Law requiring feds to track cancer clusters headed to Obama’s desk | McClatchy Washington Bureau

Congress finally came through for Idaho’s Trevor Schaefer on Tuesday night.

Ending seven years of work for the cancer survivor from Boise, the Senate gave final approval to “Trevor’s Law,” legislation that will require the federal government to document and track childhood and adult cancer clusters in Idaho and around the nation.

The House passed the bill last month. It now goes to President Barack Obama, who’s expected to sign it.

The Senate included Trevor’s Law, sponsored by Idaho Republican Rep. Mike Crapo and California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, into a broader bill, the Toxic Substances Control Act. It passed on a unanimous vote.

Crapo said the bill is “a significant milestone in how cancer clusters will be identified, monitored and treated in the United States.”

Schaefer was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2002 at age 13.　

In 2013, he joined cancer activist Erin Brockovich and others to testify for the legislation on Capitol Hill.

Crapo said passage of the law was a testament to the determination and commitment of both Trevor Schaefer and his mother, Charlie Smith, also of Boise.

In a statement Tuesday night, Schaefer, now 27, said he was pleased “that after seven long years of fighting for environmental justice the voices of all of our children and communities have been heard.”

“We will now be able to more effectively and efficiently identify cancer clusters throughout the United States and uncover why such cancer clusters exist,” he added.