Title: Poison Center Network Enhancement Act of 2018
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Poison Center Network Enhancement Act of 2018
This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize for FY2020-FY2024 and revise the national toll-free phone number, public awareness campaign, and grant program relating to poison control centers. Among other changes, the bill:

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5329 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5329

 To amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize and enhance the 
 poison center national toll-free number, national media campaign, and 
                 grant program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 19, 2018

  Mrs. Brooks of Indiana (for herself, Mr. Engel, Mr. Barton, and Ms. 
   DeGette) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize and enhance the 
 poison center national toll-free number, national media campaign, and 
                 grant program, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Poison Center Network Enhancement 
Act of 2018''.

SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF POISON CONTROL CENTERS NATIONAL TOLL-FREE 
              NUMBER.

    Section 1271 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300d-71) 
is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 1271. ESTABLISHMENT AND MAINTENANCE OF THE NATIONAL TOLL-FREE 
              NUMBER AND ENHANCED COMMUNICATIONS CAPABILITIES.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall provide coordination and 
assistance to poison control centers, and to nationally recognized 
professional organizations in the field of poison control for--
            ``(1) the development, establishment, implementation, and 
        maintenance of a nationwide toll-free phone number; and
            ``(2) the enhancement of communications capabilities, such 
        as text capabilities.
    ``(b) Consultation.--The Secretary shall consult with nationally 
recognized professional organizations in the field of poison control to 
determine the best and most effective means of achieving the goals 
described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a).
    ``(c) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed to restrict the work of poison control centers or the use of 
their resources by the Secretary or other governmental agencies in 
assisting with public health emergencies, responses, or preparedness.
    ``(d) Proper Standards for the Routing of Poison Control Center 
Contacts.--Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of 
the Poison Center Network Enhancement Act of 2018, the Federal 
Communications Commission, in consultation with the Secretary, shall 
take all actions necessary to ensure that contacts with the nationwide 
toll-free number supported under subsection (a)(1) are routed to the 
geographically proper poison control center based on the physical 
location of the person attempting to reach the poison control center, 
rather than based on the area code of the contact device.
    ``(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $700,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2020 through 2024.''.

SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION OF NATIONWIDE PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN TO 
              PROMOTE POISON CONTROL CENTER UTILIZATION.

    Section 1272 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300d-72) 
is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 1272. NATIONWIDE PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN TO PROMOTE POISON 
              CONTROL CENTER UTILIZATION AND THEIR PUBLIC HEALTH 
              EMERGENCY RESPONSE CAPABILITIES.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall--
            ``(1) carry out, and expand upon, a national public 
        awareness campaign to educate the public and health care 
        providers about--
                    ``(A) poisoning and toxic exposure prevention;
                    ``(B) the availability of poison control center 
                resources in local communities;
                    ``(C) poison control center drug information and 
                misuse intervention; and
                    ``(D) poison control center public health emergency 
                response capabilities; and
            ``(2) as part of such campaign, highlight the nationwide 
        toll-free number and enhanced communications capabilities 
        supported under section 1271.
    ``(b) Consultation.--In carrying out and expanding upon the 
national campaign under subsection (a), the Secretary shall consult 
with nationally recognized professional organizations in the field of 
poison control response for the purpose of determining the best and 
most effective methods for achieving public awareness.
    ``(c) Contract With Entity.--The Secretary may carry out subsection 
(a) by entering into contracts with one or more public or private 
entities, including nationally recognized professional organizations in 
the field of poison control and national media firms, for the 
development and implementation of the awareness campaign under 
subsection (a), which may include--
            ``(1) the development and distribution of poisoning and 
        toxic exposure prevention, poison control center, and public 
        health emergency awareness and response materials;
            ``(2) television, radio, internet, and newspaper public 
        service announcements; and
            ``(3) other means and activities to provide for public and 
        professional awareness and education.
    ``(d) Evaluation.--The Secretary shall--
            ``(1) establish baseline measures and benchmarks to 
        quantitatively evaluate the impact of the nationwide public 
        awareness campaign carried out under this section; and
            ``(2) on an annual basis, prepare and submit to the 
        appropriate committees of Congress an evaluation of the 
        nationwide public awareness campaign.
    ``(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section, $800,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2020 through 2024.''.

