II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4767 

To establish programs to support research and development with respect 

to personal protective equipment for health care workers. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 30 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 29), 2020 

Mr. CASEY (for himself and Ms. STABENOW) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To establish programs to support research and development 

with respect to personal protective equipment for health 

care workers. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘PPE Innovation Act 

5 of 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. IMPROVING THE SUPPLY OF PERSONAL PROTEC2 TIVE EQUIPMENT. 

3 Part B of title III of the Public Health Service Act 

4 (42 U.S.C. 243 et seq.) is amended by inserting after sec5 tion 319M the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 319N. PROGRAMS TO IMPROVE THE SUPPLY OF PER7 SONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT. 

8 ‘‘(a) NATIONAL PERSONAL PROTECTIVE TECH9 NOLOGY LABORATORY.—The Secretary, acting through 

10 the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre11 vention, shall continue to carry out the activities of the 

12 National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory with13 in the National Institute for Occupational Safety and 

14 Health, including by— 

15 ‘‘(1) conducting research and development re16 lated to personal protective equipment, which shall 

17 include developing new methods to test effectiveness 

18 of such equipment; 

19 ‘‘(2) developing and implementing science-based 

20 national guidance for respiratory equipment and 

21 other personal protective equipment; 

22 ‘‘(3) establishing guidance and tools to help em23 ployers and workers use personal protective equip24 ment as effectively and efficiently as possible; and 

25 ‘‘(4) developing and evaluating innovative de26 signs and test methods to improve acceptability, 


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1 comfort, fit, and usability of personal protective 

2 equipment. 

3 ‘‘(b) RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM FOR

4 PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT FOR HEALTH CARE

5 WORKERS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 

7 through the Director of the Centers for Disease 

8 Control and Prevention, shall establish, within the 

9 National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory 

10 described in subsection (a), a program to ensure in11 novation with respect to personal protective equip12 ment for health care workers, by conducting and ap13 plying scientific research on essential safety, design 

14 considerations, and usage qualities and standards of 

15 personal protective equipment used in health care 

16 settings. 

17 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The program estab18 lished under paragraph (1) shall— 

19 ‘‘(A) integrate consultation with heath care 

20 personnel who use personal protective equip21 ment in their work to inform factors such as 

22 comfort over short- and long-durations, fit, du23 rability, and feasibility in real-world health care 

24 settings; 


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1 ‘‘(B) conduct pilot testing for periods of 6 

2 months to evaluate workforce experience with, 

3 and preliminary efficacy of, newly developed 

4 equipment; and 

5 ‘‘(C) coordinate with manufacturers to— 

6 ‘‘(i) ensure capability for large scale7 production of personal protective equip8 ment, even in the potential circumstance of 

9 low-profitability, and 

10 ‘‘(ii) guarantee the ability to increase 

11 supply of such equipment rapidly in re12 sponse to sudden medical need, through 

13 manufacturing at facilities within the 

14 United States and at reliable manufac15 turing facilities abroad. 

16 ‘‘(3) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out the pro17 gram under this subsection, the Director of the Cen18 ters for Disease Control and Prevention shall consult 

19 with— 

20 ‘‘(A) the Assistant Secretary of Labor for 

21 Occupational Safety and Health to align and in22 tegrate the objectives of the 2 agencies with re23 spect to innovative development of personal pro24 tective equipment for health care workers; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) the Commissioner of Food and Drugs 

2 to ensure appropriate communication related to 

3 relevant certification of personal protective 

4 equipment. 

5 ‘‘(4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

6 To carry out this subsection, there are authorized to 

7 be appropriated $180,000,000 for each of fiscal 

8 years 2021 through 2025. 

9 ‘‘(c) REPORTING.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall seek to 

11 enter into a contract with the National Academies of 

12 Science, Engineering and Medicine (referred to in 

13 this subsection as the ‘Academies’) under which, not 

14 later than 3 years after the date of enactment of the 

15 PPE Innovation Act of 2020, and thereafter, at 

16 such regular intervals as the Secretary shall deter17 mine, the Standing Committee on Personal Protec18 tive Equipment for Workplace Safety and Health of 

19 such Academies shall— 

20 ‘‘(A) present a workshop to update the 

21 public on progress of the program under sub22 section (b) and the progress and remaining 

23 knowledge gaps with respect to implementation 

24 of such program and innovative product deployVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Oct 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4767.IS S4767

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1 ment of personal protective equipment in health 

2 care settings in the United States; and 

3 ‘‘(B) submit a written summary of such 

4 workshop to the Committee on Health, Edu5 cation, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and 

6 the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 

7 House of Representatives. 

8 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

9 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

10 as may be required to carry out this subsection. 

11 ‘‘(d) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘per12 sonal protective equipment’ means equipment worn to 

13 minimize exposure to hazards that cause serious workplace 

14 injuries and illnesses and includes respiratory protection, 

15 clothing, eye protection, and such other equipment to pro16 tect the wearer as the Secretary may determine.’’. 

Æ 


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