(a)  On or before July 1, 2002, the Division of Environmental and Occupational Disease Control in the State Department of Health Services, in consultation with the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, shall create a working group of technical experts, including experts who have knowledge of the sensitivity and exposure of children, women of childbearing age, seniors, and disparately affected populations to environmental hazards, to do all of the following:

(1)  Develop possible approaches to establishing the EHSS, including an estimated cost for each approach.

(2)  Prepare and submit a report to the State Department of Health Services, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and appropriate legislative committees, by July 1, 2003, on the possible approaches to establishing the EHSS, including an estimated cost of each approach, and the recommended approach to establishing an EHSS for California.

(3)  Develop the health and environmental measurements needed to do both of the following:

(A)  Obtain an ongoing picture of the health of Californians.

(B)  Establish a database that may facilitate the examination of the relationship between chronic diseases, including birth defects, and the environment.

(b)  The Regents of the University of California are requested to cooperate with the division and the office in creating the work group described in this section.

(Amended by Stats. 2002, Ch. 664, Sec. 150. Effective January 1, 2003.)