II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3980 

To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation 

with the Secretary of Education, to develop a policy for managing the 

risk of food allergy and anaphylaxis in schools, to establish schoolbased food allergy management grants, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 28, 2006 

Mr. DODD (for himself, Mr. FRIST, Mr. HARKIN, Mrs. CLINTON, Mr. REED, 

and Mr. DURBIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 

in consultation with the Secretary of Education, to develop a policy for managing the risk of food allergy 

and anaphylaxis in schools, to establish school-based food 

allergy management grants, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Food Allergy and Ana5 phylaxis Management Act of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds as follows: 


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1 (1) Food allergy is an increasing food safety 

2 and public health concern in the United States, es3 pecially among students. 

4 (2) Peanut allergy doubled among students 

5 from 1997 to 2002. 

6 (3) In a 2003 survey of 400 elementary school 

7 nurses, 37 percent reported having at least 10 stu8 dents with severe food allergies and 62 percent re9 ported having at least 5. 

10 (4) 44 percent of the elementary school nurses 

11 surveyed reported that the number of students in 

12 their school with food allergy had increased over the 

13 past 5 years, while only 2 percent reported a de14 crease. 

15 (5) In a 2001 study of 32 fatal food-allergy in16 duced anaphylactic reactions (the largest study of its 

17 kind to date), more than half (53 percent) of the in18 dividuals were aged 18 or younger. 

19 (6) 8 foods account for 90 percent of all food20 allergic reactions: milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree 

21 nuts, peanuts, wheat, and soy. 

22 (7) Currently, there is no cure for food aller23 gies; strict avoidance of the offending food is the 

24 only way to prevent a reaction. 


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1 (8) Anaphylaxis, or anaphylactic shock, is a 

2 systemic allergic reaction that can kill within min3 utes. 

4 (9) Food-allergic reactions are the leading cause 

5 of anaphylaxis outside the hospital setting, account6 ing for an estimated 30,000 emergency room visits, 

7 2,000 hospitalizations, and 150 to 200 deaths each 

8 year in the United States. 

9 (10) Fatalities from anaphylaxis are associated 

10 with a delay in the administration of epinephrine 

11 (adrenaline), or when epinephrine was not adminis12 tered at all. In a study of 13 food allergy-induced 

13 anaphylactic reactions in school-age children (6 fatal 

14 and 7 near fatal), only 2 of the children who died 

15 received epinephrine within 1 hour of ingesting the 

16 allergen, and all but 1 of the children who survived 

17 received epinephrine within 30 minutes. 

18 (11) The importance of managing life-threat19 ening food allergies in the school setting has been 

20 recognized by the American Medical Association, the 

21 American Academy of Pediatrics, the American 

22 Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, the 

23 American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immu24 nology, and the National Association of School 

25 Nurses. 


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1 (12) There are no Federal guidelines con2 cerning the management of life-threatening food al3 lergies in the school setting. 

4 (13) Three-quarters of the elementary school 

5 nurses surveyed reported developing their own train6 ing guidelines. 

7 (14) Relatively few schools actually employ a 

8 full-time school nurse. Many are forced to cover 

9 more than 1 school, and are often in charge of hun10 dreds if not thousands of students. 

11 (15) Parents of students with severe food aller12 gies often face entirely different food allergy man13 agement approaches when their students change 

14 schools or school districts. 

15 (16) In a study of food allergy reactions in 

16 schools and day-care settings, delays in treatment 

17 were attributed to a failure to follow emergency 

18 plans, calling parents instead of administering emer19 gency medications, and an inability to administer ep20 inephrine. 

21 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

22 In this Act: 

23 (1) ESEA DEFINITIONS.—The terms ‘‘local 

24 educational agency’’, ‘‘secondary school’’, and ‘‘ele25 mentary school’’ have the meanings given the terms 


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1 in section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary 

2 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

3 (2) SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘school’’ includes pub4 lic— 

5 (A) kindergartens; 

6 (B) elementary schools; and 

7 (C) secondary schools. 

