I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1290 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Secretary of 

Homeland Security to establish a National Biosurveillance Integration Center. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 1, 2007 

Mr. LANGEVIN (for himself, Mr. MCCAUL of Texas, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. KING of New York, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California, Mr. 

DENT, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. DAVID DAVIS of Tennessee, and 

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Homeland Security, and in addition to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by 

the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct 

the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a National Biosurveillance Integration Center. 

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 ‘‘Biosurveillance En5 hancement Act of 2007’’. 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
2 

•HR 1290 IH

1 SEC. 2. NATIONAL BIOSURVEILLANCE INTEGRATION CEN2 TER. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Homeland Secu4 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) is amended by 

5 adding at the end the following new section: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 316. NATIONAL BIOSURVEILLANCE INTEGRATION 

7 CENTER. 

8 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab9 lish a National Biosurveillance Integration Center (re10 ferred to in this section as the ‘NBIC’) to enhance the 

11 capability of the Federal Government to rapidly identify, 

12 characterize, and localize a biological event by integrating 

13 and analyzing data related to human health, animals, 

14 plants, food, and the environment. The NBIC shall be 

15 headed by a Director. 

16 ‘‘(b) INTEGRATED BIOSURVEILLANCE NETWORK.— 

17 As part of the NBIC, the Director shall develop, operate, 

18 and maintain an integrated network to detect, as early as 

19 possible, a biological event that presents a risk to the 

20 United States or the infrastructure or key assets of the 

21 United States. The network shall— 

22 ‘‘(1) consolidate data from all relevant surveil23 lance systems maintained by the Department and 

24 other governmental and private sources, both foreign 

25 and domestic, to the extent practicable; and 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
3 

•HR 1290 IH

1 ‘‘(2) use an information technology system that 

2 uses the best available statistical and other analyt3 ical tools to identify and characterize biological 

4 events in as close to real-time as possible. 

5 ‘‘(c) RESPONSIBILITIES.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall— 

7 ‘‘(A) monitor on an ongoing basis the 

8 availability and appropriateness of candidate 

9 data feeds and solicit new surveillance systems 

10 with data that would enhance biological situa11 tional awareness or overall performance of the 

12 NBIC; 

13 ‘‘(B) review and seek to improve on an on14 going basis the statistical and other analytical 

15 methods used by the NBIC; 

16 ‘‘(C) establish a procedure to enable Fed17 eral, State and local government, and private 

18 sector entities to report suspicious events that 

19 could warrant further assessments by the 

20 NBIC; 

21 ‘‘(D) receive and consider all relevant 

22 homeland security information; and 

23 ‘‘(E) provide technical assistance, as ap24 propriate, to all Federal, State, and local gov25 ernment entities and private sector entities that 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
4 

•HR 1290 IH

1 contribute data relevant to the operation of the 

2 NBIC. 

3 ‘‘(2) ASSESSMENTS.—The Director shall— 

4 ‘‘(A) continuously evaluate available data 

5 for evidence of a biological event; and 

6 ‘‘(B) integrate homeland security informa7 tion with NBIC data to provide overall biologi8 cal situational awareness and determine wheth9 er a biological event has occurred. 

10 ‘‘(3) INFORMATION SHARING.—The Director 

11 shall— 

12 ‘‘(A) establish a mechanism for real-time 

13 communication with the National Operations 

14 Center; 

15 ‘‘(B) provide integrated information to the 

16 heads of the departments and agencies with 

17 which the Director has entered into an agree18 ment under subsection (d); 

19 ‘‘(C) notify the Secretary, the head of the 

20 National Operations Center, and the heads of 

21 appropriate Federal, State, tribal, and local en22 tities of any significant biological event identi23 fied by the NBIC; 

24 ‘‘(D) provide reports on NBIC assessments 

25 to Federal, State, and local government entities, 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
5 

•HR 1290 IH

1 including departments and agencies with which 

2 the Director has entered into an agreement 

3 under subsection (d), and any private sector en4 tities, as considered appropriate by the Direc5 tor; and 

6 ‘‘(E) use information sharing networks 

7 available to the Department, including such 

8 networks of the Office of Information Analysis 

9 and the National Operations Center, for distrib10 uting NBIC incident or situational awareness 

11 reports. 

12 ‘‘(d) INTERAGENCY AGREEMENTS.— 

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

14 enter into agreements with the heads of appropriate 

15 Federal departments and agencies, including the De16 partment of Health and Human Services, Depart17 ment of Defense, the Department of Agriculture, the 

18 Department of State, the Department of Interior, 

19 and the Intelligence Community. 

