116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1199 

AN ACT 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to revise and extend 

the poison center network program. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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†S 1199 ES

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Poison Center Network 

3 Enhancement Act of 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. NATIONAL TOLL-FREE NUMBER. 

5 Section 1271 of the Public Health Service Act (42 

6 U.S.C. 300d–71) is amended— 

7 (1) in the section heading, by inserting before 

8 the period the following: ‘‘AND OTHER COMMU9 NICATION CAPABILITIES’’; and 

10 (2) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 

11 following: 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary— 

13 ‘‘(1) shall provide coordination and assistance 

14 to poison control centers for the establishment and 

15 maintenance of a nationwide toll-free phone number, 

16 to be used to access such centers; and 

17 ‘‘(2) may provide coordination and assistance to 

18 poison control centers and consult with professional 

19 organizations for the establishment, implementation, 

20 and maintenance of other communication tech21 nologies to be used to access such centers.’’; 

22 (3) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub23 section (c); 

24 (4) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol25 lowing: 
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1 ‘‘(b) ROUTING CONTACTS WITH POISON CONTROL

2 CENTERS.—Not later than 18 months after the date of 

3 enactment of the Poison Center Network Enhancement 

4 Act of 2019, the Secretary shall coordinate with the Chair5 man of the Federal Communications Commission, to the 

6 extent technically and economically feasible, to ensure that 

7 communications with the national toll-free number are 

8 routed to the appropriate poison control center based on 

9 the physical location of the contact rather than the area 

10 code of the contact device.’’; and 

11 (5) in subsection (c), as so redesignated— 

12 (A) by striking ‘‘2015 through 2019’’ and 

13 inserting ‘‘2020 through 2024’’; and 

14 (B) by striking ‘‘maintenance of the na15 tionwide toll free phone number under sub16 section (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘establishment, im17 plementation, and maintenance activities car18 ried out under subsections (a) and (b)’’. 

19 SEC. 3. NATIONWIDE MEDIA CAMPAIGN. 

20 Section 1272 of the Public Health Service Act (42 

21 U.S.C. 300d–72) is amended— 

22 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘NA23 TIONWIDE MEDIA CAMPAIGN TO PROMOTE’’ 

24 and inserting ‘‘PROMOTING’’; 

25 (2) in subsection (a)— 
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1 (A) by inserting ‘‘and support outreach to’’ 

2 after ‘‘educate’’; 

3 (B) by striking ‘‘poison prevention’’ and 

4 inserting ‘‘poisoning and toxic exposure preven5 tion’’; and 

6 (C) by striking ‘‘established under’’ and in7 serting ‘‘and other available communication 

8 technologies established, implemented, or main9 tained under’’; 

10 (3) in subsection (b)— 

11 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

12 by striking ‘‘nationwide poison prevention’’ and 

13 inserting ‘‘nationwide poisoning and toxic expo14 sure prevention’’; and 

15 (B) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘poison 

16 prevention and poison control center’’ and in17 serting ‘‘poisoning and toxic exposure preven18 tion awareness materials, applicable public 

19 health emergency preparedness and response in20 formation, and poison control center’’ after 

21 ‘‘distribution of’’; and 

22 (4) by striking subsection (c); 

23 (5) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub24 section (c); and 
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1 (6) in subsection (c) (as so redesignated), by 

2 striking ‘‘2015 through 2019’’ and inserting ‘‘2020 

3 through 2024’’. 

4 SEC. 4. MAINTENANCE OF PROGRAM. 

5 Section 1273 of the Public Health Service Act (42 

6 U.S.C. 300d–73) is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘and toxic 

8 exposures’’ after ‘‘poisonings’’; and 

9 (2) in subsection (b)— 

10 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

11 (i) by striking ‘‘for poison’’ and in12 serting ‘‘for poisoning and toxic exposure’’; 

13 and 

14 (ii) by striking ‘‘and preparedness’’ 

15 and inserting ‘‘preparedness and re16 sponse’’; 

17 (B) in paragraph (3)— 

18 (i) by striking ‘‘United States and’’ 

19 and inserting ‘‘United States,’’; and 

20 (ii) by inserting before the semicolon 

21 the following: ‘‘, and other government 

22 agencies as determined to be appropriate 

23 and nonduplicative by the Secretary’’; and 

24 (C) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘calls’’ 

25 and inserting ‘‘contacts’’; 
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1 (3) in subsection (d) , by striking paragraph (3) 

2 and inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The sum of the num5 ber of years for a waiver under paragraph (1) 

6 and a renewal under paragraph (2) may not ex7 ceed 5 years. 

8 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY.—Not9 withstanding any previous waivers, in the case 

10 of a poison control center whose accreditation is 

11 affected by a public health emergency declared 

12 pursuant to section 319, the Secretary may, as 

13 the circumstances of the emergency reasonably 

14 require, provide a waiver under paragraph (1) 

15 or a renewal under paragraph (2), not to exceed 

16 2 years. The Secretary may require quarterly 

17 reports and other information related to such a 

18 waiver or renewal under this paragraph.’’; 

19 (4) by striking subsection (f) and inserting the 

20 following: 

21 ‘‘(f) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—With respect to 

22 activities for which a grant is awarded under this section, 

23 the Secretary may require that poison control centers 

24 agree to maintain the expenditures of the center for such 

25 activities at a level that is not less than the level of expend-
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1 itures maintained by the center for the fiscal year pre2 ceding the fiscal year for which the grant is received.’’; 

3 (5) In subsection (g), by striking ‘‘2015 

4 through 2019’’ and inserting ‘‘2020 through 2024’’; 

5 and 

6 (6) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(h) BIENNIAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later 

8 than 2 years after the date of enactment of the Poison 

9 Center Network Enhancement Act of 2019, and every 2 

10 years thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the Com11 mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the 

12 Senate and Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 

13 House of Representatives a report concerning the oper14 ations of, and trends identified by, the Poison Control 

15 Network. Such report shall include— 

16 ‘‘(1) descriptions of the activities carried out 

17 pursuant to sections 1271, 1272, and 1273, and the 

18 alignment of such activities with the purposes pro19 vided under subsection (a); 

20 ‘‘(2) a description of trends in volume of con21 tacts to poison control centers; 

22 ‘‘(3) a description of trends in poisonings and 

23 toxic exposures reported to poison control centers, as 

24 applicable and appropriate; 
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1 ‘‘(4) an assessment of the impact of the public 

2 awareness campaign, including any geographic vari3 ations; 

4 ‘‘(5) a description of barriers, if any, preventing 

5 poison control centers from achieving the purposes 

6 and programs under this section and sections 1271 

7 and 1272; 

8 ‘‘(6) a description of the standards for accredi9 tation described in subsection (c), including any 

10 variations in those standards, and any efforts to cre11 ate and maintain consistent standards across organi12 zations that accredit poison control centers; and 

13 ‘‘(7) the number of and reason for any waivers 

14 provided under subsection (d).’’. 

Passed the Senate July 22, 2019. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1199 

AN ACT 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to revise 

and extend the poison center network program.