I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2333
To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a National Disaster
Medical System, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 27, 2001
Mr. BURR of North Carolina (for himself, Mr. STUPAK, and Mr. CHAMBLISS)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on En-
ergy and Commerce
A BILL
To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for
a National Disaster Medical System, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Disaster
Medical System Act’’.
SEC. 2. OFFICE OF EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS; NA-
TIONAL DISASTER MEDICAL SYSTEM.
Part B of title III of the Public Health Service Act
(42 U.S.C. 243 et seq.), as amended by section 102 of
Public Law 106–505, is amended—
(1) by redesignating sections 319A through
319G as sections 319B through 319H, respectively;
and
(2) by inserting after section 319 the following
section:
‘‘OFFICE OF EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS; NATIONAL
DISASTER MEDICAL SYSTEM
‘‘SEC. 319A. (a) OFFICE
OF EMERGENCY PRE-
PAREDNESS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established within
the Office of Public Health and Science an Office to
be known as the Office of Emergency Preparedness,
which shall be headed by a director appointed by the
Secretary. The Secretary shall carry out paragraph
(2) acting through such Director.
‘‘(2) GENERAL
DUTIES.—The Secretary shall
coordinate the activities of the Department of
Health and Human Services with respect to plan-
ning for and responding to public health emergencies
that burden the response capacity of State and local
governments sufficient to require the assistance of
the Federal Government in responding to the emer-
gencies, including as applicable diseases or disorders
that present public health emergencies; natural dis-
asters; major transportation accidents; technological
disasters; and disasters resulting from terrorism.
‘‘(b) NATIONAL DISASTER MEDICAL SYSTEM.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be operated in
accordance with this section a system to be known
as the National Disaster Medical System (in this
section referred to as the ‘National System’). The
National System shall be headed by the Secretary
acting through the Director of the Office of Emer-
gency Preparedness.
‘‘(2) FEDERAL
AND
STATE
COLLABORATIVE
SYSTEM.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The National System
shall be a coordinated effort by the Federal
agencies specified in subparagraph (B), working
in collaboration with the States and other ap-
propriate public or private entities, to carry out
the purposes described in paragraph (3).
‘‘(B) 
PARTICIPATING
FEDERAL
AGEN-
CIES.—The Federal agencies referred to in sub-
paragraph (A) are the Department of Health
and Human Services, the Federal Emergency
Management Agency, the Department of De-
fense, and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
‘‘(3) PURPOSE OF SYSTEM.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The National System
shall provide health services, health-related so-
cial services, other appropriate human services,
and appropriate auxiliary services to respond to
the needs of victims of a public health emer-
gency declared by the Secretary under section
319, if the Secretary activates the System in
declaring the emergency. The National System
shall carry out such ongoing activities as may
be necessary to prepare for the provision of
such services.
‘‘(B) CERTAIN
COMPONENTS.—The Na-
tional System shall have the following compo-
nents:
‘‘(i) Direct medical care.
‘‘(ii) Patient evacuation.
‘‘(iii) Non-Federal hospital beds.
‘‘(iv) Such other components as the
Secretary determines to be appropriate.
‘‘(c) 
TEMPORARY
DISASTER-RESPONSE
PER-
SONNEL.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose of assist-
ing the Office of Emergency Preparedness and the
National System in carrying out duties under this
section, the Secretary may in accordance with this
subsection appoint individuals to serve as temporary
personnel of such Office or System. The Secretary
may make such appointments without regard to the
provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing
appointments in the competitive service, and without
regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and sub-
chapter III of chapter 53 of such title relating to
classification and General Schedule pay rates.
‘‘(2) TYPE AND DURATION OF SERVICE.—
‘‘(A) TYPE.—An appointment under para-
graph (1) shall be a temporary appointment or
an appointment for intermittent services, and
may not be considered to be for expert or con-
sultant services within the meaning of section
3109 of title 5, United States Code.
‘‘(B) DURATION.—The term of service
under a temporary appointment under para-
graph (1) may not exceed four years. After the
expiration of such a term of service, an indi-
vidual may be reappointed. This subparagraph
does not limit the number of reappointments of
an individual, subject to each appointment
being made in accordance with this subsection.
‘‘(3) TRAVEL
AND
SUBSISTENCE.—An indi-
vidual appointed under paragraph (1) shall, in ac-
cordance with subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5,
United States Code, be eligible for travel, subsist-
ence, and other necessary expenses incurred in car-
rying out the duties for which the individual was ap-
pointed, including per diem in lieu of subsistence.
‘‘(4) LIABILITY.—For purposes of section
224(a) and the remedies described in such section,
an individual appointed under paragraph (1) shall,
while acting within the scope of such appointment,
be considered to be an employee of the Public
Health Service performing medical, surgical, dental,
or related functions. Participation in training pro-
grams carried out by the Office of Emergency Pre-
paredness or Federal personnel of the National Sys-
tem shall be considered within the scope of such an
appointment (regardless of whether the individual
receives compensation for such participation).
‘‘(d) CRITERIA.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall by reg-
ulation establish criteria for the operation of the Na-
tional System.
