1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Environmental Health Workforce Act of 2017 . 2. Findings The Congress finds as follows: (1) The environmental health workforce is vital to protecting the health and safety of the public. (2) For years, State and local governmental public health agencies have reported substantial workforce losses and other challenges to the environmental health workforce. (3) According to the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) and the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), more than 50,600 State and local environmental health workforce jobs have been lost since 2008. This represents approximately 22 percent of the total State and local environmental health workforce. (4) In the coming years, the retiring Baby Boomer Generation will lead to a further decrease in the environmental health workforce. (5) Currently, only 28 States require a credential for environmental health workers that is an impartial, third-party endorsement of an individual’s professional knowledge and experience. (6) Educating and training existing and new environmental health professionals should be a national public health goal. 3. Model standards and guidelines for credentialing environmental health workers (a) In general Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in coordination with appropriate national professional organizations, Federal, State, local, and tribal governmental agencies, and private-sector and nongovernmental entities, shall develop model standards and guidelines for credentialing environmental health workers. (b) Provision of standards and technical assistance The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall provide to State, local, and tribal governments— (1) the model standards and guidelines developed under subsection (a)