This week, the House and Senate approved the conference reports for the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies and Legislative Branch spending bills.
Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
On July 28, the House approved, 410-10, the conference report for the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies spending bill (H.R. 2361). The Senate approved the conference report, 99-1, on July 29. It will now go to the White House for President Bush’s signature.
H.R. 2361 allocates $26.2 billion in FY2006, an $816 million decrease below FY2005 and $477 million more than the administration’s request.
Of particular interest to women and their families, the conference report prohibits the Environmental Protection Agency from using funds in the bill to accept, consider, or rely on third-party intentional human dosing studies for pesticides; or to conduct intentional human dosing for pesticides until the administrator issues a final rule on this subject. According to the conference report, the administrator “shall allow for a period of not less than 90 days for public comment on the Agency’s proposed rule before issuing a final rule. Such rule shall not permit the use of pregnant women, infants or children as subjects; shall be consistent with the principles proposed in the 2004 report of the National Academy of Sciences on intentional human dosing and the principles of the Nuremberg Code with respect to human experimentation; and shall establish an independent Human Subjects Review Board. The final rule shall be issued no later than 180 days after enactment of this Act.”
