Summary
This bill would amend the environmental conservation and public health laws to require that the departments of Environmental Conservation and Health conduct studies using computer mapping to examine cancer incidence in relationship to a variety of environmental risk factors.

Explanation
Efforts to reduce the incidence of cancer require that New York make the fullest use of all the tools at its disposal. The state collects extensive epidemiological information in its cancer registry but, to date, has not fully capitalized on this excellent resource. Maps released by the Department of Health to date have been less than illuminating, with overly broad mapping intervals. They also fail to make use of existing sources of potentially correlative data. This bill would require the departments of Health and Environmental Conservation to maintain detailed computerized databases on key factors that may contribute to cancer incidence in the state, including hazardous waste disposal sites. Doing so will help illuminate potential relationships between incidence and risk and ultimately open the door to reducing those risks.

The bill would be even more effective if it were more specific regarding the environmental factors for mapping against the cancer registry data. Instead of making reference to a generic category of environmental facilities and sites in the environmental conservation law, it would be useful to clarify precisely which factors should be used, e.g. pesticide reporting data, Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (SPARCS), inactive hazardous waste sites, oil spill sites and Toxic Release Inventory facilities. It would also be good to specify overlay mapping of other sources of epidemiological information, such as birth defects registry data. 

In addition, the specificity of the data requested for entry into the cancer registry may raise compliance problems for physicians and, potentially, questions of consent. If consent were required for this kind of information to be gathered and catalogued, the registry might cease to be comprehensive. A closer examination of the logistics and consent issues raised by this bill is needed.

Environmental Advocates of New York strongly supports this bill.