20 ‘‘(2) CONTENT OF AGREEMENTS.—Under an 

21 agreement entered into under paragraph (1), the 

22 head of a Federal department or agency shall agree 

23 to— 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
6 

•HR 1290 IH

1 ‘‘(A) use the best efforts of the department 

2 or agency to integrate biosurveillance informa3 tion capabilities through NBIC; 

4 ‘‘(B) provide timely, evaluated information 

5 to assist the NBIC in maintaining biological sit6 uational awareness for timely and accurate de7 tection and response purposes; 

8 ‘‘(C) provide connectivity for the bio9 surveillance data systems of the department or 

10 agency to the NBIC network under mutually 

11 agreed protocols; 

12 ‘‘(D) detail, if practicable, to the NBIC de13 partment or agency personnel with relevant ex14 pertise in human, animal, plant, food, or envi15 ronmental disease analysis and interpretation; 

16 ‘‘(E) retain responsibility for the surveil17 lance and intelligence systems of that depart18 ment or agency, if applicable; and 

19 ‘‘(F) participate in forming the strategy 

20 and policy for the operation and information 

21 sharing practices of the NBIC. 

22 ‘‘(e) NOTIFICATION OF DIRECTOR.—The Secretary 

23 shall ensure that the Director is notified of homeland secu24 rity information relating to any significant biological 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
7 

•HR 1290 IH

1 threat and receives all classified and unclassified reports 

2 related to such a threat in a timely manner. 

3 ‘‘(f) ADMINISTRATIVE AUTHORITIES.— 

4 ‘‘(1) PRIVACY.—The Secretary shall— 

5 ‘‘(A) designate the NBIC as a public 

6 health authority; 

7 ‘‘(B) ensure that the NBIC complies with 

8 any applicable requirements of the Health In9 surance Portability and Accountability Act of 

10 1996; and 

11 ‘‘(C) ensure that all applicable privacy reg12 ulations are strictly adhered to in the operation 

13 of the NBIC and the sharing of any informa14 tion related to the NBIC. 

15 ‘‘(2) COLLECTION OF INFORMATION.—The 

16 NBIC, as a public health authority with a public 

17 health mission, is authorized to collect or receive 

18 health information, including such information pro19 tected under the Health Insurance Portability and 

20 Accountability Act of 1996, for the purpose of pre21 venting or controlling disease, injury, or disability. 

22 ‘‘(g) NBIC INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP.—The 

23 Director shall— 

24 ‘‘(1) establish an interagency working group to 

25 facilitate interagency cooperation to advise the DiVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:00 Mar 03, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1290.IH H1290

hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
8 

•HR 1290 IH

1 rector on recommendations to enhance the bio2 surveillance capabilities of the Department; and 

3 ‘‘(2) invite officials of Federal agencies that 

4 conduct biosurveillance programs, including officials 

5 of the departments and agencies with which the Sec6 retary has entered into an agreement under sub7 section (d), to participate in the working group. 

8 ‘‘(h) ANNUAL REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 

9 December 31 of each year, the Secretary shall submit to 

10 Congress a report that contains each of the following: 

11 ‘‘(1) A list of departments, agencies, and pri12 vate or nonprofit entities participating in the NBIC 

13 and a description of the data that each entity has 

14 contributed to the NBIC during the preceding fiscal 

15 year. 

16 ‘‘(2) The schedule for obtaining access to any 

17 relevant biosurveillance information not received by 

18 the NBIC as of the date on which the report is sub19 mitted. 

20 ‘‘(3) A list of Federal, State, and local govern21 ment entities and private sector entities that have 

22 direct or indirect access to the information that is 

23 integrated by the NBIC. 

24 ‘‘(4) For any year before the NBIC is fully im25 plemented or any year in which any major structural 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
9 

•HR 1290 IH

1 or institutional change is made to the NBIC, an im2 plementation plan for the NBIC that includes cost, 

3 schedule, key milestones, and the status of such 

4 milestones. 

5 ‘‘(i) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER DEPARTMENTS AND

6 AGENCIES.—The authority of the Secretary under this 

7 section shall not affect an authority or responsibility of 

8 any other Federal department or agency with respect to 

9 biosurveillance activities under any program administered 

10 by that department or agency. 

11 ‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

12 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

13 such sums as may be necessary for each fiscal year. 

14 ‘‘(k) BIOLOGICAL EVENT.—For purposes of this sec15 tion, the term ‘biological event’ means— 

16 ‘‘(1) an act of terrorism involving biological 

17 agents or toxins of known or unknown origin; or 

18 ‘‘(2) a naturally occurring outbreak of an infec19 tious disease that may be of potential national sig20 nificance.’’. 

21 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

22 in section 1(b) of such Act is amended by inserting after 

23 the items relating to such title the following: 

‘‘Sec. 316. National Biosurveillance Integration Center.’’. 

24 (c) DEADLINE FOR IMPLEMENTATION.—The Na25 tional Biosurveillance Integration Center required under 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
10 

•HR 1290 IH

1 section 316 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as 

2 added by subsection (a), shall be fully operational by not 

3 later than September 30, 2008. 

Æ 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS