Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman YVONNE LOPEZ
District 19 (Middlesex)
Assemblywoman ANNETTE QUIJANO
District 20 (Union)
Assemblyman JOHN ARMATO
District 2 (Atlantic)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblyman DeAngelo, Assemblywoman Schepisi, Assemblyman Conaway, Assemblywomen Jimenez, Pinkin, Assemblymen Wirths, Space, Assemblywomen DiMaso, McKnight and Assemblyman Danielsen
SYNOPSIS
Requires Commissioner of Health to develop voluntary registry to collect cancer incidence data from firefighters.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning firefighters and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the “Firefighter Cancer Registry Act of 2018.”
2. a. The Commissioner of Health shall develop and maintain a firefighter cancer registry, which shall be a voluntary registry of firefighters to collect relevant history and occupational information from firefighters that can be linked to available cancer registry data collected by existing State cancer registries.
b. The Commissioner shall seek to include the following information for each firefighter included in the firefighter cancer registry:
(1) the age and demographic information of the firefighter;
(2) the status of the firefighter as either a volunteer or a career firefighter;
(3) the number of years working as a firefighter;
(4) the number of fire incidents attended to by the firefighter;
(5) whether the firefighter’s history includes smoking or drug use;
(6) relevant physical examination and medical history information; and
(7) any additional information that is deemed necessary by the Commissioner.
c. For the purpose of developing and maintaining the firefighter registry established pursuant to this section, the Commissioner shall consult experts with experience in developing and maintaining cancer registries, studying cancer incidence, diagnosing and treating cancer, and firefighting.
3. The Commissioner of Health shall develop a strategy for increasing awareness of the firefighter cancer registry and maximizing participation in sending information to the registry.
4. The Commissioner of Health shall report any findings made pursuant to this act to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), to the Legislature.
5. The Commissioner of
Health shall develop and make public a process for making data collected
through the firefighter cancer registry available without a fee for research
while maintaining the privacy standards adopted pursuant to section 6 of this
act.
6. Names and individual identification data collected pursuant to the provisions of this act shall not be disclosed by the Commissioner of Health unless required by law, and nothing in this act shall be construed to require disclosure of any private or confidential health information in violation of State or federal privacy laws.
7. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes the “Firefighter Cancer Registry Act of 2018.”
Under the bill, the Commissioner of Health (commissioner) is to develop and maintain a firefighter cancer registry, which is to be a voluntary registry of firefighters to collect relevant history and occupational information from firefighters that can be linked to available cancer registry data collected by existing State cancer registries.
The commissioner is to seek to include the following information for each firefighter included in the firefighter cancer registry: (1) age and demographic information of the firefighter; (2) the status of the firefighter as either volunteer or career firefighter; (3) the number of years working as a firefighter; (4) the number of fire incidents attended to by the firefighter; (5) whether the firefighter’s history includes smoking or drug use; (6) relevant physical examination and medical history information; and (7) any additional information that is deemed necessary by the commissioner.
The bill provides that the commissioner is to develop a strategy for increasing awareness of the firefighter cancer registry and maximizing participation in sending information to the registry. The commissioner is to also develop and make public a process for making data available collected through the firefighter cancer registry without a fee for research while maintaining the confidentiality of individual identifying and health information.