Review - HR 8537 Introduced – East Palestine Health Study

Back in May, Rep Joyce (R,OH) introduced HR 8537, the East Palestine Health Impact Monitoring Act of 2024. The bill would require HHS to conduct a study on the health effects of the 2023 East Palestine, OH train derailment. The bill would authorize “such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2025, to remain available until September 30, 2029, to carry out this Act”.

This bill is nearly identical to the reported version of S 4045. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee approved that revised language in markup hearing on May 23^rd, 2024. No further action has been taken in the Senate.

Moving Forward

Neither Joyce, nor any of his four cosponsors are members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration. This means that there probably is no sufficient influence to see the bill considered in Committee. With the vague funding language, I suspect that if the bill were considered, it would receive some level of bipartisan support in Committee. Whether it would be enough to allow the bill to reach the floor under the suspension of the rules process remains to be seen.

 

For more details about the provisions of this bill, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-8537-introduced - subscription required.