8 (3) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 

9 means the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 

10 in consultation with the Secretary of Education. 

11 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF FOOD ALLERGY AND ANAPHY12 LAXIS MANAGEMENT POLICY. 

13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year after 

14 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretaries shall— 

15 (1) develop a policy to be used on a voluntary 

16 basis to manage the risk of food allergy and anaphy17 laxis in schools; and 

18 (2) make such policy available to local edu19 cational agencies and other interested individuals 

20 and entities. 

21 (b) CONTENTS.—The policy developed by the Secre22 taries under subsection (a) shall contain guidelines that 

23 address each of the following: 


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1 (1) Parental obligation to provide the school, 

2 prior to the start of every school year, with docu3 mentation from the student’s physician or nurse— 

4 (A) supporting a diagnosis of food allergy 

5 and anaphylaxis; 

6 (B) identifying any food to which the stu7 dent is allergic; 

8 (C) describing, if appropriate, any prior 

9 history of anaphylaxis; 

10 (D) listing any medication prescribed for 

11 the student for the treatment of anaphylaxis; 

12 (E) detailing emergency treatment proce13 dures in the event of a reaction; 

14 (F) listing the signs and symptoms of a re15 action; 

16 (G) assessing the student’s readiness for 

17 self-administration of prescription medication; 

18 and 

19 (H) providing a list of substitute meals 

20 that may be offered by school food service per21 sonnel. 

22 (2) The creation and maintenance of an indi23 vidual health care plan tailored to the needs of each 

24 student with a documented risk for anaphylaxis, inVerDate Aug 31 2005 07:31 Sep 30, 2006 Jkt 049196 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3980.IS S3980

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1 cluding any procedures for the self-administration of 

2 medication by such students in instances where— 

3 (A) the students are capable of self-admin4 istering medication; and 

5 (B) such administration is not prohibited 

6 by State law. 

7 (3) Communication strategies between indi8 vidual schools and local providers of emergency med9 ical services, including appropriate instructions for 

10 emergency medical response. 

11 (4) Strategies to reduce the risk of exposure to 

12 anaphylactic causative agents in classrooms and 

13 common school areas such as cafeterias. 

14 (5) The dissemination of information on life15 threatening food allergies to school staff, parents, 

16 and students, if appropriate by law. 

17 (6) Food allergy management training of school 

18 personnel who regularly come into contact with stu19 dents with life-threatening food allergies. 

20 (7) The authorization and training of school 

21 personnel to administer epinephrine when the school 

22 nurse is not immediately available. 

23 (8) The timely accessibility of epinephrine by 

24 school personnel when the nurse is not immediately 

25 available. 


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1 (9) Extracurricular programs such as non-aca2 demic outings and field trips, before- and after3 school programs, and school-sponsored programs 

4 held on weekends that are addressed in the indi5 vidual health care plan. 

6 (10) The collection and publication of data for 

7 each administration of epinephrine to a student at 

8 risk for anaphylaxis. 

9 (c) RELATION TO STATE LAW.—Nothing in this Act 

10 or the policy developed by the Secretaries under subsection 

11 (a) shall be construed to preempt State law, including any 

12 State law regarding whether students at risk for anaphy13 laxis may self-administer medication. 

14 SEC. 5. SCHOOL-BASED FOOD ALLERGY MANAGEMENT 

15 GRANTS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries may award 

17 grants of not more than $50,000 to local educational 

18 agencies to assist such agencies with implementing food 

19 allergy management guidelines contained in the policy de20 scribed in section 4. 

21 (b) APPLICATION.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 

23 grant under this section, a local educational agency 

24 shall submit an application to the Secretaries at 


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1 such time, in such manner, and including such infor2 mation as the Secretaries may reasonably require. 

