Rural Opioid Abuse Prevention Act
Bill: S.2796 | Sponsor: Sen. Ossoff, Jon (D-GA)
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
Rural Opioid Abuse Prevention Act
This act expands the allowable uses of grant funds under the Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program administered by the Department of Justice.
Specifically, the act allows grants to be used for pilot programs for rural areas to implement community response programs that focus on reducing opioid overdose deaths, which may include presenting alternatives to incarceration.

[117th Congress Public Law 250]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



[[Page 136 STAT. 2352]]

Public Law 117-250
117th Congress

                                 An Act


 
   To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to 
 provide for the eligibility of rural community response pilot programs 
for funding under the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Grant Program, and for 
          other purposes. <<NOTE: Dec. 20, 2022 -  [S. 2796]>> 

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, <<NOTE: Rural Opioid 
Abuse Prevention Act. 34 USC 10101 note.>> 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Rural Opioid Abuse Prevention Act''.
SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY OF RURAL COMMUNITY RESPONSE PILOT PROGRAMS FOR 
                    FUNDING UNDER THE COMPREHENSIVE OPIOID ABUSE 
                    GRANT PROGRAM.

    Section 3021 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 
Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10701) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(1)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (F), by striking ``and'';
                    (B) in subparagraph (G), by striking the period at 
                the end and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(H) a pilot program for rural areas to implement 
                community response programs that focus on reducing 
                opioid overdose deaths, which may include presenting 
                alternatives to incarceration, as described in 
                subsection (f).''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:

    ``(f) Rural Pilot Program.--
            ``(1) In general.--The pilot program described under this 
        subsection shall make grants to rural areas to implement 
        community response programs to reduce opioid overdose deaths. 
        Grants issued under this subsection shall be jointly operated by 
        units of local government, in collaboration with public safety 
        and public health agencies or public safety, public health and 
        behavioral health collaborations. <<NOTE: Procedures.>>  A 
        community response program under this subsection shall identify 
        gaps in community prevention, treatment, and recovery services 
        for individuals who encounter the criminal justice system and 
        shall establish treatment protocols to address identified 
        shortcomings. <<NOTE: Time period. Certification. Data.>>  The 
        Attorney General, through the Office of Justice Programs, shall 
        increase the amount provided as a grant under this section for a 
        pilot program by no more than five percent for each of the two 
        years following certification by the Attorney General of the 
        submission of data by the rural area on the prescribing

[[Page 136 STAT. 2353]]

        of schedules II, III, and IV controlled substances to a 
        prescription drug monitoring program, or any other centralized 
        database administered by an authorized State agency, which 
        includes tracking the dispensation of such substances, and 
        providing for interoperability and data sharing with each other 
        such program (including an electronic health records system) in 
        each other State, and with any interstate entity that shares 
        information between such programs.
            ``(2) Rules of construction.--Nothing in this subsection 
        shall be construed to--
                    ``(A) direct or encourage a State to use a specific 
                interstate data sharing program; or
                    ``(B) limit or prohibit the discretion of a 
                prescription drug monitoring program for 
                interoperability connections to other programs 
                (including electronic health records systems, hospital 
                systems, pharmacy dispensing systems, or health 
                information exchanges).''.

    Approved December 20, 2022.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--S. 2796:
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD:
                                                        Vol. 167 (2021):
                                    Dec. 8, considered and passed 
                                        Senate.
                                                        Vol. 168 (2022):
                                    Dec. 5, 6, considered and passed 
                                        House.

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