SEC. 4. REAUTHORIZATION OF THE POISON CONTROL CENTER GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--Section 1273 of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 300d-73) is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 1273. MAINTENANCE OF THE POISON CONTROL CENTER GRANT PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Authorization of Program.--The Secretary shall award grants 
to poison control centers accredited under subsection (c) (or granted a 
waiver under subsection (d)) and nationally recognized professional 
organizations in the field of poison control for the purposes of--
            ``(1) preventing, and providing treatment recommendations 
        for, poisonings and toxic exposures including opioid and drug 
        misuse;
            ``(2) assisting with public health emergencies, responses, 
        and preparedness; and
            ``(3) complying with the operational requirements needed to 
        sustain the accreditation of the center under subsection (c).
    ``(b) Additional Uses of Funds.--In addition to the purposes 
described in subsection (a), a poison center or professional 
organization awarded a grant under such subsection may also use amounts 
received under such grant--
            ``(1) to research, establish, implement, and evaluate best 
        practices in the United States for poisoning prevention, poison 
        control center outreach, opioid and drug misuse information and 
        response, and public health emergency, response, and 
        preparedness programs;
            ``(2) to research, develop, implement, revise, and 
        communicate standard patient management guidelines for commonly 
        encountered toxic exposures;
            ``(3) to improve national toxic exposure and opioid misuse 
        surveillance by enhancing cooperative activities between poison 
        control centers in the United States and the Centers for 
        Disease Control and Prevention and other governmental agencies;
            ``(4) to research, improve, and enhance the communications 
        and response capability and capacity of the Nation's network of 
        poison control centers to facilitate increased access to the 
        centers through the integration and modernization of the 
        current poison control centers communications and data system, 
        including enhancing the network's telephony, internet, data, 
        and social networking technologies;
            ``(5) to develop, support, and enhance technology and 
        capabilities of nationally recognized professional 
        organizations in the field of poison control to collect 
        national poisoning, toxic occurrence, and related public health 
        data;
            ``(6) to develop initiatives to foster the enhanced public 
        health utilization of national poison data collected by such 
        organizations;
            ``(7) to support and expand the toxicologic expertise 
        within poison control centers; and
            ``(8) to improve the capacity of poison control centers to 
        answer high volumes of contacts and internet communications, 
        and to sustain and enhance the poison control center's network 
        capability to respond during times of national crisis or other 
        public health emergencies.
    ``(c) Accreditation.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in subsection (d), 
        the Secretary may award a grant to a poison control center 
        under subsection (a) only if--
                    ``(A) the center has been accredited by a 
                nationally recognized professional organization in the 
                field of poison control, and the Secretary has approved 
                the organization as having in effect standards for 
                accreditation that reasonably provide for--
                            ``(i) the protection of the public health 
                        with respect to poisoning; and
                            ``(ii) the maintenance of the related 
                        capabilities listed in subsection (a); or
                    ``(B) the center has been accredited by a State 
                government, and the Secretary has approved the State 
                government as having in effect standards for 
                accreditation that reasonably provide for--
                            ``(i) the protection of the public health 
                        with respect to poisoning; and
                            ``(ii) the maintenance of the related 
                        capabilities listed in subsection (a).
            ``(2) Annual report to congress.--The Secretary shall 
        annually submit a report to Congress that certifies that the 
        accreditation standards described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) 
        of paragraph (1)--
                    ``(A) are consistent in their content; and
                    ``(B) provide for the protection of the public 
                health with respect to poisoning and the maintenance of 
                the related capabilities listed in subsection (a).
    ``(d) Waiver of Accreditation Requirements.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary may grant a waiver of the 
        accreditation requirements of subsection (c) with respect to a 
        nonaccredited poison control center that applies for a grant 
        under this section if such center can reasonably demonstrate 
        that the center will obtain such an accreditation within a 
        reasonable period of time as determined appropriate by the 
        Secretary.
            ``(2) Renewal.--The Secretary may renew a waiver under 
        paragraph (1).
            ``(3) Limitation.--In no case may the sum of the number of 
        years for a waiver under paragraph (1) and a renewal under 
        paragraph (2) exceed 5 years.
    ``(e) Supplement Not Supplant.--Amounts made available to a poison 
control center under this section shall be used to supplement and not 
supplant other Federal, State, or local funds provided for such center.
    ``(f) Maintenance of Effort.--A poison control center, in utilizing 
the proceeds of a grant under this section, shall maintain the annual 
recurring expenditures of the center for its activities at a level that 
is not less than 80 percent of the average level of such recurring 
expenditures maintained by the center for the preceding 3 fiscal years 
for which a grant is received.
    ``(g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section, $29,600,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2020 through 2024. The Secretary may utilize an amount not to 
exceed 6 percent of the amount appropriated pursuant to the preceding 
sentence for each fiscal year for coordination, dissemination, 
technical assistance, program evaluation, data activities, and other 
program administration functions, which are determined by the Secretary 
to be appropriate for carrying out the program under this section.''.
    (b) Applicability.--Section 1273 of the Public Health Service Act, 
as amended by subsection (a), applies beginning on October 1, 2019.
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