3 (2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted 

4 under paragraph (1) shall include— 

5 (A) a certification that the food allergy 

6 management guidelines contained in the policy 

7 described in section 4 have been adopted by the 

8 local educational agency; 

9 (B) a description of the activities to be 

10 funded by the grant in carrying out the food al11 lergy management guidelines, including— 

12 (i) how the guidelines will be carried 

13 out at individual schools served by the 

14 local educational agency; 

15 (ii) how the local educational agency 

16 will inform parents and students of the 

17 food allergy management guidelines in 

18 place; 

19 (iii) how school nurses, teachers, ad20 ministrators, and other school-based staff 

21 will be made aware of, and given training 

22 on, when applicable, the food allergy man23 agement guidelines in place; and 

24 (iv) any other activities that the Sec25 retaries determine appropriate; 


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1 (C) a budget table that itemizes the 

2 amounts of grant funds received under this sec3 tion that will be expended on various activities; 

4 (D) a description of how adoption of the 

5 guidelines and implementation of grant activi6 ties will be monitored; and 

7 (E) an assurance that the local educational 

8 agency will provide such information and co9 operate in any evaluation that the Secretaries 

10 may conduct under this section. 

11 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—Each local educational agency 

12 that receives a grant under this section may use the grant 

13 funds for the following: 

14 (1) Creation of systems and databases related 

15 to creation, storage, and maintenance of student 

16 records. 

17 (2) Purchase of equipment or services, or both, 

18 related to the creation, storage, and maintenance of 

19 student records. 

20 (3) In partnership with local health depart21 ments, training school nurse, teacher, and personnel 

22 for food allergy management. 

23 (4) Purchase and storage of limited medical 

24 supplies, including epinephrine and disposable wet 

25 wipes. 


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1 (5) Programs that educate students as to the 

2 presence of, and policies and procedures in place re3 lated to, food allergies and anaphylactic shock. 

4 (6) Outreach to parents. 

5 (7) Any other activities consistent with the 

6 guidelines contained in the policy described in sec7 tion 4. 

8 (d) DURATION OF AWARDS.—The Secretaries may 

9 award grants under this section for a period of not more 

10 than 2 years. Funding for the second year of the grant, 

11 where applicable, shall be contingent on successful review 

12 of the program by the Secretaries after the first year. 

13 (e) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF AWARDS.—A grant 

14 awarded under this section may not be made in an amount 

15 that is more than $50,000. 

16 (f) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec17 tion, the Secretaries shall give priority to local educational 

18 agencies that receive Federal funding under title I of the 

19 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.). 

21 (g) ADMINISTRATIVE FUNDS.—A local educational 

22 agency that receives a grant under this section may use 

23 not more than 2 percent of the grant amount for adminis24 trative costs related to carrying out this section. 

25 (h) PROGRESS AND EVALUATIONS.— 


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1 (1) LESS THAN A 1 YEAR GRANT.—A local edu2 cational agency that receives a grant under this sec3 tion for a period of not more than 1 year shall pro4 vide the Secretaries, at the completion of the grant 

5 period, with information on whether the agency suc6 cessfully implemented the food allergy management 

7 guidelines contained in the policy described in sec8 tion 4. 

9 (2) GRANTS FOR A 1 TO 2 YEAR PERIOD.—A 

10 local educational agency that receives a grant under 

11 this section for a period of 1 to 2 years shall provide 

12 the Secretaries— 

13 (A) not later than 1 year after the agency 

14 receives such grant, with information on the 

15 progress made in implementing the food allergy 

16 management guidelines contained in the policy 

17 described in section 4; and 

18 (B) at the completion of the grant period, 

19 with information on whether the agency suc20 cessfully implemented the food allergy manage21 ment guidelines contained in the policy de22 scribed in section 4. 

23 (i) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The food allergy man24 agement guidelines contained in the policy described in 


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1 section 4 are voluntary but a condition of receiving grant 

2 funds under this section. 

3 (j) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—Grant funds re4 ceived under this section shall be used to supplement, and 

5 not supplant, non-Federal funds and any other Federal 

6 funds available to carry out the activities described in this 

7 section. 

8 (k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

9 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

10 $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2007 and such sums as may 

11 be necessary for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years. 

Æ 


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