive Committee will be responsible for managing the agenda for the EHPC and its subcommittees, and otherwise provide guidance for the effective and efficient management of issues before the EHPC.
Subcommittees will be established as needed by the Chair of the EHPC. Subcommittee chairs will be designated by the Chair and will serve for 2 years with the advice and counsel of the EHPC. Membership on the subcommittees will be designated by each member organization with program interest in the issue(s) on the agenda of a given subcommittee. The subcommittee membership may also include as liaison members, representatives from other Federal organizations, within or outside the PHS, that have related activities. Non-Federal consultants may participate subject to the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act.
The personnel and administrative costs of the Executive Secretariat will be assumed by the member organization providing that staff support. Individual member expenses incurred in the operation of the EHPC and any of its subcommittees will be borne by the participating EHPC member's organization. The parent organization of the chair of any subcommittee will be responsible for the secretariat function and its associated costs. Funding sources for extraordinary costs of subcommittee projects submitted to and approved by the EHPC shall be determined on a project by project basis.
The EHPC shall meet approximately quarterly or
at the call of the Chair. Subcommittees shall meet as issues
before them require, or at the call of the Chair.
Approved June 8, 1994 /s/ Philip R.
Lee, Assistant Secretary for Health