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By: Shapleigh S.B. No. 95
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the establishment of an asthma research center at the
Texas Tech University campus in El Paso.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 110, Education Code, is amended by
adding Section 110.151 to read as follows:
Sec. 110.151. TEXAS TECH ASTHMA RESEARCH CENTER. (a) In
this section:
(1) "Board" means the board of regents of the Texas
Tech University System.
(2) "Center" means the Texas Tech Asthma Research
Center.
(b) The board shall establish the Texas Tech Asthma Research
Center. The center shall operate in collaboration with The
University of Texas at El Paso and the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality.
(c) The center shall conduct research related to:
(1) asthma; and
(2) conditions associated with asthma, including
health problems associated with industrial pollution and other
environmental contamination in this state in the region that
borders the United Mexican States.
(d) The center shall:
(1) collaborate with the Department of State Health
Services to develop a standard definition of asthma and to identify
entities to collect and report asthma and related health data to the
center;
(2) study asthma and related health problems
associated with industrial pollution and environmental
contamination in this state at international bridge crossings and
state or federal industrial cleanup sites in the region that
borders the United Mexican States;
(3) investigate the areas in this state that the
center identifies as having abnormally high incidence of asthma and
related health problems;
(4) study the impact of air and soil quality on the
health of this state's residents in the region that borders the
United Mexican States; and
(5) study the impact of motor vehicle traffic on the
health of this state's residents in the region that borders the
United Mexican States.
(e) The center shall develop a 10-year strategic plan to
guide and evaluate the center's progress toward achieving the
center's purposes in accordance with this section, focusing on the
region of this state that borders the United Mexican States. The
strategic plan must:
(1) describe the goals, objectives, and performance
standards for each of the center's programs and how the programs
accomplish the center's purposes;
(2) recommend guidelines on air quality and air
pollution standards in relation to health issues and the monitoring
and compliance necessary to enforce the guidelines;
(3) recommend preventative and corrective steps to
reduce or eliminate adverse health effects identified in the study;
(4) assess the needs of the center's programs and
faculty; and
(5) assess the center's need for new initiatives.
(f) The center shall update the strategic plan required by
Subsection (e) at least every two years. Not later than December 15
of each even-numbered year, the board shall submit to the
legislature a report concerning the strategic plan, including any
recommendations for legislative action.
(g) The board shall organize, control, and manage the
center.
(h) The board shall approve the center's employment of
personnel and operating budget. An employee of the center is an
employee of the Texas Tech University System.
(i) The board shall select a site for the center at the
regional academic health center of the Texas Tech University Health
Sciences Center located in El Paso.
(j) The center may enter into an agreement or may cooperate
with a public or private entity to perform the research functions of
the center.
(k) The board may solicit, accept, and administer gifts and
grants from any public or private source for the use and benefit of
the center.
SECTION 2. The board of regents of the Texas Tech University
System shall use existing funds to establish the Texas Tech Asthma
Research Center as provided by Section 110.151, Education Code, as
added by this Act, not later than January 1, 2007.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2005.