A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to codify and make permanent the Secretary's Science advisory Board.
Whereas, maintaining clean air, water, and land are critical to the quality of life for all North Carolinians; and
Whereas, a clean environment is necessary to protect the public health as well as to promote a vibrant economy; and
Whereas, for over 25 years, the Science Advisory Board in its various incarnations has brought vitally needed scientific expertise to bear upon the toxicological effects of contaminants through its advice to the Environmental Management Commission as to the necessary level of control of those contaminants for protection of human health and the environment; and
Whereas, scientific expertise is needed in other areas of environmental policy, including impacts of climate change and offshore drilling; Now, therefore,
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Article 7 of Chapter 143B of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new Part to read:
"Part 37. Science Advisory Board.
"§ 143B‑344.65.  Science Advisory Board: establishment, membership.
(a)	Membership. – The Science Advisory Board within the Department of Environmental Quality shall consist of 11 voting members appointed by the Secretaries of the Department of Environmental Quality and the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (collectively, the "Secretaries"). Members will serve two‑year terms at the pleasure of the Secretaries and may be reappointed by the Secretaries. The members appointed by the Secretaries will represent academic institutions, the public and private sectors, and independent research facilities. Board membership shall include, at a minimum, the following:
(1)	One doctoral level epidemiologist who is a public health scientist or environmental scientist with strong background in environmental epidemiology.
(2)	One doctoral level toxicologist, public health scientist, or environmental scientist in the private sector who has at least five years of experience in risk assessment.
(3)	The State Epidemiologist.
(4)	The State Health Director or the State Health Director's designee.
(5)	One doctoral level toxicologist or epidemiologist who is employed by the State or the federal government and has at least five years of experience in risk assessment.
(6)	One doctoral level scientist having a minimum of five years of experience in exposure assessment to air contaminants.
(7)	One doctoral level scientist having a minimum of five years of experience in exposure assessment to water contaminants.
(8)	One licensed medical doctor with board certification in occupational or environmental medicine.
(9)	A representative from the North Carolina Association of Local Health Directors who serves or has within the prior five years served as a health director with relevant experience in environmental health or epidemiology.
(10)	One doctoral level scientist having a minimum of five years of experience in atmospheric science or climatology.
(11)	One doctoral level scientist having a minimum of five years of experience in geology of the coast and continental shelf.
(b)	Chair. – The Secretaries shall designate one member as chair, and the Board may elect one of its members to serve as the vice‑chair.
(c)	Meetings. – The Board shall meet at least six times per year and at the call of the chair or the Secretaries.
"§ 143B‑344.66.  Science Advisory Board: duties.
The Science Advisory Board shall have the following duties:
(1)	To perform or recommend reviews and evaluations of matters concerning the release of contaminants into the environment that are placed on the Board agenda by the Secretaries.
(2)	To advise the Environmental Management Commission on information concerning the regulation and evaluation of releases of contaminants that come to the attention of the Board.
(3)	To review the effects of chemicals that are proposed to be regulated by the Department of Environmental Quality as contaminants and to recommend the necessity and urgency for controlling the releases of such chemicals that are found to cause deleterious environmental and human health effects with priority given to the study of contaminants for which control has been deferred pending further study.
(4)	To act as consultants regarding the Department of Environmental Quality's determinations to regulate releases of contaminants and in determining factors for establishing acceptable levels for contaminants and for remediation levels for contaminants in other media.
(5)	To recommend concentrations of contaminants in a "range of risks" to the Department of Environmental Quality and the Environmental Management Commission for regulation that will minimize adverse health responses in the exposed citizenry and to advise the Environmental Management Commission of the scientific basis for these recommendations. In making those recommendations, the Board shall consider all of the following:
a.	Whether factors have been appropriately applied in a media‑specific concentration recommendation for a specific chemical.
b.	Whether chemical agents that have adverse reproductive and developmental effects should be treated with risk assessment value.
c.	Whether synergistic health effects of mixtures of contaminants should be considered in the setting of limits for those contaminants.
d.	Whether and how concentrations of contaminants should be adjusted when there are multiple sources of the same contaminant in a localized area.
e.	How uncertainties in the risk assessment process can be incorporated into development and revision of concentrations of contaminants.
(6)	To assist the Secretaries in providing expertise to evaluate the human and environmental impact of exposure to hazardous contaminants as part of a task force that may be formed to investigate the multimedia (air, water, and soil) impacts of those contaminants.
(7)	To consider the establishment of concentrations for contaminants to be recommended for the establishment of standards in cases where well‑designed human studies or data regarding mechanisms of action, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, or species' differences appear not to have been taken into account.
(8)	To provide input to the Department of Health and Human Services as the agency establishes health goals.
(9)	To assist the Secretaries in identifying contaminants of emerging concern and assist in determining whether the contaminants warrant further evaluation.
(10)	To provide, upon request of the Secretaries, assessment of the state of the science informing current policy issues in the areas of public health and the environment, including the identification and analysis of issues and areas where scientific consensus exists, where there is no scientific consensus, and where data is unavailable or incomplete.
"§ 143B‑344.67.  Science Advisory Board: administrative support.
(a)	The Secretaries will jointly provide oversight and direction to the Board and will designate staff to serve as the liaisons of the Board. Technical support will be provided by members of the Division of Air Quality, the Division of Water Resources, and the Division of Waste Management of the Department of Environmental Quality and by members of the staff of the Division of Public Health within the Department of Health and Human Services. Communications between the two Departments and the Board shall be conducted and coordinated through the liaisons designated by the Secretaries.
(b)	Members of the Board will be reimbursed for necessary travel and subsistence expenses as authorized by G.S. 138‑5, and paid in equal share by the Department of Environmental Quality and the Department of Health and Human Services from available funds."
SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2019. The members of the Secretaries' Science Advisory Board who are serving on the effective date of this act shall constitute the initial members of the Science Advisory Board created by this act. For purposes of this section, the Secretaries' Science Advisory Board refers to the Board created by a charter ratified by the Secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality and the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services on July 28, 2017.