Bill would require federal prisons to disclose environmental factors that pose health risks

With limited data on how environmental stressors — from poor water quality to rising temperatures to contagious diseases — may harm people living and working in U.S. prisons, legislation introduced Thursday in Congress seeks to begin filling in the gaps.

The Democratic-sponsored Environmental Health in Prisons Act would require the federal government to install an independent advisory panel that could conduct related research at all federal prisons, jails and detention centers, recommend policies to mitigate environmental threats, offer reports about those facilities and outline protective measures.

The bill says its goal is to "improve the environmental health outcomes" for people in these facilities, hundreds of which are located within 3 miles of Superfund sites with histories of toxic waste and pollutants, according to a 2017 study.

"As we work to reduce the number of people behind bars, we must also ensure that those currently incarcerated have access to clean air, water and living environments, are treated with dignity and respect, and can live in conditions that aren't dangerous and dehumanizing," said Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., who is partnering with Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and incarcerated members of the African American Coalition Committee at Norfolk-MCI, a prison in the lawmakers' state.

Pressley said in a statement that the bill "would affirm the fundamental right to a safe and healthy environment for every person behind the wall."

If passed, the legislation would instruct agencies that oversee federal carceral facilities, including the Bureau of Prisons, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, to make public the prevalence of and exposure