793: Braiding & Layering Funds, EPA PFAS Limits

SUMMER JOHNSON: 

This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Monday, November 18, 2024. I'm Summer Johnson. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

KARL ENSIGN: 

Public health is this conglomerate of individual funding streams that are time-limited and condition- or disease-specific, and that really inhibits our ability to get to the root cause of many of public health's most challenging issues.

JOHNSON: 

ASTHO's Carl Ensign says certain funding streams can be a real barrier to progress in public health. That's why braiding and layering funds can be helpful. ASTHO has a new learning module online that walks you through it.

ENSIGN: 

By braiding and layering funding, we can create some continuity and efficiencies and take on these larger issues, like social determinants of health, for instance.

JOHNSON: 

Ensign says there are several instances of this process already working.

ENSIGN: 

Examples that come to mind are the Rhode Island Department of Health funding their community collaboratives to eliminate health disparities. We were really impressed with the Commonwealth Health Corporation in Saipan, CNMI, which restructured its Non-communicable Disease Bureau into four units that are reflecting client needs.

JOHNSON: 

Braiding and layering can provide a lot of benefits, but it can take some work, starting from the top leadership.

ENSIGN: 

Active engagement, buy-in from leadership, who has a vision, communicates that frequently, and then assessment and prioritization, so, spending that time to really thoughtfully plan why we're braiding and layering, and how we're going to go about it, and what we're really going to focus on first and foremost.

JOHNSON: 

ASTHO's Braiding and Layering Learning Module is available now. Use the link in the show notes to find it.

For the first time, the EPA is officially establishing limits for PFAS chemicals in U.S. drinking water. ASTHO's Beth Giambrone explains.

BETH GIAMBRONE: 

Back in April, EPA finalized some drinking water regulations, and that establishes maximum contaminant levels for six different types of PFAS that can be found in drinking water.

JOHNSON: 

Some jurisdictions have already taken it upon themselves to put limits in place.

GIAMBRONE: 

Some states have already started to establish maximum contaminant levels on their own. So, this is just kind of a progression to where we are now that EPA has realized that PFAS in drinking water is a serious concern, and so they need to start regulating the amount that's allowed in drinking water.

JOHNSON: 

It will be up to individual states to enforce the EPA limits.

GIAMBRONE: 

Under the standard, states have two years to establish regulations within their jurisdiction that are at least as stringent as what the current EPA standards are. Now, they can be more stringent if they choose to do so, but they have to be at least as stringent as what EPA standards are.

JOHNSON: 

ASTHO has a Health Policy Update that goes deeper into this topic. You can use the link in the show notes to read it.

Also today, ASTHO is looking for its next Chief Medical Officer. The CMO represents ASTHO and its members in a wide variety of initiatives to improve health outcomes. The full job description is online now. Click the link in the show notes to learn more.

Finally, this morning, stay up-to-date on the latest in the nation's capital and in local entities across the country by signing up for ASTHO's Legislative Alerts, the legislative actions you need to know delivered straight to your inbox. The link to sign up is in the show notes.

That'll do it for today. We're back tomorrow morning with more ASTHO news and information. I'm Summer Johnson. You're listening to the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition. Have a great day.