117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2796 

AN ACT 

To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 

Act of 1968 to provide for the eligibility of rural community response pilot programs for funding under the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Grant Program, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
2 

†S 2796 ES

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rural Opioid Abuse 

3 Prevention Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY OF RURAL COMMUNITY RESPONSE 

5 PILOT PROGRAMS FOR FUNDING UNDER THE 

6 COMPREHENSIVE OPIOID ABUSE GRANT PRO7 GRAM. 

8 Section 3021 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 

9 and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10701) is amend10 ed— 

11 (1) in subsection (a)(1)— 

12 (A) in subparagraph (F), by striking 

13 ‘‘and’’; 

14 (B) in subparagraph (G), by striking the 

15 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

16 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(H) a pilot program for rural areas to im18 plement community response programs that 

19 focus on reducing opioid overdose deaths, which 

20 may include presenting alternatives to incarcer21 ation, as described in subsection (f).’’; and 

22 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(f) RURAL PILOT PROGRAM.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The pilot program de25 scribed under this subsection shall make grants to 

26 rural areas to implement community response pro-
3 

†S 2796 ES

1 grams to reduce opioid overdose deaths. Grants 

2 issued under this subsection shall be jointly operated 

3 by units of local government, in collaboration with 

4 public safety and public health agencies or public 

5 safety, public health and behavioral health collabora6 tions. A community response program under this 

7 subsection shall identify gaps in community preven8 tion, treatment, and recovery services for individuals 

9 who encounter the criminal justice system and shall 

10 establish treatment protocols to address identified 

11 shortcomings. The Attorney General, through the 

12 Office of Justice Programs, shall increase the 

13 amount provided as a grant under this section for a 

14 pilot program by no more than five percent for each 

15 of the two years following certification by the Attor16 ney General of the submission of data by the rural 

17 area on the prescribing of schedules II, III, and IV 

18 controlled substances to a prescription drug moni19 toring program, or any other centralized database 

20 administered by an authorized State agency, which 

21 includes tracking the dispensation of such sub22 stances, and providing for interoperability and data 

23 sharing with each other such program (including an 

24 electronic health records system) in each other 
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†S 2796 ES

1 State, and with any interstate entity that shares in2 formation between such programs. 

3 ‘‘(2) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

4 this subsection shall be construed to— 

5 ‘‘(A) direct or encourage a State to use a 

6 specific interstate data sharing program; or 

7 ‘‘(B) limit or prohibit the discretion of a 

8 prescription drug monitoring program for inter9 operability connections to other programs (in10 cluding electronic health records systems, hos11 pital systems, pharmacy dispensing systems, or 

12 health information exchanges).’’. 

Passed the Senate December 8, 2021. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2796 

AN ACT 

To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

Grant Program, and for other purposes. funding under the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse of rural community response pilot programs for Streets Act of 1968 to provide for the eligibility