I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 817 

To combat the heroin epidemic and drug sample backlogs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 28, 2019 

Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To combat the heroin epidemic and drug sample backlogs. 

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 ‘‘Combating the Heroin 

5 Epidemic Through Forensic Drug Testing Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CONFRONTING THE USE OF HEROIN AND ASSOCI7 ATED DRUGS. 

8 Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

9 Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3711 et seq.) is amended 

10 by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘PART LL—CONFRONTING THE USE OF HEROIN 

2 AND ASSOCIATED DRUGS 

3 ‘‘SEC. 3021. AUTHORITY TO MAKE GRANTS TO ADDRESS 

4 PUBLIC SAFETY AND HEROIN DISTRIBUTION, 

5 SALE, AND USE. 

6 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to as7 sist States and Indian tribes to— 

8 ‘‘(1) carry out programs to address the dis9 tribution, sale, and use of heroin, fentanyl, and asso10 ciated synthetic drugs; and 

11 ‘‘(2) improve the ability of State, tribal, and 

12 local government institutions to carry out such pro13 grams. 

14 ‘‘(b) GRANT AUTHORIZATION.—The Attorney Gen15 eral, through the Bureau of Justice Assistance, may make 

16 grants to States to address the distribution, sale, and use 

17 of heroin, fentanyl, and associated synthetic drugs to en18 hance public safety. 

19 ‘‘(c) GRANT PROJECTS TO ADDRESS DISTRIBUTION, 

20 SALE, AND USE OF HEROIN, FENTANYL, AND ASSOCI21 ATED SYNTHETIC DRUGS.—Grants made under sub22 section (b) may be used for programs, projects, and other 

23 activities to— 

24 ‘‘(1) reimburse State, local, or other forensic 

25 science laboratories to help address backlogs of unVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:11 Feb 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H817.IH H817

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1 tested samples of heroin, fentanyl, and associated 

2 synthetic drugs; 

3 ‘‘(2) reimburse State, local, or other forensic 

4 science laboratories for procuring equipment, tech5 nology, or other support systems if the applicant for 

6 the grant demonstrates to the satisfaction of the At7 torney General that expenditures for such purposes 

8 would result in improved efficiency of laboratory 

9 testing and help prevent future backlogs; 

10 ‘‘(3) reimburse State, tribal, and local law en11 forcement agencies for procuring field-testing equip12 ment for use in the identification or detection of her13 oin, fentanyl, and associated synthetic drugs; 

14 ‘‘(4) investigate, arrest, and prosecute individ15 uals violating laws related to the distribution or sale 

16 of heroin, fentanyl, and associated synthetic drugs; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(5) support State, tribal, and local health de19 partment services deployed to address the use of 

20 heroin, fentanyl, and associated synthetic drugs. 

21 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION.—Not less than 60 percent of the 

22 amounts made available to carry out this section shall be 

23 awarded for the purposes under paragraph (1) or (2) of 

24 subsection (c). 


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1 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

3 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 and 2020. 

4 ‘‘(f) ALLOCATION.— 

5 ‘‘(1) POPULATION ALLOCATION.—Seventy-five 

6 percent of the amount made available to carry out 

7 this section in a fiscal year shall be allocated to each 

8 State that meets the requirements of section 2802 

9 so that each State shall receive an amount that 

10 bears the same ratio to the 75 percent of the total 

11 amount made available to carry out this section for 

12 that fiscal year as the population of the State bears 

13 to the population of all States. 

14 ‘‘(2) DISCRETIONARY ALLOCATION.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Twenty-five percent of 

16 the amount made available to carry out this 

17 section in a fiscal year shall be allocated pursu18 ant to the discretion of the Attorney General 

19 for competitive grants to States with high rates 

20 of primary treatment admissions for heroin and 

21 other opioids, for use by State law enforcement 

22 agencies. 

23 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In making 

24 grants under subparagraph (A), the Attorney 

25 General shall consider— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the average annual number of 

2 part 1 violent crimes reported by each 

3 State to the Federal Bureau of Investiga4 tion for the 3 most recent calendar years 

5 for which data is available; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) the existing resources and cur7 rent needs of the potential grant recipient. 

8 ‘‘(3) MINIMUM REQUIREMENT.—Each State 

9 shall receive not less than 0.6 percent of the amount 

10 made available to carry out this section in each fis11 cal year. 

12 ‘‘(4) CERTAIN TERRITORIES.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of the 

14 allocation under this section, American Samoa 

15 and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mar16 iana Islands shall be considered as 1 State. 

17 ‘‘(B) ALLOCATION AMONGST CERTAIN TER18 RITORIES.—For purposes of subparagraph (A), 

19 67 percent of the amount allocated shall be al20 located to American Samoa and 33 percent 

21 shall be allocated to the Commonwealth of the 

22 Northern Mariana Islands.’’. 

Æ 


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