Authorizing Legislation

Public Health Service Act (2022)

In December 2022, Congress amended the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. § 300mm–51(c)) to include a Research Cohort for Emerging Health Impacts on Youth (individuals who were 21 years of age or younger on September 11, 2001). This act instructs the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program Administrator, in consultation with the Secretary of Education, to establish this research cohort.

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023

The Youth Research Cohort may include:

• individuals who were 21 years of age or younger on September 11, 2001; and
• individuals who were in the area of Manhattan not further north than 14th Street; outside the New York City Disaster Area, or the borough of Brooklyn; and
• age-appropriate control populations as needed for research purposes.

The Youth Research Cohort must:

• be of sufficient size to conduct future research studies on the health and educational impacts of 9/11 exposures;
• include sufficient representation of individuals who were 21 years of age or younger at the time of exposure; and
• include individuals who are screening-eligible WTC survivors or certified-eligible WTC survivors.