‘‘(2) EDUCATION
AND
TRAINING
OF
PER-
SONNEL.—In carrying out paragraph (1), the Sec-
retary shall establish criteria regarding the edu-
cation and training of individuals who provide emer-
gency services through the National System. In the
case of positions in the System that involve signifi-
cant supervisory roles when the System is activated
pursuant to subsection (b)(3)(A), the criteria shall
require that individuals in such positions have com-
pleted education or training programs that have
been accredited by an entity recognized by the Sec-
retary for purposes of this paragraph.
‘‘(3) PARTICIPATION
AGREEMENTS
FOR
NON-
FEDERAL ENTITIES.—In carrying out paragraph (1),
the Secretary shall establish criteria regarding the
participation of States and private entities in the
National System, including criteria regarding agree-
ments for such participation. The criteria shall in-
clude the following:
‘‘(A) Provisions relating to the custody and
use of Federal personal property by such enti-
ties, which may in the discretion of the Sec-
retary include authorizing the custody and use
of such property on a reimbursable basis to re-
spond to emergency situations that are not pub-
lic health emergencies for which the National
System has been activated pursuant to sub-
section (b)(3)(A).
‘‘(B) Provisions relating to circumstances
in which an individual or entity has agreements
with both the National System and another en-
tity regarding the provision of emergency serv-
ices by the individual. Such provisions shall ad-
dress the issue of priorities among the agree-
ments involved.
‘‘(e) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the
term ‘auxiliary services’ includes mortuary services and
veterinary services.
‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose of pro-
viding for the Office of Emergency Preparedness
and the National System, other than purposes for
which amounts in the Public Health Emergency
Fund under section 319 are available, there are au-
thorized to be appropriated such sums as may be
necessary for each of the fiscal years 2001 through
2005.
‘‘(2) COORDINATION
OF
FUNDING.—The au-
thorization of appropriations established in para-
graph (1) for a fiscal year applies with respect to
appropriations made from allocations under section
302(b) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 for
the following subcommittees of the appropriations
committees of the House of Representatives and the
Senate:
‘‘(A) The subcommittees relating to the
Departments of Labor, Health and Human
Services, and Education.
‘‘(B) The subcommittees relating to the
Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing
and Urban Development and to independent
agencies.
‘‘(C) The subcommittees relating to the
Department of Defense.
‘‘(3) LIMITATION ON OBLIGATION OF FUNDS.—
The obligation of amounts appropriated for the Of-
fice of Emergency Preparedness or the National
System shall not be subject to any requirement that
an operating plan be submitted to the House and
Senate Committees on Appropriations.’’.
SEC. 3. CERTAIN EMPLOYMENT ISSUES REGARDING TEM-
PORARY APPOINTMENTS FOR OFFICE OF
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS OR NATIONAL
DISASTER MEDICAL SYSTEM.
(a) 
TEMPORARY
DISASTER-RESPONSE
AP-
POINTEE.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘‘tem-
porary disaster-response appointee’’ means an individual
appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services
under section 319A(c) of the Public Health Service Act
(relating to appointments to provide temporary or inter-
mittent services in the Office of Emergency Preparedness
or the National Disaster Medical System).
(b) COMPENSATION FOR WORK INJURIES.—To the
extent provided in regulations promulgated by the Sec-
retary of Health and Human Services (in this section re-
ferred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’), a temporary disaster-re-
sponse appointee shall be deemed an employee, and an in-
jury sustained by such an individual while actually serving
or while participating in a uncompensated training exer-
cise related to such service shall be deemed ‘in the per-
formance of duty’, for purposes of chapter 81 of title 5,
United States Code, pertaining to compensation for work
injuries.
(c) EMPLOYMENT AND REEMPLOYMENT RIGHTS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—To the extent provided in
regulations promulgated by the Secretary, service as
a temporary disaster-response appointee and partici-
pation in a uncompensated training exercise related
to such service shall be deemed ‘service in the uni-
formed services’ for purposes of chapter 43 of title
38, United States Code, pertaining to employment
and reemployment rights of individuals who have
performed service in the uniformed services.
(2) NOTICE OF ABSENCE FROM POSITION OF
EMPLOYMENT.—Preclusion of giving notice of serv-
ice by disaster response necessity shall be deemed
preclusion by ‘military necessity’ for purposes of sec-
tion 4312(b) of title 38, United States Code, per-
taining to giving notice of absence from a position
of employment. A determination of disaster response
necessity shall be made pursuant to regulations pre-
scribed by the Secretary, in consultation with the
Secretary of Defense, and shall not be subject to ju-
dicial review.
(d) INAPPLICABILITY
OF CERTAIN PROVISIONS.—
The following provisions shall not apply to temporary dis-
aster-response appointees:
(1) Subchapter V of chapter 55 of title 5,
United States Code (governing premium pay).
(2) Chapter 61 of such title 5 (governing hours
of work).
(3) Chapter 63 of such title 5 (governing leave).
(4) Chapter 83 and 84 of such title 5 (gov-
erning retirement).
(5) Chapter 85 of such title 5 (governing unem-
ployment compensation).
(6) The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.
SEC. 4. STUDY REGARDING SUPPORT OF LOCAL EMER-
GENCY RESPONSE PERSONNEL.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting
through the Director of the Office of Emergency Pre-
paredness, shall conduct a study of best-practices methods
to support the provision of emergency medical services
through local governments (including through contractors
and volunteers of such governments). Not later than 180
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary shall submit to the Congress a report describing
the findings of the study.
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