NEHA NEWS
environmental health under- graduate and graduate stu- dents with funded internship placements at qualified state, tribal, local, and territorial (STLT) environmental public health agencies. This work- force initiative supports the establishment of qualified applicants to help meet cur- rent and future environmen- tal health professional work- force needs across the nation and encourages environmen- tal health students to con- sider careers in governmental environmental public health following graduation.
try. He emphasized that a large proportion of food safety work is done by state and local governments, with FDA providing the critical national overview to this three-legged regulatory stool. As FDA develops its Human Foods Program, it will be state and local food safety agencies that provide data on foodborne out- breaks that will drive FDA policies. This information from state and local agencies is essential for FDA to identify, mitigate, and prevent foodborne outbreaks. FDA, in turn, must support state and local food safety agencies to receive these data. This message was delivered to members of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and FDA. Members of both parties (11 Democrats and 6 Republicans) sup- port food safety and the eorts that FDA is engaging in to develop its Human Foods Program. We also shared our message virtually with Congress in mid-May. May is a hectic month for federal budgeting. Republican appropri- ators from the House of Representatives came out with their top- line fiscal year (FY) 2025 budgets—$711 billion for nondefense and $886 billion for defense. House Democrats want at least a 1% increase over FY 2024 and came in with a request of at least $786 billion for nondefense and $895 billion for defense for FY 2025. We spoke to the House and Senate Appropriations Subcom- mittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and FDA about the FDA Human Foods Program, seeking to ensure that FDA would be adequately funded to meet its mission. Of particular emphasis was the FDA state outreach program that funds state and local food safety inspections. Congress appropriates $83 million for the program, but FDA, in seeing its value, has been increasing its funding to $117 million, taking resources from other food safety activities. Due to the restructuring of the Human Foods Program, FDA can no longer subsidize the state outreach eort at $117 mil- lion, meaning state programs could see approximately a 30% cut in federal support. We emphasized that these state programs implement much of FDA’s food safety programs. The vast major- ity of food safety inspections, both retail and manufacturing, are performed by state and local inspectors. Further, the majority of enforcement actions occur by state and local agencies, under state and local authority. We highlighted three points with Congress: 1. Food safety is performed by state, local, tribal, and territorial food safety agencies. 2. The FDA Uniform Food Safety System promotes public health. 3. A strong, qualified environmental health workforce is nec- essary to meet the public health mandate around food and human food needs Check out our blogs on these advocacy activities at www. neha.org/government-affairs-blog. You can also learn more about all of our government aairs activities at www.neha.org/ advocacy.
Since 2015, NEPHIP has successfully helped environmental health student interns gain valuable work experience, develop meaningful professional relationships, and ultimately intro- duce them to the many diverse and rewarding career opportu- nities that exist in STLT environmental public health agencies following graduation. NEPHIP is supported by the National Center for Environmental Health within the Centers for Dis- ease Control and Prevention through a cooperative agreement (CDC-RFA-OT18-1802). Applications for fall 2024 are now open to students. The deadline to submit an online application and all supplemental materials is July 8 . Acceptances and matching are anticipated to be completed by mid-August for the fall 2024 session. Fall ses- sion internship experiences will begin in late August or Septem- ber and end by December 2024. Learn more about the student application process and internship experience at www.neha.org/ nephip-students. Applications for STLT environmental public health programs are also open. These applications will be accepted on a roll- ing basis if positions are open and available. We encourage pro- grams to apply as soon as possible for consideration for fall 2024. Learn more about the intern hosting experience at www.neha.org/ nephip-health-dept. Check out www.neha.org/nephip for all the details about this amazing opportunity for students and environmental public health agencies. Government Aairs Updates We were busy in May advocating for our profession. In early May we were on Capitol Hill to promote funding for the Human Foods Program within FDA. Our Government Aairs Director Doug Farquhar met with 17 congressional oces on May 7 and 8, 2024, to discuss the basics of food safety regulation in our coun-
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July/August 2024 • Journal of Environmental Health
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