I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 345 

To support programs for mosquito-borne and other vector-borne disease 

surveillance and control. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 8, 2019 

Mr. SOTO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To support programs for mosquito-borne and other vectorborne disease surveillance and control. 

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 ‘‘Strengthening Mos5 quito Abatement for Safety and Health Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘SMASH Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF MOSQUITO ABATEMENT FOR 

8 SAFETY AND HEALTH PROGRAM. 

9 Section 317S of the Public Health Service Act (42 

10 U.S.C. 247b–21) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a)(1)(B)— 

2 (A) by inserting ‘‘including programs to 

3 address emerging infectious mosquito-borne dis4 eases,’’ after ‘‘control programs,’’; and 

5 (B) by inserting ‘‘or improving existing 

6 control programs’’ before the period at the end; 

7 (2) in subsection (b)— 

8 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘, in9 cluding improvement,’’ after ‘‘operation’’; 

10 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

11 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 

12 (I) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘or’’ 

13 at the end; 

14 (II) in clause (iii), by striking the 

15 semicolon at the end and inserting ‘‘, 

16 including an emerging infectious mos17 quito-borne disease that presents a se18 rious public health threat; or’’; and 

19 (III) by adding at the end the 

20 following: 

21 ‘‘(iv) a public health emergency due to 

22 the incidence or prevalence of a mosquito23 borne disease that presents a serious pub24 lic health threat;’’; and 


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1 (ii) in subparagraph (D), by inserting 

2 ‘‘or that demonstrates to the Secretary 

3 that the control program is consistent with 

4 existing State mosquito control plans or 

5 policies, or other applicable State pre6 paredness plans’’ before the period at the 

7 end; 

8 (C) in paragraph (4)(C), by striking ‘‘that 

9 extraordinary’’ and all that follows through the 

10 period at the end and inserting ‘‘that— 

11 ‘‘(i) extraordinary economic conditions 

12 in the political subdivision or consortium of 

13 political subdivisions involved justify the 

14 waiver; or 

15 ‘‘(ii) the geographical area covered by 

16 a political subdivision or consortium for a 

17 grant under paragraph (1) has an extreme 

18 mosquito control need due to— 

19 ‘‘(I) the size or density of the po20 tentially impacted human population; 

21 ‘‘(II) the size or density of a 

22 mosquito population that requires 

23 heightened control; or 

24 ‘‘(III) the severity of the mos25 quito-borne disease, such that exVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Jan 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H345.IH H345

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1 pected serious adverse health out2 comes for the human population jus3 tify the waiver.’’; and 

4 (D) by amending paragraph (6) to read as 

5 follows: 

6 ‘‘(6) NUMBER OF GRANTS.—A political subdivi7 sion or a consortium of political subdivisions may 

8 not receive more than one grant under paragraph 

9 (1).’’; and 

10 (3) in subsection (f)— 

11 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘for fis12 cal year 2003, and such sums as may be nec13 essary for each of fiscal years 2004 through 

14 2007’’ and inserting ‘‘for each of fiscal years 

15 2020 through 2024’’; 

16 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘the 

17 Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Pre18 paredness and Response Act of 2002’’ and in19 serting ‘‘other medical and public health pre20 paredness and response laws’’; and 

21 (C) in paragraph (3)— 

22 (i) in the heading, by striking ‘‘2004’’ 

23 and inserting ‘‘2020’’; and 

24 (ii) by striking ‘‘2004’’ and inserting 

25 ‘‘2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. EPIDEMIOLOGY-LABORATORY CAPACITY GRANTS. 

2 Section 2821 of the Public Health Service Act (42 

3 U.S.C. 300hh–31) is amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (a)(1), by inserting ‘‘, includ5 ing mosquito and other vector-borne diseases,’’ after 

6 ‘‘infectious diseases’’; and 

7 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘2010 through 

8 2013’’ and inserting ‘‘2020 through 2024’’. 

9 SEC. 4. GAO STUDY. 

10 (a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United 

11 States shall conduct a study on the state of surveillance 

12 and control of mosquito-borne infectious diseases in the 

13 United States and territories, including the state of pre14 paredness for conducting such surveillance and control. 

15 The study shall include— 

16 (1) a description of the infrastructure and pro17 grams for mosquito control in the United States, in18 cluding— 

19 (A) how such infrastructure and programs 

20 are organized and implemented at the Federal, 

21 State and local levels, including with respect to 

22 departments and agencies of the States, and 

23 local organizations (including special districts) 

24 involved in such control programs; 

25 (B) the role of the private sector in such 

26 activities; 


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1 (C) how the authority for mosquito control 

2 impacts such activities; and 

3 (D) the resources for such infrastructure 

4 and programs, including Federal, State, and 

5 local funding sources; 

6 (2) how mosquito and other vector-borne dis7 ease surveillance and control is integrated into Fed8 eral, State, and local preparedness plans and ac9 tions, including how zoonotic surveillance is inte10 grated into infectious disease surveillance to support 

11 real-time situational surveillance and awareness; 

12 (3) Federal, State, and local laboratory capacity 

13 for emerging vector-borne diseases, including mos14 quito-borne and other zoonotic diseases; and 

15 (4) any regulatory challenges for developing and 

16 utilizing vector-control technologies and platforms as 

17 part of mosquito control strategies. 

18 (b) CONSULTATIONS.—In conducting the study under 

19 subsection (a), the Comptroller General of the United 

20 States shall consult with— 

21 (1) State and local public health officials in22 volved in mosquito and other vector-borne disease 

23 surveillance and control efforts; 

24 (2) researchers and manufacturers of mosquito 

25 control products; 


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1 (3) stakeholders involved in mosquito abate2 ment activities; 

3 (4) infectious disease experts; and 

4 (5) entomologists involved in mosquito-borne 

5 disease surveillance and control efforts. 

6 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 

7 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

8 of the United States shall submit to the Committee on 

9 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and 

10 the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House 

11 of Representatives a report containing the results of the 

12 study conducted under subsection (a) and relevant rec13 ommendations for Zika virus and other mosquito-borne 

14 diseases preparedness and response efforts. 

Æ 


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