On May 13, 2008, the U.S. Congress passed the Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act which amended the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences  (NIEHS) to make grants for the development and operation of research centers regarding environmental factors that may be related to the etiology of breast cancer.

The bill also established an Interagency Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Coordinating Committee within HHS. (P.L. 110-354).